July 23 - Old San Juan

Our next day was probably our hottest day all week. We drove to Old San Juan to check out Castillo San Felipe del Morro (San Juan National Historic Site), shop downtown, have lunch at a local place and shop. Another great day! 

After parking, we started our walk to Castillo San Felipe del Morro. We saw some fun pocket parks in the city, a unique tree, really cool water fountain and passed a cat rescue (meaning there were at lot of cats lounging around). The kids were hot and there was a little griping about the heat when they saw the long path to the fort but to everyone's surprise, it was incredibly windy walking to the fort and it felt fantastic.

iguana!

The fort itself was pretty cool. We checked out multiple levels and learned all about the history of the fort. The views were the top level were incredible and once again, we all loved the strong breeze. 

After the fort, we went to a local restaurant for lunch, La Garita. The cold drinks hit the spot, the food was good and the view-absolutely incredible. We sat on a covered outdoor patio of sorts and the view reminded me of being on a cruise ship. Simply beautiful. 

After lunch, it was shopping time! Another fabulous day in PR!

Exploring the city en route to the fort

Castillo San Felipe del Morro 

Restaurant with a view

Old San Juan - beautiful

July 20 - El Yunque National Forest

Our next Puerto Rican adventure was a hike in El Yunque National Forest. El Yunque is a 28k acre rainforest in the northeast part of the island. We had a harrowing drive up curving, steep, narrow roads but the views as we were climbing were incredible. We did a shorter trail (0.8 miles each way) to the Mt. Britton tower and there are no words to describe the beautify of the rainforest. All of the kids did great, especially Jillian, who walked the whole way without complaints. Next, we went to Bano Grande, a historical landmark famous for its remnants of a once thriving pool. Such a cool location! After our rainforest adventure, we headed to "41 Bakehouse" for lunch and wow-even though the service was slow (they forgot to make Julia's food oops) I had the best hot chocolate of my life. No, I'm not exaggerating, it was that good. Everyone else got food and said it was delicious. 

After a quick break at the condo to recharge, we were back to the beach for the rest of the afternoon. JD and I walked to the Wyndham resort for an afternoon cocktail while the kids, Greg and Jill hung out on the beach. We got dressed up for dinner at Rickie's Restaurant for dinner (absolutely breathtaking views and delicious food). What a fabulous day!

El Yunque Rainforest - Hike to Mt Britton

Mt Britton

Bano Grande

Beach time

Dinner with a view

July 17 - Beach Day

What's a tropical vacation without a dedicated beach day? As someone who can read on the beach for hours, this was one of my favorite days! Books, beach and chill = perfection! The beach was absolutely beautiful. It was not a perfectly manicured beach (translation: there was seaweed) but it was just naturally beautiful and we practically had the whole beach to ourselves. The weather was also incredible-sunny and warm but with a strong breeze so it never felt hot. This was deceptive as I sat there for hours reading and got burned BADLY (almost done peeling as I type this lol). 

The kids had a blast boogie boarding and playing in the waves. Jillian also played in the sand with Victoria and went crab hunting. Later that afternoon, Greg, Jill, JD and I took a quick drove over to the Wyndham for a drink. JD cooked a delicious dinner and we wrapped up the day playing board games. A fab start to vacation!!

Soaking up the sun

Victoria & Jillian, crab hunting

Wyndham 

Family Game Night

July 10 - Puerto Rican Adventura!

Cook/Yamo vacation 2025: Puerto Rico! To celebrate Greg's 50th, he planned a trip to beautiful Puerto Rico. I'm so thankful our schedules aligned and we were able to join in. Fair warning-I will be doing several PR posts because we squeezed a lot of adventure into a week and there are A LOT of pictures.  

Location: We stayed in a 3 bedroom condo on the northeast side of Puerto Rico. I think the beach we were on is Playa las Picuas, Rio Grande. If you can find the Wyndham Grand Rio Mar Rainforest Beach Resort on a map, we were a 20min walk (via the beach) north west (or a quick 5min drive).

The location was fantastic. We were about 30-45min from the San Juan airport, our condo complex was right on the beach and the El Yunque Rainforest was a few miles away. Greg, Jill and the kids got in late Saturday and we flew in Sunday afternoon. The cousins haven't seen each other since Thanksgiving so they were so happy to reconnect. We went out to dinner the first night and the food (lots of seafood and plantains) was delicious!  

Next Post: Beach Day! (as I type this, I am still peeling from said beach day. I'm very itchy LOL)

July 6 - Alice In Wonderland Jr

Theatre camp! Jillian and her friend Guinevere did their second summer at San Jacinto theatre camp two weeks ago. Last year was SpongeBob the Musical, this year was Alice in Wonderland Jr the Musical. I drove the girls to camp every morning and they were so cute. They had their binders out and we played the soundtrack so they could practice their lines. They performed Friday night and did a fabulous job! Jillian told me "I think I'm a theatre kid!" Love this little sprite.