BEACH BABIES

Nohli's First Trip to Miami

We were all getting sick of the crazy weather in New York, 

so we decided to head South. Jet-Blue hooked us up with some cheap tickets and Christy opened up her house for us. 

We flew down to West Palm Beach. 

Lil Mikey Harding picked us up at the airport.  We went straight to JOHN G's for some lunch.

Then we headed south on 95 to South Beach.  

We were lucky enough to stay at Christy's Belle Island apartment.  Nohli got to meet her Tia Christy for the first time. They are now best friends.  

We BBQed  some steaks and watched the sunset. 

The next day on got breakfast on Lincoln Rd.  Christy left for a party on the west coast.  Nolhi, Mike, Clariza, and me hit the beach.

We spent the next we days for chilling out and relaxing.

Hanging on at the new Jet Blue terminal

Nohli chewing on a domino on South Beach

We had some trouble finding a pool for Nohli.  

It seems South Beach is more of a playground for adults than kids. Ha. 

The pool we usually sneak into at The Standard doesn't allow babies near the pool. 

We tried some hotel pools on the strip and we were denied every time. Thank God for my homey Noel, he let Nohli come splash around his pool at The Flamingo. The water was so perfect Mama even took a dip.

Nohli and the downtown Miami skyline

More swimming

And more

Nohli loved the playground especially the swing

Tia Christy eating Nohli

Nohli hangin with the boys

West Palm Beach

2 Beautiful ladies

The Fam at John G's

Nohli on Christy balcony

Nana and Papa on Belle Island

Nohli w/ the HUG LIFE crew

One of my favorite pics!

On the way to the beach

Passed out! Nohli sleeping good. 

It was a nice trip. 

Now we ready to enjoy some real spring in NYC

The GOD FATHA

Nohli's First SPRING

Nohli's God Father, Bradley (He's a school teacher.) was on spring vacation, 

so he made the trip down to Brooklyn to see Nohli. 

Brad stayed for a few nights. The weather was a little rainy, cold, miserable, but we still had a few nice days in the city. 

A little shopping on Broadway. Lunch at MeKong and LASSO. BBQed and Fish Fried.

Nohli repping the Celts with Brad, Pucci, (and Tini too)

Nohli has been trying lots of new food. 

She likes most of it. 

Grilled Corn at Habana Outpost

Still the Bread Monster!

Nohli and Brad had a lot of fun. 

Thanks for coming thru, Triple B!

COMING UP: NOHLI HEADS TO SOUTH BEACH

Grandma BuBuB's FIRST Post

Easter weekend at the Simo von Ritters'

Noah and Clariza invited their NH country family for a weekend in the big city. It is always difficult to get Pops to drive in the traffic of the city, but little Nohli and her wonderful parents make the trip more than worth it. We decided to drive in on Saturday instead of our usual Friday night. It was a much better trip (even in the rain) and we did not get lost once! Noah even had a parking place right in front of the apartment!!

It is alway so exciting to see Nohli after a couple weeks of her growing. She was sitting up in her high chair, but when we got there, she began to smile and clap her hands. I think she is beginning to know us. She is such a happy good natured little girl. We are lucky to get to spend the weekend with Nohli and her Fam.

As soon as the rain stopped, Nohli took a walk with her loving grandparents and even stayed awake to share the sights of Bed Stuy with us. Tia JenJen was joining us after her job interview in Boston. We decided to wait for her for dinner, but little Nohli needed her bath and bed. Now she sits in the little tub by herself. Her motor skills are improving as she plays with her toys, esp her BOBO. She still loves to have her mama put her to sleep but i know there will be a day soon when I can do it.

As always there was tasty meal prepared by the duo Chefs, Noah and Clariza. On Easter morning the sun shone brightly. Nohli got dressed up to go the church with her Grandma. Pops and Tia Jen decided to come too. After a short walk we found a beautiful church that looked like a cathedral in Europe. Nohli quickly made friends with everyone around her, and when the music started she clapped her hands and almost tried to dance. She must have her Mom's moves! After we all sang "This little light of mine" and all that clapping and singing, she fell fast asleep in her Pops arms. When we looked over at her, sleeping like a little angel, there was a tear in her Pop's eye.

She woke up for the walk home and took another little nap to get ready for the next event. Noyela and Greg came for easter dinner, another feast prepared by our awesome hosts. After dinner there was a walk to the park to play a little hoop and baseball. I think Nohli can't wait til she gets to play too. A busy day, books, and a bath and back to bed.

The next morning we wanted to try out a new place for breakfast--Food for Thought, but it was closed, so we went to everyone's favorite, Tom's. Nohli sat right up in her little booster eyeing all the food. She tasted a little waffle and hash browns. Ummm, good! As always , she flirted with those around her. One lady even thought she should be the new Gerber baby!! It's always hard to say Good bye, but we needed to get back. Until their next NH visit, we will have to keep checking the blog to see and hear all the Adventures of a Brooklyn Babe. We are so happy to be a part of her adventures.

THANKS for the words, BuBuB!

The Final Act: Monte Cristi

PART 4

With the trip in its last leg, there was still one last get-away: Monte Cristi, the birthplace of Clariza, the HomeLand, where it all started (Thanks, Monte Cristi).  

We filled the car, strapped in the baby to our DR car seat (hope she gets some use since we left), and headed west on the #1.  It was 2 drive to Monte Cristi through some rowdy towns.  

We got to MC safely. 

First thing we did was meet Clariza's cousin, Ivan, and then head to our Hostel.  

We were staying at the Hostel San Fernando at the foot of  El Morro.  The minute we got to our room, Nohli had to be changed, she had a monster Dominican poop.  Soo Stinky! It took 3 people to clean it.  We didn't love our rooms. So we changed rooms.  Then we drank and ate. And passed out (well,  actually we played dominos and drank Brugal. DomiNoah!).

The next day, Clara and Ivan were going to see the fam in Los Conucos.  We were hitting the beach.  

Nohli decided to go with Grandma. 

 It was her first trip without Mom & Dad.  She behaved beautiful for Grandma.  The beach was great too.  The waves were mucho powerful.

We all went to Los Conucos, the next day.  We had lunch at Tia Eva's house. 

 Lots of people came to meet Nohli.  

Then we walked down a few houses to Nohli's Great-Grand Nana.  

Nana was very happy to see her.

Nohli on a motorcyle.  She left Mom and Dad for a day trip with Clara & Ivan

Nohli is officially the best baby traveler I've seen.

3 hour Flight JFK to Santiago (and back): PERFECT!

2 hour Bus to the the capital : An angel!

7 hour Bus to Punta Cana: She the life of the party!

And numerous 2 to 3 hours drive in the car seating: Just QUIETLY takin it all in!

I think she is ready for her first WEST COAST trip sooon!

(LA & SF + Napa, See U Soon)

Nohli and her Great-Grandma

Nohli and BoBo in BoBo's back yard

The best lil co-pilot and NASCAR's finest CEOah

In the Back Yard with Tio Juan

Donde esta Faustino?

The Greenest block in Los Conucos

Clap your hands. Clap your hands.

Nohli at the B-Ball courts with Ivan

JenJen and Nohli checking out the back yard for great-grandmas.

The Best Cock Fighting Club in town was right next door.

If you there on Sunday, there like 50 motorcylces out front.

3 Generations 

Cabarete & Sosua

PART 3

As usual after our trip to Las Terrenas, we returned to Santiago to relax a bit, recoup, and then head out again.  We were all excited about out next destinations.  Unfortunately, Clara would not be accompanying us of this part on the trip.  But she did give us her car, which made things much easier (especially considering what was in our future).

We planned on staying at an all-inclusive in Cabarete.  We had booked it, kind of last minute in an internet cafe in Santiago.  It was advertised as a super-premium all-inclusive. We had dreams of shots of Patron and bottles of Moet and of course pre-made, fresh formula for Nohli.  

We drove the 2 hours and pulled into BREEZE'S SUPER CLUB.  We checked in and walked to our room.  As we walked thru the resort, we very quickly realized this place wasn't for US.  The whole place looked like it was built in the 70's.  The pool was full of Canadians sipping beers out of over-sized coffee mugs and the worst tattoos you have ever seen.  We got to our room. The air conditioners was dripping water all of the floor.  I left to explore the beach.  The beach had an odd colored sand, very different than the beaches I had seen in DR thus far.  It almost looked like it had been man-made.  I noticed that there was not 1 person in the water.  I thought that was a little weird.  When I got closer I notice a sign that stated, if their was a red flag, the ocean was off limits. WHAT? When I got back to the room, it was clear by the faces of every one in the room, we had to get out of here.  We marched up to the front desk (we left Nohli with Jenny). At the front desk, we proceeded to get the run-around.  They were sooo surprised we didn't love this place.  Finally with the help of a very nice agent, we got the manager and were told (after lots of pressure to stay in a BETTER room) that we would be getting our money back.

It was probably about 5pm when we left the Breeze's.

FYI.  

NEVER EVER STAY OR EVEN BOOK A VACATION A BREEZE'S SUPER CLUBS. 

SUPER? HA!

Now thanks to the help of the agent, we headed to Casa Marhina in Sosua (about 20mins away). We got there. Checked in. Even got a better price than Breeze's.  We walked around the resort. What a difference. The place was landscaped beautifully. And the rooms were small but clean and comfortable.

We stayed 2 wonderful nights at Casa Marhina. 

Our lil fish caught in the net (hammock)

2 Surfer girls hanging 10

The Fam Fam in front of DR's biggest breaks

A loving moment between Papa and Nohli

The Bread Monster! 

She will take your bread and their ain't nothing you can do!

We drove to downtown Cabarete (The Kite Surfing Capital).  We had no reservations, so we keep our eyes pealed for some place nice.  Our first 2 choices were booked, so we book a hotel called San Souci.  It was right on the water. The hotel looked like it was straight out of a 80's movie set in Miami. Crazy Art Deco. I thought it was cute, Clariza disagreed! We had a nice dinner at a little restaurant downtown. The next morning Jen wanted to try Kite Surfing, but there wasn't enough wind. Next time Jen. You Crazy girl! We left the San Souci with no plans where we were going to stay our last night. On my blackberry (he worked surprisingly well. Thanks buddy!) we found a spot that we actually really wanted to stay at, we called, praying there would be room open. There was!

We pulled into Natura Cabana. This place was incredible and the staff was very helpful. Every cabana is extra eco-friendly. No TVs. No AC. Just smartly designed rooms made with local materials. They had a delicious restaurant. A spa. A gorgeous beach. The whole vibe was just relaxing.  The place was pretty much perfect. Definitely our favorite our of trip. 

There was a path that followed the coast, about 30 minutes away was another beach with the best surfing in DR. Jen rented a board and hit the waves. The rest of us watched her rip it up.  Me and Nohli were going to try to, but we found out that the whole break was covered with sea urchin covered coral. On the way to our cabana, we found a great little pool.  Nohli did some more swimming. She got hit by a little wave and cried, but all in all she liked it. She especially loved the sand.

We were sad when we had to leave, but we will be back Natura Cabana.

On the way back, I decided to take a short cut over some tall mountain instead of going all the way around them.  There were some great views. We also had some interesting moments as well.  The roads were real bad and narrow.  There was a few fruit stands and other shops along the way.  We got to around the top of 1 mountain, and there was a small crowd of mostly young kids, when we got close, they pulled a rope across the road, and then like 5 kids run up to the car.  I was a bit nervous. They wanted money and food and pretty much any thing we had. We gave them a Coke and they let us pass.  Then like 100 meters later, the same thing happened.  Clariza was like "we have a BABY!" They let us pass free. Ha. We made it back home safely.  

Nohli swimming 

More swimming. She loved it. We couldn't get her out!

The lil Sharkette and her coaches

The girls in their sun glasses

Nohli took full advantage of the all-you-can-eat buffets

Nohli passed out at dinner, so I sipped to some Prezi drafts

Jen and Clariza walking to the WAVES

Moma and Nana getting ready to hit the strip

Me and Nohli at the San Souci (Clariza's favorite hotel EVER! HA) 

Jen, Nohli, & the Beach

Leaving the room, about to hit the beach

Watch OUT for the WAVE!

A few super models on the prowl

Playing in a giant wet sand box

Right after she got hit with a wave.

Standing tall

The beach in Cabarete was so cool. It had all the pools and coral lifts

The LAST DR 2009 POST Coming soon

(We've been home for 3 weeks but we BUSY!)