Traveling to the DR

Our travel day to the Dominican Republic got started about 2:15 a.m. on Saturday.  We got up, dressed, caught a taxi, and were at the airport by 3:15 a.m. for our 5:00 a.m. flight.  The boys slept in their travel clothes the night before.  We waited until the last minute to slip on their Crocs and carry them to the taxi.  We moved Ben into our bed and stripped the sheets from up under them and neither one woke up.  They were sleeping good.

 sweet dreams before we woke them up and threw them on an airplane, ha

me and the boys at the Guatemala City airport about 3:50 a.m. - all smiles

the boys watching our plane being loaded in Guatemala City

Cruz peeking out the window at the beautiful sunrise

We traveled with most all of the other IMB missionaries serving in Guatemala.  We had a short layover in Panama City, Panama.  There we caught up with a group from Colombia and we were all on the same flight to the Dominican. 

David and the boys at the Panama airport waiting for our connecting flight 

As we neared the Dominican you could see the ocean.  I got soo excited to look out the window and see the blue water.

 Arriving at the Punta Cana airport in the Dominican Republic

Most of the buildings had thatched roofs and the inside was open air.  There was a nice breeze though.

David and Cruz walking to get our luggage

We had about a 20 minute bus ride to our hotel and an easy check in to our room.  The best part about having to get up soo early was that we arrived around 1:30 in the afternoon.  Because Saturday was a travel day for everyone there were no scheduled activities.  That meant we had the whole afternoon to explore and have some fun.  The boys had slept on the flight so there was no chance of an afternoon nap so we kept them busy the rest of the day.  We started with a late buffet lunch and then walked down to the beach.

the water here is gorgeous!!

 

After putting our feet in the ocean a bit we changed into our swimwear and walked to one of the kiddie pool areas to let the boys swim.  They spent around 2 hours playing and having a blast.  

Look at that smile.   That pretty much sums up how we are all feeling about being here.

We left there and went back down to the ocean for a swim.  The water is very warm.  We enjoyed a buffet supper and then called it a night.  Within minutes of getting into the bed they were both out!

Cruz told me "I'm just going to lay here and watch cartoons a while".  I looked back over and saw him like this.

It had been a long day.  In spite of traveling with little ones our day was very smooth though.  Both boys traveled very well and made us proud. 

We are having a pretty amazing time already but what has been the most amazing thing so far is the hugs, hello's, and how you doing's we are getting with our IMB colleagues from all over the Americas region of the world.  We are seeing lots of familiar faces and already met some new ones.  We had an amazing praise and worship time this morning led by a praise group from Florida and heard an amazing, challenging message from David Platt.  He will be sharing with us every morning. 

David and I with David Platt on Sunday morning

We have a busy week ahead but it's going to be a great one y'all.  I just know it!