Dominican Republic - Day 2 & 3

Day 2: was a rest day, of lazing by the ocean...followed by lazing by the pool.  The swim up bar was a pretty great hit and we met some really nice friends to hang out with.

Day 3:
We signed up before we left on our trip for some tours of the city.  Today was the City Tour, which included stops at:  Brugal Rum factory tour, an Amber and Larima jewelry store, an Amber museum, "Central Park", a Cathedral, a Fortress and a cable car to the top of a mountain.

The first stop was the Brugal Rum Factory. This was basically just a factory where there were some people working and we just kind of watched them work.  It was a weird stop.  However, we did get to buy items at the store on site which was super cheap and a little taste testing (aka shots of rum) at 9am never hurt anyone right?  It was funny, because our tour was mostly with Canadians.  The guy at Brugal who gave the tour gave it in French.  I had no idea what he was saying, but he was seriously very good looking.  Funny thing, a few nights later when I went off resort with some new friends, I saw this same guy at a bar in the city.  Small world...even in the Dominican Republic.

The Amber Museum was interesting, but again a weird stop.  About 30% of the film Jurassic Park was filmed in the Dominican Republic.  This museum made the Amber with the mosquito in it for the film, so the Director let them use the logo for the movie in their logo for the company.


 The fortress was our next stop.  On the weekend, our tour driver explained, this is where everyone goes to hang out.  It seemed like a weird place to hang out, but there was a lot of open space, and it was right on the ocean.  It seemed so weird that this place had the history of building a fortress to stop invaders from attacking their country such a long time ago.  For as much as I've never been interested in history, this was actually kind of cool.

 What's funny about this picture, was my last night in the DR was a Saturday and we ended up hanging out right on the circle of this statue.  My trip started and ended with this guy on a horse.

















At every stop we made there was always people trying to sell things.  This woman had this burro that she would have you pay to get your picture taken with it.  When one group came she would tote out the burro, and then when we went away, she took the burro away from the entrance.  There were people selling art and all sorts of random things.

 As we ventured on, the HUGE tour bus that we were on was having trouble navigating the narrow city streets.  The driver and guide let us out in "Central Park" while they figured out how to get the bus around this turn.  I loved this place.  There was literally nothing there but the buildings and colours of the buildings was so amazing.  I loved being off resort to see the real side of the Dominican Republic.  It was really cool.

 To kill a little more time, the tour driver had the priest open up the Catedral for us to tour through.  This place was amazing!  The stained glass windows and high arched ceilings.  It was overwhelming to think that people went to church here.  Interesting fact about Dominican Republic.  Every town/neighborhood has 2 things:  a cathedral/church and a baseball field. 


 Finally our bus was free and we got on headed to the Cable Car.  This was the part I was looking forward to.  If you ever find yourself in Puerta Plata, Dominican Republic - do not take this whole tour.  Pay your cab driver from the airport to drop you off and wait for you (trust me, they'll wait for you) to take you to the Cable Car.  We boarded this huge car that took us straight up Mount Isabel. 

At the top of the Mountain, was the replication of the Christ Statue in Rio de Janero, Brazil.  It was so peaceful up there.  I was sad it was so foggy, because it really was a gorgeous statue.  This statue looks over the city and protects it.  There is something very calming about knowing that. 

 The whole time we walked around up there, the Ben Harper song "Blessed to Be a Witness" was running through my mind. 

"Blessed To Be A Witness"

Corcovado parted the sky
And through the darkness
On us he shined
Crucified in stone
Still his blood is my own
Glory behold all my eyes have seen
Have seen

I am blessed
I am blessed
I am blessed
I am blessed
I am blessed to be a witness

Some have flown away
And can't be with us here today
Like the hills of my home
Some have crumbled and now are gone
Gather around for today won't come again
Won't come again

I am blessed
I am blessed
I am blessed
I am blessed
I am blessed
I am blessed
I am blessed to be a witness

So much sorrow and pain
Still I will not live in vain
Like good questions never asked
Is wisdom wasted on the past
Only by the grace of God go I
Go I

I am blessed
I am blessed
I am blessed
I am blessed
I am blessed
I am blessed
I am blessed to be a witness

The song in the beginning talks about the statue in Rio actually - and this was pretty darn close to the same thing.  Maybe my next trip will be to see the real thing...

Then we headed back to the resort, where we spent the day enjoying some sunshine and more pool/ocean time.

Dominican Republic - Day 1

After a 6 hour flight from Portland to JFK, NY and a 3.5 hour flight from JFK to Puerta Plata we finally arrived in the Dominican Republic.  It was seriously so humid there.  The airport was so small.  There was a band playing to greet us - which was completely cool.  The military guards were all carrying some seriously heavy machinery.  We paid our $20 US to get into the country, got our passports stamped and were out the door to hail a cab.  All the "cabs" there were seriously people's normal cars.  It was so weird.  It was cool that everything was in Spanish too.  Our driver did not speak a lot of English, but he was very nice.  The driving is absolutely INSANE there.  Pretty much no rules.  People passing on any side of you.  Everyone on motor scooters weaving in and out of traffic.  It was crazy to see people 3 deep on a tiny motor scooter.  We even saw a mom braiding her daughter's hair while they were driven around.  People with tiny babies on there.  It was such a different environment.  I was in love with it all from the second that we landed.

We arrived at our resort about 20 minutes from the airport.  After a million phone calls back to the US and a million attempts to locate our reservation, they finally got us booked in.  It was a little scary for a second though that we would have nowhere to stay.  Our room was fine.  Nothing fancy.  At least it had A/C, although in D.R. they lose power daily anywhere from 30mins-sometimes 6 hours.  Mostly so they can control the power usage.  I can't even imagine.  We needed some food, but nowhere was open when we finally arrived for lunch, so we finally found this place and had our first, of many, plates of arroz y frijoles (rice & beans).  I've never been a huge fan of rice, or beans for that matter.  Somehow in this place I loved them.  No lie, I ended up eating them for practically every meal.  The other food was pretty suspect, so I was limited on what I was willing to risk.  The resort was of course time-share so they drove us around the resort and made us the pitch.  Seriously it actually sounded quite good and if I had an extra $10k in my pocket I would've purchased.  Driving around we got to see more of the resort.  A storm was coming in so it wasn't that clear out in the skies, but it was still BEAUTIFUL!

 

I think I could've stayed there forever!

I don't ever want to lose this...

I and Love and Them
the Avett Brothers with the Brooklyn Philharmonic on Jimmy Kimmel last night.  *SIGH*
Kicking my own ass I missed their show this summer.

Punkin Patch & a Corn Maize

 Today we packed up the munchkins and headed out to Sauvie Island for some Pumpkin Patch and Corn Maze fun!  Cheryl and Charlotte came with me in my car with Trent.  Amber and her kiddos met us there along with Amber's mom, sister and nephew.  It's October in Portland, and we were expecting fairly good weather.  It was seriously the hottest day ever!  Tank tops, shorts and t-shirts.  Crazy.  The adults got beer, the kids got caramel apples.  We had a really good time.  We found the end of the maze first actually and then had to back track to find some of the clues placed throughout.  We took a hay ride out to pick out our pumpkins and then it was time to go!

Cheryl & Charlotte on the hay ride with Amber and Dylan













L to R:  Dylan, McKenna, Ivan, Jack and Trent eating their HUGE caramel apples before entering the corn maze

  The look-out we found trying to get out of the center of the maze.

This was my favourite picture of the day.  Charlotte and Trent bonded in the car ride out to Sauvie.  Charlotte was let loose and crawled over to Trent and just snuggled him like crazy.  It was the sweetest.  He was like, Uh...what am I supposed to do here?  But I think he loved the attention.

Trent and I on the hayride to the pumpkin patch.  Rule #1:  You can't get a pumpkin that you can't carry back.

Oh man, I love this kid and these freckles.
My little buddy.

Oaks Park

Trent, Ethan and I had another adventure tonight.  I met Denise at the day spa to pick up the boys.  She brought them in to Portland with her for her appointment.  We transferred cars, went back to my house to pack a picnic for dinner to eat at the park and then headed out.  The boys were SO silly in the car.  Trent had the giggles, which I loved.  We played DJ, and they each got to pick songs on the iPod.  I try to download new songs I know they like so they have something to listen to.  Right now Trent's favourite song is Bruno Mars: Count on Me.  We met my friend Amber and her kids for a night riding rides.  Trent was more than happy to ride the Tilt-O-Whirl all night if we let him.  We quickly found other rides though.  There was this one ride that were these floating cars and you went REALLY fast in a circle, and then just when you thought they were done with the ride, they would turn you REALLY fast in a circle going backward.  Oh my!  Trent was hilarious the whole ride, but LOVED it!

And then there was THIS ride....DISK'O.  This is Dylan and Ethan riding first.  They were the daredevils of the night and seriously went on everything.  On the Disk'o, you sat in a big circle facing out.  Everyone has their own chair, which of course made me nervous because I just had a feeling this wasn't going to go well with Mister non-daredevil Trent.  I should always trust that intuition.  This thing comes out of the back to keep you in your chair and adjusts to how big or little you need.  It starts going and about 13 seconds into the ride Trent is NOT loving it.  I look over and he's absolutely terrified.  Of course it keeps going faster and faster, and higher and higher and it's all I can do not to just start crying because I feel so bad for the little guy.  I just have to keep telling him to hang on - it's almost over for pretty much the entire ride.  Of course it was like the longest ride in the history of that ride and it felt like it NEVER ENDED.  Poor buddy.  He did not love it.  We were pretty much done for the night after that one.  Good thing it was later in the night anyway, but man...funny, but seriously so sad all at the same time.

Swim. Movie. Tie Dye. Swim

Trent and Ethan came over yesterday.  I picked them up at 11am and we came back to my house, had a little lunch and then wandered over to the Portland East Community Center to swim.  We had so much fun!  Swam for hours!  There were some odd people in the pool area with us. I must admit, it was hard being the "parent".  Some of the people in the pool were challenged.  In T & E's little sheltered world, they don't really see a whole lot of that.  So when we encountered a little girl, who looked like a grown up, but was only squealing and splashing and right on top of us in the lazy river they didn't really know how to react.  We had to have a side-bar conversation about how everyone is different and we should just be glad that she was having fun and getting to enjoy the pool like we were.  She was simply expressing this in a different way.  We then headed back to the house and watched a movie.  We tie-dyed shirts.  We colored some Shrinky Dinks and baked them (they thought this was the most amazing).  We then headed out to a movie in the park. 

The movie started at 9pm!  What kind of group (Portland Parks & Rec) starts an event (that they hope to be successful) for families/kids at 9pm.  We got there at like 7:30 and then it was a lot of waiting around.  I really didn't think it would start so late, so they boys were bored and had to take turns playing games on my iPhone.  IT WAS FREEZING!!!  Seriously the coldest night ever.  They were bundled up in their sweatshirts, and under blankets and still snuggling up to me for the move.  Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked was the film title.  It was cute for a Chipmunks movie.  The music was all pretty current stuff and it was cute to see little girls dancing around to it even in the dark.  My too-cool-for-school little buddies were having none of that.  I did love the snuggling.  The movie ended at nearly 11pm.  We came home, put PJs on/brushed teeth, set them up in the bed in the guest bedroom and read the first chapter of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.  They were out in no time at all. 

In the morning we woke up, Trent put on his Tie-dyed shirt (which turned out SO CUTE, don't you think?).  We all ate some breakfast.  Did a little painting.  Then off to swim again!  I have to say, those boys are getting to be good little swimmers.  Trent still wears his life vest in the water and is a pretty nervous little guy around the water (possibly his one and only non-Harker trait), but he did such a great job.  I was so proud of him.  He really tried hard today to try his real swimming strokes. 

I hope they're as tired as I am today.  Man that was a lot of fun, but seriously exhausting to keep them so busy the whole time they were here.  They're fun little buddies.  Good thing we're hanging out again on Monday!

GP

There is a certain someone that I always feel connected to when I hear Ben Harper.  I'm always in a Ben Harper mood, but more so since his concert a few weeks ago.  Today I heard this song on my drive home and it finally struck me as the perfect story of us.   Sad.  But True.  I miss you everyday.

"Amen Omen"

What started as a whisper,
Slowly turned in to a scream.
Searching for an answer
Where the question is unseen.
I don't know where you came from
And I dont know where you've gone.
Old friends become old strangers
Between the darkness and the dawn

Amen omen,will I see your face again?
Amen omen,can I find the place within
To live my life without you?

I still hear you saying
"All of life is chance,
And is sweetest,is sweetest when at a glance"
But I live,
I live a hundred lifetimes in a day.
But I die a little
In every breath that I take.

Amen omen,will I see your face again?
Amen omen,can I find the place within
To live my life without you?

I listen to a whisper,
Slowly drift away.
Silence is a loudest,
Parting word you never say.
I put I put your world
Into my veins
Now a voiceless sympathy
Is all that remains.

Amen omen,will I see your face again?
Amen omen,can I find the place within
To live my life without you?

Amen omen,can i find the strength within