Amigas por siempre

 Growing up, my parents, especially my mother, always had the urge to travel.  Mom would get tired of one place and decide it was time to pack our bags. One of those stops was Puerto Rico, and never have I been able to develop lasting friendships like the ones I made there. I met Marta when I was in  the 8th grade and we have been inseparable ever since. Asenath, who couldn't make it for our trip, completed our circle and Noelia came into the group in High School and she was the sprinkle on top of our sunday. I haven't been able to see them for over 7 years. I was so excited when the opportunity arose to get together. I couldn't manage a babysitter for Shadd so he joined us and I'm glad he did.

I was over the moon happy, even being in the car from the airport was a celebration. 

It is amazing how we were able to pick up as if time had not passed. We were doing the same things we did back in high school.  Giving each other mani-pedis . Laughing about serious and frivolous things. Reminiscing on the good times and those haha moments that only we would find funny. Doing each other's hair. Cooking for each other and snapping pictures like addicts. 

Marta recently moved from Puerto Rico to North Carolina.  She is now an Industrial Engineer (pretty cool huh) and making the big bucks. We had to visit Durham, NC and party like we use to way back when. Shadd had so much fun dancing, at one point he had people circled around him watching his dance moves. And maybe 10 mins later he was fast asleep. 

Here you go, our first night out in seven years. My little Shadd enhances every picture!! 

The next day we spent it at the pool. It was more about the modeling than the actual swimming. We captured a lot of pictures for that as well. 

Shadd got such a good tan and since he has always enjoyed being in the pool I spent more time than I usually do in the water. Normally, Travis would take him and I get to just soak my feet and read a book. I missed having him take care of Shadd at the pool. 

Let's ignore my striking resemblance to Scarecrow from the wizard of oz, and talk about Shadd and his woooden spoons. He found a pair of wooden spoons in the kitchen and became attached. He took them with him to the pool and swam with them. Who knows, you can't really judge the attachment of a kid to his wooden spoons. 

That night, we visited the American Tobacco factory. It is now a board walk of some sort. We didn't get to see much because I realized it was not a good idea to take a little baby there. I was getting all kinds of judgmental looks for bringing him. We then decided I would join them during the day and they would go and party at night. 

I admit, at times I really wish I could have gone but it was either take Shadd with me or not go at all. In the end, it worked out beautifully. In the morning, Shadd would wake up around 7:30am and it was nice to have a time to talk to Travis on the phone while these ladies slept their party heads away. We got to walk around the little pond and feed/play with the ducks. 

Next stop was a trip downtown. It is really nice and clean. I love Texas but we have a bad liter problem here. Anyway, we took a lot of pictures. 

This is what happens when you leave your camera around to go to the bathroom. 

We finally found an open building that looked historical and were excited to be able to go inside. 

First thing first, we had to play with the canons. Noelia was making it difficult because she kept modeling instead of getting into character. I don't care who you are but you do not make the peace sign and smile when someone points a canon at you. 

We then asked a lady to take a picture of us and by the look on her face she was not ok with it. So we told her to forget about it and we used the canons to prop our camera and used the self timer. Thank goodness for technology. Oh and everywhere I went they did not have a military discounts. What's up with that? I was feeling like Sandy from Spongebob always having something to say about how great Texas is... because it is true!!!

This is a true reaction and I can't stop laughing when I think about it. After our picture sessions we were ready to tour the building only to find that it had closed its doors. Seriously, they closed 3 seconds before we showed up. Now we will never know what building it was and what is its significance in history. And that was our one chance to take a tour. 

These pictures warm my heart. Time is a very beautiful thing.  Noelia was better at finding a babysitter than I was but I still  wish we could have also had Jaidon with us. It would have been perfect to capture a picture of him with Shadd. 

The fun week came to an end. The last day, we dropped Noelia at the airport and got sushi before my flight. Noelia hates sushi so she wasn't missing out on anything. Actually, yes she was. It was the best sushi I had ever eaten in my life. I enjoyed every bite. As you can see in the picture, Shadd was not a fan. 

It was so fun to be able to spend time with these ladies again. We are seriously more than just friends, we are sisters bound to each other by love. I am looking forward to our next visit together and hopefully next time it will be complete...hint hint Asenath!!!