Take Me Back to Puerto Rico!

I feel like I need to apologize for the definite lack of project-y posts around here lately. They are coming back, I promise! But last week we took a family vacation to gorgeous and amazing Puerto Rico, and between getting ready for the trip, being away, and unpacking, there just hasn’t been much time for DIY! If you follow me on Instagram, you probably caught some of the highlights of our trip, but if not (and why not? Let’s be Instagram buddies! 😉 ) I thought I’d give a little recap of the week!

Now don’t get me wrong, I am a Pittsburgh girl through and through, but to say winter here has been rough would be an understatement– the cold and snow just will not stop! So that’s why Donnie gets extra special bonus points for researching, planning, saving up his travel rewards points so we could practically go for free, and booking this trip for us! He truly is amazing. I am so thankful that the Cs will have trips like this one to look back on!

We stayed at the Embassy Suites Dorado del Mar Beach & Golf Resort, and it was truly incredible. We spent a lot of our time down by the huge pool, soaking up the sun and playing games with the Cs.

I think Connor was a fish in another life. He would have slept in the water if we let him! He had so much fun playing with the floaty toys, splashing around, and of course, jumping in to whomever was available to catch him. Little Caleb was another story. He spent the first couple days telling us, “I want to go back to the hotel” every time we tried to get him to swim. He eventually warmed up to it, though, and by the last day he was soaking it all in with his brother.

We even had our own little visitor at one point…

The hotel also had its own little beach, so the Cs built tons of sandcastles {well, Caleb smashed tons of sandcastles} and played in the waves. We even got to try out the paddle boats and standing paddle board!

{Psssstttt…You can win a bag like this one! Enter my Thirty-One giveaway here!}

{Caleb wanted to try it too! 😀 }

Because my parents and sister came with us, D and I were even able to have a kidless date night while we were there! We found a fun little local place that was open-sided and even had its own retired ski boat and caged bird! We ate fried plantains and chicharrones and had a great time soaking up the culture.

I was pretty terrible about remembering to take pictures of a lot of things on our trip. Sadly, the only family photo we managed to get was on our last night when we were at dinner at the local Applebee’s, taken with my iPhone. Oh well! I guess that just means we’ll have to go back again!!

{Apparently Caleb was really loving his drink!}

Like most vacations, ours came to an end too quickly, and we had to say goodbye to the warm sunshine and beautiful views like this one…

{view from the balcony of our room}

and this one…

{view from our favorite lunch spot by the pool}

Soon it was time to board the plane and head back to our snowy home! I had been nervous about the flying part since this was the Cs’ first time on an airplane, but they were champs! They especially loved getting to sit in the cockpit!

All in all we had tons of fun, and I’m so glad we got to have that experience together! {And being back in the snow and cold makes me appreciate it that much more!} Now it’s back to reality, and I really can’t complain– life is good, even when the weather is not! Hope you all are having a wonderful week!

Have you been on any fun trips lately?