Punta Cana trip - Day One

The whole gang packed up last week and flew to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic for a long weekend vacation. We were supposed to take this trip back in November for my Mom's 60th birthday, but it got postponed when Hurricane Tomas went through the DR the weekend we were supposed to be there! We rescheduled quickly and were so excited to get away!

We drove to Atlanta Wednesday evening (timed our departure with Hawkins bedtime bottle so he would sleep in the car) and spent the night at a hotel near the airport - then flew out Thursday morning.

The travelers were my parents, Crisp and Katie, Virginia, Robbie, Hawkins and me. We could not imagine leaving Hawkins or having this experience without him.

Traveling with an infant is...interesting. (I might do a separate post on what I packed for the trip and his carry on and what the airline allowed. I learned a lot!).

Hawkins was a GREAT traveler. He barely made a peep on the way there and other passengers commented on how good he was - and how cute he is of course! I am still nursing and planned to do this on the plane so I didn't have to pump. What very important item did we forget? My nursing cover! I improvised with a blanket, but I would not have been able to be discreet without Robbie helping me hold it up. I do not know how anyone could fly with an infant alone!

The flight was about 3 hours and Hawkins took 2 mini naps in our laps. We did not buy him a ticket so he was an "infant in arms". This means we did not take his car seat, and I was worried he would not sleep at all. Robbie has the magic touch though and kept him busy and entertained and shook him to sleep when it was nap time.

I have to admit I HATE flying. I get nauseous and just hate all the lines, waiting and small spaces. I am scared of crashing or getting sick from all the germs...but this girl loves a good vacation, so I put all of this behind me and focused on keeping my baby comfortable and entertained.

When we got off the plane we all wanted to take off a layer of clothes b/c it was 85 degrees and smelled of suntan lotion ! It took awhile to go through customs in the open air airport (hot!), but it was worth it.

We stayed in a friend of the family's house in Punta Cana. It was beyond any of our expectations. Words literally cannot describe the beauty of the house and the island. My pictures do a pretty good job, but they still don't do it justice.


The house is across the street from the beach and has great views of the ocean from the upstairs balcony.

We had a late lunch when arrived at the house - grilled ham and cheese paninis and a fresh salad with lettuce that grows in their garden!

Then we put on our bathing suits and went straight to the beach!


Hawkins first time in a bathing suit and at the beach!

Dipping his toes in the sand and ocean! It was cold water and he was not so sure...

That night we had cocktails on the fabulous balcony facing the ocean and then had dinner on the balcony on the other side of the house. We were totally blown away by the attention to detail that went into the dinner by the staff.

For dinner we had the most delicious squash soup, red snapper, roasted potatoes, and salad.

Hawkins did not adjust well to the new location, so he did not go to bed until after 10pm! Most of the dinner was spend running back and forth to our room soothing him, but it was still wonderful.

Stay tuned for more of our trip in my next posts!