The Tower of Doom

This tower is where the best defenders would stand to have the most protection.

Where is Teddy Roosevelt?

One of the things Jess wanted to do in San Juan was charge up San Juan Hill like Teddy Roosevelt. This is her in El Morro on the cannonballs which would have rained down on the Roughriders. There is mention of the battle at this fort and the sister fort down the road-San Cristobal. However, TR is not mentioned anywhere!

Nicole took this shot.

Bio Bay

So after hiking five hours in the rainforest, we ate dinner and then went kayaking at night in the Bio Bay, Fajardo. This was truly an amazing experience. There are only five bio bays in the world of which three are in Puerto Rico. You kayak through mangrove trees in the dark to discover the glowing creatures when you paddle.

It was an amazing experience and the whole family would recommend this as a must see in PR.

The Rare Puerto Rican Parrot

We hiked for almost five hours in the rainforest and did not see one of the 47 wild Puerto Rican Parrots which live there. Besides the 47 in the wild, there are another 60 in an aviary in the rainforest.

However, we did find four in Old San Juan. This one is on top of El Morro Fort.

Top of the World

This is a picture from one of the observation towers. The white is from the underside of the leaves of the trees.

You can see the Atlantic Ocean in the background which is about 20 miles away.

La Mina

This is one of the larger waterfalls in the rainforest.
We hiked about 30 minutes uphill in the rainforest to find this spot.

As you can see, like any prepared family, the bathing suits were in the car and of course Jess and Nicole fell in.

It was a beautiful and relaxing spot.

El Yunque Rainforest

During spring break, we went to San Juan, Puerto Rico. We visited the El Yunque Rainforest which is the only tropical rainforest in the US.

This is Jim and Nicole at her favorite spot, Coco Falls.

The National Geographic Geography Bee

Jessica was one of only 100 students from NY to participate in the National Geographic Geography Bee State competition.

After she won the school Bee, she had to take a written test and it was submitted for scoring. She was one of the top 100 scorers and got to represent her school at the Bee. She was the first from her school or the district to get this far.

We journeyed to Albany on April 3 for the contest on April 4. She went off to her group to compete with other children who were mostly 7th and 8th graders. She answered 6 out of 8 questions correctly which is amazing in itself as the questions can range from anything on the globe and then some! They only put the students with perfect scores to the final round of 10.

We toured the museum and headed home for a victory party which Jim and Nicole decorated the house!

This is Jess in front of the sign marking the Bee!

The Bake Off

Nicole entered Aunt Hilda's famous 7 Up Cake recipe into her Girl Scout troops bake off. We had a lot of fun making this cake whose leavening agent is 7 Up. She was an excellent bundt pan greaser as nothing stuck to the sides and the cake released perfectly.

She came in fourth place and the cake was delicious!

The Chair

Jessica spent most of her weekend sitting in the massage chair reading.

When we could not find her, she would be in this spot with the massage feature going and reading a book.

I am surprised she did not ask to bring the chair home.

The Gang

Here is Nicole, Ryan and Jess with their loot. Once again there is more money and candy in the eggs than at a candy store.

Annual Easter Egg Hunt

As long as there is an Easter Egg Hunt, Nicole and Jess do not care where they spend Easter.

This year we were at my sister Kathy's new house in PA.

Nicole traded her treats for her cousin Ryan's money.

Easter Egg Dying

Jess and Nicole dye Easter eggs with Denise at her home. Not much trouble this year except we used more eggs than we wanted too.

Oh well-more deviled eggs this year!

Nicole wins Math award

Nicole received a perfect score on the NY State Standardized test. Here she is receiving her award.

Where we left off...

So it has been a while since I blogged. Things have been busy with the Choisez Family.

Jim is only a few short months from graduating from school. He is at the top of his class so all of Jessica's tutoring must be a help. :) Seriously, he has done it all on his own. He is registered for the Long Island Half Marathon in May and is looking for his next big race.

Jessica has been busy with the school play, Peter Pan. She was a part of the stage crew and was very helpful in getting the sets moved and helping the parents backstage with their cues. She also was a state finalist for the National Geographic Geography Bee-more to come on this.

Nicole has entered the crazy spring sport season. In addition to dance, she has lacrosse and spring soccer. She will add softball as soon as soccer is finished. She was recognized by the school district as having a perfect score on the NYS Math Test.

I have been busy with JetBlue. I was part of a team that ran a conference for JetBlue at West Point for three days. I also helped to put together the program for the play.

I will try to keep this up to date.