Kite Surfing Kara

Kara wanted to take kite surfing lessons in D.R. Ben met a guy from Italy who offered to teach her. She opted to do the private lessons instead of group lessons. 

There was a fair amount of learning and practicing for the first few days. Her instructor said usually a week of lessons is barely enough to get someone in the water to try, but Kara was out there giving it a go by the second lesson. He said that she was picking it up so fast, and thought it was because of her age. Usually he's teaching middle aged ladies that are more nervous to try. 

There were so many kites there. I still can't believe that they weren't all getting tangled together. 

Evie came along for the first lesson, but couldn't really play much, due to all the kites. 

Dealing with the kite seemed like a pain in the butt all by itself.

I was a little surprised that she wasn't more hesitant. Maybe she was being brave in front of her instructor. But she really did just catch right on. 

The last lesson was pretty windy, and it was harder for her to control the kite, but she just stayed out there and kept trying. 

She had so much fun doing this, and wants to try again the next time she has an opportunity. 

 

Dominican Republic 2019: The Resort To Ourselves

Last July we took a trip to Dominican Republic right at the end of our summer. The first few days that we were there, only a handful of people were at our resort, and it mostly felt like we had the run of the place. 

It was nice to get tons of pictures with nobody in the way. 

The girls are always tuckered out after a day of travel. 

It was breezy and beautiful. 

The girls really liked having a pool right at the beach. Evie could get filthy in the sand, and the rest of us could relax in the clean water. 

I remember this as being a truly happy moment. I felt calm, relaxed, and grateful to be there. 

We couldn't keep our beach baby away from the coconuts.

We were almost always alone in the restaurant for meals. It was nice getting to know the staff so well. They told us that we were there on the first slow week after the summer season, perfect timing!

It was a little tricky for Ben to get up 2 flights of stairs in his boot, but I enjoyed being up there. It was too rocky to use the scooter, so that stayed in the room, and he hobbled around. 

We didn't end up seeing very many crabs, so I'm glad I snapped a picture of this lil guy. 

Ben, Evie and I walked into town. It was pretty rough for Ben, so we only walked in the one time. 

Evie was charmed by the graffiti. 

I relaxed with Evie while Ben talked to people, and found a kite boarding instructor for Kara. 

They sure loved being able to order all the fancy drinks they could handle. 

This frog was quite patient with the girls looking, poking and prodding him. They decided he must be a prince waiting for his kiss. 

I also enjoyed my fair share of fancy drinks. 

Kiersten is always looking for treasures. 

Kara practiced a staff routine she learned at her TKD class. 

 It was so nice feeling like the only people there for the first part of the week, and later in the week, there weren't all that many that joined us. 

Evie and Lydia's Combo Party 2019 Edition

Evie and her bestie wanted to have a joint birthday party again this year. I'm not joking when I say that they spend the whole year between birthdays planning the next party. A lot of planning, re-planning, arguing, creating, and fine tuning goes into these shindigs. Notice the matching unicorn bathing suits. 

I like that they like pool parties. Not much for me to have to do. 

The rainbow float was a huge hit all summer. I didn't expect it to last as long as it did with how many kids would pile on it. 

The girls wanted to have a pinata with a smaller pinata inside, and further smaller pinatas, until the last one revealed 2 pieces of candy. Just for them. We had to tell them no on that one, and did a regular pinata where everyone gets some candy.

I think I've gotten that fancy stick before, and I think it broke both times. Not a sturdy stick for these athletic kids. 

The girls assigned Kara to make a unicorn scavenger hunt. She created these cute My Little Pony drawings, but they were rejected. They wanted more "realistic" looking unicorns. Is that a thing? She had even laminated them. 

Lucky for them Kara is a good sport, and loves drawing, so she started over, and made new unicorns. We wrote the scavenger hunt clues on slips of paper, and taped them to the back, then hid the unicorns in their spots. 

The MLP unicorns got hung as decorations on the rainbow waterfall. 

Not terribly noticeable, but very cute. 

When we got to the house after the pool party, they got started on the scavenger hunt. 

After the scavenger hunt, they used the waterfall for a fishing pond. That was pretty lively. 

The girls had asked for these poop hats they saw at Six Flags. I said, no, but sneakily bought them later, and saved until their birthday party. Notice the matching unicorn nightgowns. 

They were very kooky for gift opening as expected with these 2. 

The cake was unicorn as well, to fit the theme. 

Teamwork makes the dream work. 

After cake, the party was less structured, and they just had fun and hung out. There were definitely plans I'd heard about and items I'd been shown that did not get used during the party, but I just don't ask questions. 

They used the rainbow waterfall as a photo booth, and that was fun. 

Can you even tell them apart? 

The unicorn mask was definitely in demand. 

This is a very fun group of girls. 

Mr. Scooty can not be left out, as he came back into our lives in June when Ben re-broke his foot. 

Lydia and her mom brought the unicorn farts! Yum :)