Trafalgar Falls and Titou Gorge

On Monday we set out on our rental car for our first big adventures with my parents.  Josh did an excellent job driving, and I was so glad it wasn't me!!!  They drive on the left here, at least when they're not avoiding the million potholes or barreling around a corner.  These two places were some of the few left on my list of places I wanted to see here and hadn't made it to yet, so I made sure to do it at the beginning week.  Let's just say I picked two of the hardest places to find first!  We drove to Roseau, the capitol first, and then up into the hills on windy dirt roads and up some pretty serious inclines.  There really aren't signs or much telling you where places are here, you just have to roll down your window and ask the locals at every turn.  I was pretty proud of us for finding our way, and it made for quite an adventure!  The hike to Trafalgar Falls was pretty tame, we let Shane do a lot of it on his own. 

There are two beautiful waterfalls

You can look at them from the viewpoint

and then if you cross a bunch of boulders there are lots of hot and cold pools to swim in at the base of the falls

We sent Josh to check out some good spots for us. 

"I want to go in there Dad!"

A little view of the beauty behind us

It really was one of the most beautiful, relaxing places I have ever been and we stayed awhile just lounging in the pools enjoying it.  Shane was pretty content with all those rocks to throw in the water.

Then we drove to Titou Gorge.  It is a little cave that you can swim in and there is a little waterfall in it.  I was expecting it to be a little more intense, but it was really only a 2 minute swim. 

Which was good because Shane was not too thrilled about being in his floatie.

We stopped at Save-a-Lot in Roseau on the way back, didn't get home til that evening, went out to dinner at Riverside then crashed after a long day of fun!

Do you see the resemblance?

I still need to post about this week but I had to post this today because it gave me a good chuckle.  We were watching Curious George today with Shane and he was shouting out all the names of things he knew- monkey, bubbles, pigs, etc.  Well all the sudden the man with the yellow hat pops on the screen and Shane shouts, "Daddy!!"  Guess Josh has found his celebrity look alike :)  Life sure is a little bit more entertaining when your baby can tell you what they are thinking!

Grandma and Grandpa

Next week I will have about a post a day with all the fun we've had this week. For now we're just too busy having fun with "Mah-ma" and "Bampa"! 

Woohoo!!!

Josh is done with his third semester!!!  Only one more to go!  We celebrated by going to the pool (daddies are so much more fun at the pool), taking naps, and eating dinner at our favorite restaurant.  We are staying here for the break this time and are pretty excited to relax together here, we never get to do that.  My parents come on Saturday for a week and we are looking forward to exploring the island and having fun!  (Let's face it- Josh has yet to see much except the inside of a classroom!)  What a glorious 2 1/2 weeks!     

This is what my life looks like around 7:45 pm or so...

Yep, we read all those books. How could I turn that cute face down?

The Big Move

We moved this week from that door on the left, to that door on the right. 

While it was only 10 yards away and we didn't even really have to pack, I still remembered that I hate moving.  It was a mess for a day or so, 

but it was all so worth it, because this is our bedroom- and for the first time in over a year, we are not sharing it with Shane! 

Yep, we're moving on up in the world.  One bedroom to two.  Here is his room, complete with bunk beds.  You've still got time left to come visit us if you want, you know want to sleep on those! 

Here is the kitchen,

and the family room,

the bathroom,

and the gigantic Dominican shower.

It feels like home already and we are loving it!

Our Exciting Life

So I realized the other day that I hadn't really posted anything about what we've been up to in the past little bit since coming back, and I thought man, I need to get my camera out more and get some material going.  So Josh and I got a good laugh when I got a flat tire on my stroller and Josh was helping me change it and I said, "Wait, let me get the camera out!"  What an exciting life we lead!    (Though seriously, first flat tire in almost a year on these rocky roads- I'd say that's noteworthy!  It must be a Bob.)

Though I feel like we are at a time in our life when we do have a lot of exciting adventures, I still want to remember the not-as-exciting, routine things too because they are the things that mostly make up our lives.  Like how whenever I make bread Shane shouts "bread!" and hugs the breadmaker trying to get a better look at what's going on inside.

Or that we spend a lot of time just hanging out reading books and now that he actually can, doin puzzles. He gets so proud of himself and will say "Yea!" after he puts a piece in. 

 

Most every day we go to campus to eat lunch with Josh after play group and we usually spend half of it at the playground with Shane.  Yesterday his friend Norm was there and they had a blast on the tire swing. 

And on the walk home I let Shane get out and walk when we get to the dirt roads, and he knows exactly where they are and lets me know if I forget.   

"Oh wait, you're taking pictures of this?"

"I better ham it up then!" 

We stop and look at a lot of different things because, well, that's what toddlers do. 

And a lot of afternoons Shane plays in the "dass" while I fill up water.   

Now if that isn't blog material, then I don't know what is!  ha ha. 

Indian River Hike

Shane and I went on a fun hike near where we live before I went to the states, but being a haphazard poster lately without a computer of my own at the moment, it has taken me a little while to post this.  Liz and Emmy were leaving and I wanted her to show us where this hike was before she left, so she was kind enough to take us and we had a blast with them and Jessie, Stacy, Matix, and Hawken.  It started just a little ways from our house, and I had to have a picture at the start with this sign... it always makes me laugh when I see signs that are spelled phonetically like they talk here (Round de Corner)

We started out hiking through a bunch of different fruit trees and little groves,

and then we got to the spot where they take you on the Indian River Boat tour. 

These pictures of Shane in the pack make me laugh, just because of the size of the pack and how far off of me it sticks out.  He is feeling really heavy to carry in this lately, and I can see why now! 

We hiked over giant tree roots, dodging crabs and fallen fruit, crossed muddy rivers, and stopped at a good spot to swim for a bit.  After the swim the scenery totally changed and it was a flat for a ways so I let Shane walk for awhile.  This is lemongrass, and it smelled delightful.  It stretched out like this for awhile and reminded me of a place they would shoot a commercial for healthy food or something.

Silly boy, he wanted to walk IN the lemon grass

And of course, kiss Emmy.  We sure do miss her!

It ended up by a horse farm and out onto the main road in town.  It was a fun day, a great workout, and I'm looking forward to doing it with Josh and my family in a couple of weeks!