Empanadas taste even better with a side of sand

Day one at the beach is going rather swimmingly.

We arrived yesterday to my favorite place on the planet with the roar of the surf and the worst customer service ever. Just how I remembered it. But if you're lucky, you only have to deal with any noticeable staff when you check in (which always seems like a huge surprise to the people working the check-in desk), and then you are left alone for the remainder of your stay.

We unpacked and headed to our beach to watch the sunset and collect our first of many shark's teeth. I love that my children are absolute beach-combing freaks just like their mother. I think I would consider it a maternal failure if they each couldn't find at least five excellent specimens within seconds of arriving on the beach. But the pickings are pretty sweet this year.

After watching a particularly fantastic lightning storm from our lanai we slept pretty soundly and woke up late to get back out on the beach and enjoy this amazing place. The sand here is course--like the sea hasn't finished pounding it into a fine sugar yet. Already we've seen several sea turtles--the reason why you can't even flash a smile after dark here. And we've settled into island time in less than 24 hours. I'm only breaking now for lunch and restocking for the afternoon shift.

The rest of the crew arrives later today, and so it's about to be a party. I'll send pictures.