Beachcombing

One morning of our Puerto Rico vacation, we woke up early (well, we always wake up early) and went out to the beach right after breakfast to go beachcombing!  On the way to the beach, a small rainstorm kicked up and the kids really wanted to go back to the apartment - but luckily I brought their towels, so I wrapped them up and we marched on to the beach.  

As soon as we got to the beach, the rain stopped and we got busy looking for shells.  We found a whole bunch of shells including urchin shells, limpet shells, cantharus shells, and several pieces of coral.

The "storm" blowing away:

We found this excellent hunk of brain coral - I wish I'd gotten someone's foot in the picture to show how BIG this piece of coral was - it was HUGE!  The kids wanted to bring it home but luckily I was able to distract them and they forgot about it for awhile.

We also found a really neat, beat-up, weathered log:

And then we spotted a rainbow!  A huge rainbow that started at the beach and ended in the ocean!  But our discoveries didn't end there...

Two rainbows!  A double rainbow!  Wow!

After the excitement of the double rainbow, we collected more shells and when we'd had enough (and were ready for a morning snack), we headed back to the apartment...

and a nice, sunny day :-)

When we got back to the apartment, we set to work to clean our shells.  And later that afternoon, the kids worked on examining and sorting them.

Urchin shell snowman :-)

"Cheese!"

Blizzard of 2015

The Blizzard of 2015 has come and gone, leaving us with -can you believe it - four inches of snow at most :-)  The BIG storm was supposed to hit Monday night after a clipper passed through mid-day on Monday, so the kids' school had an early dismissal on Monday - Sean was super-pumped as he waited for the bus in his "ice fort."

So we were really excited when we went to bed on Monday night - we expected tons of snow but when we woke up - there were only a few measly inches on the ground.  However, Mommy's work and the kids' schools had already closed for the day and Daddy worked at home so we got to have a SNOWDAY!!!

Snow angels:

Snowman:

"Grrr! I crushed the snowman!"

Sledding - Mommy would pull the kids around and around on a track we made.  I'd try to get the kids to fall off the sled and then they'd have to catch me!  They were having fun and running around in the cold almost always guarantees a peaceful naptime later on :-)

Hot chocolate:

Making cookies - not sure what Sean finds so disgusting here?

Yum!  Craisins and chocolate chips!

After nap, more playing inside...

 ...and outside!

Making birdfeeders:

My little helper suiting up so we could hang the birdfeeders outside - after that, we went inside for good and had a normal evening of dinner, bath, books, and bed.  It was hard going back to work and school today - fingers crossed for a "real" snowstorm soon!

Beach days

When we were in Puerto Rico, we definitely made time to go to the beach - our beach babies were really missing the sand and waves!  We spent a day at Crashboat Beach in Aguadilla.  There used to be a military port nearby and this is where the boats would rescue downed aircraft from Ramey Air Force Base.  Now it seems to be a very popular spot for snorkeling and jumping off of the remains of the piers that were part of the port.  There are also nice stretches of beaches for swimming and playing in the sand!

The kids had a blast playing in the sand and in the water.  We did, too - at least I did when I wasn't fretting about the kids' skin - the sun was super hot and so strong!

Luckily, Clare could be enticed to stay in the shade for a few minutes to eat some pinchos (barbecued chicken on a stick)...

Crashboat Beach was very lively - there was lots of music and cooking, and even a couple were practicing their dance moves together nearby.  After a few hours in the sun, we watched a storm roll in, but it seemed to stay away from the beach.  But we'd had enough swimming for one day, anyway or so we thought...

But the kids wanted to hit the pool as soon as we got back, of course! There was a very friendly Rottweiler strolling around the pool that day - he was blind in one eye and we heard shouts of "ojo blanco" from the other young pool guests when the dog would come around.

Another day we went to a beach called Shack's Beach.  This one was so nice - the atmosphere was quieter and the kids had ample space to play in the sand and help Auntie Rachel build a sand snowman:

Sean spent a lot of time in the water battling the surf while kite surfers rode the waves further offshore.

We finally got Clare to take a proper nap - she dozed on the beach for a very long time while Sean kept playing playing playing in the sand.

Our background noise was music coming from the beach bar at a resort nearby and the constant chatter of the little green parrots flying to and from this big tree:

When we'd had enough sun and swimming, we headed back to the car - and almost immediately went to the pool, of course :-)