Culebra

Brigham and Daddy playing in the sand!

Rick and Peyton just chillin'

Here is a picture of the umbrella and chairs we rented for the day

Culebra

We had so much fun! I don't think the pictures show just how beautiful it really was. The boys sure had fun!

Ferry ride to Culebra

On New Year's Day (our last busy day with Rick's family) we went to an island off Puerto Rico called Culebra. It was a LONG day, but well worth it! We left home at 6 am and drove 1 hr. to the east coast to a city called Fajardo. From there, we caught a ferry that left a 9 am. The boat ride was and hour long also. It was a little rough, we were all a little queasy! The kids thought it was fun looking out the window at the ocean. Then we got to the island and it was beautiful!!! We weren't sure how to get to a beach once we got to the island. Some people rented cars, but we didn't want to. So we started walking to the beach until we asked someone how far it was. "3 miles." Well, then we found a bus that took us there. ($3 a person each way- what a ripoff!) So we got to the beach and it was so pretty! White sand and clear water-gorgeaus! The snorkeling was awesome too. After a long day of fun, we took the 6 pm ferry back and then drove home and got back at about 8:30. The kids went right to bed!

Fireworks for New Year's Eve

We just had to do fireworks on New Year's Eve! That's what everyone does in Puerto Rico! The kids had fun.

Arecibe Radio Telescope

On Dec. 31, my birthday, we went to Arecibo where they have the world's larget radio telescope. It's huge! By the way, this telescope is in one of the Jame's Bond movies! We had a lot of fun. We all went out to eat at Fuego Argentino later that night and then did presents and cake and ice cream. Also, all the Puerto Ricans light off fireworks on New Year's Eve, so we got some sparklers and the kids had a blast!

Rainforest

There goes the boys running down the hill just after we told them not to!

Rick's brother Mark with his grapefruit. He was very proud he got that- all the guys were throwing things at the tree to knock the fruit out and the work payed off.

The National Rainforest, "El Yunque"

We saw lots of bamboo trees

A great view of the rainforest

A beautiful waterfall

Peyton enjoyed all the openness and loved running (when it was downhill it wasn't a good thing!)

We went to the rainforest, El Yunque, on Dec. 30th. We love going to the rainforest- this was our 3rd time we went. Growth everywhere-just gorgeous!

Bioluminescent Bay

This is a picture off the internet. Just to give you an idea of the glowing water. When we saw the diver, the water didn't glow quite like this picture shows.

After touring Ponce all day long, we continued driving west to "La Parguera." We went for a boat ride for 30 minutes and it took us to a bioluminescent bay. I couldn't capture it in a camera. In the bay, there are algae or something that are bioluminescent (they glow in the dark). While the boat was moving, we saw streaks of light in the water- it was really neat. Then when the boat stopped in the bay, one of their divers jumped into the water. As he swam, we could see the water glowing all around his body. It looked awesome! Then they brought up buckets of seawater from the bay for us to look at. As I swished my hand in the water, the light streaks appeared.

Firehouse

This was an old firetruck at the firestation. (Peyton and Curt)

Brigham and Daddy

This old firestation is famous in Ponce. I thought it was pretty cool looking. (Mark and Peyton, Rick, Curt and Brigham)

This was in the gardens at Castillo Seralles. I didn't realize until afterward that I was the man and Rick the girl!

This was also in the gardens, and I thought it was a cool place to take a picture. Then someone told me they were rum barrels, oh well!

Castillo Seralles

I thought this tree was really neat!

Castillo Serrales

We drove to Ponce on Dec. 29. It is the southern part of the island. It is a lot drier and vegetation is a little browner in the south compared to the north part of the island- I think it rains less. Anyway, Ponce was beautiful! Our first stop was the famous "Castillo Seralles" (the owner of this old house was rich in the rum business) We didn't go inside the castle, but we toured the gardens and they were so pretty!

Snowing in Puerto Rico

On Dec. 27, we went to Plaza Las Americas, the largest mall in the Caribbean. During the month of December at the same time every day, it snowed in the mall. There were things coming out of the wall that shot out soap. All the Puerto Rican kids loved it, and so did our kids. And it was even wet like real snow!

El Morro

Playing on the cannon balls- (I'm not sure we were supposed to, but the boys had fun).

Sorry, there are lots of pictures!