Ray and I had been talking about going to the Dominican Republic for the last few years. I had been there with my parents when I was in high school, and I always wanted to go back. Ray has never been there, so it was somewhere we have been wanting to plan a vacation. Originally we envisioned this as an adults-only couples trip, probably just the two of us, but as time went on and after Rylee we realized that it would probably be very difficult to do that! We decided to make it a family trip. We were a little worried about how it would go with it being our first time out of the country with the kids. Would it be the relaxing, tropical, beach vacation we were hoping for? Probably not, but we had realistic expectations about what it would be with all 3 kids. Now that our trip is almost a month behind us, I will say that it exceeded our expectations! We had an amazing time, and it actually went better than expected. We all had so much fun, the kids were very well behaved the majority of the time, and we actually did get that "relaxing" feeling of a vacation. The plane ride on the way there went great, and we were so lucky that it wasn't full so Rylee got a seat in her infant carrier. The way back wasn't so great for me. I had to hold her the whole time. She was really good, and she tried to sleep most of the time, but it made for a very long 5 hours of not being able to do anything and trying not to move.
We were so happy with the resort that we went to, which was the Barceló Bavaro Palace. It was SO family friendly, and even though we heard the resort was full, it never felt like it. We absolutely loved the family suite that we stayed in, and it was plenty of space for all 5 of us. It was great that the kids had their own room and bathroom, and it gave us space so that Rylee could nap while we showered and got ready for dinner, and she was able to go to bed early while the other 2 party animals stayed up. I think the kids stayed up just as late as we did every night! We especially loved the outdoor bathtub that we had on the patio, and the kids and I used that instead of the shower all week.
The 2 main pools that we hung out at with the waterslides were never crowded. We were always able to get great spots with beach chairs right by the pool areas so we could hang back in the shade with Rylee while she napped, and still keep an eye on Kenley and Charlie. The beach was a little more crowded, but we always went there in the middle of the day, and were still able to find at least one beach chair to put our stuff on. Each day we spent most of the day swimming, going down water slides, hanging out at the beach, kayaking, soaking up the sun, and getting lots of frozen drinks! The kids thought it was awesome that they could go up to the bars and order their favorite frozen drinks like mudslides and daiquiris. One day I took Kenley and Rylee to a little hut on the beach and they both got their hair braided. Each night the resort had a kids show, where the kids got to be on stage to dance and sing, and they even learned some Spanish! On our last night, we took the kids to the kids club, and Ray and I got a 2 hour kid-free date. We went to the casino for an hour and stopped at 2 different bars.
We didn't leave our resort except for a snorkeling/swimming with sharks and stingrays excursion, which was quite an adventure. I ended up swimming out with Kenley and Rylee to see the sharks and stingrays, with the help of one of the Dominican guides. Somehow it seemed like a good idea at the time, but Charlie got scared at the last minute, so I was already in the water when I realized Ray and Charlie were not coming. Kenley was a brave little thing, and Rylee did ok, but it came time for us to take our picture with the sting ray and it was not easy trying to hold Rylee, (in her life vest and float) hold a sting ray, and have Kenley hanging onto me. We ended up getting a terrible picture of us, plus the Dominican man who was holding Rylee while she was crying, and the stingray who was trying his best to swim away. I don't blame him one bit! After we got back, Charlie decided he wanted a turn, so Ray swam back out with him and Kenley and they had their own adventure trying to swim back to the boat. But, all in all, we did it! People on the tour were telling us that they thought we were awesome for bringing our kids on the tour, and that we were so adventurous! Ha,ha..we were all happy to be back on the boat, and enjoyed the rest of the time relaxing, and swimming at the sandbar. We have a good story to tell Rylee about the time she was 9 months old and swam with sharks and stingrays!
We had an amazing vacation, and I am so glad that we did it. I think the kids liked it just as much as they enjoyed Disney last year, but I honestly think I liked it better. I am pretty biased to a beach vacation. I really hope we can go back again someday. It was so nice to have fun and relaxing family time with just the 5 of us.
Since then, we've all been back and forth to the doctor with various illnesses such as ear infections, viruses, weird rashes, etc....We're fine now, but I swear if there was a contest for the most doctor visits we would win. All 5 of us go to the same family practice, so I've seriously been there at least once a week for the last 6 weeks. My sister is also in recovery from having surgery of a fibroid removed. She's had a tough several months leading up to this, but we are so happy her surgery went well, and she is on the mend. Hopefully our whole family is done with doctors and illnesses for a long, long time!!
Now, were ready for Spring and before we know it Summer!! I'm already starting to schedule swim lessons, and summer activities for the kids, trying to plan a garage sale, and trying to keep a few weekends free so we can do some fun family outings! Kenley informed me today that there are only 24 more days of Kindergarten left. I'm looking forward to all the Summer parties, fests, parades, and activities coming up!
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