In Lieu of Running...

... I'm going to reminisce - Dominican style.

Ok, not really Dominican style, there will be a lot less meringue music involved here.

Alright, as you should now know, Hubband and I went on a vacation, purchased through livingsocial.com.

Four nights, six days, for $500 for the two of us at an all inclusive resort.  Plus, a historical tour of Santo Domingo and a couple of resort upgrades.

It was an awesome deal.  We'll definitely be purchasing vacations through living social and groupon again.  Though, I will add the caveat that we did do and will do research about that particular deal before purchasing.


Anyway, onto the good stuff.
(Yes, Lonely Island's "Captain Jack Sparrow" did just start playing in my head.)

Part 1:

The grounds on the first morning.

 Part of our deal was a tour of Santo Domingo.  We started out in the historical part, with a tour of Christopher Columbus' house.

What? You don't have full armor in your foyer? 

The first balcony of CC's house. Designed and positioned so that he could keep an eye out for
that scoundrel, Francis Drake. 

A special stone, that starts out as coral? (Some facts are fading...)
It's super strong, and holds up amazingly in the damp climate of the Dominican.
I've never really seen anything like it. 

Loved the floors throughout. 

The bishop's bedroom, with an elephant skin trunk.  

"Mark, would you just learn to take a good picture of me?" 

The English speakers finished up their remote control tour, and waited in the
heat.
We were amused, can't you tell? 

The "Royal Ladies" walking road.  No men allowed. 

The "governator's" palace.  (Our tour guide couldn't actually say governor, so it came out
Govenator.  Which, made us giggle inappropriately. 

The honor guard in the hall or heroes.
[Hall of heroes: Big giant mausoleum that one of the dictators had built during his reign,
had a whole bunch of dead important guys moved into it, then made his wish to be buried here when he died.
Peoples didn't listen, and dumped his body off the side of a boat instead.]

Painting of "Birth to death".  

Just in case you forgot...

The first Cathedral built in the Americas.  Very gorgeous.
Built in like... 1540? 

Hey, little guy! 

Tour guide: Lady drivers all over the world are terrible.
It's a real problem.
Half the tour van: [if looks could kill...]

Cuevas de la Tres Ojos.
Well... one of the Ojos. I would have loved to have spent more time here.
I would have loved to take the raft to the back lake, that's completely in a cave. Sadly, there was not time.

National monument: "Kiss of the Stalagmite".
Geology rules. 

On the tour bus back.
Hello, neck veins... 

And then we came back to the resort.

Him: Piña Colada
Me: Drink of the day... something fruity with Rum 

And didn't watch the sun go down...

Ooooh la la... 

Hurry, Hurry.

This poor, poor, neglected little blog.  

So that I'm not accused of abandoning anyone, here's a quick update on us, and our lives as of late.



Hubband and I took an "US ONLY" vacation.
To the Dominican Republic.
I'll post a more comprehensive recap of it all, later.

We did a nerdy history/geological tour of Santo Domingo
our first full day there. 

Drinks, beach, sun, little grass hut thing.
Perfecto! 

Holdeezy continues to dominate my iphone photo library.  Funny how being with me ALL the time does that, eh? 

We continued on with life.  (As you can see in the background that DOES include wine.)

Soccer started up...again.

There was some yoga.

The boys got new beds.

Gearing up for the transition of Holdeezy to a big boy bed, sometime in the next  year.  

I had a house full.

 I started my second year of being 26, with a new rearview dangler.

Doctor Who! 

 And Holdeezy killed off the last of a block of cheese by eating a few bites, then dumping it on the bathroom floor.

No, I did not give him that block of cheese.  He stole it out of the fridge.
Obviously, he was pleased with himself. 

Thankfully, a shoe in the face made this day better.

Monday, B-rox had a mental breakdown and threw a shoe at his brother's face.

Up until then, I'd had some pretty hardcore anxiety about the upcoming school year.
I wasn't ready for summer to end, I wasn't ready for the drudgery of another school/soccer/school/gymnastics year, and I just wasn't ready to tick off another mark of proof that my baby boys are growing up.  

Then Kenny ended up with a bloody nose, thanks to said shoe - and all my anxiety flew away.

Favorite Food: Donuts
Favorite toy: Hotwheels
Favorite Song: Maroon 5's "Payphone"
Favorite Movie: Tinkerbell
Favorite book: Wayside School is Falling Down
Doesn't like: Missing Daddy while he's at work

Such a perfect expression for him.  

Favorite food: Hotdogs
Favorite Toy: Action Figures
Favorite Song: Adele's "Rumor has it"
Favorite Movie: Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone
Favorite Book: Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone
Doesn't like: When Daddy scores a goal in him in soccer

Big, giant, grown up boys. 

Thumbs up for school.
Though, Holdeezy cried when we had to say goodbye.  

So, bring it on school year.  We're ready.

You Absolutely MUST See This!

Some things from our life:

A playdate at our favorite state park, for "Games Colonial Children Play" day, then general madness on the play structures.
While there, we met this guy:

No joke, scared me huge.  About 5 inches long and a little thicker than my thumb.
Those horns look awful to mess with!  

Daddy got tired of doing horsey rides.  So he decided to give "crab rides".

Unsurprisingly, it was a hit. 

 Out for a morning stroll, after dropping the big brothers off for school.

Killer shoes, right? 

Then we went in search of pieces for the boys halloween costumes.

Winner winner, Turkey dinner! 

Draftin'

Today has been a particularly epic day, even accounting for the "postponement" of the Beavers game today.

Football begins today.

That, among other reasons, is why today is epic.

Yes.  My office needs some work. It's next on the list.
Yes. That is my Nerf gun.  Yes it is bigger than the other Nerf guns in the house. 

Fantasy draft time.  Last year's league did a sleeper draft, where you did a mock up before hand and then let the computer play it all out.
This year's league did a live style draft.  MUCH more fun and MUCH more nerve wracking.  I got a couple of the key players I wanted, but mostly ended up doing a mad scramble the first 45 seconds of my picks.  So, we'll see how it goes...   It's only $50 if I lose...