Birthday Boy and a Trip to Playa Sosua

It was the day he looked forward to for such a long time already; his first birthday in the Dominican! Mattais turned 7 on October 17.

We had received a few packages in the mail a few days prior his birthday, which we kept out of sight and hidden until the big day! It's so special to receive a gift from overseas! No wonder he was super excited when he got to open the packages.

A package from Opa and Oma Koster

Wow! Soldiers! How did they know I like playing with soldiers? And 'droppies'. Yum!

Kaelie was pretty excited too, since the package also had a gift in it for her.

And another package from Grandpa and Grandma, Uncle Michael and Auntie Chantelle, Auntie Esther and Uncle Garold! A Playmobil safari jungle set! Kaelie soon found that set contained two "flingos"! (flamingos)

What better 'fun activity' than going to the beach for your birthday party? Of course, we had to wait until the weekend, but over here that is worth waiting for. Mattais and Kaelie love the beach, so we decided that was the best thing to do for the Saturday following Mattais' birthday.

The drive to the beach is absolutely gorgeous. We have driven it several times by now, and every time we enjoy it again. The road leads through the eastern townships of Santiago, through the village of Moca, and then winds its way through the mountains until it hits the ocean road. Along the way there are numerous interesting things that we enjoy every time: people roasting or smoking whole pigs along the road, troops of young guys sitting on their mopeds waiting to give people a ride in downtown Moca, overloaded pick-up trucks full of bananas, groups of ladies with curlers in their hair chatting along the road, roadside stands with local produce, cock-fighting clubs, and the list goes on. We all love it. It's a a cultural and human geography lesson every single time.

 Green and lush landscape around Los Brasos, a small mountain village

 This guy was just smoking up the hill on his moped. And...check it out.....!

 The back of his bike was stacked with crates, stuffed (literally!) with hens, and hanging from the handle bars, many more. They were alive. He gave us this big grin as we passed by and took his picture.

 Then we saw this boy along the road, sitting on his mule, on some kind of errand for his dad possibly. We stopped, said 'hola' and told him that his mule looked very nice, and asked him for his name. Frances, he replied. He looked totally surprised when we gave him a bunch of pesos, and instantly he put his old mule into a fast trot towards the village. We had to laugh. He must have sure thought it was his lucky day: a bunch of 'gringos' take his picture and pay him for it.

 We were awed by the sight of the beach at Playa Sosua. We had not gone to this particular beach before. The water was crystal clear. The scenery stunning. Like stepping into a postcard.

Mattais loved the colourful fish that are swimming around the reef not too far off shore. 'Dori' fish (Nemo's friend) by the dozens. Beautiful. We stuffed some bread crumbs into an small water bottle, topped it up with water, and fed the fish under water by squirting the bread crumbs at them. Boy, they loved us.

 Kaelie always loves the sand and the water too, and is busy for hours scooping sand, carrying water, talking to people that walk by, and laying in the crashing surf.

There was this super cute stray puppy that followed the kids around for a while. Kaelie was thrilled that he wanted to play! She often asks us if God can make her a puppy to play with. This made her day!

 It was a great day, and we stayed as long as possible. A very relaxing and fun family day.