So I'm a little late for Meet-and-Greet Monday. Ah, well.
For Daniel's birthday (Friday) we went "camping" in a little community up the mountain from Jarabacoa. We arrived, parked our car at the top, and proceeded to "walk" down the stairs to the valley below. I carried Jeremiah on my back, and Daniel carried all the "stuff" in his hiking back-pack. After settling into our cabin, we went down a little further to the river, where we started a fire for dinner. Jeremiah helped gather the sticks and attempted to roast his own hot-dog (which didn't last for long). Dinner consisted of hot dogs, veggies packets, and stick-bread covered in butter and cinnamon-sugar. Mmmmm.... Of course, we had forgotten the flour, so we had to run up and ask if we could buy some flour off of somebody. After finally locating some flour, we were able to make the stick-bread. By this time it was very late, so we hurried to put Jeremiah down for bed. We had just transitioned him two days earlier to a mattress on the ground (in preparation for the bed his grandpa is going to make him). However, he was not keen on sleeping on a mattress in an unknown place. We went through his night-time routine, but him on the mattress, and went outside to sit on the porch. When he started screaming and crying we knew we should go back in. This turned into 40 minutes of Daniel and I laying on our bed and singing/ignoring him (he wouldn't accept any comfort from us) while he threw a temper tantrum and declared "no nigh-nigh. Iah side!" (This translates to "no sleep, Jeremiah wants to go outside" for you who don't understand toddler-talk.) Suddenly in the middle of his ranting he stopped and said, "Nigh nigh, Iah," laid down on the mattress and didn' t say another word. After 10 or so minutes of silence, we snuck back outside. It was 9:50 by this time. Be attempted to go to sleep shortly after.
By "attempted" I mean just that. I had trouble falling asleep, being 7 months pregnant and wondered what large animal was on the roof (after all, they have no small mammals here besides rats and mice). Hmmm.... a few minutes of wondering, and I hear something slide down the side of the cabin, and feel something on me. I immediately pushed it off. I have no idea where it went. But of course, for the rest of the night I didn't get much sleep, worrying about the rat falling on me again! (and listening to it climbing around the cabin). Praise the Lord that Jeremiah slept through it all and that the rat left him alone! I kept scooting further and further down the bed, away from the wall. I eventually fell into a very fitful sleep with strange dreams (but luckily, no dreams of rats).
The next morning we woke at 8:00 (well, I woke earlier but kept falling back asleep) and had breakfast at a little restaurant/meeting room. They use the room when if they have groups, etc. But since it was just us, the guy in charge made us breakfast at his house and brought it to the restaurant. After a very satisfying meal, we decided to go hiking and explore. Three local girls showed us the way across the bridge and to a path leading to a "pear" tree (not American pears). We played by the river for a bit, hiked a little more, and then headed back to swim in another part of the river. After a picnic lunch, we went back to the cabin for nap time. Jeremiah didn't nap, but he was content to roll around on the mattress, talk to himself, etc, so Daniel was able to nap. :) Shortly after that, we packed up and headed back up to the road.
In all, we had a fun time as a family, despite the rat, the lack of sleep, and, oh yeah, the fact that we forgot our toiletries as well. I'd love to go back and stay at the cabins again- as long as we knew there were no rats! But it is close enough for a day trip, as well. :)
The view of the valley from the road
The "steps" we hiked down
Jeremiah attempting to roast his hot-dog while shielding himself from the smoke
For more pictures of our adventures, including the scary bridge, our hike, our cabin, and cool flowers, click on, or view, the slide show below (sorry, no photo of the rat).
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