Living with the Welchs: January 2013

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Vacation Day 6 Going home....

Well the time had come for our paradise vacation to be over. To make it worse we had to get up at 4:30 Dominican time (2:30 at home). We were all packed up the night before so all we had to go was change and pack our tooth brushes, we called the shuttle and I told Mike to go see if my parents were ready. They had over slept! But were ready on time. The airport was much less crowded this time around, which was nice. We checked in, checked our bags and went to the terminal to wait. Just in time to see the sun coming up. We had a visitor while we waited. There was a very hungry cat there. He enjoyed the checks mix and potato chips we shared with him.

It was nice that we had to walk outside to bored our flight so we could get one last glimpse of our vacation.... and on to the long day of travel. From the D.R. we flew to Miami, where we claimed our bags and went through customs. I thought we would stand with our bags while they went through them, but nope they took them and we moved on. I was worried that they would take the sand I had collected, or mess up my strategic plan to keep all of our fragile things safe. From Miami we went to Chicago, where we sat forever. Then on to Fargo. We didn't get in until 9ish ( I think). It made for a long day. We spent the night in Fargo, and am happy to report that when we went through our suitcases everything was safe, and nothing had been confiscated.

     Saturday I had an appointment at a bridal salon to try on dresses. My mom and I went, while dad and Mike hit up Scheels. I found 3 that I really liked, but refuse to pay $1,800 for my wedding dress. So I am hoping I can find something similar for much less. We also went to Michael's and Hobby Lobby in search of flowers. My dad will be putting all of the wedding flowers and most of the decor together. We got a small array of flowers, decided what we were doing for a card box and got the ring bearer box. It was a successful day! We spent forever at Sam's club getting new cell phones. Mike got really bored and set the alarm of when messing with the laptops. It was pretty funny, he was SO red in the face. The drive home seemed to take forever but it was wonderful to pick Munch up from the farm and come home to the cats.
   Vacation was FABULOUS and I can't wait for the next one....... come on Honeymoon! :)
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Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Vacation Day 5 Crazy driver!!! and more shopping

We had to get up before sunrise on our 5th day. We had decided to check out the jungle on side by sides. It was so much fun to tear around on them. I let Mike drive the whole time so I could sight see, and he enjoyed being crazy. He would let the vehicle in front of us get out of sight and then put the pedal to the floor and tear around the corners.

I feared for my life a little

Punch it chewy!

My jungle chauffeur

Paul and Margaret

Mom and Dad

The guides gave us the choice to buy bandanas. Not only did they make us look awesome (haha) they kept the dust out of our face. At first I was thinking they were full of it and we wasted out money but after a bit I was sure glad we got them. We got to see so much of the jungle it was amazing. We were first taken to a private beach. It was even more amazing then the one at our resort. And didn't have a bunch of people on it. We were able to find sea shells and everyone helped me pick them up :) I didn't take very many pictures there because Margarete's camera took so much better pictures.

Lizard!

Sea Shells

We got to explore the jungle some more on our way to our next stop.

Our next stop was a lagoon. We walked through the jungle to a beautiful lagoon. The water was so clear we could see all the way to the bottom. The guides let us take time to swim. We had such an amazing time.

Dad touching the bottom

My feet under water

After our swim we got back on the trail. Before ending our tour we were taken to see some endangered iguanas. They were huge... and weird looking.

When we got back to the resort we decided to venture out of the resort on our own. Outside of our resort there was a shopping center, mostly of souvenir shops. I thought I had seen a sign for a bridal salon, I was hoping to find a dress. I apparently wasn't paying attention because there wasn't a bridal shop. But we were able find some great deals by bargaining with the shop workers and see a man polishing stones to make jewelry.

When we got back to the resort it was time to pack. I was very sad that it was time to go. Here are some last minute pictures from the balcony of our room.

Look who I found!

Vacation Day 4 Shopping, tattoos, snorkeling and dolphins

Day 4 in the Dominican was also beautiful. We had excursions booked in the afternoon so we decided to take the morning to go to a shopping center. We were told that it was well priced and had a huge selection of cigars, souvenirs an jewelry. We couldn't resist bargains! Not everyone from our group went but we decided to get a picture by the front gate sign just in case we didn't make it back down there with everyone.

    Shopping was a HUGE success. We got some souvenirs for our family that was stuck at home in the cold. and a few things for ourselves. I am very excited to say that I purchased my wedding jewelry there! Mike and I want to have some unique things in our wedding that are really us and special. I think that we were very lucky to find some great things for it on vacation.
   We got back to the resort and it was time for dad and Mike to head to their excursion. The got to drive speed boats, snorkel and snoobadive. Yes snoobadive. It is similar to scoobadiving only you aren't free. They were attached to the boat with an air tube and only got to go under about 20 feet. I don't have pictures of this either since I haven't gotten a chance to copy flash drives. I am excited to see them though because they took an under water camera with them.
   Mom, Paul, Margaret and I were swimming with dolphins in the afternoon. We had some time to kill after shopping so we decided to hang by the pool while there we got tattoos! .....ok so they were just Henna tattoos. But that is a huge step for my mom. She and Margaret got a little risque by getting their tattoos on their chest. I was a little ore conventional and got mine on my wrist. A tattoo I am thinking about really getting.....especially now.

Mom's hummingbird

Margaret showing her hubby some love

On to dolphins! Sadly we couldn't bring cameras with while we swam, and I don't have our disk of photos from it. But it was a blast. We were in the ocean with them and not only got to pet them, but do tricks. My favorite was the superman. We were instructed to lay on our stomachs in the water and the 2 dolphins we were working with would push us out of the water by each putting their noes against the ball of each foot. It was amazing. At the dolphin beach we also got to see a bird show and a sea lion show. As we were leaving I held a snake!!! It was soooo weird. That picture will also have to be added later, as Marget took it with her camera.