the right way to read a book

Stella shows Stephen what for:

culebra!

Ah, faithful readers, thanks for sticking with us during our summer blog-lapse. We've been traveling a lot but are now home. The wailing and gnashing of teeth may now conclude. We're back and ready to bring you more baby pics and random observations!

But first, we shall briefly summarize our trip sans baby to Culebra. It's a teeny tiny island in the Caribbean, just off the coast of Puerto Rico. It is heaven on earth. There is a teeny tiny town on the island, it has a name, but people just call it "town". There are no resorts. We stayed in a fantastic guest house on the water in town. "Fantastic" here means charming and colorful and air-conditioned. I've been trying to get Stephen here for years, but the prospect of going to the Caribbean without a resort was sort of daunting. (My friend Janet and I fell in love with this place a few years back).

Here's something we learned: if you have a great balcony, but no door to it, you can just build some stairs up to the window and call it a door. No one will mind! Just tell people to duck. This was the "door" to the (fantastic) balcony in our room.

Here is the outside of our guesthouse. It was right on the harbor, where the town is. Everything is walking distance in the town. There are just a few restaurants but they are tasty!

The beach there is amazing, one of the best in the world, it has seriously turned us into beach snobs. I know it sounds silly, but that sand is as soft as powdered sugar. And pristine. Locals come over from PR and spend the day picnicking, but it never really gets crowded. This might seriously be the best beach I will ever visit. One end is calm and good for swimming, you can snorkel right from the beach, and the other end gets some pretty big waves for bodysurfing. Here's Stephen, right before getting totally trashed by that wave:

Our home away from home:

Another thing we learned - this time the hard way. If you think you might get seasick, and you have the choice between a 90 minute ferry ride and a 20 minute flight, spring for the flight! Even if it is scary! We flew back off the island in a propeller plane, here was the view out of my left window. The plane only fit like 6 people and the pilot was right in front of me. They ask you your weight when you make a reservation, and tell you exactly where to sit. You don't dare lie. What a thrill. I was afraid to even turn all the way around to talk to Stephen - in a plane that small you just don't want to be shifting around. 

We also visited San Juan, but the focus of our trip was really the beach. We want to go back as often as possible. Next time I think we could bring Stella, and maybe a cousin or grandparent to help entertain her. Volunteers?