Family Pictures

Posed
and impromptu

John and Pat Visit! Day 4... and 5 and 6

After a few days of fun, John and Pat were scheduled to leave the island on Friday afternoon for their trip to Puerto Rico. Their driver was picking them up at 12:30, so we decided to walk down to the Indian River Boat Tour. The river is just a short walk from our house and there are guides there waiting to row you down the river and give you a tour. Here we are with our guide, Eustus.

It was a really cool experience, I felt like I was on the Jungle Tour at Disneyland, only it was real!

At the top of the river there was a little place to stop and get drinks. We decided to forego the rum and just hang out for a minute instead. Shane was entertaining himself (and us) by throwing rocks on the benches.

We got off and walked back, enjoyed some passion fruit ice cream, and caught some more pre-Carnival action. Do you see those gas masks some of them are wearing? Well, it's because earlier that day a volcano erupted two islands away from us, leaving us with lots of ash everywhere.

And, come to find out as the driver comes to get them, the flights out of the island have all been cancelled, and they couldn't book another one until Sunday. I felt pretty bad that they would be stuck on our air mattress with lackluster food and accomodations for another 2 days instead of at their resort, but they were able to extend their trip and work most everything out I think. It was a great deal for us, I got to have people around who I could actually converse with for 2 more days, Pat and I got some more time to do this,
and they even babysat so Josh and I could go out for Valentine's Day.

Plus, who would have put on my sunscreen if they hadn't been there? And we might not have discovered Shane's love for watermelon. And we would have missed out on the pearl of wisdom Pat suggested about letting Shane just play around with the toothbrush and see if he likes it. FYI Pat, he does, and teeth brushing with Dad is now a favorite time at our house!

And besides, how many of you can say you were stranded on a tropical island due to volcanic ash? Yeah, didn't think so!

John and Pat Visit! Day 3

After such an eventful Day 2, we enjoyed more of a lazy morning on day 3. We headed to the beach just below campus and had it all to ourselves. Pat and I snorkeled and traded off with Shane.
Then we went up to lunch to hang out with Josh.

We (Shane) napped at home and went to dinner that evening at Blue Bay. It is about a 15 minute walk from our house along the coast.

We stopped to enjoy the sunset

Then caught the end of it at our restaurant. It was beautiful, right on the water, with lots of fun boats in the bay.

I haven't been to a restaurant here where I've seen a booster seat or high chair or anything, so we decided the experience might be a little more pleasant if we brought Shane's along.

He did pretty well but after we had eaten and were waiting to pay, we let him walk around a little bit right near our table. I can't believe I am admitting this, but...I looked down and said, "Josh, Shane just stepped in dog poop!" (there were dogs wandering near the restaurant). Well, come to find out a few minutes later, through Josh telling me a little too loudly, "Hon, that's not dog poop, that's his poop!" His clothes were completely on, but he had somehow managed to pull at his diaper just enough to let it wiggle out onto the floor. Needless to say, we cleaned up, paid the bill and left quickly! Yikes! Good thing there weren't many people there. On our walk home we were pleasantly surprised by a little pre-Carnival parade.

There is a certain way you dance during Carnival, and I love this picture because you can tell they are all doing it!

You never know what fun surprises await you in Dominica!

Dominica Has a Water Park?!

No, not really. But it sure felt like one at Bense Pool! My friend sent me these pictures today and they turned out great! Ready? 1, 2, 3... jump!

what a thrill! After jumping Victor showed us how to do the natural water slide. It starts a little ways back from what you can see in the picture below, it is smooth rock and you just sit in the river and the current carries you around and down this little waterfall!

Did I mention I have the coolest aunt and uncle ever?!

How could I not include this darling picture?

You know you wanna come visit us now!

John and Pat Visit! Day 2

Day 2 of our visit with the Durhams was our busiest, and probably most fun. We got up early to go with the Spouse Club to Bense Pools. We drove about 30 minutes to start our hike, and it was pretty breathtaking there. Meet Victor, my new best friend. He was our driver/guide, and he actually wanted to carry Shane (no small feat)! I gladly obliged.

He stopped to show us all kinds of cool stuff. And see him down there? Yes, he had my ginormous baby on his back, a coconut in one hand, and was helping people across the rough spots with the other hand!

We hiked through a lot of this,

and then got to the river,

walked a little ways and got to Bense Pool!

I love it here! You can kind of see behind me the little cliffs and the natural waterslide. We came here with our friends Liz and Jason when we first got to Dominica and were still a little too shell-shocked to jump or slide, but I did this time (and John and Pat!) and it was a completely different experience! So much more fun! I am still waiting on some pictures a friend took of us jumping, but will post those later. Just know that I have the coolest aunt and uncle ever! One girl was standing at the top afraid to jump, and Pat goes up there and says "Hey, if an old lady like me can jump than you certainly can," and jumps off. So of course, the girl couldn't chicken out after that! In between jumping and sliding, we enjoyed some fresh coconut Victor gave us. I love my life!!!

Shane enjoyed playing in the water, and of course spending time with some of his favorite ladies.

We made the hike back up the hill, and stopped at this man's shack where he was selling some baskets he had made.

And he was kind enough to slice us off some sugar cane to munch on.

When we got back to campus we picked up some lunch at the shacks,

and ate with Josh on the Subway deck. They were pretty impressed with the view.

We went home and rested for a bit, then got ready to go to dinner. We didn't have to go too far! There I am standing outside our house, and off to the left you can see the restaurant, the Iguana Cafe.

What? It looks like an abandoned shack? Why yes, yes it does. But it's quite the experience!

In order to eat there, you have to call them and make a reservation. Otherwise noone is there! A couple owns it and makes all the food fresh right here. Pretty much whatever they caught that day is what you get. But it was delicious!

The atmosphere was something you definitely have to experience if you come here,

and the view was of course incredible!

What a fun day! Of course there are challenges to living here, but every day I look around and think to myself, "I can't believe I live here!!!"

John and Pat Visit! Day 1

When my aunt found out her Discovery Toys trip was to Puerto Rico this year and realized how close she would be to us, she couldn't pass up coming down for a visit! I was so excited to have John and Pat come and stay a few days with us and see the beautiful place we live in. They got here on Tuesday evening and after enduring a slightly nausea-inducing ride home from the airport, we were at our humble home. I cooked dinner for the first and last time that week (potato soup) and it was so good to have them there.
Shane was intrigued and slightly confused by our visitors. John tried to lure him in by reading his books.

They brought an air mattress down with them and set up camp in our family room/kitchen. (Pat's not asleep, just playing peek-a-boo)

They were such good sports about our small, hot apartment. They had to walk through our bedroom to get to the bathroom at night. Good thing Pat came prepared with her headlight! It could be potentially treacherous in there with the random concrete pillars!

We did way too many fun things so I thought I'd break up the posts. Stay tuned for our adventures!

I think Shane might be hanging around too many med students...

The other night I read him a book before bed, and as I got up out of the chair he turned around and grabbed the book. I couldn't bring myself to pry it out of his little hands, so he took it to bed with him. I was pretty amused by the fact that he fell asleep reading his "pharm*" book.

*med school speak for pharmacology

I guess I've been hanging around med students too much too!

Happy Birthday Josh!

Today Josh turned the big 2-6. Okay, so 26 isn't really a big one, and it's probably a good thing because this was a very low key birthday. I made pancakes for breakfast, and a chocolate cake for dessert, but other than that it was just another day in the life of a med student who has a practical on Friday and a midterm on Monday. But in his honor, and in no particular order, here are some things you may or may not know about Josh...

• He is very much a morning person. Not to say he doesn't enjoy sleeping in when he gets the chance, but whenever he wakes up he is unseasonably perky.


• He will eat almost anything as long as it is drenched in sauce. He does not, however, like sour cream, whipped cream, ranch- any of the fatty white sauces. Probably a good thing!


• He would say that he is not necessarily the smartest person, but works the hardest.


• He is a very proud papa and loves showing Shane off and talking about his most recent developments.


• He is probably the friendliest person I know, and goes out of his way to meet or talk to people.


• He can't remember lyrics to songs to save his life- doesn't even matter if it's a song he's sung since childhood, he ends up making up words or switching them.


• He loves shows like NCIS, Law Order, CSI...


• If he knows he is going to buy something, he spends days/weeks researching it online before buying it, and has a lot of fun doing it I think!


• He chopped off part of his right pinkie in high school wood shop, and has fun scaring/educating little kids with it.


• His favorite room in our house is probably the bathroom, and he's managed to finish quite a few books in there.


• He can't resist a bowl of peanut butter cup ice cream.


• He rarely remembers dreaming about anything- maybe a few times a year.


• He watches Shane while he's getting ready so I can sleep in.


• He doesn't really like soda all that much, just the occasional Sprite or Fanta.

I love you Josh! Happy birthday!!!