Cake. Pool. Fun.

Since it's such a tightknit community here at Ross, and everyone with kids knows everyone with kids, we pretty much all go to every birthday party.  And with limited resources, they are pretty much all at the pool.  Shane caught on to the whole birthday party thing for the first time at his little friend Jaz's first birthday party.  They had an ice cream cake and for the whole rest of the week he would say to me "Cake.  Pool.  Fun!"  Since then we've had two more parties with cake at the pool.  I think he thinks now that whenever we go to the pool we're going to get cake, and lately he's been right!

P.S. Our internet has been out for a week with no hope of returning soon, I am doing this on campus.  (Dominica's independence day is next week, and they love their holidays...).  Boo.  I guess I still need to learn some extra patience before I leave here! 

Simple Addition for a Wednesday

In an effort to fully document our life here before leaving, and without anything specific in mind to post about in the near future, I decided to take my camera with me today and just see what happened.  And it just so happens that our day (and many of our days) can be summed up (pun totally intended) in a few simple equations:

Shane + Jessie in the nearby vicinity= unsolicited cuddles and hugs

(not that I think she minds too terribly :) ) 

paths like this + pushing a stroller = me learning how to be a billy goat

a little extra time to kill before lunch + an array of various colored locks = no problem

$550 a month + a little extra walking to campus = getting to come home to this view every day 

(we live on the first floor of that white house on the right)

"yucky puddles" + Josh sharing a little too much microbiology info with me = scrubbing feet when we get home

(don't you love the Croc tan line?)

a few too many pieces of Halloween candy from my mom's package + Shane napping = me deciding it would probably be a good idea to try out that workout dvd my friend lent me

stairs + spontaneous dance party with friends also filling up water at the annex = one very happy little boy

Smart? Or just OCD?

The other day Shane was playing on the couch with some toys and asked me for his "bups."  (cups).  They are usually in with our pool stuff but I got them out and got a kick out of it when I looked over a few moments later and realized what he was up to.  Can you tell?

Funny thing is, there is no way I could get him to do something like this if I tried!  What a fun age, I love to see what he comes up with. 

The Last Time?

With less than two months left on the island, I find myself thinking lately, "Hmmm, this may be the last time I _____ ".  While that is a very exciting thought for some things, it makes me kind of nostalgic about some of my favorite memories on the island- trips to beaches with friends.  Today we went to one of my top 3 favorite beaches, Batibou Bay, and I couldn't help but think that and try to soak it in while I could.  Shane is a big boy now and insists on making the hike by himself.

For every few steps of running there are quite a few moments of stopping to look at things and jump in puddles.

What kind of a mother would let their kid get all muddy like that? :)

A little sneak peak of what we were headed to...

"Watefall!!"

After about 30 minutes (we were on Shane time, it usually takes about 15), we made it to the beach

We were both struck by the beauty and had to just stop and stare for a bit

Our friends Ashley and Emma,

and Ladonna, Haley, and Sam had of course beaten us there and found a good spot for us

And Shane set out immediately to playing in the sand.  Well, he calls it dirt, and you know what, while it is a nicer beach that is a fairly accurate description

Oh, did I not tell you I would be posting a million pictures? 

Whoops.  Now you know.

But how could I leave out any of these cute faces?  Trust me, my camera shoots fast and I already streamlined quite a bit!

After a rainy week last week we were glad it was such a perfect day

And Shane made sure he had explored the beach thoroughly before we left

And while you may not be able to tell it from many of these pictures, I was there too :)  Just having fun with my camera.  Obviously ha ha. 

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The Good:  Shane has been especially delightful this week, and I'm not quite sure why because he is cutting two teeth (his last two teeth!!  woohoo!!).  But he has been such a happy, playful, jibber-jabbery boy this week.

The Bad:  Our water was out one morning this week.  It was kind of sad because I had undressed Shane and put him in the shower, and he was dancing around like he does in there waiting for the water to come on, and then it never came on... so we walked up to campus to take a shower ha ha.  You never know what life is going to throw you here so you just have to laugh! 

The Ugly: One of my Reefs broke yesterday at the store while I was trying to kick up the lock on the stroller.  I wore these shoes every day.  I have other shoes, they are just not the same... sniff sniff.

So, I walked home from the store in the rain shuffling along on my broken shoe.  I'm sure I was a sight to behold.  Here's a little look at the world from my view for most of this week- pushing a stroller with a rain cover while holding my umbrella- it takes a little talent!

Although thank goodness for the rain cover.  I always get a kick out of it because the locals here like to tell you what you should be doing with your baby ("The sun is in his eyes!"  "Take care he fall!"...).    When it is raining I can tell they are about to say something about the baby getting wet, and then they see this get-up and they freeze- and I can almost hear them thinking, "Dang, she got me this time!"  Ha ha, I know they mean well.   

Obsessed

Here at the Dettinger household we are all obsessed:

Shane is completely and utterly obsessed with anything and everything Cars: the movie, books, and the little cars.  He asks about them first thing when he wakes up, carries them around everywhere, and has a little meltdown when he forgets where he put one of them.   

I get a kick out of watching him try to hold all of them.  When he finds another one around the house you can just hear him look down and think, "hmmm, now how I am gonna manage this?" 

Now on to launching them down the back of the couch...

As for me, I have become obsessed with my crockpot these past few weeks.  Since our semi-decent grocery store opened up here (albeit an hour away), I have been able to make a few of the recipes I have been oogling on one of my favorite websites, http://www.crockpot365.blogspot.com/.  It is a beautiful thing to throw dinner in in the morning, spend the afternoon at the pool or on a walk, and not worry about dinner when I come home! Thank you crockpot!  (P.S. I finally figured out the timer setting on my camera.  Are you proud of me?)

And Josh?  Well he is obsessed with studying, as any good little med student would be :)