Ryan, Kate and I went to my brother Jared's wedding this past weekend in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Ryan's mom came and stayed with the boys so we didn't have to haul them across the nation, get them passports and have them miss a week of school.
Here's a very long rundown of the festivities... Feel free to just scroll through the pictures.
TUESDAY
Fortunately, we flew Lori in on Saturday, because Denver got a foot of snow and 35 mph winds all day. Collin's school was canceled. I ran around like a crazy person trying to get the last of our things bought for the trip. I highly recommend running errands in the snow - I got all the best parking spots, there were no checkout lane lines, and I was the only one in all the dressing rooms. It was great, and the roads weren't really even that bad.
We left about 8:30 pm, and
Kate fell right asleep in the car. We parked in long-term parking and took a shuttle to the airport. We checked our bag, and
Kate slept. We had to wake her for TSA screening, and she was pleasant and cheerful getting to our gate. I nursed her on the plane before we even left the gate, and
she slept until we landed in Miami four hours later. Score!
WEDNESDAY
We landed in Miami at 6 am local time, and despite Kate's absolute perfection, neither of us had slept more than 15 minutes. We walked for an eternity to our connecting gate and started our 4-hour layover. Lucky for us, Jared and his fiancee Charlotte were also on our connecting flight, so we got to chat while waiting. They both were absolutely glowing with joy.
Right when it was time to board they switched our gate back to where our first flight came in, and we had to truck across the airport again. Sigh.
Kate was absolute perfection again, nursing and then napping in her car seat. We checked her stroller and car seat and boarded. I nursed her most of this flight, and
she slept (albeit more fitfully than before) the whole flight. I didn't sleep at all.
We arrived in the Dominican at 1:30 pm local time. We paid our "tourism fee," showed our passports at immigration, turned in our declarations paper, and picked up our bags. We stood in line after line, but the Dominicans kept pulling us to the front to fast-track us because of Kate. It was awesome. Everyone we met thought she was so beautiful, asking to hold her and everything. They REALLY wanted her to say "hola" since she looks about the size of a one-year old. Unfortunately, she's only 5 months and could only flash her toothy grin. All week we heard, "Hola, bebe!" They just loved her.
Meeting up with our shuttle to the resort took a while, and we were so wasted tired. Kate got pretty grumpy in the van, and there wasn't anything I could do to calm her. I think more than anything she just wanted us to stop holding her so she could wiggle.
We got to the resort, and Ryan waited to check us in. I wandered over to the balcony to look at the ocean. I heard someone say, "Are you a Morello?" Charlotte's family was all waiting in the lobby for her and Jared to arrive (they were on a different shuttle than us) and recognized me as a sibling. Her family is wonderful, and we immediately felt welcomed to the group.
While we chatted, Ryan was told the resort didn't have our reservation, and that we had been booked with the Diamond Club. Basically, this was an upgrade to special accommodations, personalized butler services, free spa services, private beach cabanas, etc. We totally didn't pay for it, but since they didn't have any reservation for us elsewhere, we went with it.
After lots of talking and a tour of the resort, we FINALLY made it to our room about 5 pm. Have I mentioned how absolutely tired we were? Anyway, I nursed Kate again, put her in
her car seat for a nap, threw on our swimsuits and headed to the pool.
Charlotte's family was all down there, and we discovered our personal butler had left out many important pieces of information - towel cards, wifi password, television access (all resort info was on the tv). We headed back to the room to figure it all out. I was soooo tired, hungry, frustrated and worn out.
In the end, we ate a quick buffet dinner with a fussy baby, and all tried to go to bed. About 11:30, my sister emailed to say that they had just gotten to their room and invited us over. Kate, having slept great all night and all day, was as happy as can be, so we headed over to see them. She didn't get tired until 1 am, so we stayed in their room until then. It was a long, long day.
THURSDAY
We woke late on our first real day of vacation. In fact, we barely made it to the breakfast buffet before it closed at 10:30 am. My uncle Ron and his wife Kristie met us there, as well as my Aunt Geri and her husband Danny. I was in a MUCH better mood now.
We ate and then headed to the beach. We decided to check out our private Diamond Club beach, and it was pretty awesome. Cushioned lounge chairs, lots of shade, and very attentive drink servers.
We really lived up the all-you-can-consume environment of the resort. We drank as many virgin (non-alcoholic) drinks as they offered. Our favorites were Dirty Monkeys (chocolate, coconut and banana), Mango Margaritas, and of course Pina Coladas.
Kate slept. Sometime that afternoon my brother Rob and my mom and dad arrived at the resort too. The reunion had begun!
We spent the whole day on the beach, until about 4:30, when we came in to shower and cleanup. Ryan got us dinner reservations at the steakhouse for 6 pm. Right as we were headed in, my Aunt Kristie showed up and offered to take Kate so Ryan, Rob and I could have an adult conversation. Just as we took our last bite of dessert, my Uncle Ron hurried into the restaurant saying Kate was shrieking and asking, "Where is the pacifier?" (They took her so suddenly that I didn't get a chance to tell them important things... like she doesn't take a pacifier.)
Anyway, I rushed out and she was SCREAMING outside. Everyone was turning and looking and wondering what was wrong with this "bebe."
My sister came just then (hearing the commotion) and let me hurry to her hotel room since it was the closest, and the only thing that was going to calm her down was nursing. I sat on the bed and fed her and
she was asleep in seconds. I carried her back to the restaurant, and Ryan and Rob were out front with all my family.
The resort had set up pirate decorations in the center plaza, and this evening there was dancing and pirate costumes. It was pretty fun.
Kate slept nearby, and my dad kept an eye on her carrier while we danced. It was great fun, but then she woke up and was happily awake until 1 am again.
FRIDAY
We went together to the hotel gym, but we got in trouble for bringing Kate inside. We were going to take turns working out, but then my mom showed up in the lobby and took her to a pre-wedding meeting with her. After working out, we decided to skip breakfast so we'd have room for lunch. We headed to the neighboring resort (our wristbands worked here too) where there were water slides. My sister's in-laws came too, so they watched Kate's carrier while
she slept, so Ryan and I could do some slides together.
We ate at a buffet in that resort, and then headed back to the beach. After getting
Kate asleep again, Rob and I checked boogie boards out from the hotel and tried our luck in the waves. I only caught two, but Rob did great. It really was just like when we were kids vacationing in the Outer Banks.
Boogie boarding with Rob took second place in my all-time favorite parts of the vacation.
About 4 o'clock, we headed back to the room to shower and get dressed for the rehearsal dinner. We got a few pictures before the meal started, but then Kate got tired and needed a nap.
She slept through the meal.
Right as we ate the last bite of our baklava, it started to trickle. We rushed to the nearby martini bar, and the clouds opened up in a deluge! I fed Kate her oatmeal while we waited 5 minutes for it to end.
The resort entertainment this evening was a jazz concert in the theater. Diamond Club members got special seating and better treats. Ryan and I shared our better treats, but we sat with my family. It was AWFUL. We thought it was going to be jazz music, like the Blues, but really it was girls barely-clothed pretending to be Beyonce. Our whole family got up and left in the middle of the second dance.
Kate slept.
After that failure, we sat in the downstairs lobby playing cards as a family until Kate woke up and needed to eat. She played on our bed in the room until 1 am again.
SATURDAY
Because the wedding was in the middle of the afternoon, we opted not to get sandy and salty and skipped the beach today. We had breakfast and took the camera to go for a walk around the resort. We found lots of fun plants, flowers, trees and animals. The Dominican is truly a beautiful place.
Kate slept in her car seat.
About noon, we headed in to get all fancied up. I couldn't get Kate to nap until 1 pm, and then we had to wake her at 1:30 to get her into her dress.
BAD CHOICE. She screamed and screamed and screamed, and all I wanted was for her to be awake and happy for the wedding and pictures. Her dress was designed and handmade by Ryan's mom to match the other flower girls' dresses, but we didn't get a single picture of them all together. We put her in her car seat to nap, and
she slept through the whole thing.
The wedding was beautiful. It was hot, but the ocean was in the background and was a perfect turquoise, bluish green.
The sand was sparkling, and Jared and Charlotte were gorgeous. My dad "performed" the marriage (they actually got legally married in Ohio over Christmas vacation, but this was their ceremony), and he gave them wonderful advice. They each wrote vows that they read, and it was beautiful.
There were a bunch of pictures afterwards too, but
Kate slept.
Then we all headed back to our rooms to change for the reception. We changed into more comfortable clothes, and I fed Kate. We headed to the lobby and met a bus to take us to the reception boat.
Kate slept.
The bus drove us to an alley that we walked down to get to a fishing boat. We had to wade into the water, climb into the rocking canoe, and then it motored us out to the dinner and dancing boat. It was a little scary handing the car seat where
Kate was sleeping, but Ryan and my uncles and brothers were a big help.
The reception was awesome. We saw the sun set over the palm trees, we ate a delicious dinner (lobster, fish, chicken and steak kebabs, fries and cucumber salad), and then the tables were cleared and we danced.
Kate ate her oatmeal and I nursed her, and
she fell asleep in her car seat so Ryan and I could slow and fast dance together.
The boat reception was my favorite part of the whole trip.
Taking the fishing boat back to the beach in the pitch black night, and then walking down the dark alley to the bus was the worst part of the whole trip. We even saw a guy in full military clothes with a GIANT gun in the alley. Everyone else said he was there so I'd feel safe, but I decided that if he needed THAT to make me safe, that I didn't feel safe at all. I also fell when the little boat almost capsized when I was climbing out, and I've got some fun bruises to show for it.
When we got back to the hotel, we played cards as a family in the lobby of the hotel. It was a pretty great day.
SUNDAY
This was our last day of vacation, so after breakfast at the buffet, we spent the whole day on the beach.
At one point, my mom watched Kate's carrier while
she slept, and all my brothers and their wives and Ryan and I all went into the ocean and rode waves together.
This was my third favorite part of the whole trip. Spending time with your grown siblings without your/their children around is pretty close to heaven to me. We also stopped in at the water park one last time to do our favorite slides again.
Kate slept.
That night we had reservations for our family (21 people in all!) at the Japanese teppanyaki restaurant. I love the places where they cook with fire in front of you on the grill. We enjoyed steak, chicken and shrimp with fried rice. I love that it's entertainment and eating at the same time.
Kate slept.
After dinner, we changed into our Broncos clothes and headed to the resort's sports bar. The hotel actually threw a huge party in the theater with lots of food and drinks.
It was fun to watch the game with fans cheering for both sides.
Kate slept.
I left after the first quarter to play cards with the rest of my family in the lobby. The mosquitoes were horrible this night though, so I headed back to the room and fell asleep while Kate played next to me. I woke up at 1 am to put her to bed, and Ryan came back from the game to say we'd won. Go Broncos!
MONDAY
This morning I spent with my sister Kim. We had breakfast just the two of us, and then walked the beach. We did some gift shopping together, and then I headed back to the room to get all packed up. Ryan had gotten
Kate to sleep and already done most of the packing, so we headed to the lobby to get checked out.
Our shuttle came to get us at 1 pm, and while
Kate slept, the the traveling nightmare began again. The Dominicans fast-tracked us through each of the airport lines because of Kate in the stroller, but even then... it was lots of lines and waiting and hassle.
Kate was perfect, sleeping in her car seat and letting us wake her for security checks. We got to our gate an hour early and ate Wendy's. By some miracle, we had an empty seat in our row for the 2-hour flight to Miami, and Kate was great.
Our 2-hour Miami layover though was awful. We had to stand in FIVE different lines, and they only fast-tracked us because of the stroller once. We had to have our passports checked twice, pick up and drop off our checked bags, and go back through TSA screening again. The airport was totally overwhelmed, and as soon as we'd get in a long line, then they'd tell us to go somewhere else because they were opening another line to try to get us through faster. We traipsed over and around the airport for the whole two hours, and we got to our gate just as it was boarding. It was exhausting, and it was the middle of the night again.
Kate slept and was perfect.
We boarded our final flight to Denver, and arrived about 30 minutes late (midnight) local time - 3 am Dominican time. I hadn't slept at all but had nursed Kate again and again while
she slept fitfully in my lap.
TUESDAY
Arriving in Denver at midnight, we had to take the shuttle to baggage claim. Everyone was wearing orange, and the airport was buzzing with the win. We got our luggage an hour after landing. Then we had to get the shuttle to long-term parking. There was snow on the ground still, and it was bitterly cold. Lastly, we had to do the 1-hour drive home to Fort Collins.
Kate slept through the whole thing.
We finally walked through the door at 2 am (5 am Dominican time). We collapsed in bed. Kate woke two hours later to nurse, and then the boys were all noisily up 2 hours after that. I dragged my fat butt out of bed and showered.
Collin was the guest reader at school at 8:45, and I really wanted to be there. It was all I could do to keep my eyes open, smile and clap. By 9:15, I was back in my jammies and in bed. I slept until 1 pm, when I got up to say goodbye to Lori, since Ryan was driving her back to the airport. Whew. And then it was back to real life.
***
And that was our amazingly, awesome February beach vacation and wedding. We did lots of fun stuff, and
Kate slept in her car seat wherever she was hauled.
Would I ever choose to go to the Dominican again? No.
1 - Everyone had bouts of diarrhea and throwing up. Ryan and I did pretty well, but many of the others were sick at least one day. Charlotte was even sick on her wedding day!
2 -The Caribbean really is VERY far from the Rocky Mountains. A four-hour flight plus a two-hour flight, plus awful layovers made the travel time much, much too long.
Was it beautiful, warm and awesome? Yes. Was the wedding wonderful? Yes. Was seeing all my family together great? Yes. Would I have missed it? NEVER. But I'm voting for Hawaii or another US territory next time.
