Our fifth and final week in Puerto Rico was filled with family fun. Not only did Jeremy join us again, we also had Grandma and Grandpa Zavoral with us!! We basically partied the entire time.
Jeremy got here on Weds, Feb 6 late at night (his flights were delayed several hours due to winter storms). The next morning, Thursday, we showed Jeremy the sunrise on the beach. Pictures don’t even begin to show what a sunrise on the beach was really like.
It’s hard to pick just a few of these photos. I love all of them!
All four of our shadows.
I loved watching the clouds change each morning as we walked back to la casa.
Taking a quick look at the view before our day trip adventure!
We tried going to a top-rated wildlife place inland from San Juan, but when we got there, we found out it was still under repair from the hurricanes. So after taking a family walk around the parking lot and working through our disappointment of driving almost 2 hours to see it, we worked up a new plan. We headed for the Children’s Museum.
The kids play store included canned chicken, which reminded us of Jeremy’s time managing canned chicken for Hormel, when he learned all about Puerto Rican consumers, who love canned chicken.
We all learned a lot at the museum!
Jeremy found us this highly rated pizzaria inside a gas station on the way home. Yum!
Friday, Jeremy and I took a super early sunrise walk on the beach before the boys woke up. We went out while it was still dark. It was beautiful to watch the full sun rise! Unforgettable experience!
Still went strong each morning with our yoga, mindfulness sessions and Bible/gospel study. Jeremy was impressed with how much better the boys were at all of it. The we spent the rest of day playing around at our beatiful Vereda Del Mar.
Lovin’ my grey hair!
Driving around PR, there is always someone with good Latino music playing full blast, but this guy took the role of traffic DJ to a whole new level!
It was so great having Jeremy back with us!
On Friday evening, we enjoyed a nice family devotional at Hermano Juan’s house with everyone from church. Juan made everyone dinner. It was delicious!! We all visited and shared our thoughts about Christ, mostly in Spanish. The boys were glad to see Alejandro there! The church members were excited to see Jeremy there. This was one of my favorite activities from the whole week.
Tanner and Dallin helped prepare accommodations for Grandma and Grandpa’s arrival since they would be getting here late at night. We made sure they were close to the AC, that they each had walking space on their side of the bed, a table by each bedside with access to electricity, and we gave them fancy pillows and towels.
Tanner made a sign that said “Your bed is here.” And it shows where each of them should sleep. The grandparents loved it!
On Saturday morning, we showed them our epic routine that we had developed during our trip.
Morning walk on the beach with the Gramz and Grampz was fun. Dallin led the way.
Jeremy’s point of view.
My point of view.
Jeremy surprised me with something…
He got my engagement ring remounted and cleaned! The prongs had worn down so that the diamond was about to fall off. The new version looked so shiny and pretty!!
Then we did yoga and gospel study. Grandma and Grandpa did their very best with the yoga and were really impressed with what the boys could do. Grandpa fell asleep during our Peace Out meditations. The boys did pretty well during our gospel study. Reading and sharing our thoughts on the scriptures was one of my favorite parts of all of us being together that week.
After our yoga and gospel study, Grandma showed the boys some Valentine’s Crafts. We had almost forgotten that Valentine’s day was right around the corner!
Lunch at the top of the hill was mostly for the incredible view, which did not disappoint. We also had an interesting time helping Dadz access some important documents from his home computer that didn’t get sent properly to church people before he left for the trip. Poor Aunt Linda tried to help at the home computer as best she could, but struggled to find the documents and send them to Dad. It was kind of funny because we all took turns during lunch to talk her through sending the document, and we all ended up really confused! Eventually, the problem was fixed, thank goodness!
Grandpa brought some of Jeremy’s old baseball gloves to give to the boys. They were in heaven playing catch in the commons area!
Grandma and I chatted while we ate frozen go-gurts and watched the boys.
Our great Friday was finished off with dinner at our favorite PR bbq place.
Sunday, Feb 10 brought another great morning walk on the beach!
This Sunday was our last day of church in Puerto Rico. I played the piano during the Sacrament service, and the boys enjoyed their Sunday School class. Afterward, the branch had Valentine’s treats for Valentine’s day. It was a perfect opportunity to say goodbye to the new friends we had made. One of the snacks they had was a cracker dip with Spam and cream cheese all blended together. YUM.
Hermano Waldo (my piano student)
Hermano Juan (my cooking instructor and the boy’s chess friend)
Las Hermanas (missionary sisters)
After church, we headed on our way to El Morro Fort in Old San Juan. It was pretty rough getting there since Jeremy and I had some big miscommunications about lunch plans and I completely failed at managing my anxiety. I was really disappointed in myself, especially because I had worked so hard the past 4 weeks in this department. So I guess I was able to see clearly where I still have room for improvement.
The boys rode to the fort with the grandparents and played “I’m going on a trip to El Morro and I’m bringing…” They had to list things that started with the next letter of the alphabet, and it had to be something that could be used for a weapon at the fort. They came up with really crazy things like Icicles of Death for the letter I and Killing Kittens for K. Then, at the fort, they actually found a lot of the silly items they had made up!
I walked past this arched doorway and heard click-click. A slender man was standing in the room holding a special camera. I apologized for getting in his photo and explained I didn’t know he was there. He looked at me, beaming. With a European accent he said, “No, no! You have made it wonderful! Come see! Come see!” He showed me the picture on his digital screen. I was stunned.
My colorful clothes against the shabby, historical architecture looked brilliant. The lighting was vivid and dazzled, like something out of a dream. The woman in the picture looked natural and serene, yet perfectly placed and polished all at the same time. I couldn’t believe it was me.
The man’s eyes twinkled and he continued to praise what just happened. “It is better than I could ever try to make! These are the gems I spend my life trying to capture! Just perfect.”
He had a brown beard that wobbled as he spoke, and I noticed speckles of grey around his smile. He asked if he could keep the photo. What a funny question. “Yes, of course,” I told him. He offered to send it to me. For some reason, I joked that maybe I’ll see it in a magazine someday. He mentioned something about an art contest and asked for my name. After I told him, he sincerely said, “Thank you, SarahLynn. I shall remember this always.” With one last deliberate look into my eyes, he dissappeared into the shadows of the next room.
It took me a minute to remember where I was. I heard familiar voices getting closer. “I found her!” chimed Tanner. “Where were you, Mom?!”
Still in a daze, I described the mysterious photographer and what had happend. Surely they had seen him or heard him talking to me? Everyone was sketpical, thinking I was making the whole thing up to be funny. Jeremy asked where the man was standing. I couldn’t tell if my husband was genuinely curious or hoping to call my bluff. I moved Jeremy’s body as close to the man’s footprints as I could remember, and showed him how I walked past the doorway. Jeremy took a picture.
No, it didn’t look quite like that. We tried it again. And again. That’s when I truly understood the man’s excitement. These shots are the closest we got to the spontaneous masterpiece. Maybe I’ll actually find the real one in a magazine someday!
I really enjoyed the outfit I had on!
The boys were smart to bring their gloves and baseballs. This was a perfect place to play catch!
We walked into town a little to eat dinner. I had octopus soup!
After dinner, we drove home and waited around for grandma and grandpa to get home with the kids. We weren’t sure where they went. They finally came home with a bunch of pastries. They took a big detour to a popular PR bakery. From our morning sunrise and church to late-night bakeries, this made for a very eventful Sunday!
Dallin took a picture of Jeremy, but didn’t tell him that he zoomed all the way in for the portrait! Funny kid.
On Monday, we took the grandparents to El Yunque National Rainforest. We did the visitor’s center, lunch at Mi Vida Cafe, and then toured the forrest. We climbed rocks and waterfalls and saw neat views and enjoyed each other’s company.
Dallin’s cuteness was almost too much for me!
Tanner and Jeremy
Dallin and GrampZ
Jeremy and I left the boys and g-parents behind to climb up the side of the mountain to the next layer of falls. It was really awesome.
Tanner wanted to keep hiking, but the rest of us were pooped. Jeremy was happy to take a special hike with Tanner up higher in the jungle. They had a lot of fun. Tanner came back smiling so much I thought his face would fall off! Tanner had so much to tell us about it. “We hiked so far, Mom! We were in the clouds!! We were going so fast! It wasn’t hard at all. We did push ups at a tower when we got to the top of a huge tower!” The two of them will no doubt remember this hike for the rest of their lives.
That afternoon, we chilled at the beach and had a nice dinner at the house. I made two kind of fish that mom and dad said was one of their favorite meals during their whole stay. (I also made really yummy french toast for them one morning with PR sweet bread that they loved).
On Monday evening, we were fortunate enough to have Laura and Carlos babysit our kids so that us older peeps could go kayaking in the bio bays together.
Since I was now a veteran at this, I made sure we went with a company that used glowsticks instead of LED lights on the kayaks. I also got a glass-bottom kayak for mom and me, which allowed us to see the glowing speckles drift under us. And I scheduled us at the later time so that things would be extra dark, making it easier to see the bioluminescence.
We had a ton of fun! Turns out that mom and I make a really good kayaking team, but Jeremy and Dad not so much. They kept bumping into trees up the river and smacking their paddles into each other and getting their kayak rammed into ours. It was hilarious how much they kept trying but couldn’t get a good rhythm. We had fun looking at the glowing speckles in the lagoon. It looks just like pixie dust or little fireflies in the water. (It never gets old for me, but I sure wish we could still get our whole bodies in the water like ten years ago).
The tide was pushing the lagoon water out down the river, so we could see the bioluminescence during most of the paddling trip back to the beach. That was a really special treat! At first you think it’s just bubbles, but then you realize there is no light to show you white and blueish bubbles. It’s the dinoflagelates glowing as we paddle! When we got home, the boys were fast asleep and we can’t thank Laura and Carly enough for watching them so we could do this.
On Monday, we did something big as our final, final hurrah! We treated the family to a snorkeling adventure on a Catamaran in the Carribean!
The harbor was beautiful when we arrived.
I was all set in my favorite new pants.
Dallin liked watching the water as we set sail.
The water was beautiful everywhere we looked!
It was a choppy day on the water. Grandma got pretty sea sick, which was unusual for her. I thought maybe I’d get sick, since I was super nauseous on the boat tour in Costa Rica last year. But for some reason, I was okay this time.
Grandma felt better in the water and saw some fish!
The tour took us to two snorkeling spots. One was on a beautiful beach called Icacos Island with some little tide pools perfect for kids.
Dallin got a bit braver to snorkel this time. He wasn’t too keen on breathing through the snorkel, but he poked his head in for a few seconds at a time, holding his breath and puttering around with his feet touching the bottom. I tried showing him how he could float in the water while I held him up, but he was not interested in that one bit! Luckly, he was able to see a big brown fish with spots, some white fish with black stripes, and a few of those tiny ovally fish that are brilliant purple with yellow on their tips. He lasted about 5 or 6 minutes with me. Although I of course wanted to spend more time seeing fish with him, I was so proud of him for this milestone! He made a big improvement from the previous weeks of trying.
Jeremy took Tanner for a try at snorkeling. Tanner lasted about 15 seconds, said he was cold and wanted out. He was pretty disregulated and didn’t want to play in the water or the sand. Mom and I would have enjoyed the beach a little longer if Tanner wasn’t so cranky. But we decided it would be best to get back on the boat to get Tanner some lunch.
They fed us a beautiful lunch on the boat! Tanner perked up immediatly after eating. Jeremy and Dad almost missed the food because they were exploring the beach until the very last minute that the boat was on the shore. They found a couple of lobster skeletons! Although we didn’t have lobster to eat, they had some delicious salads and sandwhiches. The boys and I ate more than our fair share, but man it was yummy! We also had lots of juices and soda to drink, too. Their pina colladas weren’t exactly what we were expecting, but it made for a great flavor of juice, haha.
The catamaran took off from Icacas beach all too soon. Before we knew it we were at the second snorkeling site.
While Jeremy, Dad and Mom went out into the deep waters to snorkel, Tanner, Dallin and I enjoyed the waterslide on the back of the boat. This was one of our favorite things about the day! I didn’t get any pictures of us doing it because I was too busy going down it myself! But here’s what it looked like.
Grandma came aboard and we soaked up the sun with her on these cool netting things where you can see the water underneath you.
It was really sunny!
Later, Dallin, Jeremy and Dad jumped off the side of the boat, which was about 15 feet. Dallin was so happy about it. Grandpa made a cool trail of bubbles on his jump.
Then we sailed back to port. The boys had a great visit with grandpa on the way back.
Our last day with Gramz and Grampz in Puerto Rico is one we’ll definitely remember!!
Thank you so much for spending the first half of your 38th anniversary trip wtih us, Mom and Dad! The boys, Jeremy and I had an amazingly fun time with you. I’m still amazed by all the adventures you took on the rest of the island after we said our goodbyes. You guys are ROCK STARS!!
Tuesday was our very last day in PR. We did all our routines one last time. The walk on the beach was so beautiful and gave us a wave of emotions. I felt so much joy. How amazing that we were able to be here on this sand every day for five weeks. Also so sad to have to leave. A part of us will always be there. Even on our last day, we found fun treasures that the ocean washed up on the shore the night before.
I showed the boys how I greeted each end of the earth after my walks on the beach. They had never noticed me doing this because they were always running around exploring.
Tanner cried when it was time to walk back to the gate.
One last sit by the pool. We couldn’t swim because we had to pack and get to the airport.
One last yoga routine. But we assured the boys we’ll keep this up when we get home, along with strength training, our mindfulness lessons, relaxation exercises and gospel studies.
One last look at all the treasures we collected from the sea shores. We let the boys take home a couple of their favorites.
We had quite a bit of work putting the apartment back to the way we found it when we first arrived. This meant rearranging furniture, lots of tidying up, and taking down our own decorations.
We made it to the airport in good time! Luckily, we had a much easier time getting home than when we tried to get here.
We made it home late, late at night and were greeted by an enormous bank of snow blocking us from getting into our driveway and garage. The boys were the only ones excited about that!
To Puerto Rico, thank you. Thank you for the beaches, the sunshine, the jungle, the slower pace and for new friends. Thank you for teaching us how to relax and regain proper focus and balance in our lives. Thank you for the adventures and all the lessons we learned with each one. We will always remember this amazing chapter of our lives. Hasta Luego!
