Green light

Hey, they let me onto the beach. That's a great start. I promised to stay dry. But if the tide comes in...

Contemplation

We had this beautiful ocean view at a restaurant while the

sun was getting read to set and Daddy was getting all philosophical. All I wanted to do was get out into that water. I was being nice to him but really hoping to get him to let me to go onto the beach. Let's see if it worked.

Beached Out

After a day at the pool and by the beach, this little guy wanted nothing to do with the pizza joint. Just get me some zzzzs.

Shoes

Look Mommy! I'll even take my shoes off. That way nothing gets wet or dirty. Come on, just for a couple of minutes.

Can I go?

Can I go? Can I go? It's just a little bit of sand. I'll wash my shoes after. I won't get wet. I won't go in the water.

Looking out to Sea

No problem waiting for that pizza to arrive as we had a great ocean view. The problem was I was itching to get out into that water. Do you think Mommy will notice?

Las Terrenas

For something a little bit different, we decided to head up to the Samana coast for a weekend at Las Terrenas. This location is far from the all-inclusive resorts, but offers some beautiful beaches too. Plus, we could go out and check out some other restaurants, like this beach front pizza joint.

Who's the winner?

It certainly isn't Daddy. Look how defeated he looks. It looks like the two boys took home the title with very happy birthday faces.

Dr. Seuss

Nothing like a little Dr. Seuss board game after dinner. Fortunately, we didn't have green eggs and ham for dinner.

Wish for 4

4 years in. I wonder what the 4th birthday wish of this big boy is.

Perhaps for a big party. Well, as it turned out, he had 2 big parties. One in Santo Domingo and one in Canada. Those pictures will have to wait.

Tasty choice

It may not be chocolate but the jello put a smile on my face!

Bday cake?

Are you kidding? This is my birthday cake. It was a difficult time with very little relaxation. So much so that Mommy's famous birthday cakes turned into jello. But at least there were some fancy gummy worms in there. And I got to blow out a candle.

Gifts?

You can't really wrap this up,

but how about a haircut for your birthday? It was a different look that in the end, just didn't suit Sorenito.

How many years?

Yes, believe it or not, our little boy Soren has had another birthday and is now 4 years old. In the middle of us dealing with the earthquake crisis in Haiti, we could not his special day. This was a little celebration at home with just the four of us on his actual day.

Take a bow

After a wonderful, action packed show, these circus members got a thunderous ovation from the audience, made up of Dominican children. And it was well deserved.

Hey Daddy, when's the circus coming to town again?

Captive Audience

A very interested crowd looks on as the show is about to begin. There's Miss Nicki, closing her eyes in anticipation and there's Eugenio, the master accountant. He was the one who arranged this activity so a big thank you to him.

Darius is already practising his act.

Abracadabra

Poof! A Soren appears from under the hat. How did the magician do that? Mommy and Daddy would love to be able to make Soren and Darius appear and disappear at times! The ladder busker / magician looks on pleasantly as he sees some potential in these young lads.

Darius the Magician

Always a big fan of hats to put on his head, he couldn't resist helping himself to the magician's hat backstage. Now how do I get that rabbit out?

Who's got muscles?

He may be able to lift me like a feather, but he doesn't scare me. I've got muscles too. Let me into this show. I'll show the crowd how big and strong I am.

Strongman

The best part of the circus was the free backstage pass to meet some of the circus members. But we had to get past security first. While this guy looks pretty strong, Darius and I were able to outsmart him to meet the cast and crew. Oh wait, he was part of the crew.

Off to the Circus

As a special gift from the Quebec troupe Cirque Eloise, a few of us from the Embassy got invitations to see a special show in the National Theatre. This was specially organized by the President's wife for a group of Dominican children. Boy was it ever worth it!

Good one

We fooled Glamma. All this time in the caves and she didn't once realize there were bats swarming around her. Too funny!!!

Cave Boating

To get to the final lake, we had to cruise by rope boat across this cave lake to the other side where we found the final hidden gem. The boat was connected to a rope tow which was operated manually to get us from point A to B. Apparently it was determined that life jackets were not required.

Ripples

I had to keep Glamma distracted by making ripples in the water. The last thing we wanted was for her to see the bats flying by us. Fortunately, the plan worked.