Skiing with Rebeka and Alex

 This past weekend we went up to the cabin with our first au pair, Rebeka and her husband Alex.   Now, despite the fact that she saw snow for the first time at age 26, Rebeka has learned to ski really really well--better than I will ever ski.   Super impressive.

Saturday was a wet and snowy day, so we called it quits early, but Sunday was a gorgeous day.

We had a lot of fun hanging out together.   Rebeka is now a US citizen--she just passed her test last week--and she is currently in nursing school in San Diego.   She and Alex have been married for almost 5 years--time sure flies, as it feels much more recent that we were in Brazil.  They are homeowners now--and they have a dog.   Time for kids soon!   It sure has been been watching them "grow up"--we feel kind of like junior parents to them.  

Busy Weekend

 We have had a busy weekend!   It was the opening day for baseball and softball, and both the kids were in the parade.  Jason was out of town, so my dad helped us out by taking us to the parade.

The kids had a great time, and are very excited about the season.

 

Later in the morning, Alaina had her last basketball game.   She has missed a lot of the season due to skiing and covid, so she has been a bit rusty, but has made some improvements over the season.

On Saturday night, Ethan had a Bar Mitzvah, where he learned to play poker.   He came home thrilled, and downloaded several iPad poker apps this am.   I hope that this does not mean the end of chess!

Today was Alaina's best friend's birthday party--they went mini-golfing--followed by a girl scout cookie sale booth.  The cookie booth reminded me of my days as a Girl Scout.  Fun.

.

 

Ski Week in the Dominican Republic

President's Week is a school holiday week.  Like last year, we rented out our Tahoe house and decided to travel.....this year to the Dominican Republic for a week on the beach.

We chose the Dominican Republic because we wanted to go somewhere warm, where we could swim in the ocean....and in Februarys past have found Hawaii and even Cancun to not be quite warm enough.   The Dominican Republic did not disappoint on that front.   Every day the high was about 85--and the ocean temperature was probably 78 or so.   So we enjoyed warm weather, sunshine and ocean swimming without issue.

  

We stayed at an all-inclusive resort in La Romana.  It was a Hilton, and besides the beach and pools it also had a small waterpark, which the kids loved.   

The setting was really nice, though the food was a bit disappointing.   

On the last day of the trip, we went to Santo Domingo, which had a very interesting colonial neighborhood, home to many 16th century explorers, including Cortez, Ponce de Leon etc.  We also saw the first church in the new world, the first hospital, and the first castle.   I really enjoyed learning about this history, though the kids were a bit bored.

Anyhow, it was a good get-away week, very nice to have a change of scenery