Grand Cayman

Grand Cayman was our earliest and shortest excursion day. We decided to use the local bus system and jump our way around the island to hit the major snorkeling places we read about. But first, keeping with our tradition of making Barry pose with funny life size creatures, Barry had to stand by a big fake pirate. They had these all over the island... like Plainview and their cows:) Although I have to say, the pirates are so much cooler!


We started out at Turtle Farm on the north side of the island. We read it had amazing snorkeling, but we weren't terribly impressed. It was overcast and the water seemed colder than it was in Jamaica. The tides were ALOT stronger, so we had to be careful getting in and out of the water since this place was super rocky. Here I am getting started...


We were both a little fearful with how we would do with a snorkel, but it turned out to be really easy. We were really happy we decided to spend a little more and get a snorkel with a valve in it so water didn't come in the top!


The coral just looked really rocky here. There wasn't a lot of variety in the shapes/types. It was hard to get good pictures of the fish and all their colors because the sun wasn't out much, but Barry got this good picture of a cute yellow guy swimming around...

Here's a little school of bright blue fish (again, much more impressive in person...)

This was what we were having to avoid smashing into...

Pretty in pictures, not so pretty with tides slamming you all around!

Speaking of making some pretty picture back drops...

Then we caught the bus a couple miles south to Cemetery Reef named for the cemetery it's in front of...

All of the real estate along 7 mile beach was developed, but every couple blocks they would have a sign and a path between properties to get to the beach...

The tides were even stronger at Cemetery Reef. I would be snorkeling, looking at something, then all a sudden fall several feet and fear I was about to smash into the coral. I thought the coral was boring here. Even our bus driver said this was the best snorkeling spot, so maybe it's alot cooler if the sun was out. You can see a lonely little blue fish at the bottom on the picture...

Barry was happy to find "Dory" (from Finding Nemo.) He told Leslie that she was all by herself and acted lost, so he asked her if she was Dory and needed help finding her way home. But she couldn't remember who she was or where she going. Funny Daddy...

I swam out to all the close buoys they had marking the formations, then headed back in. There were some more buoys alot further out, but with the tide so strong, I didn't feel comfortable getting that far out. It was hard work swimming in that water! I was really glad I am such a strong swimmer. So I came back in and played in the sand some while Barry finished snorkeling. It was white and soft here!...

Barry likes taking pictures of his feet which sounds silly, but this one turned out pretty good I think...

The tide was coming in and there was this perfect rock sloping out of the beach, so we couldn't pass it by without doing a Little Mermaid reenactment...

"Some day I'll be, part of your **splash** world"

The final snorkeling spot we hit was the Wreck of the Cali. None of our bus drivers even knew what we were talking about which stunk because we weren't real sure ourselves! Luckily, one of the locals we stopped and picked up knew what we were talking about and told the bus driver where to drop us off. We had a picture of the beach/cove that you are supposed to enter from, so we just started walking around looking for familiar rocks. We figured out it was the beach directly beside the cruise terminal. And once we started looking, we noticed several little boats out a 100 yards or so and people snorkeling. We didn't take this picture, but it gives you a good idea of just how close it was to the beach...
Right before we got in the water, one of the locals threw a bunch of food scraps in to the water and a huge school of these HUGE fish went crazy! We actually left that little cove and entered from the next one over. As we were swimming out, one of them swam right in front of my face and screamed through my snorkel, made a right hand turn, and started kicking my little legs as fast as I could to get away!

Then when we got out, I told Barry about how close one got to me, and he starts telling me how he was chasing several of them! Crazy!

Barry also got this great picture of a rare wild North American Snook! The picture doesn't pick it up well, but there was a big school of yellow fish swimming all around me. It was really neat to see them so close!

We kept swimming and swimming... further and further out... we were starting to get worried, but luckily we had the excursion people to copy from. So we swam over to the middle of all the little boats and kayaks and all of a sudden, there was a GIGANTIC sunken boat! Barry was really good at the whole snorkeling thing and was able to dive down and get some cool pictures.
Everything was covered in coral. It was amazing to see how colorful and diverse the coral was since the boat has only been down there a little over 60 years.

Here's a close up of the engine best we figure...

There were pieces parts scattered all over. We both wished we had more time to explore.

But it was getting close to last tender, and it was a LONG swim back to shore against the current. Once again, super glad I am a strong swimmer.


And here we are on the ferry back to the boat with Grand Cayman in the background...

This was such a short, early, and busy day that we never stopped to reapply sunscreen, so we got a little pink this day. This was by far our favorite day and place! We were scared of showing up to a new place without a set excursion, but it turned out to be perfect! Just too short!

That evening we decided to just chill by the pool and watch a movie they were showing on the big screen TV over the main pool. It was a nice relaxing end to such an exhausting day...

Yeah Mon...

In Jamaica, we started the day by going on zip line tour through the Jamaican rain forest. The actual excursion didn't turn out to be quite as much fun as we anticipated. There was a lot more climbing and the rain forest wasn't as fun to look at than we expected, but guides were really nice and funny. If nothing else, it was just fun to interact with the locals some.

After the zip-line, our driver took us into town. Everyone on our bus wanted to go to Margaritaville, but luckily, a couple blocks down the road, was an awesome beach, Doctor's Cave.



The sand, while white, was actually pretty rough to walk on. But the water was beautiful and warm and the waves were gentle, so we swam around a ton. We could see that right past the swimming buoys, there was a snorkeling boat excursion, so we decided to get our masks and swim around some. It was amazing! The combination of the actual coral formations and the easy tides, made this my favorite place to snorkel!

Unfortunately, a rain shower rolled in, so we had to pack up a little early and head back to bus. Turned out everyone was already drunk and back on the bus waiting! Doesn't take long:)

We sailed at sunset right before dinner, so we went out on one of the decks to admire the scenery. We even found a nice Aggie lady to take our picture...

After the picture, we said "thanks" and went to get the camera back, but she stopped us and said, "Wait... let me take one more just in case that one wasn't good." So we thought she was being super nice and smiled while she took another. The she handed us the camera and told us, "the first one's straight, but I took the second at an angle. I like angles."

Crazy Aggies. It's always something...

Goodbye Jamaica...

Relax...

Barry and I went on a Caribbean cruise a couple weeks ago to Montego Bay, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. We had so much fun. It was nice to be able to take a vacation with fun activities but still mandatory relaxing time. Here we are sitting at the back of the boat watching Galveston fade away...

By the next morning, the weather was already getting warmer. So we lathered on the sunscreen and went outside to begin our mandatory relaxing time...

We had gorgeous weather going down to Jamaica. Everyone was out by the pool drinking and sun bathing... not a good combination. We had a lot of fun hanging out on one of the upper decks talking and reading... more relaxing...

Of course, with my sun allergy, we couldn't stay out too long. And, we didn't want to get burned the first day and ruin the rest of the trip! So we scampered off to see what else they had to entertain us. Barry of course, had to try out the putt-putt. I beat him the first time through, so we didn't play any more...

And here I am relaxing more while Barry goes down the water slide with a bunch of other 12 year olds:)

Usually we feel guilty or wasteful for laying around or napping on our vacations. It was a welcome change to be in an environment that encouraged such laziness. It was great that our "soul training" exercise from our bible study this week was Sabbath rest... check...

Welcome Spring...

We are loving all this warm weather! We've been spending alot of time outside, especially since we now have a garden to tend. Before we left, we finally got our garden planted! We have two 5 gallon pots with a squash and zucchini. I can't remember which this is, but I thought it was amazing that you could still seed and how it sprouted out and everything, so I took a picture...




Leslie has been a big help! We fill up her water bottle, and she goes around and sprays every plant every day to make sure they get enough water...

I keep all the pots on the grass because then the sprinklers water them for me, and then, I don't have to rely exclusively on Leslie's green thumb:)



Here is Leslie watering the big garden box. We planted jalapenos, bell peppers, green beans, green onions and spinach in here...

We also have a Topsy Turvy tomato plant...

Calla loves climbing in and out of this chair. She has to work at it to figure out how to not tip over, but when she finally gets in it, she just sits and smiles with pride, hits the arms rests, kicks the legs a little, and then, tries to figure how to get out it without it tipping:) And, repeat...

This was such a nice evening that we decided to have dinner outside. We have never gotten any patio furniture because in the summer, the flies get super bad. But the bugs weren't around, and we still had some tables and chairs in the garage from Leslie's party, so we made some sandwiches and lemonade and had a picnic:)

Everyone had such a fun time. Even Calla did reasonably well at staying seated and eating at the princess table. We look forward to many more of these experiences as the girls grow. Welcome Spring...

More April Extras...

Leslie had her dance pictures a couple weekends ago. This is her "Cuddle Cub" dance outfit. Her big end-of-the-year recital is next weekend. Check back for pictures of the big day!




Every where I take her, Calla just wants to conquer and climb things. EVERY TIME I pick her up from any childcare they comment on what a climber she is. At least she's usually pretty good at it. I have to take pictures like this next one to help people understand why she always has bruises, bumps, and scabs on her face (although anyone that has watched her, already knows!)

"And after I have conquered climbing over the zebra several times, it is still mildly fun to ride..."

Calla has moved up classrooms in the nursery at church, so most Sundays, she doesn't get to take her morning nap. She conked out as soon as we put her in her car seat. I tried to wake her up when we got home, but she was not having it. So, I just sat down with her and enjoyed it. These amazing moments are so fleeting...

April Extras...

I am scrambling to get caught up on blogs because I know everyone just wants to see cruise pictures, but I couldn't pass by these goodies of my sweet girls...

A recurring theme in Calla's life is her love for big kid toys, especially bikes. So, when I rolled out Leslie's bike for her birthday, Calla just had to have a turn on it as well...



Safety first...

Leslie was alot of help with all the preparation that went into her party. I really think it made her enjoy it more when she knew that she helped with things. Here she is stuffing the pinata with Daddy while Mommy finished up painting Swiper (something that she was disappointed to not be able to help with!)

"You got it- Dude!"

Calla loves to play on the couch with her daddy...

Her hair is really getting long, but still too short and fine to do much with. At least it stays out of her eyes! I still look back at pictures and think she looks like a little mop-headed orphan:)

Leslie really loves her Hulk gloves. We have had a couple of learning opportunities when she has responded to me with the fighting phrases that her Hulk gloves say:) While funny in context, a 4 year old randomly telling an adult, "You're making me angry! You won't like me when I'm angry!" is probably not the best response.

Calla was scared of the gloves the first few days. But, much to Daddy's delight, she finally let him put the glove on her (which engulfed her entire arm) and ran around the house flinging her arm around trying to hit something hard enough to set off the speakers:) Barry was so proud! This is Calla's "You won't like me when I'm angry" look...

Grammy and Binx visit...

Leslie was so happy that her Grammy and Binx got to come down and visit for a weekend and come to her party! They were a super big help all weekend long, especially party day. And, they decided to fly, so we got to spend alot more time with them then usual. Here's Hulkster Leslie fighting Butterfly Fairy Binx...



Calla really enjoyed all the extra attention and play time. Here she is enjoying a snack while cuddling with her Binx...

It was a gorgeous weekend, so we spent alot of time outside. Here is Calla taking a rare break from the swing to cuddle up in Grammy's lap...

Grammy took this picture of Leslie. It's so relieving that someone actually caught a good picture of her. After two straight years of "bad pictures" I was starting to worry that my love for her was clouding my vision/judgement! As you can see, it wasn't. This is my beautiful Leslie, pretty as ever...

Midland doesn't have alot of fun things to go do like Houston does, but it was nice to just sit around and spend some time being a family together, too. We're planning on making a trip to Houston over the summer, so hopefully, then, we'll be able to go have greater adventures together! Love you Grammy and Binx!