Puerto Rican Adventure

Philip and I debated for months what kind of vacation we should take for the summer. We thought about lots of options…Ocracoke, Florida roadtrip, or possibly flying somewhere before Owen turns two.  We had proposed dates that we wanted to go on vacation, but we did not decide for sure where we were going until a week before our trip!

We have been wanting to travel to Puerto Rico for quite some time, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity, plus Philip found an AWESOME deal!

We left on Sunday, and the boys were super excited to get to ride on the plane. Landon flew on a plane when we visited San Diego a couple years ago, but he was too little to remember.  The boys loved watching the other planes take off while we waited for our flight. Once we got on the flight, they looked out the window and watched us take off, but within about 10 minutes both were sound asleep! Good job Daddy for booking a flight during nap time! For the little bit of time we were awake, they enjoyed opening their presents from us for being good every 15 minutes or so including play dough, coloring books, stickers, books, (all things I found around the house that I just wrapped to make seem exciting), and a surprise gift that Landon had been begging for…goggles! They loved the presents especially the goggles. Landon’s response was, “Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness! Goggles!!”  When we got to the hotel we went to the beach, ate at the hotel restaurant, and danced to the Spanish band that was playing in the restaurant.

Monday we took the bus into town to visit Old San Juan. We did get caught in the rain, but the positive of that was it really cooled things off! We checked out the El Fort, fed the birds in the park, and enjoyed seeing the historic buildings and churches. We also rode the free trolley around town a bit. That evening we played on the beach until the sun went down!

Tuesday we decided to stay at our resort all day! The weather was gorgeous, and it was so nice to have the pool and the beach to jump back and forth from!  The US had an afternoon game in the World Cup so we watched that in the pool!  The boys loved seeing and feeding the iguanas, and then we walked to a traditional Puerto Rican restaurant for dinner!

Wednesday we went to El Yunque rainforest. We ate lunch at the beautiful museum and visitor center and walked several small trails to see waterfalls. We could not do the long trails because the boys were too sleepy to walk long distances (nap time! L) But that’s okay, just an excuse to go back! We drove up to the top of the mountain as high as we were allowed for lots of awesome views of the rainforest. That afternoon we went to and grocery shopped and rode around to see the beach. That night we drove to the Cheesecake Factory for one of our favorite meals!!! A tradition any time we travel!

Thursday we went to Ponce. It was about a two hour drive from San Juan, but one of the most gorgeous drives! We spent the day walking around the downtown area of Ponce, the Ponce Boardwalk, and sat out on the beach for a little while. The mangrove trees reminded us so much of Hawaii! We got back to the hotel in enough time to play on the beach until sunset, and then eat pizza in our hotel room! The boys were always crazy in the hotel room because there were not kid shows on tv, but they figured out lots of games with waterbottles and tomatoes! Haha!

Friday was the Fourth of July! We decided to stay at the hotel again all day and just enjoy the beach, the pool, and each other! The beach was a happening place that day with tons of people, delicious smells of barbecues and traditional Puerto Rican food, and lots of music playing!

Saturday was time for us to head home! Luckily our flight wasn’t until 4 so we were able to play at the beach and pool until naptime. Then the hotel allowed us to extend our checkout so the boys could nap from 11-1. We flew out, and this time the boys did NOT sleep on the plane! Even though they didn’t sleep they were awesome on the flight and loved looking out the windows, watching movies, and playing with all our activities. Owen got a little wiggly at times, but no screaming or crying so we’ll take it! J

What a fantastic family vacation! Not every moment was perfect, but every moment added up to create a wonderful family adventure that we will always remember!