SO, we knew that with all of the home renovations that we were going to need a break when it was all said and done. The timing of this vacation couldn't have been more perfect. We kicked off the vacation with the John Mayer and Colbie Callait concert at what is now the Super Pages dot Com center in Dallas. I blogged about that, so scroll down to find out about that. The next morning, we woke up super early (I think we got 3 hours of sleep) to catch our flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico. Our vacation was not just "ours", but was shared with our wonderful friends Shane and Laura, who decided they liked us enough to vacate with us for 8 days! So, off to the airport we went and after a 5 hour plane ride, a nearly finished book (Marley and Me- AWESOME), the movie "21" and our last Dr. Pepper for over a week, we arrived in PR ready to play!
Ok, I got it together. Past the thrill of unlimited food options, momentarily.
At the "muster"... They are smiling because they DIDN'T get in trouble.
I'm smiling because TROUBLE is my middle name... notice the smirk on my husband's face?? That's because I just got a stern "talking to" (more like a yell, but whatev..) by a crew member for not taking muster more seriously. Apparently photos aren't allowed. That wasn't in my Carnival Caper SIR!
DAY 3... St. Thomas, USVI.. On a bus to Magen's Bay, realizing that this trip is going to cost us more than we thought. Mexico and the Southern Caribbean should get together and talk about the whole bargaining thing and what a novel idea it is in tourism. 
View of the boat and the cruise terminal in St. Thomas. I think the big (small in the photo) white building behind the ship on the bay of St. Thomas is the Marriott hotel my parents are going to next summer... Can we come???!?
The couples in St. Thomas.
Who's ready for some board games on board??
DAY 3: Dominica, an island that is nearly 100% rain forest and quite lush... Smile if you're ready to hike 2 hours to a waterfall in the pouring rain!!!
In the bus to the hike and waterfall.. shiny!
A banana plantation, one of the major exports of the country. And to answer the burning question, NO there are no monkeys on this island. For real... they would eat all the bananas.
Just a pretty picture at the base of our hike.
We are ready for what was alleged as a 45 minute hike... that took more like an hour and a half! It was amazing, though and worth the yucky hair dos and drenched clothing.
Caleb hanging on to bamboo.. which grows at a minimum rate of 1 inch per day in Dominica.
My tarzan... Isn't he cute??
What our guide says was NOT a waterfall... Yea, he's spoiled.. and obviously doesn't frequent Texas, where the only waterfalls you see are in someone rich dude's backyard that isn't in my neighborhood.
The top of the big mamma waterfall...
The middle of the big mamma waterfall...
And the bottom of the big mamma waterfall, including the pool we couldn't swim in because there was too much rain that day. Sad, but really I'm glad because I lived to see so many other beautiful places on this trip that I may not have had I been pulled under by the current of the falls in the pool. Hm.
Us posing and trying to look cute despite the destroyed hairdos and soaking wet clothes. Oh well, just focus on the waterfall, ok?
Another photo of the "un-waterfall". Incredible, huh?
This is crazy... This is a picture of a Banion Tree, aka Strangler Fig, that grows from the tops of the trees down to the ground, strangling the "host tree" and replacing it once it has died and no longer can get oxygen to survive.
We clean up well after a 4 hour waterfall hike, eh?
Them too...
STAY TUNED... MORE TO COME SOON!!
