Happy Halloween!

candy1.JPG We had a great Halloween.  First we finally received the package that my sister sent. Yeah! Inside were the homeschooling books for the kids, reading books for Tristan and Tessa and two books for Dan. For some reason, I thought she had put in a book for me.  Nope.  I was so disappointed.  I haven’t read a book in about a month and a half and I’ve been going crazy.  I was so disappointed!  

Good news though.  Pablo came by and asked Tristan if he wanted a private tour on the megayacht Time For Us.  They came in the other day in the middle of the storm.   Pablo talked to the captain and the crew gave Tristan a tour of the boat.  Tristan was in heaven.  Ever since we were at the City Marina in Charleston, on the megayacht dock, he has been  infactuated with megayachts.  When he sees one, he takes pictures and keeps a log.  Dan is setting him up with his own megayacht spotter website so he can track them.  time-for-us-2.JPG  They even let him take pictures inside the yacht, but told him he couldn’t put them on the internet.  From the pictures, the boat looked beautiful inside.

We spent the rest of the day finishing Halloween projects, and before we knew it, it was time for trick or treating.  I love Halloween!!  Dominicans don’t celebrate Halloween, but I had a plan.  I had Dan take some candy up to the marina office and told him to give them explicit instructions.  There was one bag of candy for them to give back to our kids, and the other bag they could keep for helping out.  Simple huh?  Dan left some candy with the restaurant and with the boat, Life is Good, docked behind us.  Blue Heaven walked by and said they had their own candy and we should stop by. 

Dan came back from delivering the candy.  He was worried. 

“How’d it go?” I asked.

“I am not sure the restaurant workers understood.”

“What does that mean?”

“Well,” he said, “They were really excited about the candy.  I told them one bag was to hand back to the kids and the other was for them.”

“So what’s the problem?”

“Well, they were all excited about the candy.  I mean really excited.  I tried to explain to them about one being for them and one to hand back but I am not sure they understood.  They swarmed me.  Maybe we should bring up some more candy for them.”

No problem.  I put a bag in my pocket and we got off the boat.  The kids had their Halloween costumes on.  Tessa was a duck and Tristan was a dog.  I know, not very scary, but it was the best (read easiest) costumes I could come up with.   Before they were Halloween costumes, they were actually clothes hampers.  (I bought them at the last minute in Puerto Plata).  What they lacked in scariness they made up in being funny.  trick-or-treat.JPG

Of course it started to rain as soon as we started to get off the boat.  Luckily Pablo showed up with a golfcart.  He had a bunch of candy for the kids.  I was so surprised! He was worried the kids wouldn’t have any candy so he got a bunch! He had gum, candy bars,  you name it.  That was really so nice!  He also knew a lady that wanted him to bring the kids by.  He gave us a ride in the golfcart up to the marina office.  Our first stop!  Exciting!!  The kids went inside.  Roberto was the only one on duty.  The kids said “trick or treat”, and he stood there and smiled.  They said it again.  I was afraid he didn’t get it.

“I want to see a trick,” he said.  Ok, he didn’t get it.  We all stood there.  Finally he went over and got the bag of candy and put the candy on the counter.  The kids didn’t take all of it, they left some for him.  Alright!  One place down, three to go.  The security guard got a great laugh out of the kids in their costumes.  I palmed him some candy kisses on the way back to the golfcart.  He was happy.  Next stop.  Some apartment outside the Ocean World Marina.  A Dominican lady that Pablo knew had some candy.  He had talked to her in the grocery store.  I guess he told her about the kids and Halloween and she wanted to help out.  Can you believe that?  So the kids went up to the door, said “Trick or Treat!” and she brought out the candy.  And it was GOOD candy.   It was FULL SIZE  American candy bars!!!   Now, for those of you not acquainted with the Dominican Republic, American candy is expensive here.   I bought a small bag of the “Fun” size of Butterfingers and it was over $5.00! I was overwhelmed at her generosity, and Pablos too. 

We got back into the golfcart and headed to the restaurant.  The kids walked in and everyone had a big smile when they said “Trick or Treat”.  The manager came up, smiling at their costumes.  t-and-t.JPG

Didn’t see any candy though.  The kids looked at me.  I looked at Dan.  “Say it again,” I suggested.

“Trick or treat!”

More smiles, but no candy.  Dan and I looked at each other.  The kids looked uneasily at us.  I whispered to Dan.

“Who did you give the candy to?”

Dan motioned to the guy behind the bar.  So I leaned over to him and whispered, “Did you get the candy?”

Big smile.  “Yes” he says, giving me a thumbs up.  So he got the candy, and apparently they have eaten all the candy by now.  Apparently “Candy no more!”

 AWKWARD!!! 

 So after a few more minutes of smiles, I say  “Ok then.” and herd the kids back to the boat.  They are great as they give me a questioning look but don’t say anything.

Next stop, the boat “Life is Good” docked behind us.  The owner is from Canada and the crew is American.  I hoped this will go alright.  The owner brings out his dog “Amiga” dressed in her Halloween costume.  She looked adorable!

amiga.JPG  t-and-tt.JPG

They also brought out the candy.  Instead of keeping one for themselves, they brought out both.  Oh well.  Also, they gave us some books.  That was a great treat!  Very nice!  We talked to them for awhile.  Then, the guys from the fishing boat “Reel Easy” came out.  They were supposed to leave that day to head to Florida, but the Dominican navy said the weather was still too rough.  Life is Good had tried to leave too, but they wouldn’t let them leave either.  This weather has got to get better soon!

We talked to Reel Easy for awhile til the kids were ready to die of impatience.  They wanted to go to Blue Heaven for more candy.  Blue Heaven had Snicker bars which they happily shared with us. Then it was back to the boat to check out the loot. tttt1.JPG                           candy2.JPG

Quiet a haul!  The kids were so happy and we were exhausted.  While I sorted throught the candy to find what I liked, Dan took the books we were done with over to Life is Good.  What an evening.  Due to the kindness of strangers, the kids got a great night of trick or treating, and we got some new books to read.  Another magical night!  tris.JPG

Ocean World

Another day of more wind and waves.  We haven’t gotten as much rain though.  We were able to get out for a walk this morning.  There is still a big surge into the harbor, so there is not a lot we can do around the boat.  We are getting anxious to leave.  Hopefully this coming weekend!  For now, more sitting, more Halloween decorations (that’s getting old) and more sitting around.  We are out of new books.  I only hope the storm lets up before I eat all the Halloween candy!

Ocean World Dominican Republic

More rain, more wind, more waves.  The storm was really bad last night.  When Dan went out this morning, there was a tree and a pig’s head floating next to our boat.  A pig’s head!  What a sight!  I asked him if he saw Tessa’s comforter and he said no.  Rats!  We have a big surge into the marina, and sometimes it can make it hard to walk on the boat.  So we spend a lot of time sitting.

We spent the day doing nothing.  It rained all day so we couldn’t even get off the boat for  a walk.  We made more Halloween decorations and then spent the rest of the evening playing games.  Dan and I finished the evening off watching a marathon session of the second season of  “24”.  It was a really good day though.  The kids had fun  and so did we.  Sometimes you need those days of just doing nothing. 

I am not sure when this will let up.  According to the weather we are in for several more days of this stuff!!