Punta Cana Vacation

We just returned from an awesome 5 night vacation in the Dominical Republic. The resort and weather were awesome! It was a much needed getaway for us all. Ryan and I admit that vacation with a toddler is not quite a relaxing as it was before (much time was spent ensuring Hunter didn't crack his head open on the marble floors throughout the resort), but we all had a blast together.

We all got a ton of beach and pool time and, given that it was an all inclusive resort, ate way too much! Many days, after a morning of hard play in the sand and surf, Hunter would cuddle up in one of our arms and take a snooze on the beach. Other times, we would even get a chance to make it back to our room to clean him up and put him down in his crib. There were also a few evenings when Hunter would crash right at dinner time, sometimes in the restaurant waiting for dinner.

He certainly didn't sleep his vacation away though! In fact, the little guy was making some moves! As you will see in the photos, the ladies were all over him on the beach; he even had his first vacation fling. After dinner we would often go to the lobby bar, there was a large open area for running around and a huge Christmas tree in the center. Many of the kids would end up there, running and playing with each other, while the parents had cocktails. One evening, a sassy little 10 month old named Emily latch on to Hunter...literally. She toddled up to him and grabbed him by the shirt collar and wouldn't let go, so Hunter did what any guy would do...he leaned forward and gave her 3 kisses right on the lips!! (All infront of her father no less...the kid has no fear!)

Hunter also met an (almost) 4 year old boy, who within 5 minutes taught him how to transform his hand into a gun and shoot invisible bullets at people. So now, of course, this is Hunter's favorite thing to do (lovely...sigh).

The staff at the resort were great. Very nice and attentive. Most genuinely seemed to enjoy children, so we got many comments regarding how handsome, cute, and BIG Hunter is. He certainly won the hearts of many Dominican hostesses and waitresses. One waiter in particular couldn't believe it when we told him Hunter was only 16 months old.

This wasn't the only way that Hunter seemed to mature during our vacation. He was great during our 9 hours of door to door travel time both to and from the Dominican, and overall, he was just a very good and listened to us very well. He stayed close when we asked him to, so we didn't have to worry too much about him running off or getting into too much danger/trouble. It was great!

Admittedly, we took a ridiculous amount of photos during this trip. Here are some of our favorites...