Mountains, Smores, & Waterfalls!! Our Anniversary + Cousin Road Trip!

This post has VIDEO!!! YAY!!

So as you know, August 9th is Fred and my wedding anniversary - yay!  This year we decided to take a little road trip to camp out in the Poconos and visit Canada to see Niagara Falls!  But we also wanted to spend time with my little cousins, Irene, Eduardo, and Cielo, so we brought them along as well.  You might be saying - what!?  It's your anniversary and you're bringing KIDS?  And they aren't even YOUR kids!?

I gotta tell you something about my little cousins.  They are just plain awesome.  Whenever we all hang out, it's an adventure, and Fred and I wanted them to have a chance to see a world wonder, ride some white water, and to try smores for the first time.   It was our moment in time to experience it all TOGETHER.

And I wouldn't have had it any other way.

Here's a photo montage of our trip!

Cousin Vacay 2011 from NTME on Vimeo.

Saturday started off with Camelbeach Waterpark in the Poconos.  It's pretty big and had some cool rides.  I however only could take 9 pictures because we forgot a memory card for our water proof camera HAHAHAHAHA!

Sunday after church, we headed back to the Poconos in the evening and camped out in a cabin.  I was all for camping, but I insisted on a cabin and not a tent hahaha.   Glad that I did because it ended up raining each night hahaha!

The kiddies had smores for the first time.  They are now addicted.  Here's a video about us trying to start a fire on the first night... it took us 2 hours because the wood was damp and we didn't have a fire-starting thingy... But Cielo saved the day with her sorceress chant!

Cielo starts the fire from NTME on Vimeo.

Fred has what he considers the best method for making the perfect smore.  He says that you should not let the smore touch the flame directly, but just have it linger nearby it.  It should make the outside of the marshmellow a crispy golden brown, not burnt.

We used Hershey's 'minis' for the smores.. rather than the chocolate pieces that you snap off.  It worked really well... very easy to deal with and you can add peanut butter cup minis if you want!

On Monday, we went white water rafting on the Lehigh River.  We stuck with the class 1 and class 2 rapids, which I think were great for the kids' first time.

Didn't buy the photo they took... probably b/c of my face HAHAHAH!

Here's some footage of our white water rafting journey!  Pretty funny hehehe!

White Water Rafting from NTME on Vimeo.

That night, we used our flashlights to do some light painting hehe!

The next day we journeyed to Niagara Falls!

This was the view at night from our hotel on the Canadian side.  LOVED our hotel!! I can't believe how close the US and Canada are together lol... I always envisioned there to be a bigger gap lol..

So that's our vacation in a nutshell!!

Personal: California Trip Part 2!

I can't remember exactly what day we did this, but we went to Porto's Bakery.  It's a Cuban bakery and there are I believe 3 locations in Cali.

It's so good.

What else can I say?  I just don't know.  Some places, they say are good and then it turns out .. that they aren't all that.  But this place.. I don't know.. it's just .. soooooo goood.

I already miss their cheese rolls.  They are unlike anything I've ever had.  Please please please find a Porto's and visit it when you go to Cali.  Their sandwiches are great, but they are definitely known for their desserts.  AND ESPECIALLY THEIR CHEESE ROLLS.  You can get a dozen for like 7 dollars, and it's so worth it!  I believe we got creme brulee, tiramasu, and tres leches cake, as you will see in the photographs below :)

Apple juice!

Horchata shake!!

My tuna sandwich

Fred's steak something sandwich lol

Joy and Kuya Jo

Tres Leches

Tiramisu

Creme brulee

 

And also, congrats to Charlotte for winning the iTunes gift card!  Yay for her!!  Thanks for participating in my mini contest hehehe :)

Personal: California Trip Part 1 & iTunes Card Giveaway!

So.. I know I haven't blogged in a while, but my New Year's resolution is to blog at LEAST once a week.  Sorry though, I totally started 7 days late but it's okay.  I was in California from the end of December until a few days ago, and now that I've recovered, I have decided that I will blog in parts about the trip.  

So.. This is us eating out Sunday night, Dec. 26 after church. We went to Wing Stop which has awesome wings.. I personally love their Garlic Parmesan flavor.. mmmmm....

We had a bit of fun experimenting with the smile feature on my point and shoot. I highly recommend this camera by the way, it's a Sony T5 or something.  Waterproof, shockproof, and can detect different degrees of smiling.. meaning.. it wont' take the picture until you smile.  We had a little too much fun with that...  

Here's Fred with the subtle smile (no teeth)...

Here's us trying the "show all your teeth" smile...

Nataly HAHAHAHAHA! Love it!

Subtle smile by Ate Joan and  Kuya Ryan.. Love Kuya Ryan's expression, I've never really seen him SMILE SMILE.. it looks almost painful though HAHAHAHAHA

Big smile!!!

And my favorite picture of the night. We did a panoramic with my camera. It took like 10 tries to get it right but.. what is wrong with it?  Comment below (of course, once someone posts the answer, the rest of you will get it), but from the comments below, I'll send one lucky person an iTunes gift card.  BUT I also want you to share with me your most favoritest place you've ever visited.  So tell me what's wrong with the pic, AND tell me your favorite vacation spot, just so I know a bit more about you.

Ooo and make sure you leave your name and email or something (when it asks you in the comment section) so I can contact you.

I'll choose a winner on Monday, January 10.

So that's California Part 1 of .. an undetermined amount.