Snapshots: Dominican Republic Year 3

I am a lucky girl. I live in a beautiful world full of beautiful, fun people and get to make beautiful memories with my beautiful, healthy family.

What else could anyone ask for? 

With this school year coming to a close, all of our friends are wrapping up, packing up, and some are shipping out. It is the only ugly that comes with this life - saying goodbye to those you have come to call family... and really mean it. 

Here is a snapshot of what our YEAR 3 looked like:

(and if you're Jimmy Fallon - scroll down to the bottom to see 3 of our 20+ lip sync battles... and then invite us on your show! we'll be in NY allllll summer)

We live on an island. Of course there will be beautiful beach pictures!

The Bluffs - Praxe's Bluffs to be exact - is one of my favorite places here. Drive up the sidewalk and park the car on a beautiful bluff overlooking the ocean and beautiful sunsets. This year we stepped it up by bringing the kiddos. This is Santiago sleeping at the bluffs. Other times they have a great time bouncing around and playing in our travel pack and play - the car.

We spend almost as much time at the playground as we do home. Correction: we spend more time at the playground than at home. The kids love it but so do we.

This picture of Santiago reminds me how fast time moves.

    

This is one of my favorite pictures of this year. It is so spot on of what our life is and how our kids are growing up, on an island where they find coconuts in the backyard.

There's two things in this picture. Like the picture above one is that my kids live in a place where mangoes grow on trees and mangoes are yum! But the second and more important detail for me is the note: "Mango de la beba." These mangoes are from Ayalibi, one of the maintenance workers of our school, and one of about 5 people that bring us mangoes for our kids. Apparently, everyone knows that our kiddos (especially Rafa) love mangoes so we have co-workers, maintenance staff, nannies, and parents that scout trees, pick, and deliver mangoes to us for Rafa and Santiago. It's in these moments that I think "this is the only place for me."  

Everyday isn't a walk at the playground though. This day was the first day we understood the difficulties of being the parents of two kids... that are sick. Poor Rafa fell asleep on the couch this afternoon - which she never does - but she was so exhausted from throwing up all morning that she couldn't help it. 

Husband and I are lucky that our nanny allows for our love story to breathe and grow and flourish. Our family is our major priority but we like to remind ourselves that we are the first priority. You can't have a happy family without a happy marriage.

Just a typical Wednesday afternoon with the family.

Milestone moments! Our youngest's 1st birthday. And even more special was that his grandparents were able to celebrate here with us - a major bonus considering most birthdays abroad are grandparentless :(

BESTIE! This chick has been my friend for life. Seriously. We've been best friends since the 5th grade. We went to college together. Got pregnant the same year and had our kids 6 weeks apart and this was the first time she was able to come and visit. What a treat to show her around town at the life we live here. And what a reminder that no matter where in the world we are this kind of friendship travels well.

 We party like rockstars here for sure. This is one of many awesome parties we throw here on the fablous Kury Rooftop... a Lip Sync Battle Party, Jimmy Fallon style!

There were over 20 acts but to not break their privacy I can only share my lip syncs. Here's a taste:

 Yes. We are grown adults playing Tug O' War at the beach. One of my favorite events added to this year's agenda was Thanksgiving Olympics. Over 40 grown adults running, jumping, relaying, battling for the glory of winning! Our team did not win the whole Olympics but we raged in battle at Beach Tug O' War and came out victorious. We weren't expected to win which made the victory that much sweeter. 

My Surprise 80's Party!! Holy Mother of Tear Down the House! This was a rager! People came to party like it was 1999 and didn't go home until all 99 Luftballoons exploded and were left on the dance floor. Husband worked incredibly hard to pull this off and I was totally surprised. Thanks to everyone for really showing up.

And now if you don't mind, I'm off to join husband for a cold one at the colmado... the best place on Earth. 

Listening to:
Home - Phillip Phillips
Burn - Ellie Goulding
Don't You Forget About Me (cover) - The Wind and the Wave
The Only Place - Best Coast