Moving to Puerto Rico

Leaving Omaha at 5am- refusing to smile

Ten months ago moving to Puerto Rico was presented to us.  For one solid week we did nothing but talk about the idea.  Our pro/con list was exactly even.  14 reasons to make the move and 14 reasons not to.  It was not a hard decision to make, outside it was ten degrees and the wind was whipping around with snow covering the ground.  We were supposed to have moved a year and a half ago. Umm.  Yes.  Let's GO!!

April 23rd.  We woke early and headed to the airport with eight suitcases, four carryons, and two kids.  What a sight we were. An exciting emotion filled day! Our family of four more than ready for the new island life. 
We arrived in San Juan in the late afternoon with two exhausted little ones, checked into the Embassy Suites and headed straight to the ocean.  Cameron's first trip.  They loved it!
Oma showed up a day later to help with the kids while Josh worked his first intense week.  Hot, sweaty, tired, sunburn. For us and the kids it was wonderful.  Resort, happy hour, pool, naps...well, not Cameron- THAT part was pure Hell.

Enjoying the resort.

May 1st We said goodbye to the resort and headed to our home less than a mile from the gorgeous Puerto Rician coast. We live very close to Punta Salinas Beach and have been making visits with friends from the neighborhood.  It is a fantastically calm beach- just what we need with the little ones!

Punta Salinas

Six months later we are still glad we said yes to this adventure!  There are challenging days and also wonderful ones.  The weekends are our favorite- we go exploring, eating local food, time at the pool, and the beach.  Like everyone else in the world the weekdays are not as much fun.  Josh's commute is quite a bit longer which doesn't leave much family time.
Several of our guests have been a witness to the terrible water situation.  June began one day without water, one day with.  Later we moved to two days off one day on.  We were making it work with lots and lots of gallon jugs laying around.  That got old fast and a cistern was quickly installed!

Our kids attend an open air Montessori school just around the corner in the mornings where they are immersed in Spanish.  Cameron loves it, Alexis not so much.  She says it's cause they give her food that's mixed up, but we think it's because of the language.  We're keeping her there until we get some wisdom on the situation.  Because it is not an academic environment I part time home school Alexis in first grade math, reading, and handwriting.

Celebrating Lexie's 5th Birthday at school.

That's a little glimpse of life here!  Leave a comment if there's something specific you'd like to know about :)