Puerto Rico

I'm still recovering from the 14+ hour day in the airport yesterday, but want to write this while the memories are fresh.

On Thursday, July 2 we headed to Puerto Rico with my family. Everyone came (including Simon) and it was a blast. It exceeded my expectations. After delays on both flights, we arrived in Puerto Rico after 2:00am. We stayed in condos on the beach and it felt like we had our own private beach. I have never seen a beach so open and people free. The water was SO warm and none of us could stay out of the ocean. We spent most of the first day (Friday) hanging around the beach/swimming pool and catching up on sleep. In the evening, we went to a local Mexican restaurant that was delicious. One thing we learned quickly is that the service in Puerto Rico is slow. (at the airport, at sit-down restaurants, at fast-food restaurants, etc.) Unfortunately, I got one of the worst sunburns I have ever had on the first day. I didn't notice it until after I woke up from a 3 hour nap. The rest of the trip, I had to wear a water-proof shirt over all of my swimsuits which was a bummer, but oh well. I got teased for wearing my swim shirt under my cover-up which looked super weird. Luckily I didn't let anyone take a pic.

This was the view from our patio. Waking up to this everyday was paradise.

Rainbow

On Saturday we decided to go snorkeling. We had to wake up and leave pretty early to catch a ferry to the small island of Culebra. The ferry ride ended up taking longer than estimated and the ride was very bumpy. After about 75 minutes, we finally made it. Many of us got sick, but luckily only 1 threw up. It was a pretty miserable ride. At one point on the ride, a security guard on the ferry tapped my mom and asked, "Ma'am, are you okay?" She was in alien mode to prevent sickness. We all ahd a good laugh about it. After getting off the boat, I wasn't expecting much and was kind of upset we decided to come after such a choppy ride. We soon learned it was well worth it. We spent some time at Flamenco beach which was breathtaking. I have never seen a prettier beach. Some claim it's the best in the world and I would have to agree (although I haven't traveled a ton). The water was crystal clear. The sand was white and the waves were perfect. The pictures don't do it justice.

I had never really been snorkeling, so that was fun to experience for the first time. We saw so many sea turtles. I was surprised by how close they swam to us. It was so cool to see all the living things under the water. (I didn't have an under-water camera, so no pictures.) The ferry ride back was much better. Most of us slept the whole time and the water was much smoother thank heavens.

Sunday morning, we drove 45 minutes to church. We walked in and were surprised by how few people were there. I thought it was for-sure a branch, but apparently it was a ward. Dad counted how many people were there, and he counted 35 (which seemed high). It was fast Sunday, and there were plenty of long silences and opportunities to share testimonies. I had the chance to share my testimony which I don't do often. I shared a quote I heard at BYU women's conference in April: "God may not always be on-time, but he is never late." (Pres. Worthlin)

We went to the English ward

After church, we headed to Old San Juan to do some exploring. We went to some old ruins at Castillo San Cristibal. We had some great views from the ruins because they were so high up.

It was windy up there

We walked around Old San Juan for a bit. The city kind of reminded me of San Francisco. Some of my family has been to Belgium and they saw some similarities. It was extremely hot and humid, so we didn't last long before heading home.

We spent the afternoon relaxing at he beach and pool. We had boogie boards and spent lots of time fighting the waves. They sure can be brutal. I have 4 big bruises from my board, but riding in the waves was so much fun. Throughout the trip, we spent lots of time watching Wimbledon (we all filled out brackets), the U.S. Women's soccer team, and playing nerts.

Monday was our last day in Puerto Rico. Some of us went zip lining through a rain-forest in the morning. Our instructions were to wear closed-toed shoes and a pony-tail which makes for really cute pictures. It was beautiful and not even that scary. My heart was racing when I had to walk up four flights of stairs that were pretty high-up, but I was fine. Lots of little kids were doing it. A couple of times, the zip-lines were next to each other, so Andrew and I got to race.

The trip went by way too quickly, but we made so many fun memories that we will cherish forever. I'm grateful to have a family that enjoys being together and that we could go on this trip together. Until next time Puerto Rico.

You're never too old for hand-stand contests