From beaches to cold weather

After spending 8 hours on the tarmac at the Philadelphia airport on Wednesday, we arrived in San Juan, Puerto Rico. I heard that our flight was mentioned on CNN. It was sooooo good to be back in Latin America. There is something about Latino Land that I just love. I also must admit that I really miss travel. We spent the night in Old San Juan and then rented a car to drive to Fajardo -- for the hour and half ride to Vieques. Vieques is a magical island and was not a popular vacation spot until recently as the United States Navy used the island to test bombs. However, people are now discovering the wonderful location.

Melanie is the one who picked this location for our "babymoon." She was picturing cabanas, waiters serving drinks, reading books and relaxing on the beach. Well, she was wrong, it turned into being another one of our Latin American adventures, which we both love. Highlights of the trip included.

• Being woken up by chickens and roosters every morning. This would usually start as early as 4 or 5 am. One morning all the birds on the island were talking.
  
• Talking to the hippy ex-pats. We could totally turn into one of them! What the life.
• Renting a car and driving to the amazing beaches. There were no cabana boys, but warm crisp water.
  
• Eating incredible food. The area of Esparanza had great places to eat.
  
• The Bioluminescent Bay. We kayaked out to this bay which is home to a concentrated population of microorganism that glow in the dark when disturbed. Every dip of the paddle, and movement of our bodies as we swam created a glow of miniature sparkles. It really was cool! There was no moon that evening, and the stars were quite bright.
  

It really was a good trip and great to get out of Philadelphia. Both of us decided that it would be easy to travel with a child to Puerto Rico, and you don't need a passport! Poor kid, I can hear it now, "but Dad, I want to go to Sea World this year, not Bolivia."

Where were you when Anna Nicole Smith died?

As some of you already know I am a fan of Anna Nicole Smith. Don't ask me why, as I really don't have a reason. For my 30th birthday, Melanie had a surprise party for me and the invitation consisted of me photoshopped with Anna Nicole Smith, Charo, and Dolly Parton -- do you see a trend? Blond, big busted, bimbos (Although Dolly really isn't a bimbo). Anna Nicole passed away on Thursday, February 8, I was at work when I heard the news. Someone in the office shouted out, "Anna Nicole died." Of course I typed on goolge as fast as I could to see why. It made me remember of various events in our history. Where I was when the spacecraft Challenger exploded - 5th grade Mrs. Connors class; When O.J. Simpson's case was announced - Santiago, Chile; the death of Princess Diana - home in Philadelphia. Now, I can add to the list Anna Nicole Smith. The sad part is that they still do not know who's the baby daddy of the child. No folks it is not me.

Another event in history took place on Saturday, February 11 when Barack Obama announced his run for President. I watched the announcement on CNN before heading into town for a haircut. His speech reminded me of the Clinton years. Oh it is going to be a fun campaign season.

Registering

Melanie and crossed the Ben Franklin Bridge over the weekend and went to Cherry Hill, New Jersey to register. The good thing about Jersey is that the gas is cheaper, although our tank was full. We started the adventure at 11:30 am and did not finish until 3:00 pm. Yes, it took that long, and we only visited two stores. Some of my observations were the following:

• The women have a paper list of what is needed while the men carry the scanning gun to add an item to the list. I think the scanning gun gives men something to do.
• How do you know when you are in New Jersey? When a lady asks her mom if they create hair product for babies.
• One lady yelled her husband by saying, "don't give me that attitude, you told me that you would behave."
• You don't need everything. It seems as though the baby industry tries to scam you on various things.

Since I behaved so well at Babies R Us, I bought myself popcorn and a soda for $1 at Target (it was my treat for being good). We still have to go back, but hopefully we can do some of it on line!

Puerto Rico

Last night we booked a trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico. Neither of us have ever been. We are leaving on Wednesday the 14th and returning the 18th. I hope that this kid likes to travel. Knowing our luck he/she would rather spend time in the country than in the city or foreign places. My father mentioned that he would buy the child a Holstein cow and spend the summers traveling to state fairs in the Midwest. Going to Puerto Rico also makes me think about how to integrate Spanish in the kid's life. I was fortunate enough to learn Spanish and travel to Spain at a young age.