Greetings from Cuba!

Hayden and I were fortunate enough to catch a hop (aka ride for free on a military flight) to Cuba from Jacksonville, Fl to visit Matt. Even more fortunate was that Matt was en route back from a conference in Miami so we were all able to travel together.
Our odds were slim for getting on the flight but we decided to risk it. We left Tampa for Jacksonvile around 7:30 pm Friday evening and finally arrived around 10:45. To better our chances we got up at 4:40 am the next morning to get to the terminal by 5:00ish. We were the second people to sign up on the space A list, and from then we just waited. I must say it was pretty agonizing as we watched more and more people pour in, several more sign up for space A and waited as the hours went by on the clock. Chances were looking even more slim and by 8:30 I was preparing myself to make the long trip back to Tampa with Hayden all by myself. Finally, by 8:45 we were told that there was enough room for us to board! We were ecsatic and boarded right away and took off moments later.
Upon arriving we took a ferry ride to the main part of the Naval Air Station and had some time to fill waiting for our bags to arrive.
Needless to say we are thrilled to be back together again and Hayden has been so happy and content spending time with Matt. Our time so far has mostly been spent between the pool and the beaches, which are beautiful here, and touring the base. It is very scenic here, so a pleasant place to be hanging out, but HOT! We are thankul for lots of water activity options where we can cool off. We are not allowed off of the base, of course, and picture taking is somewh at discouraged here, limited only to natural areas. Even still, we have managed to take lots of pictures so far, so in lieu of a post of pictures I shared a link from my snapfish account on the blog (see post below).
Matt has been working decent hours at work so we have had him around a lot. We were able to see the golf course yesterday (our trip could not have been complete without that!) and took Hayden bowling for the first time over the weekend. Some things I wish I could capture better in pictures and that was one of them! He was so cute in his bowling shoes that were too big carrying a bowling ball bigger than his head.
We've been eating good food at the galley, but there are also a couple of restaurants and a little ice cream shop for a change of pace.
In addition to all of the iguanas that are everywhere- and I mean everywhere around here, I did see my first Banana Rat yesterday. Why are they called banana rats, you ask? I'll give you a hint: it has not so much to do with what they eat, but what comes out the other end. Lovely. Luckily, these creatures, which are more the size of possums (!) are nocuturnal, so any day time sightings are usually limited to watching them sleep in trees.
All in all, we are having a great time. I was sad to see the weekend end but Hayden and I are enjoying our quiet time during the week and it is nice to look forward to seeing Matt after work again!