We're Back!!! Not so glad to be back, but I guess it always nice to come home and sleep in your own bed. And the kids were very happy to see us. It's amazing how they start appreciating you (finally) when you're gone for a while.

The Dominican Republic was beautiful and the resort was even better. It was casually very elegant, and all of the lobby and main areas of the hotel were open to the outside. You can always catch a breeze and see the ocean and pool from just about anywhere. There were 7 restaurants and 10 bars, so we were pretty much always eating and drinking. And we could order room service anytime, too. We ate about 4 full meals a day because every night we'd come in and order room service at about midnight. It was great, but now we have permanent souveniers to bring home with us -- about 4 to 5 pounds a piece!!!

My favorite drink was called a Coco Loco -- it was sort of like a pina colada but they served it inside a real coconut. They would chop off the top and use the coconut milk inside to make the drink. It was yummy, and somehow it makes you feel like you're really in paradise when you're sitting by the ocean under your own Gilligan's Island thatch umbrella and drinking out of a coconut! I loved it.

The people were so nice, too. The service was impeccable. We had people waiting on us the whole time. And there was a show every night at 10:00pm that most people at the resort would go to. That made it fun & festive to have such a large crowd, and usually the shows were pretty good. The first night was a Michael Jackson impersonation show. Sounds hokey, I know, but anything you can sit down and actually watch without kids screaming or fighting is my kind of entertainment! (Did I mention that there are NO KIDS ALLOWED at the resort -- talk about paradise!!!) Anyway, they had people from the audience come up and do their own impersonations of Michael before the show and that was actually the best part. It was really funny to see big, fat, and sometimes old men doing the drunk moonwalk and shaking their stuff. The whole audience went wild, screaming & cheering for their favorite. It was fun. On other nights there were singers, or a magic show and even a circus show one night.

It was a great way to celebrate 10 years of marriage -- we just relaxed and spent much-needed time together without kids. I highly recommend it!

I made a slide show (above) so you can see more pictures. And, by the way, we took Jonathan's little digital camera (which I despise because it takes horrible pictures). It's easier to deal with than my nicer, bigger camera, so some of the pictures aren't so great. Enjoy!