Island Time

I'm back from my trip to Puerto Rico! Nonna, Aunt Lissa, Uncle John, Johnny, Uncle Jon, Daddy, Mommy and I went to San Juan for a night and then to the island of Vieques for three nights. The reason we went was to celebrate my Nonna's 65th birthday; it was a four-day party, and you better believe I made the most of it. It was awesome to be with my family and play with my cousin and swim every day and hang out barefoot and in my diaper.



On Wednesday night, Daddy's cousin Zack came to pick up my parents for dinner. I go to bed earlier than they do, so I didn't go out with them, but I got to visit with Zack and manipulate him into walking me around the parking lot about eleven times before he left with Mommy and Daddy.


Johnny and I did as much together as possible. Uncle Jon called us "The Gruesome Twosome" because we were always looking for trouble. Sometimes we screamed and yelled as loud as we could, but we were also sweet and gave each other hugs and kisses.


On Thursday morning, all of us (except for Uncle John, who wasn't feeling well) went to the old part of San Juan. We walked from one fort - San Cristobal - to the other - el Morro - where we posed for this picture (and the man who snapped it for us was really friendly to Nonna), and then we walked (and walked, and walked) around the cobblestone streets and had a snack with some pigeons at a sidewalk cafe. Then we raced back to our hotel, where Carlos and his mom, Blanca, met us. Carlos and Zack had arranged a carro publico to take us to Fajardo, and Carlos made sure we got off safely.


We flew in a tiny plane across the water from Fajardo to Vieques, and then a nice man named Alex met us and took us to the house where we all stayed the rest of the time. We were just a few steps from the water, plus we had our own pool, in which I spent as much time as possible. Here, Johnny and I were having a splash fight and screaming like a couple of cats, much to our Uncle Jon's delight:


My walking got much stronger while we were in Vieques. I was inspired by my older cousin, who knows that crawling is for babies. Also, it was easy to walk barefoot on the tiled floors. A week ago, I was whimpering if a big person wouldn't hold my hand to walk; by the time we left Vieques, I was giving anyone who offered me a hand the brush-off.


I had a great time with my whole family, but Johnny and I had an especially great time with our Uncle Jon, because he is one of us - one of the kids, just a little bit bigger.


There were all kinds of special activities on the island, like kayaking and snorkeling. My Nonna went kayaking and snorkeling for the first time and had a ton of fun.


Johnny and I were deemed too little to do some of that stuff, but we made up for it by having our own adventures. For example, while Mommy was supposed to be watching us and the others had gone snorkeling, Johnny and I sneaked into his parents' bedroom and enjoyed trampolining and rifling through their drawers:



On Friday night, we all went on a boat trip on the bio-luminescent bay on the southern shore of Vieques. It is one of only four such bays in the world, and it is considered the best of them. There are a bunch of tiny bugs in the water that flash little bits of light (kind of like fireflies) when they are disturbed. Daddy and Uncle Jon even climbed off the boat and swam in the bay, and when they swished their arms, the water around them glowed. I had to wear a lifevest and stay on the boat, but before we boarded we had dinner at the boat place and Johnny and I got to run off some of our excess energy.


We stayed on the north side of the island, near the town of Isabel Segunda, but we spent two afternoons on the other side, in Esperanza, where the good snorkeling and the restaurants that were open at lunchtime could be found. One afternoon our group ate brie and tomato jelly turnovers, red snapper nuggets, and plantain chips at Bili; later, we ate little cups of homemade ice cream (coconut, peanut butter, cherry, and fruta con leche) that Nonna bought for us from a woman in a blue house a few doors down from the kayak shop. Here, at Duffy's, we had fish tacos and waffle fries and talked to the house dog:


Saturday night, Uncle Jon made us kebobs on the grill and we all had cake for Nonna's birthday - even me! Johnny helped Nonna make sure she got all of the candles blown out:

In a few days, after Mommy has caught up with her schoolwork, and Uncle Jon has sent her the underwater photos he took, Mommy will finish a little movie of our trip and post it here so you can see more of my trip. I have to go unpack my sandals and my swimming trunks now and dig out some sweaters.