Las Galeras with Grammy

I'm behind on my blogging...we've been busy with 2 visitors this month! While Grammy was here, we headed up to Las Galeras, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite places in the DR. This time, we stayed at a small, European-owned B&B called Sol Azul.  Its location is ideal, about half a block from Las Galeras' main corner and a 5-10 min walk to the beach. It was a little rustic, with no a/c and mosquito nets, but we found it quite charming and affordable. It has a pool and includes a delicious breakfast, with eggs and fresh bread from the French bakery in town. 

On our first night, we had dinner at Le Tainos, a delicious place my stepmom discovered. Check out M’s dinner. The child is wild about shrimp. 

Our friends (a double B family!) were also in town, so the next day, we all headed out to Playa Rincon. The road was a little more rough and wet than the last time, but Little Grey (and Daddy) did a great job driving through the (lakes?) puddles. It was overcast all day, but luckily we avoided a storm.

The view from the top of the mountain, when the beach seems finally within reach

That night, despite a little road weariness, we tackled another rough road to have dinner at El Cabito, a hostel and restaurant on a cliff overlooking the ocean. It was windy and chilly and I admit that despite the sturdy fence, I felt pretty nervous being up there. We ended up inside when it started raining, and waited hours for our meal, but luckily, Grammy thought it was a fun time.

The next morning, we had a lovely walk on Las Galeras beach.

 
And then we spent a perfect day at Playita.

We had such a wonderful visit with you, Grammy! Come back soon!

Four years old!

My precious love of a baby girl turned 4 on Monday!! We were especially lucky to have Grammy here for a visit to celebrate with us. We had a party at L's school on Friday morning- and whew, I needed a nap after that one. Picture about 30 kids screaming, running around, and dancing in a small space, with only 2 teachers!

L was pretty precious- she had requested a My Little Pony party, but I don't think she envisioned the amazing cake we procured! It's a custom here to put a toy on top of the cake, so Daddy dutifully went out and bought her a new pony. Cake AND a new toy all wrapped in one- what could be better?

L's favorite teachers

Her Montessori class which has kids of different ages all together

Boy, was that cake delicious

On her fourth birthday, my daughter L is a character. She loves tiny things - the smaller the better. She can spot fake jewels or tiny sequins on a huge playground. She much prefers animals to dolls. She loves Fluttershy, a yellow pony, because she's "kind to baby animals." She adores her brother M but doesn't let him run the show. She likes to snuggle my arm and stretch on my legs in the morning. She loves to sing, dance, and wear her party shoes. She is smart, adorable, conniving, and inquisitive. She has a thing about her mama.

Someone was a little worn out at the end of the party.

It's hard to believe it's been 4 years. Just last week she was like this.

Brand new- photo courtesy of Photopiccolo.com

 

 

 

Nine months old

One year old

One year old

Two years old

Two years old

Three years old

What a joy you are in our lives. Happy birthday my precious girl!

Happy Passover!

We had a lovely Passover seder on Friday night. We are lucky to have some wonderful friends with whom we celebrate all the (big) Jewish holidays. We were also happy that our newest colleague and neighbor, L, could join us.

 

 Here is M reading one of the 4 questions. The kids made some beautiful pictures while the grownups read. 

 

These are our friends' adorable kids, D and N. Sometimes that silly yalmulke just won't stay on! N was very busy during the seder between eating matzo balls and cheerios and throwing things on the floor. We love having a baby around!

Strangely, M really liked the parsley dipped in salt water, and had several helpings.

 And now, the food. My friend A made this delicious matzoh ball soup.

 She also made the gefilte fish loaf on the right with fresh red snapper. Much better than the stuff in the jar! I made the brisket on the left (and the charoset, not shown)! Those of you who know me know that this is a big deal for me- in the last 6 months, I have conquered Thanksgiving turkey AND Passover brisket!

I even made matzoh! We forgot to plan ahead and order it, and we couldn't find it anywhere in town. Though my husband bought at least 8 kinds of flat crackers to substitute, I decided to give it a try. It wasn't that hard. However, did it taste good? I'm afraid not. We were still baking it when our friends arrived, or I might have kept trying to make it look nicer, at least. :)

You can tell from the rolling pin that I'm a serious baker.

 After dinner, there was an exciting search for the afikoman.

M found it and negotiated a good price with his daddy.

 
 50 pesos (about $1.50)! He was quite proud.

Here M is sharing his baby book with our friend L

Extra hugs before our friend J heads to DC for 6 weeks of ConGen

Someone fell asleep in my arms

All in all, a lovely evening with family and good friends. We missed the rest of our family, though, and send you love this Passover.