I have never breathed sweeter air, swam in a warmer body of water, or experienced sand so white in all of my time on this earth, and we were able to keep it a secret from Vatican right to arriving at the airport the Sunday before March Break (he had suspicions that Ted and I were up to something, but he didn’t think it would be this).

The trees were so tall and green, and the plants that grew wild were the ones I have scattered around the house in pots, crazy!  The flowers were everywhere and I was in heaven.

The Iberostar Bavaro, our resort, grew their own vegetables and herbs right on site and I was very envious of their herb gardens.

I encourage everyone to visit this amazing place at least once in their life.  But, as beautiful and relaxing as Bavaro was, my favourite part was watching Vatican thrive whilst in the Caribbean.

He, without a doubt, consumed the cost of our trip in food and Coca Cola.

Vat was mesmerized with the little anole lizards everywhere and was constantly trying to snap a shot on his iPhone, but those little things are fast, its a good thing we had the 50mm. He also couldn’t believe the different types of birds, and he was fascinated by the flamingos and lone stork.

Vat got to hold a monkey! If you look really close you can see its hand on Vat’s sunglasses, we weren’t allowed to take our own pictures so I had to snap this one quickly.

The resort photographers were out every day in full effect, making couples do the occasional ridiculous pose, regardless of who was around.

In usual Lapierre Jr. fashion, we can’t leave a vacation spot without the family self-portrait, we really are ridiculous.  Part of the process is seeking out sturdy (sometimes) tree stumps, fences, or other eye level structures to rest the camera on so that I can compose, focus and run like a muppet to get into the shot, to be a fly on the wall for this would be hilarious, but you will just have to settle for the finished product.  Don’t be offended by the occasional concealed obscenity; Vat, the jokester.

We strolled…

Which led us to some shopping…

Life passes by us so quickly, that it is really difficult sometimes to just stop, and enjoy the moment.  Being removed from everything for 7 days made me realize many things, most importantly, how hard we work, how little down time we have to do family things, and how quickly our little boy has grown into a man.

So, with that my dear friends, whenever possible, and at least once a day, stop, take a breath and think of the good things in life that make you happy.