Dominican Trip - Crabs, Church, and A Creepy Man

Sunday morning, when I got down to the lobby, Mrs. S, S, and E were already down there. They were ready early and had decided that they would walk down to the beach to take some pictures.  They weren't gone long, and when they came back, they were talking about seeing little hermit crabs all over the beach.  The young prince had really wanted to see a hermit crab a few days before, and I wanted him to be able to see one as well.  When the Oldest Princess came down, we walked down to the beach to take some pictures and see the crabs.  The crabs were everywhere, and some of them were teeny tiny.  The smallest I have ever seen.  We picked up a couple and held on to them to show to the Young prince when he came down.  He was down shortly, and loved the crabs, so we went back down to the beach to take a few more pictures and let him see all of the crabs.  I was wishing that the Youngest Princess was there so she could see them too.  I know she would have loved them!

 Pictures on the beach

 Playing with the hermit crabs

 Some of them were teeny tiny!

The bus came to pick us up and take us to church.  When we got there, the worship team was practicing, so we sat and listened to them for a few minutes.  Then our kids practiced the song they were going to sing that night.  Our friend that we had met a few days before, who had lived in the DR before but had moved due to health reasons, came to church.  We were all happy to know that he had kept his word, and had come.  I am praying for R, that God will move in his life, and that he will get connected with the church there.

Our kids practicing their song

I was excited to learn that they have little radios, that you can plug your ear buds into, and hear a translation of the service.  The kids, Mrs. B, and Mrs. S all went to children's church after the music service, but Grammy and I stayed in the church service.  And at first I thought my little radio did not work.  All I could get was Spanish Music.  Then Mr. S came over and told us that C had not started translating yet.  When he started, my little radio worked, and I was very glad.  Pastor G preached a sermon about how our main focus should be on God, not on our opposition.  It was a nice reminder that God is always in control, even during the times when it looks or feels like He is not in control.

After church, we stood around and enjoyed a little fellowship with one another.  I was able to connect with M, a friend of a very good friend of mine.  It truly is a small world.  I was also able to check with Mrs. J about how things were when they got home the night before, after all the rain.  She said that the curtains had saved the day, and blocked most of the water, and the children's beds had not gotten wet.  Praise the Lord!  I am thankful that no prayer is too insignificant to pray.  That God cares about us in big and small ways.  I also talked briefly to Pastor G about the baseball field, and what it would take to actually build one.

We ate a delicious lunch of chicken, mashed potatoes, and steamed veggies.  Okay, I will admit that I said, "No, gracias." to the steamed veggies, but they were on the menu, so I couldn't leave them out.

After lunch, Aunt A called her favorite moto concho guy, and he came and gave everyone that wanted one a ride.  I even got in on the excitement and took a turn with the Young Prince.  I have to admit last year when I found out that the Oldest Princess had ridden, I was a little upset.  But it is a lot less scary when you are actually there yourself.

On the way back to the hotel, the Oldest Princess was able to see the Coke billboard that C had been talking about for a few days.  C said that it didn't make her want a Coke at all.  It was a little odd, I must admit.

Back at the hotel, everyone went their own way.  I sat in the lobby and posted some pictures from the morning.  Then the Young Prince and I went back out to the beach to look for more crabs.  We didn't have to look far, because they were everywhere.  N climbed yet another palm tree and came down with two coconuts.

Several of us including D and M's daughter, M, who had come to the hotel with us for the afternoon decided to go to our room and play cards.  Before we could play, we had to clean off the table.  I thought it was funny that every time we picked up something off the table and asked "Whose is this?" C would say, "It's mine."  Seriously, with the exception of one or two things that belonged to the Oldest Princess.

I wish I could say we had a nice, sweet, friendly afternoon of playing Dutch Blitz, but if you have ever played Dutch Blitz, especially with us, you know that the words nice, sweet, and friendly are not the words we use to describe such happenings.  It wasn't long before the Oldest Princess and C were having "sibling rivalry spats".  I think they had just been together too much!  Then S called me "The Mother."  Then the Oldest Princess and S got into it...but it was all in friendly fun, I guess...as friendly and fun as a game of Dutch Blitz can be.  I loved every second of it.  M just listened and laughed at all of us.

Before we knew it, it was time to get ready to go back to church.  Mrs. M, the Oldest Princess, the Young Prince and I were some of the first ones to the lobby.  We were sitting there talking, and not really paying much attention to what was going on with the other people around us, when a man sitting directly across from us took a picture.  I looked up at him because the flash caught my attention.  He had taken a picture of us!  We were all kind of stunned.  It was very uncomfortable. And even after brazenly taking our picture - with his flash on! - the man continued to sit there and stare at us!  It was very strange!  I had never been so happy to see the bus arrive as I was that afternoon.  Once we got on the bus, the Young Prince said that after the man took a picture of us, he had, in return, taken a picture of the man.  I would not have thought to do that, but I was glad he had. It meant we had a picture of the man if anything should happen and we should need it.

The church service started with a prayer time.  We broke into small groups depending on where we were sitting.  The Young Prince and I prayed with B, M and our other new friend M (who was only 13 but spoke, Portuguese, Spanish, and English).  Then once again, we listened to C interpret the message by Pastor G.  This time it was on How to Trust in God.  And who among us could not benefit in learning to trust God more?

After church, it was time to say goodbye, because we would be leaving in the morning.  It is not easy to say goodbye to people you have fallen in love with in just a few short days, especially not knowing if or when you will be able to see them again.  But we are thankful that there is the wonder of social media, that can help us to stay connected.

We loaded the bus and headed to The Con Con.  It is a pizza restaurant not far from our hotel.  Pastor G and Aunt A met us there.  We had a great time of fellowship while we ate some wonderful pizza. We talked about deep, important subjects like - if there happened to be a fire, would Pastor G save his new puppy or Aunt A first?  It was determined that Aunt A could help herself...so the puppy won. Again, it was all in teasing fun.  I was also able to talk in a little more detail with Pastor G about building a baseball field, and what all it would take.  I am still working on a plan, and I am still asking you to pray about what part you can play in helping to make it happen.  I have already had some money donated, after my blog about it on Saturday, so God is already moving!  Stay tuned...!

 The Oldest Princess and S walking into The Con Con

 Uncle G and Aunt A with the kids

 Aunt A and her mini me

All of the family that were there...missing Poppy, my Prince, and the Youngest Princess.

S once again taking a picture of me like I like it :-)...in the shadows.

We took a few pictures while we had the opportunity.  And then it was time to head back to the hotel.
Heading to our room we had another gecko experience.  I was just glad that we only saw them in the hallway, and not in our rooms.

We did our best to pack up what we could, in preparation for our trip home the next day.   I killed a strange bug that was on the lampshade.  I did it with lightening quick reflexes and Ninja smoothness. I meant that bug was not getting away, because I did not want to go to bed knowing he was in the room with us.  I was ready to get back home where my Prince could take care of things like broken toilets and bugs!

And tomorrow would be that day!