The Vallecillo’s

I was walking past Larsen’s computer when I got a glimpse of the following on his screen. Sigh, is it time to start limiting his television viewing?

Please don’t pass judgment. He can’t help it, it is engraved in his genetic signature!

As expected, we had a great time at the Westin Rio Mar resort. We had plenty of fun, sun, rain, food, sand, chlorine, and a dash of drama. More on that in a bit though.

We arrived on a Monday, but after we got all settled-in and finished rounded up all the troops it was already mid-afternoon. Just enough time for a quick swim with Larsen and then off to get ready for our dinner outing. We were in search for some good seafood that night, so after everybody got ready we headed off to Fajardo where there are two restaurants we know well. We ended up at Sandy’s (King’s Seafood was closed) where even though the food did not disappoint, we faced the wrath of a boy who shall rename nameless (OK, it was Larsen) who was beyond hungry and tired – a lethal combination. So about 4 glasses of Sangria and a set of teeth-marks later we were back at the hotel putting the little monsters to bed. It is a good thing it was bedtime too, we were about ready to start pulling fingernails off!

After some much needed rest we started Tuesday the right way. After some breakfast Larsen was ready to get into the pool and go down the water slide. He had been wanting to ride it since he go there, but it was closed by the time we got to the pool the first day. The first few times down the slide required a bit of hand-holding from us, but after just a few times Larsen was off all on his own. A couple of hours later, and about 50 rides down the slide, we moved off to the beach. The waves and sand were no match for the water slide, so no less than 20-minutes later we were back at the slide. Oy vey!

Wednesday came along, and more of the same was in store. We fed the iguanas (they do this for the kids several times a day) and tried to get as much fun in the sun as we could since in about 24-hours it would all be over. For our last night we had all planned to have a nice dinner at one of the hotel restaurants, and the kids were all going to go to spend a few hours at the Kids Club while we dined. Of course, there is just no such thing as a perfect plan. As we were being seated we (and by “we” I mean Mandi and I) were reminded there was a dress-code for the restaurant and jeans was not an option. I don’t know what I was thinking, you always bring slacks when you are headed to a beach resort! At least Mandi had a skirt to change into, but besides my jeans all I had were swimsuits. So I borrowed Bill’s pants and took care of the extra inches in the waist with my belt.

Unfortunately we lost Papo in the shuffle because of how offended he was by the way the Maitre D’ approached us about our failure to meet the dress code. I agree it could have been done much more tactfully, but I was willing to look the other way since it was our last night there and I was starving. I went back to try and convince Papo to come join us, but he had already made up his mind. Although he was missed during dinner I fully understood his stance. It’s a Vallecillo thing, you wouldn’t understand