We flew out March 8 early in the morning. It was an all day flying day with a layover in Atlanta. We got to PR late that night, after David's family had all gone to bed.
Wednesday was a fun day at the beach. Before going to PR we had heard about a nasty virus call the Zika Virus that was affecting pregnant women in central and south america. Pregnant women and women of childbearing years were advised strongly about not going to certain countries, PR being one of them, or making sure you take precautions. Daniel and I prayed and prayed that we wouldn't be affected by the virus since we want to have more kids-some days we do, others not so much! Before going we made sure we sprayed most of our clothes with a special bug spray and that we had plenty of DEET bug repellent. Wednesday we woke up to some clouds so rather than driving to a far away beach, we went to one nearby. It was great, but unfortunately too windy for any surfing or SUP boarding (stand up paddle boarding). We were able to wait out the clouds and the lunchtime was hot with sun. We ate some yummy chicken with rice, beans and fried bananas. The meal was super tasty! I really liked the rice and beans.
We headed back home in the early afternoon so David, Daniel and I could pack up and head to Bio Bay. Bio Bay is a lagoon of water filled with dinoflagellates that light up when you place your paddles in the water or if you run your hand through the water. After about a 2 hour drive we got to Bio Bay. We got our kayaks ready and headed out through the mangrove trees to the lagoon. Because David has done it so many times, he was our guide. We headed out around 6:00 so we could see the awesome canopy of mangrove trees and see where we were kayaking. It was so beautiful to see the trees and their roots just growing on the surface of the water. We were able to explore for several hours until it got dark around 9:30 ish. Once it was dark we were able to put our hands in the water and see it sparkle. Because of drought conditions, the bioluminescence wasn't very bright. So it looked like the water was full of glitter as you moved your hand around. Several times we hit a jelly fish with out ore or Daniel's hand. The jelly fish would glow like a glow stick! It was really cool. We spent an hour or so kayaking around the lagoon and then headed back through the mangroves. I was thankful that we had paddled out in the daylight so I knew where we were going on our way back in the complete dark. Such a fun experience!
Thursday Daniel and I woke up early so we could drive 3 hours to Toro Verde in Orocovis to go zip lining. We were worried with the weather that we would be rained on but we had light sprinkling at the end and that was it. Toro Verde is known in the Guiness Book of World Records for having the longest zipline on earth with a cable equivalent to 28 football fields! Not knowing which one we were going on, when I saw "the monster" my stomach got a little queasy! Luckily that was a separate purchase and ours wasn't so high! We walked to our first exiting platform and learned how to zipline. They told us the importance of leaning back so you didn't get stuck on the line before the landing platform, but taught us what to do if that happened. And then we were off! We did 8 lines with the last 2 being the longest-1/4 mile and a half mile. We had some fun people in our group that we were able to chat and laugh with. And don't you worry, I sure did get stuck on the last 2 lines! The second to last I pulled myself in to the platform and the last one a guy came out, locked legs with me and pulled me in to the platform. I tried so hard to tuck so I wouldn't get stuck, but Daniel said I just didn't weigh enough even with the backpack on for extra weight! It was such a fun morning. We got back just before lunch to David's place. We hung out at the house with the family for the afternoon
and night.
The Toro Verde (green bull) was running into us
I LOVED this sign "Men go to the left because Women are always right!"
yep words of wisdom everyone!
See that wire over our heads? That is The Monster-it started on a very high platform and then disappeared in the jungle somewhere in the canyon behind us.
David, Hyrum, Ashton, Erin, Talmage, McKay and Daniel
Friday morning we had planned to go to a beach with Erin and the kids, but we awoke to rain. David was at work that day so we decided to head into town to try out some bread at a local bakery. IT WAS HEAVENLY! I wanted to eat the whole loaf! From there we went to the base to do some grocery shopping and souvenir shopping for our kids. We also went to a store that had croc like shoes for super cheap. So we made sure we loaded up on shoes for everett and variah for the next 2 or so years!
A breakfast sandwich from the bakery that was very very yummy!
Cute Ashton is the same age as Variah. He was darling and I loved watching him and thinking how much Variah would love playing with McKay and him. I read to him from The Good Dinosaur book while Erin was grocery shopping.
When we got back from our shopping we were able to walk to the beach from Wednesday and enjoy beach time, just Daniel and me. The kids and Erin came over after the kids got home and we met up with them, just in time for a downpour! Luckily those palm trees make great umbrellas so we huddled under the canopy of leaves until the storm passed and then we headed home. That night Daniel and I watched the boys so David and Erin could go together to a civil wedding David was performing. We had corn dogs-my favorite, and watched the Good Dinosaur. It was fun getting to spend the night watching the boys and getting to know them.
See it was sunny some of the time-that sunburn was from the first day when we were eating lunch and the sun came out for a bit
"all of us at the beach"
Walking back from the beach we saw this iguana just hanging out in the road
Saturday morning we got up and headed 3 hours to Charco Frio and Las Tinajas, a part of the El Yunque rainforest. And par for our trip, we had rain. So out we climbed from the van and into the rain and the river. One good thing was that we had the place to ourselves! We stepped into the river and walked right up it over rocks and boulders to several little pools (charcos, in Spanish). The kids were such troopers and we even had a dog that joined us on our hike! The dog was amazing and a great climber. After an while we got to Las Tinajas, the water falls, rope swing and natural water slides. It was chilly but fun. We were able to do the slide several times, jump from the rocks and play in the water. I am not a fan of being cold and wet, so I just did the water slide once, but had it been warm and sunny I would have done it more times. The area was beautiful though and well worth the drive and hike. After playing in the water we headed back down the river. The boys played on the rope swing for a bit and then we continued on down the river. At this point I was hoping for a trail down, but everyone was loving walking/stumbling over the rocks in the river. With all the rain that they'd had the previous days, the river was higher than normal, the rocks more slippery and the water more rapid. But it just added to the adventure and both Daniel and I got some cuts/scars as souvenirs from that trip to Charco Frio. On the way home we stopped at a local barbecue place and ate a delicious dinner! A long but fun filled day.
Sunday we were able to go to church with David's family to their Spanish Branch where David is the Bishop. I could have used a translator for Sacrament meeting, but I loved being able to hear the language and see the people and feel their testimonies. Daniel and I were asked to teach a primary class. We taught Hyrum's class about King Benjamin. Then I was able to go to Relief Society with Erin for a bit before we went to see Talmage set apart as part of the Deacon Quorum presidency.
After lunch we headed to Old San Juan to see the military forts. It was bright and sunny for the first fort, but just as we were leaving to meet up with David to see the second fort, a crazy storm came out of nowhere and SOAKED us all! We ran for cover and hung out with the masses trying to stay dry. After being there for a while we decided that rain would only make us wet-which we already were. So we ran out in the rain to see the second fort. After looking around we headed back to meet up with David and the van. It wasn't raining anymore at this point, just wet. The boys and I had a race to the van-they won. But it felt good to run a bit!
Trying to stay dry
We gave the boys new hair dos
Monday morning Daniel and David woke up early to go SUP boarding. After the rest of us woke up we headed to the beach by their house and spent the morning there. I loved how close they were to the beach. We had tried multiple times to get to other beaches but due to the poor and unpredictable weather we never made it to any other beaches. While David and Daniel were out snorkeling, Daniel dove for a conch shell. When he retrieved the shell, he noticed some eyeballs tentacles! An octopus!! He went to the surface and David asked why he came up empty handed. Daniel explained what he had seen. David went back down with the GoPro but the battery died. So they came to us on the beach, got a phone and headed back out to get the shell and video the octopus. Erin assumed it was a female and was guarding eggs and that's why it didn't come out at the guys. But it was quite the event that day! That afternoon we spent at the house playing games with the kids. It was PI day so I made a lemon Meringue pie-something I've never done before, but you've got to have pie on PI day and they had some ingredients I was able to get creative with and make a pie out of for the day.
Tuesday morning, bright and early we headed to the airport to begin our journey home! It had been a great trip and I loved spending the time with David and Erin's family. I haven't spent much time with them because they have lived out of state since I've married into the family. So it was great spending time just us with their family.
We got home Tuesday afternoon. Debbie was here watching the kids. It was so good to see them and give them big hugs. We had missed them but had also enjoyed our time. And after all of our prayers we were not affected by the Zika virus, we didn't see but 1 mosquito!!! No Zika virus for us thankfully. The rain put a damper on many of our plans, and the thing I was most looking forward to was canceled (Catamaran ride out to an island with one of the world's top rated beaches and a lunch on the beach), but we decided the health of any future children we have was more important. David told us in the 3 years he has lived in PR, that week we were there was the rainiest he had seen!
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