Punta Cana, the beginning

Here’s the diary of our trip (so far).

We had to wake up at the a$$ crack of dawn on Saturday to make our 8.30a flight out of Detroit. The kids did fairly well, and Carson napped on the first leg, and Mallory should have napped on the second leg but the excitement of having a Gigi and a Grandpa and an Aunt Emily & Uncle Mike, and four cousins at her fingertips was too much to allow her to close her eyes.

We arrived in Punta Cana around 4p local time (3p ET) on Saturday. After loading all twelve of us (and our luggage) into a mini-minivan, we made the 25-ish minute trek to our resort. My dad had the great idea to grab some beers from the airport bar for us for the trip, and as soon as we pulled up to the resort and they opened the sliding door, Rick’s beer bottle fell out of the van and onto the curb. It announced our presence with authority because I’m sure it was a sight to see twelve people and their luggage unfold from this little van. I wish I’d gotten a picture.

We got settled into our rooms and then we went in search of dinner. My dad & I had to go back to the vacation club place because we didn’t have cribs in our room, and our room smelled very musty and like cigarette smoke, and it only had one double bed (which wouldn’t work for four people) and I was going to try to get us moved. The guy there said they only had rooms in far away buildings and I said we’d worry about it the next day. That was my mistake.

While we were talking to the dude about needing cribs, it started to rain. My dad & my kids dodged the raindrops back to our room, and Rick & I got the kids settled in bed. A little bit later, Rick heard something dripping and realized we had water dripping in the corner of our room. (I have pictures of this on my other camera and will update this post with them later). It was dripping in multiple spots – and no one answered the phone at the front desk when I was frantically trying to call. After two trips through the pouring rain (in my pajamas) with assurances that maintenance would come fix it. The maintenance guy (who didn’t speak English) spent some time looking at the ceiling, and talking to someone on his walkie-talkie, only to not do anything. We ended up spending the night in one of the spare rooms of my sister’s three-bedroom suite.

Turns out that there are many rooms throughout the resort that have this problem of ceilings leaking when it rains like it did Saturday night. My mom said if they had just told us that it happens and not to worry about it dripping all over the place it wouldn’t have been as big a deal, and I sort of agree with her. We didn’t know if the leaking was going to spread and start dripping on our bed or on my camera or all of our luggage or what. I was so angry and ready to get on the next flight home.

My dad said we’ll all laugh about this some day. I’m not so sure.

My dad took over in the morning and I was told not to talk to anyone. We got the key to a new room to see if it would meet our needs (the lady at the vacation club asked my dad if I was “very particular”). The new room is a “Royal Junior Suite” and as long as the ceilings don’t leak, I don’t care. But it does have a king sized bed, and doesn’t smell musty (I’m wondering if the smell in the other room is more mildew or mold because of the water it takes on during storms…). It’s also farther away from the entertainment stage where they have shows every night – so that makes me happy too because it is quieter.

But, the sunlight and drinks on Sunday (and a new room) did much to improve my mood and I’m willing to wait until Saturday to head north. There is a pool that is perfect for the kids, right next to our building and we’ve spent many hours just watching kids jump into the water. Mallory is back to not wanting to go underwater and I don’t know if that is because of still having that tube in her ear or what.

And so, without further ado, here are the first batch of pictures…

My two boys.

The kids and the only time they stepped foot in the ocean…

Love this one. “wait for me!!!”

“MOM I GOT WATER ON MY TONGUE AND I DON’T LIKE IT!”

My dad took a bunch of pictures in the pool with his underwater camera and I need to get those from him. More soon!

Carson’s been sleeping for over two hours, Rick is out windsurfing (wonder how he’s doing), Mallory should be napping too but instead she’s just working on her whininess. I just want to go sit in the sun.

Peace out.