Happy Halloween!

The name of the game here in Dominica is make-do-with-what-you've-got, adapt, and be creative. With that in mind, I present to you, the UPS guy. Pretty stinkin adorable though if I do say so myself

They did have a little parade/trick or treating for the kids

But this is how Shane felt about cooperating. Guess he didn't know there was candy!

He wanted to do this instead

We tried to get a good picture of him with his buddy Matix, and weren't terribly successful, but this one did make me laugh, because I can just imagine Shane thinking, "so, they made you dress up too huh?"

As much as I Shane wanted the candy, we ended his misery and went into the air conditioning to play. And of course when the costume was off, the smiles came out. I'm pretty sure this little girl had something to do with it :)

Surprises!

Yesterday brought a couple surprises, big and small. First I noticed something on my wall
Surprise! It was a little tiny crab!

Then that afternoon Josh got an email from the post office saying he had a package. We had no idea anything was coming, but leave it to my mom to make sure we got our annual Halloween package even in another country! What a fun surprise! Shane thought so too. Love you mom!

Crescent Moon

Yesterday Shane and I went with some spouses to Crescent Moon cabins.

It's kind of in the middle of the jungle, and absolutely beautiful. That's the greenhouse in front, and you can see the cabins behind it.

There are a lot of acres on the property with some cool things to see, and Shane was ready to explore! I tried my best to keep up, it is getting increasingly difficult!

They had a bunch of wild goats that were fun to pet And the cabins were like some kind of fantasy

A hammock with a view!

They had a little plunge pool too

Needless to say, Shane was very excited about it

The family that own it are Americans that came down thinking they would be here for two years and are going on 12 now. They just built this Montessori school here. We climbed up some flights of stairs built into the mountain up to this absolutely beautiful schoolroom. The floor was concrete and it was completely open air, and like out of a dream or something.

So many things for the kids to explore!

The lady was talking about Montessori and was very passionate. She was actually pretty mesmerizing, she even had Shane listening.

They made us lunch, vegetable and herb frittata with fruit and salad. The best meal I've had here! (Although I guess that's not so hard...) The cool thing is I'm pretty sure everything in this meal came fresh off their property, down to the eggs their chickens laid. I kind of felt like a hippie, and was thoroughly enjoying it!

Dessert was cheesecake, I think from the goat's milk, with star fruit on top. It was delicious at first bite but the goat cheese reminded me too much of ricotta- I wasn't sure if I was eating dessert or lasagna!

And, in typical fashion, Shane made some new lady friends.

Most of these pictures were taken by her, she is a very talented photographer, and this place was a photographer's dream! So I will leave you with some of the day's beauty.

Who Needs Fall Colors Anyway?

I know, two posts in one day. But I saw both of these on my walk tonight, and I couldn't resist.

Lunch With Dad

Pretty much every day Shane and I walk up to campus to eat lunch with Josh. Sometimes we go to the main campus, and sometimes we just end up coming here to the Annex where the 1st semester students have classes. There's lots of room for Shane to explore, and it's a lot less crazy than main campus can be at lunch.

Shane lights up as soon as he sees Josh- and vice versa!

He cruises along the benches and mooches lunch off of us. He is eating most everything now and I am glad not to have to make baby food anymore.

He loves stairs, and these carpeted ones are pretty rare and exciting here.

After lunch Shane and I walked to play group. Yes that is a cow on the sidewalk I just walked across.
There was actually a whole little herd crossing right then. I get a little anxious when I see cows, especially bulls and think they might charge me. Josh thinks I am paranoid and tries to scare me by sneaking up behind me and making cow noises. We passed my favorite flowers

When we went in to play group, I was thinking that these clouds looked pretty ominous.

And sure enough on our way home we got caught in a rainstorm. It passed relatively quickly, and when it was over you could just see the steam rising off the asphalt. Yes it is hot here!

Stay at Home Mom

I'll have to admit, when we came out here I was a little bit nervous about becoming a "stay at home mom". I was totally excited about finally getting to be with Shane all day and knew it was what I was supposed to be doing, but I wondered how I would adjust to being home by myself all day after being at work all day or being at home with Shane while Josh was still home too. But thankfully it has felt really natural and right to be at home with Shane and take care of the house and I've been having fun too. Don't get me wrong, it can definitely be hard, especially the hour or two before Josh gets home at 7, but I wouldn't trade it. And I've been enjoying doing some "stay at home mom" type things, like play groups. Some moms and their kids have been meeting a couple days a week after lunch in the one air conditioned place you can be noisy in and not incur the wrath of studious med students. Shane is starting to interact more and loves to get out of the house and do things. So do I! Here he is with Matix, who is 3 months older.
Paige and Logan, Amber and Lily. There are quite a few kids within a few months either way of him, it's been really nice!

I mean really, how could you not love spending all day with this kid?

Missing Fall

We love living in the tropical paradise that we are in right now. But, as I look at my calendar and realize it is indeed October and not July, I can't help but think about fall and get a little nostalgic. I mean, I have always been kind of a nerd about getting into holidays and traditions, and being in an elementary school for the past 3 years has only increased that. So I am missing things like this And thinking about Halloween (which they don't celebrate here). Of course we will still manage to celebrate with friends, so I have been thinking about what to dress Shane in for his first Halloween, and seeing adorable costumes like this online that I wish he could wear

So no, we won't be doing things like this this year,


But they do have pumpkins at the market. Only you buy them like this. It seems more like a cantaloupe then a pumpkin. See?

And they're not orange on the outside either.

But, I did try turning it into pumpkin bread for Josh, and pumpkin dump cake for me, and it sure tastes like our pumpkins. It pretty much made my month, because I am also slightly obsessed with all things pumpkin, especially in October and November. So no, I won't be going to any haunted houses and there won't be any decorations at any of the stores here and I won't be doing some of your traditional fall activies, but I will make little moments when I can, and remember that you can never go wrong with doing this every day:

Especially come January!