A somewhat wrap up of our trip...but there is more to come!!!

These posts are a little late in coming. We have been so busy the last 2 days that Dad has not had time to help me with them. The below post is from Saturday’s adventures and then Sunday’s post and then the flight home on Monday

So I first want to say Happy Mother’s Day to everyone. I gave Mommy a big hug and kiss to her first thing this morning.

So here is my typical day down here in Rincon. I get up about 6:30 in the morning and I am looking for my bottle. After drinking that down, I go back to bed until about 8am or so. I go with Mom and Dad down to the continental breakfast. I pass by the parrots, that are in cages and the lizards, that run free and have some waffles, lemon poundcake or some bagel with cream cheese. We then pack up the car for our daily adventures around the island.


So yesterday we packed up the car and drove down to the coast to Mayaguez, Cabo Roja, Saint Germain, Lajas, Boqueron and La Parguera. We stopped at our new favorite roadside place and got sandwiches and that rice/green chili/stew combo. We then headed down and had lunch at the InterAmerican University in San Germain. While having lunch there, the guards locked the front gate. We had to find them driving around on campus and show us the way out. We then stopped at this cemetery. All the plots are above ground and some of them were really old. One was dated 1893.

We were going to take a night trip at Phosphorescent Bay. It is this really cool place where at night, the tiny macrobiotic organisms glow in the dark when the water it churned up. But we meet this loco damas (crazy lady) at the beach and she took us around Boqueron and Daddy ate oysters and drank beer with her. We walked awhile and saw the street side shops and bars and had dinner at another street side place. We had pollo and carne empadillas, fritos and a coke. We were all so tired that we ended up driving home.

On Sunday we got up real early, 730am and headed down to breakfast. Mommy had booked us a snorkeling trip down at the dive shop. We went out on a 25 foot catamaran with some other nice people from South Carolina and Toronto Canada. Captain Brian even let me bring my crab on board the boat. We went about 4 miles off the coast to the Tres Palmas reef and went snorkeling We saw all kinds of different coral and some really cool fishes. Mom and Dad took lots of pictures with their underwater camera and we should have them back in about a week or so. After that we had lunch on the front “trampolines” and cruised around for the next 2 hours of so. I had my superhero Speedo suit on. It has built in floatation and makes me look really big and strong.

We also forgot to reapply sunscreen and all three of us have some red to our normally white bodies. My forearms are a little burnt, Mom got her legs and Dad got his shoulders. We got some aloe vera lotion and everything is good once again.

We finally made it down to the glow in the dark bay. We got on the 2 story boat that has a couple of glass bottoms and made the 20 minute trip to the bay. We get there and the captain says something in Spanish but I don’t see anything glowing in the dark. Then another man comes around with a bucket of water and Mom has to chase him down and she grabs a handful of water. We were then able to see them glow. To me, it was a waste of money…..we barely saw it glow and everyone on the boat was really noisy and it was not fun. That was the first time, the whole trip, that Mom and Dad made a bad choice in something to do….oh well.

So we have left Rincon and made the drive back up to San Juan. We got to the airport and had lunch at McDonalds since we were early and did not want to stop on the drive up. I have now found Ketchup…..and it is good!!!! I like to dip my French fries (pomme frites, frittatas) and lick it off and then dip again. Mom makes sure that I have my own dipping cup since I like to double dip and then eat the fries.

Our flight back to Miami was ok. I did not take a nap so I terrorized Mom and Dad the entire time. I pulled keys of the laptop when Dad would not let me type. I was just not having fun and cried and screamed a lot. I was the first time that I have not been good on the plane and Mom and Dad were not happy….but what can I do, I have been in cars, boats, planes, my floatie crab among other things and I am ready to run around and play again…..I cant wait to get home and play with my dogs and sleep in my own bed.

On the ride home from Miami, I was still a terror. But the nice man on the airplane, Reggie, let me work with him. We handed out napkins, drinks, cups and food. We even got to wear some really cool hats while doing it. Everyone than really liked me!!!

Dad was finally able to get his special project done. I will work on that later in the week. I will also be posting a bunch of photos that we took on our trip in the next week or so.
Since there is no free internet at MIA, I will have to do this when I get home. Bye for now.

To San Juan and beyond

So today we made the 2.5 hr drive back to San Juan. It is the island capital and this is where the governor lives. He has a really big house at the end of Old San Juan. It is painted bright blue and has lots of fences. We then found Parque de las Palomas. There were pigeons everywhere and I chased them all over the area. Check out the really cool movie that Mommy shot of me.

Daddy found this really cool restaurant on this tv show that we had lunch at. It was called La Bombonera. It has been open for over 100 years and they have these great pastries called Mallorca. It looks like a combination of a cinnamon roll and a beignets. They cut them in half, put butter on the inside, toast them up and then sprinkle powder sugar on them. I could eat these all day. Check out how happy I look with a mouth full of these!!!!

We had a great lunch and then walked the Old San Juan fort, El Morro. It has been here since the late 1539. The Spanish built it to keep their trade routes open. The French, English and the US have all attacked it at one time or another. It has these great turrets that were used for defensive purposes and some really tall walls. We walked 5 of the 6 levels. They would not let us walk down to the water level though. We also checked out this cemetery that was at the base of the fort. Everything was above ground and white.

We then started the drive home, which took forever since it was rush hour, 3 hours later and we decided to watch the sunset from Aguadilla tonight. They have this great little boardwalk and big city park. I played on the slide for a while and then decided I was really hungry. We had dinner at La Papa. It is just another road side stand between
View Larger Map'>Aguada and Rincon. We had some of the biggest sweet potato’s I had ever seen. Mom’s was filled with cheese and bacon and Dad’s had chicken and cheese. With a full stomach, I am headed to bed. Bye for now……

Just being a local

So today we drove down to Mayaguez to the zoo. It is only about 25 minutes from Rincon. It is the 3rd largest city in Puerto Rico. Their zoo is not as big as the Denver Zoo but they did have some really cool things that we don’t. They had chimpanzees, a really nice green area for their giraffes and elephants. They did not have any polar bears though…I don’t understand that at all???????

We then stopped at one of the many road side food places that they have down here. This one was one of the best we have eaten at. It had this really killer rice and beef stew that they gave me for free!!! I ate that faster than anything I have had down here in the past 3 days. Mom and Dad had the chicken and turkey sandwiches. The owner came out and talked to us and we are going back there on Saturday.

From there we came back to the Parrot and we still did not have any hot water. We have not had hot water since Tuesday. They gave us a new room and now we have hot water, bigger beds and we all smell better.

For dinner we went down to the lighthouse and watched the sunset.

We brought some leftovers since we have a fridge in the room, picked up some drinks and hung out there for awhile. We also stopped by the Econo, the local grocery store, and picked up some snacks and water since we are heading up to San Juan tomorrow for the day. I have also updated some of the earlier posts with some pictures that I just downloaded to Dad’s computer.

Dad is still working on that special post…..most of you will find it very cool. Bye for now!!!!

Rincon Day 2

So Day 2 was as much fun as Day 1. Mom got up and her back hurt really bad. She made some call’s and found a massage therapist. She gave her the following directions:

Go out of the Parrot on 413 and drive to the gas station that sell’s fruit, go up the hill about 2 minutes until you get to the sign that say’s Art Muesem. Go left and then after a couple of “S” turns and the field on the right that is for sale, look for the orange flag on the gate.

So we were able to find it and mom got a great massage. We then drove back down to town and got some lunch from one of the many food stands that are just setup on the side of the road. We had Puerto Rico tacos. They were about 6 inches long, filled with spicy meats and cheeses and then deep fried. YUMMY!!!!!!

We had lunch by the beach and then went and played in the ocean for about an hour. I was out playing in my floatie crab and Dad pushed me into shore towards Mom and I got caught in the surf and flipped over on the shore. I had sand everywhere, in my ears, in my diaper, in my shirt, in my hair….but I only cried for a moment and wanted to go back out.

After coming home and taking a nap, we drove down the coast towards a town called Mayaguez and had dinner at a place called Brasas at the Rincon Beach. This was our “expensive” dinner of the trip. We had Veal chops, shrimp and a soup called Caldo Gallego. It was a mix of white beans, ham, chorizo and celery. It was really good even though it was served hot. After dinner, we walked the beach for a little while. It sure looks different at night and Mom and Dad would not let me play in the water. We might go back there later today to play. All the beaches in Puerto Rico are public and the big resorts cant stop anyone from accessing them. The other cool thing is that you don’t have anyone trying to sell you something while you are relaxing. So today we are going to drive down to Ponce and points east. Dad said that he has something special for tomorrow’s post….stay tuned

My first day on the island

So our first full day in Puerto Rico was the best. We had breakfast and a nice man from PA gave us a map and some places to go. He is building a house down here for his family. He thought that I needed to have a brother….Mom and Dad just smiled and changed the topic of conversation.

We went over to the lighthouse that was built in the 1600’s and is one of the more popular surfing areas. We then went down to the beach and played in the ocean. We found a tide pool to play in. The water came in and out and the sand felt really funny under my feet. Dad has dipped my feet in the ocean before, but we never had a chance to play in the ocean.

After a couple of hours of playing in the sand and water, we took a quick drive around the city and surrounding towns. We came back to the Lazy Parrot and had lunch and then took a nap for a couple of hours. We then went and looked at some really big houses on the beach. Dad bribed a man of this big gated housing community to let us in because we wanted to look at purchasing a place. They were really nice and very close to the beach but they all looked the same.

Last night for dinner we went to El Cerdito del Cielito. (The flying pig in the sky) It had some of the best BBQ on this side of the island. We had pulled pork sandwiches, pork ribs, baked beans, mac and cheese, mofungo and local beers. The man that owns it is from Florida and used to be a pro surfer. We came back to the inn and watched tv for a little while before falling asleep…..more tomorrow on what we are going to do.

Just getting away from everything

So, it has been a really tough couple of weeks around the house. I only got to meet Grant a couple of times since I was not allowed to see him in the NICU at Rose or when he was in the CICU up at Children’s. Once he was moved up to the 9th floor and was there, Mom and Dad took me up and I was able to see him.

While I was there one night, I played with all the balls and toys in the playroom.

I was also being pulled in the wagon and fell down and hit my nose.

I had this really good looking bruise across the bridge of it. Dad had thought that it might be broken, so he pushed on it and I did not cry, so all was good. It was during the hockey playoffs, so I was looking Ian LaPerriere, he has broken his nose a bunch of times.

When I was able to see Grant, I wanted to take out the oxygen tubes out of his nose. When I had them in my nose, I hated them and did not want Grant to have them either. He was so small and just slept a lot but he had been through a lot with his surgery though. I will miss him and I know that Mom and Dad miss him lots. They sleep with his blue blanket, sheep and teddy bear every night. Sometimes when they are crying, I give them my bear blanket and that seems to help them feel better.

We have had a lot of family around the house. All the grandparents, Great Aunt Mary, who I share a birthday with it, Great Grandma Brady, all my aunts/uncles, cousins and lots of friends have been over to see us. I think it has been good for Mom and Dad to have this too.

We are now on the airplane heading off on vacation. Mom and Dad have booked a trip to Puerto Rico, no passport required. We are going to be gone for 7 days and nights of laying on the beach, eating lots of different foods, playing in the sand and the ocean.

Mom and Dad want me to thank everyone that has sent cards, emails, called, stopped by the house, brought food and drink to us during the past couple of weeks. It has been very much appreciated. I will try to write again this week. We are staying on the west coast of PR in a town called Rincon. It is on the side of the island that everyone surfs on. We should have a really good time. Adios for now!!!!!

Ok, so we have just landed in Miami and this place is a DUMP!!!!!! They call this MIA and I know why. I would also want to go missing in action if I had to come here all the time. It is dirty, the air conditioning does not work, there are virtually no places to eat and they don’t even have free internet!!!!!! Mommy told us that the seats in the bathroom were broken and most of the stalls were not useable. And, I dont see any of the hot chicks they show on South Beach or on CSI Miami!!!!

The weather outside is about 83 degree’s with 100% humidity and there is no air….man, I am not used to this at all. At least this will help with my allergies and my nose is already feeling better

So our connector flight was out on the E concourse. We arrived in D and had to walk over to it. It was scary. We rode this little train out to the satellite building. This whole airport is under construction.
There are no flight arrival/departure monitors to be found. We had to ask someone where our connector flight was. It then opens up into big circle with the gates but someone there does not know how to count. Going from left to right, it went Gate 22, 24, 25 then our gate, 23. So our flight to San Juan was uneventful. I took a nap with Mom for most of the flight. We picked up our rental car and then started the drive to Rincon.