Another year older and wiser

For my Dominican birthday I got to spend most of the day with Stephen and I got to see the baby sea turtles! It couldn't have been better. Stephen made me an adorable birthday card which was incredibly sweet. After he put in a couple hours of studying we rented a car for the day and headed to Roseau. We had lunch at the french bakery and got pizza and a slice of amazing birthday cake! Then we headed back to Rosalie Bay to see baby sea turtles hatch! The number one thing I wanted to see while living here were the baby sea turtles hatch and head to the ocean. It worked out perfectly being able to see them on my birthday. When Simon opened the nest he found that most of the turtles had already hatched earlier in the week and most that were left had died. There were four baby leatherbacks in the nest that hadn't died that we got to see head to the ocean. We stuck around and watched one for about 45 minutes while he made his way to the ocean. It is pretty incredible how as soon as they are born they know what to do and where to go to get to the ocean. It is something I won't ever forget. After seeing the baby turtles we headed home and for my birthday got to sleep all night long with the air conditioner on. It was amazing! 

French Bakery

This little guy made it to the ocean after about an hour.

Surprise birthday getaway

I have the sweetest most amazing husband in the world. I don't know how I got so lucky. He surprised me a week before my birthday with a weekend away at Rosalie Bay Resort. He had left first thing in the morning to take an exam and when I came into the kitchen he had left me a note saying I love you on a paper towel. I thought it was adorable and took a picture of it and went about my morning. When he came home from his test he noticed I wasn't as excited as I should be. Then he asked if I had moved the paper towel. He came inside and saw I hadn't. Underneath it was another note about my surprise weekend getaway. I'm probably just the worst and hardest person to surprise and apparently blind for not seeing the note under the paper towel. So we packed our bags and headed to Rosalie Bay!
Stephen rented a car so we wouldn't have to rely on transports all weekend and we went with two other couples and their kids. This was our first vacation with other couples. It was an incredible weekend. On the drive there we had a fun little adventure. The car couldn't make it up part of the dirt road. It was to steep and uneven. Eventually a local drove by and did it for us. Lets just say we could smell burnt rubber for a long time afterwards and was a little worried we only had 3 good tires left. When we got to Rosalie Bay they welcomed us with chilled wash clothes to cool off with and a very interesting fresh green juice. It was cucumber, mint, pineapple, and lime. It was different but really good. They then showed us to our rooms. Stephen had emailed them earlier and mentioned we were celebrating my birthday so they upgraded us to a Junior Suite! We were already getting a great deal as it was. We only paid 80 US$ a night when our room was normally 250$ a night. It was a beautiful room overlooking the grounds and the Atlantic ocean. After settling in our room we headed to the beach.
It was raining pretty hard so we didn't stay on the beach for long and headed for the pool. We went to the pool every day while there. It is a popular place to go when there are kids on the trip. For all of our breakfasts and dinners we ate at Zamaan, the hotel restaurant. Both nights we had the catch of the day which was mahi mahi. We also had this amazing calamari salad and delicious pina colodas. Both nights we got a desert, cheesecake the first night and creme brulee the second night.
Our first night after dinner while heading back to our room we passed one of the sea turtle watch guys and he said a hawksbill turtle had just come to shore to lay her eggs. It was absolutely incredible being there while she laid her 171 eggs. While the mom is laying her eggs one of the Rosalie Bay turtle workers removes them and will re bury them where they can stay safer so that as many as possible can hatch and return to sea. The mom turtle is unaware that her eggs are being taken and after she is done she will spend about a half hour burying them and camouflaging the area from predators. It is pretty amazing. It was a full moon out and the waves were just crashing on the shore. It was magical. We really lucked out. Afterwards Stephen and I went to our room and had our cheesecake in bed.
The next day we went to the beach. Stan found a coconut and we enjoyed fresh coconut on the beach. We also all got couples massages. It was so relaxing listening to the waves just outside the room. The rest of the day was spent relaxing in our air conditioned room and at the pool. After dinner Stan and Taran came to our room and we played phase 10. We skyped with them in their room beforehand so they could set up their laptop in front of the crib so we could watch if their kids woke up. It actually worked out really well.
Our last day at the resort Stephen and I slept in and had a lazy breakfast at the restaurant. Then spent the rest of the day at the pool. It was Fathers Day and the hotel had a special Fathers Day BBQ. It was definitely overpriced but it was fun having a BBQ at the pool. We could have stayed there forever but sadly had to say goodbye to our wonderful weekend birthday getaway!

Rosalie Bay Resort!

Our Junior Suite

Photo Credit from the Rosalie Bay website

There were beautiful flowers all over our room.

There were a couple minor name errors. 

I was Jean not Jen &

We were the Pierre's not Peirce's.

Loving my Birthday Surprise!

Our view from the balcony

I spy a beautiful butterfly and humming bird but couldn't get a good picture because they move so fast.

Labyrinth: Sacred Space, a path for prayer & meditation.

We have one of these trees by our apartment. We asked at the front desk what it is called because it always smells amazing. It is the Ylang Ylang or the "perfume tree". A lot of perfumes have oil from this tree in them.

Stephens one of the kids when it comes to pool time.

 Dominican Cocoa Tea