Samana

Our last stop was Samana Dominican Republic before we headed back to the good ol USA. I really thought that the island was gorgeous...of course I had talked Jason out of taking the big camera whoops big mistake. Our older camera didn't do it justice!!



It started out a little comical due to the fact that the ship anchored instead of docking. So we had to take tenders to the shore. All of the shore excursions met in one location and it turned out to be complete chaos!! I was sure glad when we were called to leave. We boarded our little boat and took an hour cruise to reach a National Reserve. It was amazing we saw so many birds and it was just really pretty. We then went and docked the boat at a cave and half our group went and learned about the cave and our half went kayaking in the Mangroves. Yes we already kayaked but this experience was far better than the 1st time. It was amazing paddling through the channels. There was a thick canopy of trees above us, and we found that there were little crabs running up and down the mangrove branches that were in the water. Jason tried to get me to catch one, and I finally caught 2 after he said he would give me a $100 extra spending money. He really didn't think I would do it. Ha I showed him didn't I!! I loved that Jason was able to speak spanish too, it was fun to hear him conversing with our tour guides, although I do think I was being made fun of a little, and they did like to tease me. The guides also said that we might be able to see parrots we saw some nests but not any birds....bummer.




We paddled back to the boat and then went and walked around a cave. We tried to listen to the history lesson, but ended up just exploring a bit, we did listen a little me more than Jason did. After the caves we were taken to the beach, where we only got to spend about a 1/2 hour at but enjoyed the water. Our beach time was pretty limited as we had to catch the tender back to the boat so we could leave and head back for NY. Wish we would have had about another 1/2 hour or so just to relax...the time here was so short! Oh well we had a great day and great time! What I especially loved was no one smoked on our whole excursion it was so nice to not have to smell cigarette smoke.


The next few days we spent watching movies, watching people gamble playing blackjack, and of course eating. We worked out and we counted the hours till we could be back with our kids. We saw some fun shows and enjoyed a chocolate party one night. It was amazing what they did with the chocolate and it was very very good.

We got back to NY and it was overcast and humid. We got off the ship and started walking back to the downtown area, and we found a Starbucks. Jason's work had given him a giftcard so we got some orange juice and muffins and used the internet. It was perfect timing due to the fact it started raining as soon as we sat down. We were able to talk to the kids and I got caught up on everything that went on while we were gone.

We walked around a bit more and I wanted to get the kids some cute clothes from H&M so we walked to the store and I found the girls cute matching dresses. So fun....although I don't think Jason though so....oh well. We got some pizza for lunch and then headed to catch our bus to take us to the airport. Our flight was delayed about 3 different times and we got to play a lot of games and eat, and walk around for many hours. We were sure glad to get on the plane and get back to Utah. Well as happy as can be for a 5 hour plane ride in seats that don't recline!!! We were so tired and didn't get into Utah until after 2:00 am. We finally made it back to Provo and were in bed not a minute too soon!
Andrea was going to bring the kids over before swim lessons so we got to bed about 3:30 am and the kids were coming at 8:00, I was so excited to see them that I woke up at 7:30 and couldn't go back to sleep.
Yes Jason does have hair! I didn't get any other pictures as proof so this will have to do!

We were so excited to see each other....well Paige wasn't so sure about me but was excited to see her daddy! The other kids were thrilled that we were back and I'm sure my sister was so relieved too.