The Dominican Republic

 This year we had the wonderful opportunity to go on a family vacation to Punta Cana, in the Dominican Republic.  The kids got home from school on Wednesday afternoon and we rushed to the orthodontist.  As soon as Grant and Gracie's appointments were finished, we packed up the car and drove to Las Vegas.  We made a QUICK pit stop at the outlet mall to get Garrett and Grant each new swim trunks.  Then we raced to the airport, just in time to board our flight.  We flew to Los Angeles, got off the plane and walked right on to the next flight without a second to spare.  Then we flew to Newark, New Jersey.  We had been worried about that layover all week because they had been getting a tremendous amount of snow.  However, the weather was nice and we landed without a problem.  We had about 20 minutes to use the bathroom, find a quick bite to eat, and then we were boarding our next flight to the DR.

 Garrett and I are not good flyers.  We tend to get a little sick after just one flight.  So you can imagine how we were feeling after three flights back-to-back-to-back.  We were struggling to walk down the stairs to get off the plane, trying not to throw up.  But we made it and the weather was perfect.  Our queasiness subsided as soon as that ocean breeze reached us.
Our hotel was nice and the food was okay.  The boys went snorkeling and zip-lining.

Gracie did activities with the resort activity crew.  She played soccer, volleyball, bingo and mini-golf.  Surprisingly, she had NO desire to go zip-lining but had a blast with the other kids at the resort her age.  We spent a ton of time in the ocean body-surfing and swimming at the pool.

 I was able to rest.  No driving to and from gymnastics 4 times each day.  No driving to and from baseball.  No school carpool.  No work.  No laundry.  No cooking.  No cleaning house.  IT WAS THE LOVELIEST 5 DAYS.