Our third week in Puerto Rico was an adventure worlds away from Jeremy, who was also having quite an eventful week back in the states. We sent messages to him from the beach…
…and he sent messages to us from the NYC Modern Art Museum. Wait, why was he in New York?
Let’s start at the beginning of the week. Every morning, we continued strong with all of the routines I described in the previous post. In the afternoons, we went on adventures. One day, the boys and I headed to the outlet mall in Canovanas where Laura lives. Waiting outside the mall, I admired Dallin’s hairdo that he put together right before we left.
Our rope adventure at the outlet mall with Laura was brief.
We had to end early when we discovered the posts had wet paint everywhere. I guess it took longer to dry than the owners expected. We were refunded our money and hoped to come back later.
Then, we found a play place in the mall and had a blast there with Laura and Carlos.
Tanner, Dallin, Laura and Carly played some of the best air hockey I’ve ever seen! Then we found a really yummy build-your-own pizza place for dinner. It was so nice to be with Laura and Carly. They helped make this day and many other days of our trip aboslutely wonderful. We were blessed to have their friendship, and we miss them so much!
A silly looking lunch I made that Dallin wanted to remember.
During another afternoon adventure, we found a place to go horseback riding. It was the boys first experience with riding, and they LOVED it way more than I thought they would!! This adventure ended up being a big highlight to our entire trip. We went to a company that was really close to our house, and rode for an hour through the rain forest. It was absolutely beautiful, the horses were well behaved, the tour guides were very relaxed and helpful, and the other guests were friendly.
Dallin was so adorable the entire time! His horse was very calm and gentle, and Dallin just sat as relaxed as could be for the first 45 minutes of our tour. Near the end, he tried getting his horse to go faster, but that pony kept a slow, steady pace. Dallin was a little dissapointed by that, but still really loved the experience and loved his horse.
Tanner was pretty nervous at first. I wasn’t sure how he would handle it when his horse trotted off in front of everyone. The guide told Tanner that his horse really likes being first, so not to worry and to just let her go. This helped Tanner calm down and enjoy the ride. He ended up taking great pride in having the fastest horse.
I got a good giggle out of the way they were all waiting by the fence. It looks like the horses will walk right through it!
Dallin is several horses behind me.
We were at the bottom of El Yunque, so the vegetation was gorgeous. For a while, we were riding next to the big river called Rio Mameyes that separates Rio Grande from Luquillo.
All three of us!
When we were done, my legs and hips were aching, but the boys wanted to do it again right away! It was such a great experience. The only way that would have made it better is if Jeremy could have been there with us.
Back in Minnesota…
Jeremy was very excited to have 3 weeks to be completely in charge of his own schedule, which included lots of work outs, basketball, writing his autobiography and trying some new things to get in more shape. But on his 2nd or 3rd day of weightlifting, he injured his knee doing squats. This set him back a lot. He was on crutches for a couple days, couldn’t ride his bike to and from work, etc. Luckly, a couple of people from church made him some meals which he really appreciated! He also found this card in his desk at work, at just the right time to cheer him up. Tanner drew it a couple years ago.
The next morning, these kids were making up a very interesting math game with their playing cards.
How to play: Tanner flips a card for piile A and adds it to the number of the previous cards in pile A. Dallin writes down the total in one column. Next, Tanner flips a card for pile B and adds it to the number that was previously in pile B. Dallin writes down the total for the B pile in a second column. Continue doing this through the entire deck. When all the cards have been drawn, Tanner and Dallin determine which pile has the greatest total. Then they cheer.
That’s it. No one wins or loses. And yes, they went through the ENTIRE deck. I knew Jeremy would be curious about this, so I took pictures and video. I could not understand why they thought this was so fun?
Another day, during our morning school time, I showed them how to play with cousinar rods. I challenged them to find all the ways to combine different number lengths to equal five, and then ten. I was having a ton of fun helping them record their findings and find new ways to show the equivalent total. That’s when I figured out why they had so much fun with those playing cards the day before. I can’t believe I almost forgot that when math is inquiry-based, it is fun!
The pool never got old, especially for Dallin. He could have stayed in that thing all day, every day.
The beach never got old, especially for Tanner and me. Just like the beaches we lived next to in California, I found that every day there a whole new experience. It was fun to see how the waves from one day to the next moved the sand banks and sea weed, creating new terrain for the boys to explore and washing up new coral and trash to be turned into our treasures. Going on a “mindful walk” along the beach one morning helped the boys see the subtle differences, too. It was during this week, we found ourselves becoming more than just visitors to the beach. We became a part of it.
Tanner’s response to the energy of the beach was so joyful. He was just bursting with leaps and bounds, screams and sprints. I pointed out to him several times that the beach gives him lots of energy!
The boys played basketball in the evenings while I cooked dinner. It was harder during these moments to not have Jeremy with us.
View of our house from the basketball court.
I tried to make mofongo from online recipes and youtube videos. I didn’t have the right tools to make it properly, but I added my own twist of flavouring with cilantro and sweet plantanes mixed with the green plantanes and it was delicious.
That evening we got a message from Jeremy that he made it safely to NYC, and without his crtuches. Because of the weather in Minneapolis, his airline let him arrive in NYC extra early and asked him to depart later than normal. He ended up in NYC for 4 nights! He went there to help shoot a commercial for Hormel Pepparoni. The timing was perfect for him to be gone while we were gone, AND he missed the worst three days of winter this year in MN. There was a huge polar vortex that hit the midwest, -30’s with windchill of -60 degrees. I was so glad that all four of us got to miss that terrible, terrible weather. Here is his view from his hotel in NYC, right outside the new World Trade Center.
The next morning, he went to church, then the Modern Art Museum, which he seemed to really enjoy. He took pictures of artwork that he knew our boys would love.
Meanwhile, we had worked on some art of our own. I used hangers to hold up the papers because we didn’t have any tape.
We went to church and the boys played ball with their new friend!
Let me take a moment to describe our experience at church. We went to the same church that we normally attend, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This congregation in Rio Grande was a small Spanish branch with mostly retired senior citizens. Our first day, Tanner and Dallin were the only kids. They were nervous about primary class because they didn’t know a lot of Spanish. Lucky for them, all the teachers knew English, so class was in English! Then they gave the boys 3 or 4 pieces of cake after church, so they were pretty happy. (I would have been more comfortable with them eating one piece of cake, but alas).
That first Sunday afternoon at home, Tanner said, “Church was NOT what I was expecting.” When we asked him to elaborate, he talked about the building itself being really small and the windows being open to let in the air so you could hear the chickens in the neighboring yards. He mentioned how the floors had no carpet and the chairs just being the kind you stack instead of pews and the fans on the ceiling. As he told about his observations, I was so grateful we are doing this to open his mind about what church can look like. I told him, “actually this is what church is like for many of our members around the world. If they came and saw our building in MN, they would think our building is the wierd one. ” He thought that was odd.
Dallin asked a week or two later, “Why don’t they have the basketball hoop inside the church? It is soo hot out here!!” That’s when I realized we needed to remind the boys that PR doesn’t have winter, so they don’t need an indoor gym. They thought that was odd, too.
The second week of church, I was asked to play the piano for sacrament meeting, and continued every week I was there. They had a dusty keyboard that seemed to have a mind of it’s own, but I did my best with it. It was a good experience for me because I learned a few things. One, that I depend on the lyrics to help me keep track of where I am in the music. It was harder to play the songs without knowing what people were saying! Two, that I am wrong sometimes. I kept playing this rhythm and thinking, “everyone is just getting this wrong, I am going to keep playing it the way it is written,” and by the end of the hymn, I realized I was playing the English way, which is not what was written! Three, I was reminded again how fortunate we are to be around so many people in our Austin ward that can play piano and read music. The members seemed really excited and grateful for me to play their keyboard since they normally just press play on a CD player and try desperately to stick to faster tempos.
There is much more to say about how wonderful church was in PR, but I will save it for another post.
For lunch this particular Sunday, we ate at a restaurnat near the church building. It was a hoppin brunch place and we soon realized why. They food was delicious! The boys ordered pancakes and were very happy with them. I ordered eggs beneditct with smoked salmon served on PR sweet bread with avocado hollandase sauce, and it was out of this world!
That afternoonn we laid low at our own beach and soaked up lots of sun. The weather was just perfect. I enjoyed having the boys sit as close to me as possible on the sand, with my legs in between them.
I also enjoyed watching the boys make sand castles next to my sandy toes.
Meanwhile, worlds away Jeremy was doing something a little unexpected. We found out Desha was taking a long weekend trip to NYC to see the Harry Potter play. So, Jeremy and Desha were able to arrange a meet up! They ate lunch at a really cool Peruvian restaurant. Then, they went to the 9-11 museum together and spent 6 hours there. They lost each other during the last hour or so, but eventually found each other. Then they called me and told me about nearly everything they had learned and seen. They said it was very sombering, overwhelming, and filled with information that they had no idea about. I’m so glad they got to go see it!!
From this enormous mosaic monument in New York…
…to this tiny mosaic in our Puerto Rico home, our worlds started to take on some similarities.
On Monday, Jeremy found a treasure on this brick building (ninja turtle)
We were trying to find a treasure of our own. We were told about a hidden beach beyond Seven Seas beach that is only acessible by foot. So we drove out to the area, wore some good hiking shoes and packed light so we wouldn’t get too tired holding our stuff. Tanner got tired before we even passed the Seven Seas beach.
I was really proud of him for taking deep breaths and letting his body decompress from being upset.
Then we headed off past the beach into a wilderness. We were told the hike would take about 10 minutes. The first thing we noticed on the path was that it was home to hundreds of lizzards! We all thought that was cool. Next I realized that I couldn’t figure out what kind of wildlife we were in. We walked along for 20 or 30 feet, feeling like we were in a dessert scene. Then before we knew it, we were surrounded by a mangrove forrest of trees and swampy water. About 50 feet later, we were on higher ground, walking on really dry dirt with cactus and trees and vines again! I later learned that this area contains seven different eco-systems practically on top of each other, which explains why it felt like we were going in and out of two different climates throughout our hike.
After about 10 minutes we came upon an opening. It looked like a possible beach, but the tide had covered all of it with 2.5 feet of sea weed. We were dissappointed about that, esp Tanner who was yelling at the ocean. Then we saw a path continuing onward, so we voted to keep on going.
Soon, the boys got tired carrying their stuff. We had to stop and discuss possible solutions, and they settled on sharing the load by taking turns between back pack and towels. I was so grateful Tanner agreed to this, otherwise Dallin would have given up. I sang songs like the Bear Necessities (which I introduced to them a few days earlier and they loved!) and gave little pep talks along the way. “This is hard, but we can do hard things!” and “We’ve come this far, we can keep going.” and “Remember, fear not! We have what we need for the rest of the afternoon, and we said a prayer that we would be safe, so we are gonna be okay.” Honestly, I wasn’t entirely sure that this trail led to a beach, but I sure was hoping so! That’s why I told the boys “Even if we don’t find another beach, we are still having fun on this hike and on this adventure.” We also took breaks, drank water and ate snacks along the way to keep us distracted from the heat.
After about 35 minutes, we were getting more doubtful. Should it really be taking this long? Two men passed us and said there really was a beach up ahead. There was some flooding on the path as we got closer, so we had to take some detours, which was just about the final straw for Tanner, and he almost gave up on me. But I took the lead, and he followed because the foreest was a little too creepy for him to stay put, thank goodness. We sang “In the Jungle” and “The Bare Necessities” some more to keep our thoughts positive. Finally, we saw a clearing with brilliant blue up ahead.
It was a magnificent beach!!! The boys didn’t have enough energy to cheer, and I barely got out a Yaaay! But our hearts were happy and relieved. We immediately sat in the shade and drank water. I checked the time. It was almost 3:00 pm. (Left the house at 1:00, 45 min drive plus the time at Wendys, so about a 50 min hike, yikes!).
We rested and watched the beautiful scene for a good 20 minutes before the boys were ready to change and get into the water. The water was directly coming from the Atlantic Ocean like all the other beaches we had been at, but because of a reef out beyond the shore, there were virtually no waves on this beach. It was so calm!! And the water was crystal clear. There was shade around us and bushes to hide behind where the boys changed. The view was beautiful as the afternoon sun glowed over the El Yunque mountains and shimmerd onto Luquillo and the beach by our home in Rio Grande way off in the distance.
The two men that passed us were at the beach with their doggie. She was really friendly and wanted someone to play catch with her. The owner invited the boys to throw her a stick out into the ocean. They thought it was so funny how she swam out there to get the stick for them!
While they entertained the dog, I set up a nice camp for the afternoon and marveled at the scenery around me.
Meanwhile, in some other world far away, Jeremy’s surroundings were also very different from what we are used to. Not a beach, but just as intruiguing was the NYC public library and an exclusive recording studio where he oversaw the music being made for the Hormel Peparoni commercial.
While he was in the studio, he got these pictures from me.
Shadow selfie!!
I managed to snorkel a little bit while the boys made sand castles. I found 3 puffer fish hiding inside a rock, some bigger brown fish with blue spots, little white fish with black stripes and a few other fishies. The water with the fish was about 15 feet deep, so I couldn’t really bring the boys out to see, even if they wanted to. There were lots of shells from the coral, so that kept them busy.
At this point in the trip I remember realizing that sand toys are over-rated. When we first arrived in PR, we wanted to get the boys some shovels and buckets. But every time we went to the beach, the boys did just fine without them. They were extremely inventive with what they found laying around on the beach itself. I loved this! We ended up never buying them sand toys the whole trip.
Dallin took a long rest in the sand by our stuff.
Tanner swam by himself for a while, just making up his own songs and chillin’ in the calm, warm water. What a life!
We headed home right before sunset and prayed we could get back before it was too dark. For some reason, the walk back went by much faster, not just sort of faster, it felt like less than half the time. The boys felt the same. When we stepped foot on seven seas beach they said, “we’re back already?” When we got in the car, we talked about everything we learned. We agreed that our biggest lessons of the day were that “We can do hard things!” and “Just keep going, even if you’re going slow. It will be worth it!”
The next day we took things slow since we were pretty pooped from our beach hike. We really enjoyed our scripture reading lesson from Come Follow Me.
That afternoon, we headed over to Hermano Juan’s house to learn how to cook some basic Puerto Rican food. The view at the top of the hill was absolutely gorgeous.
Brother Juan’s house was in a very typical neighborhood in Rio Grande. The homes were made of cement, close together with little sidewalks, short driveways, and some space behind each houses for little gardens, eating areas, or for your chickens! When we arrived, the boys ate some snacks and then found the backyard with two chickens. They had a lot of fun watching the chickens and trying to keep them from getting tangeled up.
Meanwhile, Juan taught me how to make traditional beans, rice, mofongo and tostones. He was a very good instructor and allowed me to do a lot of the work. As we cooked, I got to know Juan, his wife, and his daughter, who were all very friendly and welcoming to us. Juan is a retired chef who cooked for hotels, had his own catering business and cooked for many church events. His family joined the church in the 1980’s. His wife and daughter didn’t know much English, so I got to practice my Spanish with them, and we had fun chatting about our families, the church, our jobs, etc. Even when we couldn’t understand each other much, we were able to enjoy each other’s company. Juan’s wife was home bound and having health problems, but she loved to have visitors. The boys were really respectful in their home and we all enjoyed the change of pace that came by being together.
About 1600 miles away, Jeremy was doing some cooking, too! In addition to the filming crew and all the magic of the set, there was also several food stylists with their enterage of supplies. The shots from their footage is showing a quesadilla filled with cheese and peparoni. Some actor’s hands grab a slice of the food and pull it away onto their own plates. Pep it up!
Our meal was finally finished! The boys were really hungry and gobbled a lot of it up. The sister missionaries came over a little while later and ate some of the food, too. The beans and rice were my favorite!
We really enjoyed our time wtih Juan and his family. Before we left, we made plans to come back. My boys were very excited about that, which made my heart sing!
That night, Jeremy and I had so many things to tell each other about our adventures worlds away from each other. It felt like we were both living in two different movies being played in theatres next door to each other, and we were occassionally poking our heads into the other theatre to see what was going on in our spouse’s movie! What an amazing third week of our saga vacation.
