We took a last minute trip up the mountains to the Maricao Coffee Festival (Fiesta del Acabe de Cafe). Along the way we stopped for the beautiful vistas and some wild plants. We had gone up in years past and things seemed to have been revived since Maria. It’s about an hour drive from Rincon along very curvy roads. We took longer because we made several stops.
Me and Aeden at the Festival
Mountain views along the way
Lots of people
Some info on coffee types and growth
Along the way we met this friendly man who wanted to meet Aeden
He had on a shirt from the coffee festival 30 years ago!
People selling bags of local oranges
Kids playing the traditional game of “gallitos” or little roosters with the seeds of the Algarrobos tree. They hit the seeds at each other until one of them breaks. Sort of a pre-cock fight game for children in the countryside
Family fun!
Vendors selling traditional art
Bomba music and dancing
Beautiful flowers
It’s always a nice change of pace to go up into the mountains of Puerto Rico!
We stopped and briefly checked out Hacienda Juanita, an old restored hacienda turned resort
Overall it was a fun little day trip and we recommend you check out the local festivals if you come to Puerto Rico!
Having fun at Villa Montana in Isabela on Valentine’s Day
Raising a baby takes a lot of the extra time I might be writing a post and puts it onto him. So please forgive all the photos and lack of text, but I just wanted to get a flavor of the times as we have been out and about in western Puerto Rico these last few weeks.
Visiting La Playuela, Wilderness and Pena Blanca in Aguadilla
La Playuela was considered for a mega hotel and a lot of protesting has (thankfully) stalled/ended it. It is such a cool area
Pena Blanca is just down from it
Cliffside beaches and coves
Save La Playuela
Like a throwback to a different time
Out to lunch at Tamboo in Rincon. Tuesday is Mexican food day! My fave!
Britton and Aeden at Tamboo
Fun at the lighthouse in Rincon
Lighthouse Park, Rincon
Fun at Sandy Beach
Another turkey girl hatched out some chicks!
Steps Beach babes! 🙂
Working on building another staircase into the jungle with friend Chris
Turkey and chicken inspectors
Lots and lots of wagneriana heliconias!
We’ve had great sales at the market on Sundays! It’s been fun to share the fruits (and flowers) of our labors
We like to go out to lunch/brunch after the market – Gastropark in Rincon
Britton and Aeden at the gastropark
Another fave restaurant is Picoteo in Anasco- check out that overlook!
February is about as cold as it will get to put baby A in clothes! 🙂
February has also been especially smoky! Lots of burning going on. (Check out the hillside behind me in this pic)
More hillside fires in the distance combating pica pica generally
Since things aren’t growing as fast we can work on some projects like clearing the paths of old fallen trees from Maria
Cutting a path through the jungle of the property to the backside of the cabin
Beach break at the Marina -a social and fun playa
Having fun shopping with the bebo -haha
Happy Baby yoga pose
Taking Aeden out for strolls has been a new development since he can hold his head up now
He is such a doll and loves being outside with us
Well that’s a lot of life in a few pictures. Life has been rolling forward. With a baby we notice it a lot more! Every day is precious. Here’s Aeden’s 5 month update.
We were also featured in another news program about people from Colorado who have moved all over the globe -Puerto Rico, South Korea, Tunisia and Vietnam. It’s called “Living Abroad” and I think it does a pretty good job of capturing the essence of our life here. I am not sure I would call it “abroad” exactly, but it is hard to describe the move from the states here any other way. And like this sign says of all these choices: Rincon is the best place to live!
If you’ve been following this blog for any time, you know that we retired young and moved to the Caribbean to live the life of our dreams. Some people have made the comment to us that it is all fine and dandy to do that as a single person or couple, but it is altogether different with kids. And that is somewhat true. Having a child changes a lot about your life and realigns priorities quick. Children definitely don’t make things any cheaper.
However, I would say that it is completely feasible to live financially independent with kid(s). Being frugal and budget minded was what got us here and it certainly doesn’t (or shouldn’t) go away when you have kids. If you have good financial habits you just sort of incorporate them into the new life with child. Here are a few tips and tricks we have learned so far in our journey as frugal parents.
Hand-me-downs!
Baby stuff only lasts a short while. Take any offer of hand-me-downs that you can get, whether as a gift or bought secondhand. Many times they are only 3-6 months old and in great shape. We have a hand-me-down crib, breast pump, carriers and lots and lots of clothes and toys among other things. The only thing we have bought new was a dresser/changing table.
Photo credit: Laura Malischke
Breast feeding
Breastfeeding is not as easy as it looks and can even be painful (as it was for me in the beginning), so I completely sympathize with moms who aren’t able to do it, or do it for long. But it really is the best gift you can give your baby to start them out: from a strong immune system to parental/child bonding, it is an amazing thing. But the added bonus is that it is free! If you added up how much we would be spending on formula we have probably already saved hundreds of dollars.
Diapers
I really wish I could say that I use the reusable diapers we were given more than I do. We don’t have a washer and dryer near the house (actually we don’t have a dryer at all), so cleaning diapers would be a huge chore. That said, they are a great money-saving and environmentally friendly option and we have used them some. The good thing about disposables, however, is that you don’t have to change them very often because they can soak up a LOT of liquid, so one diaper often lasts through a whole night and you don’t need to worry about diaper rash as much. We were gifted a huge pack of diapers when Aeden was born and have only recently gone through them. I estimate we will need to spend about $40/month on them until he’s ready to be potty trained (around 2 years old).
Healthcare
Thankfully here in Puerto Rico health care and insurance isn’t too expensive. To have our baby covered by health insurance is about $90/month and has very low co-pays ($10/doctor visit).
Britton and Aeden by the sea
So all in all our expenses have increased about $150/month since having our baby which isn’t too bad! Since we are both home we can do things to increase our income (like selling flowers, renting out the cabana, etc) and take turns watching the child. Babies really don’t need much. They just need to be fed, cleaned and loved. And that, my friends, is priceless.
We’ve been staying pretty busy with the kiddo, the cabana rental and the flower business but we also get out and about quite a bit as well. We recently went to Costa restaurant in Mayaguez for brunch (very good place!) after selling flowers at the farmer’s market and stumbled upon a Paso Fino competition. Paso Finos are a type of horse that has a very light gait (Paso Fino means Fine Step). The riders “jinetes” were judged on their posture, how their hands were in the reigns and other signs of an easy ride. The judges checked the horses for an even step on each of the four hooves as well as the general aesthetics and beauty of the beast. It sort of reminded me of rodeos in Colorado except you would never see a cowboy there in a tuxedo haha!
Paso Fino Competition Mayaguez
Me and Aeden at the competition
Paso Finos
Playa Buye
Then we drove down to Playa Buye for a quick afternoon stop. It is always a busy and popular beach.
At Buye Beach
We’ve also been checking out the local Pulgueros. Pulguero means Flea Market and is almost a direct translation since the word flea in Spanish is “pulga.” We like to go to the big market in San Sebastian on Friday mornings and we also made it just in time for the one in the Mani sector of Mayaguez Sunday mornings. We are not so much interested in all the household and random goods as the produce, plant and animal selections we can find. I am trying to talk Britton into some water features at the property and would love to have ducks, geese and koi fish for them. We found some pretty neat fruit trees, flowers and other interesting plants as well as a connection for some more heliconias and gingers. Britton says he can’t believe he is back visiting flea markets since he spent so much of his youth at them that he came to avoid them. But they are a little different here than in Colorado as you can see.
Angel Trumpets are awesome plants that smell wonderful but they are also semi-illegal/regulated in Puerto Rico because of its dangerous poisons (I still want them though!)
This variety of banana is called “Johnson” here in Puerto Rico. It’s actually a Cavendish but look how big they grow! Flea market fried food fare: The golden brown thing is a “taco” (very different from a Mexican taco) and the darker brown one is an “alcapurria” They are both stuffed with meat, potato and seasonings
We saw this as we were leaving San Sebastian! Holy Plantains!
Mani Pulguero as it was clearing out -A seaside flea market!
At the Mani Market
Checking out all the kids stops too: at Yogufruti in Anasco (I love frozen yogurt so the fact that kids love it too is just an excuse! 🙂 )
Aeden really is a good kid and just goes along wherever we go! We need to start bringing a stroller though because he is getting big and harder to carry!
Nuestro bebe colora’o
Whenever we go out people exclaim “Colora’o!” “Colora’o!” At first I thought they knew we were from Colorado and then I realized that they were talking about Aeden’s red-colored hair! 🙂 They also LOVE, LOVE babies here. Women almost always get a super high pitched voice and say “Ayy que lindo! Dios lo bendiga” and sometimes can’t help but touch him. I will often offer him up to abuelitas (grandmothers) to hold when I see them longing for him. They love to pat him and smell his head. They also tell me about their children and grandkids and give lots of advice. It’s very sweet.
At Pepe’s Pizzeria in Stella of Rincon another seaside favorite
