To boldly go where no aircraft engine has gone before

Steve's Birthday Dive

So, even though we didn't come home with any fresh fish for dinner, we all had a good time swimming around and looking. We swam out to the rocks at Borinquen Beach, and Justin showed us where all the old aircraft engines were sitting on the bottom of the ocean. This beach is directly under the cliff at the end of the airport, and apparently, sometime in the past, someone thought it would be a good idea to just chunk all the broken aircraft engines over the cliff into the water. While I'm sure it set up a bit of a natural disaster for a few years after their petroleum-lubed blocks hit bottom, I have to admit that they look pretty cool now; covered in sealife and fish.

Here's Steve showing off his new gun, and me poking something with it...

Happy Birthday STEVE!!

Yesterday was Steve's 39th birthday (again). Not wanting a big to-do about the day, we decided to keep it small and enjoy a beautiful day with friends. I spent the morning making his birthday cake; a local favorite called tres leches. It's a very airy white cake, soaked in 3 kinds of milk, and then given a heavenly cream cheese frosting. It turned out great! Not without mishaps, however. I made the bad decision of pulling out our 30-year old hand mixer rather than using my lovely Kitchenaid.... Apparently, my choice has decided to go wonky in its old age, and turned itself on while my back was turned, spraying every inch of my kitchen with cake batter. I'm looking at the bright side... it WAS time to clean the underneath sides of my cabinets, as well as the ceiling and the back of the refrigerator. Today, you can literally eat off the floors in the kitchen.

Steve's b-day present was a new spear gun. Fun for him, tasty dinners for me. The water was pretty glorious yesterday, so we went with Leslie and Justin to Borinquen Beach, in hopes of spearing dinner (no joy) and to enjoy the sun and good visibility. More pictures of that to come.

Stomping out sparks

I love this video! These two little folks were entranced by the sparks that kept blowing on the ground, and were having a great time stomping them out. I was impressed that they were stomping out red hot cinders... barefoot! You gotta love a place where kids grow up barefoot, and tough enough to do this!

Dance Fever!

As I said, it was about 3000 degrees in front of the bonfire, as Brett's and Steve's shirts can attest!

Beatles and Bonfires

More pictures of the concert on the cliff. I can't believe that these guys gave a whole concert in Beatles suits and ties... on a hot night in PR.... in front of a raging bonfire. It was pretty toasty onstage! The last picture of me and Leslie was at Steve's request. We were pretty tickled at the tiki torches lighting the way to the crapper. Here's hoping that the port-o-john was well-ventilated, otherwise, opening the door could cause ignition. Heck, it already is kind of shaped like a rocket...

Beatles and Bonfires

Last night we had another concert and bonfire on the cliff. The band is one of the best Beatles impersonators in the nation; they've won multiple contests, and just so happen to be from Puerto Rico. They were absolutely fantastic! We got a group of friends together and really had a great time laughing and dancing through the night.

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune

Best. Game. Ever.

We finally finished it this morning. My legs are exhausted from jumping around the room, controller in hand, trying to kill the last guys. Fantastic game!!

My favorite variety of fly trap

And, showing off my newly painted gazebo. I spent ALL DAY yesterday painting it, and I'm sad to say, it's only half done. I, however, am still 3/4 painted this morning.

Sure signs of happiness

 
A shady nook, treasure from the ocean, and clothes giving way to swimsuits!

Diving at Shacks

 
 
 
 
The water was unbelievably spectacularly, gloriously wonderful today. So, we grabbed the dive gear and headed out to Shacks for some fun in the water. Never gets old! Found a baby octopus, a cowfish, and yet another lionfish today. After ooohing and ahhhing the lionfish, we decided it was our civic duty to remove it from the reef (apparently they eat some 300 different species, and with no natural predators here, they can wreak havoc) but he was smarter than us and darted away.

As if there were any doubt why I love this man

 
 
 

Flora and Fauna

 
 
 
 
First picture is my favorite fern on the back patio. Then my orchid, which is totally blooming its heart out. Last 2 pictures are of an old gnarled tree trunk that I've always been smitten with.

Saturday night Shootin

 
 
 

Saturday was a great day spent at Las Cascadas waterpark with Cory and Jordan - it was shiny, sparkly clean and splashy, and we essentially had the park to ourselves the whole day. Heaven! Unfortunately, I am totally sans underwater camera right now, so no good pictures to show for that part of the day. Steve and I came home tuckered from a day of fun in the sun and water, and played video games all night long. You know it's a good night of gaming when the helo helmet comes out.

Our favorite hardware store

 
 

This store is right around the corner from where we live, and I absolutely love it. It doesn't matter what you need; somewhere in the bowels of this building, you will find it. Add in the fact that it has blazing yellow painted corinthian colums in front, and how can you go wrong? I was enough in love with the first picture of it. But, when Steve came sauntering out, matching it like a pair of prom shoes, well that just pushed my love over the top. (if you look closely, you'll see that Steve's boondogle this shopping trip was "his-n-hers" machetes. Nothin says romance like...)