Spent a couple of days in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic and had a wonderful time with mom and my nieces Rachelle and Chantelle as we traveled to the island to celebrate Frankie’s parent-in-laws 45 years of life together.
I took a few pictures from inside the airplane… the last time we traveled to that area of the Dominican Republic was about 28 years ago or so. So much has changed, Geordan is now grown up and was away on a music camp and George had a previous engagement… so this was more about spending Summer-time with mom, Frankie and his family.
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En-route to the Grand Palladium Punta Cana Resort & Spa. George said the images of the city streets reminded him of some areas in Miami… after thinking a bit longer, it did remind me of Calle 8 down in Miami.
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I was the first to arrive, so I settled in and took a look around. Since it was after hours, the pools were closed, so I headed over to the beach. Punta Cana is on the East side of the island, so there was no sunset to see. The ocean had brought in plenty of seaweed.
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Before breakfast, I headed to the beach for a morning sunrise view. Did not disappoint.
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For the most part I was with my nieces who have grown into fine young teenagers. We stayed at the Grand Palladium Punta Cana Resort & Spa – it was fabulous, all drinks and food included! NO cooking and that was awesome for me!!!
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We met up with Marlene and her friends for breakfast.
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When rest and relax is on the top of the list, we headed back to pick up more beach vibe.
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Frankie and Mildre have been doing a fine job raising these girls, they are fun, sweet and good sisters to each other and they love their older sister Ariana – even though Ariana was not there they spoke of her with so much love. So Chantelle is the fashionista…
while Rachelle is oddly an introvert -extrovert, as you can tell by the pink hair making the point to make sure her quiet personality does not go unnoticed.
Well, the girls kept asking me to take pictures of them… and well, I remember being a teenager ONCE. Time passes in a blink. And all you wish is you would have taken one more picture.
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… and lucky for today’s technology – phone and camera all in one!
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As long as we are in full charge… let’s take as many pictures as we can! Here is Frankie, such a proud dad.
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Mami was looking fabulous!
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We found a coconut on the ground and immediately it turned into a photo opportunity ?
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Mom was rocking her beach hat… it was a big deal, since she packed 3 of them! Rachelle and I were rockin’ our wild hair!
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The day of the main event arrived… Mildre’s mom and dad renewal of wedding vows.
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This was a surprise “party” for her parents and Mildre asked everyone to wear white.
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In a world where everything seems so fleeting, 45 years together IS something to celebrate!
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Now, with one more day of paradise… mom becomes queen of the pool exercises leading the class – how cute!
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The girls and I were off to the beach to feel sand in our feet one more time. I love there LOVE for nature!!
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All good adventures keep us longing for more… I grabbed that last beach sunrise all to myself… or perhaps not so to myself… there was a small regatta catching those fresh sun beams.
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Good things are good… but nothing is better than being home. Missing George and our cats. Grabbed a short video of the Punta Cana airport, a point to notice is that this is an “Open-Air” airport – no air-condition needed, it’s open air – imagine on a rainy day!
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Even though I had to make two stops – one into Fort Lauderdale and then heading home to the Orlando area,
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it was nice to see the American Flag (despite all the ugliness in our economy right now – that will be topic for another blog).
Life. Enjoy the Journey.
