Bienvenidos Oehms y Daniels'...

I know what some of you are thinking (hi mom!), "Why hasn't Kelly blogged in 10 days?!" Well the reason is because for the last week straight we have had company and been on the go the entire time. It's been quick, busy, and tons of fun! We were supposed to start out on Thursday, July 19th, by picking up the Oehm clan at 9:45 at night but their plane from Chicago was canceled. Okay - no problem - we picked them up instead on Friday the 20th and had just enough time to pick them up, eat, change, and head to the Brujos baseball game. We arrived at 7:00 so Cole could meet Manny and get an autograph and the game was to begin at 8:00. Unfortunately it was raining pretty hard so the game was delayed until 9:00. Here's Manny signing Cole's baseball, us with Cole and Manny (you know who's who, right?!), the field being covered because of rain, and the Brujos team. Of course, they didn't cover the field to protect it from the rain until it had already poured and there were huge puddles...make sense to you?

Because of the late start the game went long (1:00 am) but we left at 12:15. It was probably the most exciting game we've been to this season - the benches were cleared twice for fights, lots of trash talkin', etc. It was great! We got up the next morning and drove to El Yunque to see the rainforest and go to La Mina falls. It was the most crowded we've ever seen! We couldn't find a parking spot so Courtney searched for one while we hiked down, we had to push through people to get into the falls, we walked a different way back to the car and then Courtney had to hike a mile and a half to actually get to the car. It was beautiful and fun though. After El Yunque we went to a beach in Luquillo that was really nice and Cole had a fabulous time snorkeling. I bought him a kids snorkel set and he stayed in the water the entire time. We had a hard time getting him out of the water to go kayaking! We drove to Fajardo and went kayaking into the bio bay. We had made reservations through the company we used when the Noons were here. The only bad part was that they didn't tell us they no longer had their license and were contracting out for other companies..oh, and they didn't put our name on any lists so we had no reservations! We were so upset and then this nice man from another company invited us to kayak with his group. It was beautiful of course and Cole and Courtney were kayaking like pros! I don't mind saying Marilyn and I did pretty well too! The only disappointment then was that they no longer let you swim in the bay but we did play in the water with our hands. After that it was time for the long drive home.

The next day was spent lounging at a beach here in Guayama. Cole LOVED the ocean and was a fish for the entire time again not wanting to get out of the water. He didn't even want to get out to eat! When we got done at the beach we decided to go home and BBQ with the Dills and play with the beach ball I bought before they came. We were doing some relaxing before the next day when our other batch of company arrived.

The next day (Monday in case you lost track) Katie, the Oehms, and I headed to Old San Juan for some shopping while Courtney drove to San Juan to pick up Trish, Abe, and Zeke. Marilyn and Cole did some serious shopping and then we ate at Senor Frogs. We were so excited because we found a gas station where we could pay at the pump!!! That was HUGE for us because down here you have to go in and pay before you pump. I had to take a picture to remember the moment! We drove back to Guayama and went to dinner at Brewers with the Daniels clan. On Tuesday we got up and Katie and I took the Oehms to San Juan to the airport while Courtney and the Daniels' went to the beach. When we got back from the airport I drove over the beach...again! Needless to say no laundry or cleaning was done because of having overlap in our company. I got to the beach and we hung out for most of the afternoon. Zeke really enjoyed being in the water - especially when Courtney blew up the inflatable boat we bought. He floated along until he was ready to be out and that's when he stood up and tried to go over the side! We had to try to keep him contained on the shore because he wanted to explore everything. Here his is being "contained" in his harness which we sunk in the ground with a stake from the sun shade...aren't we nice?! Isn't he a cutie?!
That night we got pizza and just hung out. We had an early start the next morning so we needed to get to bed early. On Wednesday we got up to leave the house at 5:30 to get Trish and Abe to Fajardo to go scuba diving. They're certified divers so we found a place to take them out. Courtney and I feel bad because it turned out to be a not so good dive and they didn't see much. While they were diving we took Zeke to breakfast, K-Mart, and to the beach. Courtney chased him around and said that was the nicest Puerto Ricans have ever been to him! I guess everyone (even Puerto Ricans) love a baby! We took him in the water in his boat and then decided to take him out in his life jacket to float. He must have been tired because Courtney tipped him back in his jacket and he fell asleep! We scooped him up in his jacket and took him back to our "camp" we laid him in the boat (still in the jacket...couldn't wake him up!) and he slept for 45 minutes. It was so cute! After that we picked up Trish and Abe and headed to El Yunque. We ended up turning around because it was so crowded. (It was a Puerto Rican holiday) We drove home and had a little BBQ followed by playing Spades. Here's baby during his nap and playing at breakfast.

While we were at the beach on Tuesday we got a flyer about a new company that will take you out to some surrounding islands on their boat for pretty cheap. We decided to do that on Thursday so we got up and went to meet our captain. We found the place and they took us boating to find the perfect island. We saw 3 or 4 and at one point the boat just stopped. The captain saw a manatee pop his head up! Courtney saw the "spot" it makes in the water but we never saw the head again. Apparently they hide when they hear boats coming. We spent most of the day on our island swimming, snorkeling, talking, relaxing, etc. The captain picked us up and told us that he and his wife went to Salinas to eat while we were out and they saw a manatee playing in the bay at Salinas. Lucky! We went back home and decided to call our headmaster because we knew one of the new teachers was to be getting in that day. He was in so we drove over and introduced ourselves and took him out for a beer. Then we came back to Casa Benny and had a few more. He seems pretty nice. His name is Tom and he's from Chicago. He's been teaching in Phoenix for the last 3 years and he's 4 days older than me...oh yeah...not the oldest anymore!! Here we are on our island - Isla de Barcos.

Yesterday we got up, checked out our school and then drove to Old San Juan. We went to the Bacardi distillery and then to the Don Q distillery where we got some free drinks (can't beat that!). Then we ate a quick lunch and took the Daniels family to the airport. It was really fun to hang out with them - something we've never really done before. We really have had a fabulous last 8 days or so with company! We enjoyed every minute we had with everyone. But now the REAL fun begins - oh yes, I'm talking about laundry and cleaning the house! Woo Whoo! We start meetings on Wednesday and then kids come back the following Monday the 6th...can't wait?!?! Here are a few last pictures from our company. The first one is titled "Baby Got Back-pack"...are you rapping the song yet?