New Years' Eve

Anyone who is reading this blog (I think there's maybe 3 of you anymore...) will not be surprised to know that it looks like this outside. We're on our 2nd day off of school due to the extreme cold/wind chill. Pete was going to go to work this morning, but his car wouldn't start, and it was blocking the van and Mom's car in. It's now 2:40 and we're still waiting for someone to come jump him. 

So, it's been really nice to spread out these posts about our vacation....to hang on to it for a bit longer. 

This was our sunrise on the last day of 2013. (Two different camera settings, same sunrise.)

That day we took a little trip to what was supposed to be a shopping area. We had hopes that it would be little local shops, but it was actually just one "museum" and shop. Nice things, but nothing we couldn't get elsewhere. The only cool part, really, was this little cigar making demo.

Pete got a free cigar....and enjoyed it for the rest of the day.

I guess these 'dolls' are sort of a local specialty craft. I thought Clara would like one, but we thought we should get the kids things they could play with, wear or eat. So I took a picture instead.

When we got back to the resort, around lunchtime, we spent a lot of time playing in the ocean...

...and drinking mojitos.

And just generally enjoying the sun...

Then we thought we should shake things up and give the pool a try for a while. There were several pools on the property, including the 'private club' one right outside our room (and one floor down) but this was actually the only time we went in one of them. We did try a hot tub once, but it was lukewarm.

I don't know whether I really wanted another drink at that time, or whether I just really wanted to "swim up" to the bar.

Pete got his turn on the raft as well. Then we switched to a different pool, and Pete ordered us some tequila and then, as he would say, the wheels came off.

Not really...but it did go to my head for a bit. Most of the drinks are so weak, you kind of get used to drinking whatever you want. The following picture is highly attractive...but I had to include it, just to show this cool part of the 'party' pool. There was supposed to be a "foam party" here at the time, but they either didn't do it or we somehow missed it. I guess sometimes they put at DJ up in this part of the pool too. Fun times.

Here we are at our New Year's dinner. I drank a lot of water and a coke and shook off the effects of the tequila. In this picture you can see the necklace we bought as my souvenir. It's made with larimar which is the national stone.

Dinner was a long drawn-out affair. Pete enjoyed having his cigar in order to act like a true man of leisure.

After dinner we went over to the outdoor party area to check out the festivities. There was a live band, which was playing some 90's-era rock, and then a really bad DJ. Ask Pete about the DJ. He'd love to tell you how much he sucked.

Mostly we enjoyed the people-watching. There were interesting clothing choices, funny dancing, and a group of highly entertaining young Germans.

We decided we could probably handle another drink by the time midnight rolled around. Something to toast with at least. The bartenders were a bit swamped, so they poured me a glass and handed Pete the bottle and off we went! Happy New Year!!

There were fireworks, and dancing and the group of Germans started the Limbo. Here I am with a bag of "lucky grapes". We're not sure what lucky grapes are.

There was also a smoke machine and a confetti cannon. Pete and I would have settled for just some good music to dance to, but alas... We were in bed by 1:00AM.