Wordless Wednesday 2: Puerto Rico!

Those of you who know me know that I'm very proud of the little island that I call home: Puerto Rico. Its nickname is "La Isla del Encanto" or "The Isle of Enchantment", and it completely lives up to its name. The downside to living here is that if we want to "get away", the only ways to do it are hopping on a plane or boarding a ship. The upside? There's TONS of beautiful places to go right in our backyard.

Last year we took lil man to El Morro, the most famous Spanish fort in Old San Juan. He just loved it, and I hope you enjoy some of the pics too!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Arriving at El Morro, very excited!"][/caption]

For you Disney fans, you'll notice that this is where they shot the last scene of "Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie". Actually, the entire movie was shot in different parts of Puerto Rico!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Mama & lil man"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="View from inside the fort"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Showing off our 3 flags: Puerto Rico, USA & Spain"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Checking out one of the "garitas" inside the fort"][/caption]

If you have a Wordless Wednesday post, link it here for others to see!

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Thanks to Resourceful Mommy and 5 Minutes for Mom for introducing me to Wordless Wednesday.

Thanks to Uisce for creating Wordless Wednesday.

Wordless Wednesday 1: Disney memories!

[caption id="attachment_198" align="alignleft" width="224" caption="Lil man's first visit to Magic Kingdom, 2009"][/caption]

Starting off my very first Wordless Wednesday with Disney seemed like a no-brainer, so I chose my absolute favorite pic from lil man's first trip last year. He was so in shock to see the "castle from the movies" in person, that he was still a bit shy when I took his picture in front of it. Enjoy and comment!

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Thanks to Resourceful Mommy and 5 Minutes for Mom for introducing me to Wordless Wednesday.

Thanks to Uisce for creating Wordless Wednesday.

Mini-vacation in paradise!

Many people think that because I live in a tropical island, I *must* go to the beach all the time... I wish! Yeah sure, when I was in high school and college, I spent many days & weekends at the beach, or on my parents' beach house or boat. There was a time when I truly lived a caribbean beach life.

Then I became an adult.

It wasn't on purpose, and it didn't happen overnight - it just happened. I graduated, got a job, got married, had a kid... and now, just like many working moms, I need to schedule my pool/beach time. The upside to this, is that I don't need to get on a plane or drive hours to get to one, they're right here! All I need is to set some time aside to go. Also, since Puerto Rico is such a big tourist destination, there are many, many wonderful resorts just minutes away!

So when lil man had exactly one week between his classes ended and his soccer camp started, I decided we HAD to get away, at least for a few days!

We drove to Dorado, a popular resort destination on the north coast of the island, facing the Atlantic Ocean. It was really about a 40-minute drive from my house, but we felt as if we had traveled to another place! We stayed at the Embassy Suites Dorado del Mar Beach & Golf Resort (long name, I know). The best part was that since it's an all-suite resort (as all Embassy Suites are), we were able to get super comfortable - lil man had his own room with a sofa bed and TV, and we could even heat up some food in the kitchenette! Great for vacationing with kids. The resort itself was beautiful with a quiet, secluded beach and an amazing pool area that consisted of 4 pools, some with waterfalls! Lil man had a blast "visiting" all the pools (I got dizzy following him around) and playing with the waterfalls.

Yes, I do realize how lucky I am to live in such a beautiful island, and I *have* to make time to go to the beach more, especially for lil man to get used to it like I was when I was little. But for now, we had a great vacation right at "home"!

[caption id="attachment_207" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="View from my suite"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_205" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="View from my pool chair"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_206" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Playing at the pool with lil man"][/caption]