Republica Dominicana

Seth and I were able to enjoy another getaway with the Knights this month. This year was the Dominican Republic - I always enjoy getting to go somewhere where I get to practice my Spanish. It was a great week to go - the kids had 2 early outs and 1 late start while we were gone due to snow. It was also not a great week to go since we missed Elena's 18th birthday. Our parents once again took care of the kids while we were gone, and it sounds like they all had a great time. Grandma made homemade donuts for Elena's birthday so she got spoiled a bit at least (plus the early out!)

Seth wore a "Minneota Vikings State Champion" shirt from our recent football season, and a shocking number of people asked him about it. We never imagined it would be such a conversation starter. He's realized that wearing it out of Minnesota might not be the best idea. For one, several people thought Minnesota was spelled wrong. Most thought it said MN Vikings and couldn't figure out how they would be their own state champs. 

We came home to a giant snowman in our yard, but other than that most signs of the storms were gone by our return.

Here's a few photos from the trip.

Not the best picture of us, but there's a rainbow in the background!

One of our desserts - a chocolate concoction in the monkey's head, topped with cotton candy

The pepper grinder at one of the restaurants!

Me in my happy place: a book and sunshine! We stayed in the shade most of the time, though! We burned way too easily.

Elena's 18th

And since not much exciting happened on the trip other than us hanging around soaking up sun, reading and visiting with other Knights, I'll leave you with a few recent quotes. Our kids are still more interesting than we are.

Olivia: Guys, if I don't get some peace and quiet, I won't be able to draw my letters!!

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Olivia: (singing the Circle of Life from Lion King) Naaa Savanyaaaaa Feliz Navidad!

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Frank: Mom, if sharks ever figure out how to get to outer space, we could probably meet aliens.

Me: Sharks?

Frank: Yeah.

Me: Sharks. Like the large aquatic animal.

Frank: Yeah.

Me: I'm not following.

Frank: Well, if sharks are taken out of the water, they can't survive so they have to stay in the water. And if we leave our atmosphere, we can't survive so we have to stay on Earth. But if sharks can figure out how to get all the way past our atmosphere and into outer space, we could probably figure out how to get past outer space into another universe and meet aliens! 

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Frank: Mom, I'm filling this balloon up with carbon dioxide and releasing it onto our plant so it can turn it into oxygen!  (He must be paying attention in science class!)