san antonio or bust

we don't foresee a VAcation in the near future so we settled on a lovely DAcation. 

already a world traveler

baby-babe celebrated her 22nd week in london...

and her 23rd week in budapest! we hope she loves travel as much as we do! 

mlk day in chilly florida

to escape our mild nyc winter we booked a trip to sunny florida for the long weekend. of course it was much warmer than home but we were a bit whiny about the mid 60 degree weather.  

as always, andrea and i took advantage of mom's hot rolling skills. 

dad brought home tons of juicing oranges from a neighbors yard so... i squeezed. it was delicious and even though we had to wear more layers than we would have liked to we sipped it in the sun.

we spent an afternoon at the clearwater aquarium. it was a bit heartbreaking but good to see all the great work that is done at this rescue and release organization. 

the waters were filled with disabled or rehabbing turtles and dolphins. below is the poor dolphin, winter, who was found in a fishing line and lost his tale. a recent disney movie was inspired by his story and has brought tons of publicity and money to the aquarium. 

can you even believe mom was willing to touch the rays? 

we will have to go back and enjoy the warmth and beach again soon! 

Clips from a Trip

the husband and i took a wonderful october trip to puerto rico where we drove all over the island. so much ecoadventure, relaxation, and food! if i had a better working computer i would present the video i put together here...someday.

new england love

after a five hour delay turned cancelled flight, three beers with a group of ohio travelers, and fighting for seats on the last possible plane to boston, we made it to gloucester for the preston wedding weekend.

the quaint, clean, and very vintage vista motel served as our home for the weekend. when we opened the huge, wall-to-wall curtain in the morning we were pleasantly surprised with this lovely view...

after our whale watch we met a few friends for dinner then went to the beach to watch the  quarter moonrise.

sunday, before the wedding we had time to explore, shop, and eat in rockport.

after eating fresh lobster, chowder, and clams to our hearts' content we made our way to celebrate with mike and leah.  

we were certain it was going to rain on the outdoor ceremony but the clouds rolled through with only a sprinkle. it was beautiful.  

conquering sea sickness, spoiling surprises

my very first whale watch!

we were away in the sweet town of gloucester, massachusetts this weekend for a beautiful wedding celebration. while away, rob surprised me (sort of) with his one year anniversary gift for me,  paper tickets to a whale watch! 

we aren't the biggest present couple and we typically only give to one another if there is something we know will be special or the other person really wants. according to rob it is special and necessary to go on at least one whale watch in a person's lifetime. as a newbie 'cape codder' i absolutely can't disagree but i have been putting it off due to my history of sea sickness. sigh.

lucky for all of us i was able to spoil rob's surprising me with these tickets in time to take action against the motion of the ocean. between the pressure bracelet from my mother-in-law and a scopalamine patch for 24 hours i finally had my sea legs!

it was beautiful to see these massive creatures socialize, dive, and play in their natural environment. thanks babe, and sorry for never letting surprises survive!

summer is here to stay!

i have spent the last couple of months enjoying my summer and neglecting my blog. we have had such a great time this season and have been super busy in a very good way. just a bit of summer catch up...

we had a camping weekend with friends in the catskills...

rob and i spent july forth weekend in different countries. i was with my sister on an eco-adventure in the dominican where we swam, and hiked, and jumped, and slid while rob nearly killed himself playing with fireworks on a lake trip with his high school pals.

biking, hitting the pool and beach days have consumed most of our other free time.

the biggest news is that we have moved into our new garden apartment we have had a blast cooking outdoors, getting our hands dirty in the garden, and entertaining. thanks again to my parents for the awesome grill!

dominican republic sisters' weekend day 2

dominican republic sisters' weekend day 1

our forth of july sister's weekend in the DR started out rough. our late night flight out of JFK was delayed and we didn't arrive in puerta plata until 5am! the hiccups didn't stop there. at our resort (this was my first and probably last all-inclusive trip) we were told that they were overbooked and we would have to go to a hotel down the street! what? infuriated! i argued and pleaded with them to give us a bed to sleep in for one hour (we were being picked up at 7am for a snorkel and sail trip). finally they showed us to a room with no air conditioning and no outdoor window. we were grateful for a place to nap and were assured there would be a lovely suite ready for us later in the day.

we managed to crawl out of bed, don our bathing suits, and grab a coffee. so tired.

we rode in the back of a safari truck to meet our catamaran. the family of five who rode with us spoke no english and stared us down the entire day. super creepy. i'm pretty sure the sixty year old man and the teenage boy were hitting on us in an unfamiliar language.

there he is! he found a prime seat to look straight at us! the boy is to his right.

we snorkeled, jumped off the boat, and played in the water when it rained. rum punch was plentiful and a dance party started with the crew on the sail home. all while 'you know who' watched from a distance.

back at the resort we ate a quick, awful mexican dinner and practically sleep walked back to our new ocean front, enormous room.