Week in the Dominican Republic

After the kids cruise trip, Steve's FABULOUS brother in law Mike, sister Heather and niece Taylor came to watch the kids for a week so we could take a week trip- ALONE!!  Yes, I said ALONE... for a whole 5 days!

We left Sunday morning and arrived to the fabulous Punta Cana, DR in the afternoon and headed to the most beautiful hotel I had ever seen!  We stayed at the Majestic Elegance in an adults only part of the resort.  We had a great room, around the clock room service, adult only beach, and crystal clear water.  Perfection! (Yes we love our children more than anything in the world... but it was SO nice to have a few days without any children around)

Welcome to Punta Cana- the airport was exactly like the Hilo, HI airport... made me miss it

The hotel: 

Room:

The Hotel

Steve had to get in the water before we went to eat

Monday we spent the WHOLE day hanging out in the sun at the beach.  Starting the week off right...

Steve will be making one of these for me when we grow up...

  

Tuesday morning was spent on the beach waiting for our upcoming Zip Lining adventure.  Around 2pm, we loaded up and headed into the rain forest.  We went through multiple towns and saw how the locals lived.  Seeing this part of the country was one of my favorite parts of the trip.

 Zip Line course

I have more pictures to post.... of us on the line...

Zip lining was amazing!  This was something I did not want to leave without doing.  I had been looking forward to this for a while now and we finally did it.  What a great way to see the rain forest.  It was absolutely beautiful and so much fun.

After we finished...

Chocolate...

 Kids just getting out of school.  They go ALL day- until 5pm...

 Playing dominos on the side of the road

Tour guides

On Wednesday we spent the morning inside due to rain.  One thing we could not plan on was the weather but that did not stop us from going out on the dune buggies.

 Our ride...

 Steve started the trip driving making sure we hit every single mud hole on the way to the beach.  This beach was absolutely beautiful.

 Barracuda...

We left the beach with me behind the wheel and ready to pay Steve back for all of the mud that he got in my eyes and mouth!  We then went into the country side stopping at a little hut where we were taught how to make coffee, how to make chocolate, cigars, and other local foods.  There were kids out playing around the hut that stopped to talk and take pictures.

Yes... that is trash behind me all over the ground...

 The school...

Steve got behind the wheel again as we headed towards the cave.  Although we did not jump in the not so fresh fresh water, we did go into the cave to take pictures.  

While the group was walking around the shops and swimming in the cave, Steve made friends with the locals.

After the cave, we headed back- muddy, wet, and freezing!  I was SO cold, I could not wait to get back to the hotel and into a HOT shower.  This was another great way to see part of the country and hang out with local Dominicans.  I have to say, walking through the hotel to the very back nasty and wet with mud stuck in our hair and all over our bodies made many heads turn wondering what we were doing all day...

Thursday we hung around the beach, got breakfast and chilled out.  

Our view every morning eating breakfast

I decided to get Steve and I a couple massage... and his first one at that. 

(yes- I took pictures of his first massage)

We then spent the rest of the day the beach... I laid out and napped while Steve too a kayak out to a reef and a sunken ship.
A CRAB ran right y my foot...

Friday came way too fast.  Although I never wanted to leave the DR, I was ready to come home and see the kids.  Who knows, maybe one day we will own our own place out there and we will never have to leave...   While there, we met some workers there that we (mostly Steve) practiced our Spanish with.  Being around the language made us even more excited for Spain.  

 Steve got some pictures of our resort when we left... it was AMAZING