Tiny Tots Olympics (Sportsday)

April 25, 2009 saw the athletic event of the year take place, the Tiny Tots Olympics. Tiny Tots is Alex and Ellie's nursery school. The athletes were kitted out in their house colour t-shirts; the bluebirds, the green parrots and the red robins, the house of Alex and Ellie. Even many of the parents were sporting house t-shirts.

The activities began with a parade of the athletes by house, each house having a large banner. There was motivational kid's music playing and the standing room only crowd was rumoured to contain a few non-family members or staff! Few could hear the music over the wailing and tears of the contestants as they were forced from the play rooms with all the toys, leave their mummy and daddy, and made to walk out onto the field. There were orange slices and Gatorade for the contestants. The field was freshly manicured with red, blue and green lines to mark the track.

Many a controversy occurred throughout the morning. Their were many claims that runners had run outside their lane, a common occurrence with the one to four year old crowd. There were birth certificate checks to verify the ages. Alex, who is not yet three, was running against some much larger three year olds. Measurements had to be retaken and records challenged as the 50m run was most certainly not even 30m. For some the pressure was too much and they froze on the track, crying for mummy, unable to live up to the high expectations of their cheering house members and their sponsors; the hot dog stand and an unnamed chip company hawking their wares in the stands. It was rumoured the windy conditions were above allowable limits and many more record runs are currently under challenge. Many a younger competitor had to be led down the track as they were unsure what they were doing and why they were not watching cartoons at home on a Saturday morning. Many a parent was wondering the same. Not us, as ours are always up by 0530 these days. There were also some inspiring shows of sportsmanship. When the one year old girl from the green parrots went down headfirst in the grass, the red robin competitor came up and lay face down in the grass next to her, refusing to take any advantage from her misfortune.

Besides the track events, there were also some field events. There was the colour match, the string large beads and then run, and the ever challenging event of running, stopping to put shoes on then continuing to the finish line. These were largely for the older kids and do not make good spectator events.

It was a fun morning and Ellie decided rather than run she would cheer on her house and eat all the food she could get her hands on. Alex ran the three year old 50 meter dash. (As alluded to earlier the distance was questionable which is a good thing) As he lined up to run, crocks securely on his feet, he had me put his spider man shades on in an attempt to psych out his opponents. He ran a good race, inspired on by mummy sitting at the finish line. He stayed in his lane and showed good running form for a Block.

This was our first school event as parents and I am sure we have many more years of events to look forward to. Look for the highlights on Sportscenter later or maybe Transworld Sports, or CNN.

Ellie takes care of her brother

We just got home from school and I thought I should share another brother sister moment. Since neither of the kids took a nap yesterday and then awoke again at 0500 this morning, they were both exhausted after school and were snoring loudly shortly after we left school in the car. Again I had to carry both at the same time with their bags across the compound and up the stairs. At the top of the stairs I put Alex down so I could get the key out. By the front door we have a small bucket with water so you can wash the sand off your feet before going inside. Alex was so tired he fell backwards and landed right in the bucket with his bum and his shirt and shorts were soaked. Being exhausted he didn't find it as amusing as I did and was crying and screaming. I quickly got them inside and had Alex dry and ready for his nap. As I was zipping him up in his sleeping bag Ellie came running in the room with his toy helicopter from the movie "Cars". This instantly cheered him up. She then went running off saying "airplane, airplane" and shortly returned with two of Alex's favorite airplanes for him to take to bed. The smile on Ellie's face and her good deed cheered us all up and Alex went off to his nap happy. Hopefully all this love will translate into a long nap now.....

Fatherhood

We have settled into a regular routine. Emma is settling in to work and I drop the kids at nursery in the morning and pick them up at lunch time. We are excited about being able to move into our house on May 1. While we enjoy the condo on the beach it will be nice to have more space and a fenced yard. Our container has also arrived so hopefully it will be through customs and we will be able to have our stuff shortly after we move in. We have been living out of our suitcases for close to three months now.

Last weekend we finally had a chance to do more exploring of our gorgeous island. On Sundays everything is closed here, all shops and even the large grocery stores. Only the restaurants are open. We drove east along the southern coast and found a beautiful tiny beach called Heritage Beach. We were the only ones there and the kids enjoyed playing in the sand and the shallow water. As Ellie has had some bad nappie rash she was running around naked. At one point I had to go to the bushes to pee and take in the beautiful view. Ellie wandered over to see what I was doing and while standing next to me enjoying the view she had a pee too! My little girl making her daddy proud!

The other day we had called Emma's sister Clare in the UK to wish her happy birthday. Alex has just started actually talking to people on the phone and enjoyed talking with his auntie Clare. Ellie had her chance but just likes to listen and smile at the phone. Just before hanging up Emma asked Alex is he wanted to say "Happy Birthday to Clare again"?. He gave his big smile and said yes. She handed him the phone and he said "Happy Birthday again." Daddy is so proud that Alex has inherited his sense of humour.

When I pick the kids up from nursery at lunch I usually pick Alex up first since his class is upstairs and then we go down to get Ellie. Alex usually has some piece of art he has created. As soon as Ellie sees Alex walk in her class she runs to him and they give each other a big hug. Ellie then takes Alex's project and starts admiring it. If Ellie has made one of her own Alex admires it and is always very impressed. They are very cute together and seem to have a sense of what the other wants and try to cheer the other up if one is sad or in trouble. When they fall out, Ellie has learned to bite and has given Alex some nice tattoos!

We spend the afternoons playing at the airport park, the beach, or the indoor kids play area. I am enjoying having this time with the kiddies. We are also planning a trip to Minneapolis to visit my sister Tamara and her family and my parents. Emma has a long weekend so we are adding a couple days. Cayman national elections are in May and it is a public holiday so we are taking advantage of being so close to the States to go see family and maybe a little shopping. Once we move into our new place we will have lots of space for visitors so come on down and see us.

A man and his (mini) van

Yesterday we took possession of our new 2002, burgundy Chevy Venture. Yes, we joined the minivan cult. Those of you without kids may be chuckling at us, but Alex and Ellie think it is the coolest car around and constantly want to go drive in the bus! ( They like it much better than our rental SUV) Alex even told me the bus was cool! The magic doors that open and close all on their own bring a look of wonder to Alex's face. The other day I also got my Cayman driver license to add to my US one and my Omani one. (I never did get a UK license when we lived in London even though I should have, according to the authorities). The Cayman license was the easiest, as all you have to do is show your US one and they take your picture and money and you are set. In Oman you had to do an eye test, which of course I failed since they test both eyes, not just your choice of one, like in the States. It took a lot of talking to the policeman, who didn't understand what I was saying, and eventually after talking to his superior they just let me have it.

The kids are settling in well at nursery and enjoyed all their Easter activities and especially their Easter baskets when they left on Thursday. The entire drive home they wanted "chocolate, chocolate", which then continued after they woke up from their naps. Friday and Monday are holidays here so we have a long weekend. Most of which I have already spent at the airport park. I am doing ok in my role of Mr Dad and learning quickly. I have most of my tasks mastered and running smoothly, taking kids to school, shopping, laundry, dishes, packing the kids lunch and bags for school each day, etc. The area I struggle in is getting them dressed each morning. I have never had a flair for fashion and cannot match colours. At least if I was colour blind I would have an excuse I could use. The fashion side is a bit easier as all Alex has is shorts and t-shirts and Ellie has some dresses to go with her shorts and shirts selection. The other morning I had a nice pink shirt from with a pretty picture of Holland on it to match her shorts. Ellie was not interested but Alex saw it and wanted to wear it. That sounded good to me so he had a shirt, but of course it did not go with the shorts I had for him. Ellie was happy to wear his tie-dye shirt which of course did not match the shorts I had for her. (They are almost the same size which is handy for nappies and clothes.) I think it is great they want to pick their own clothes, but of course Emma was horrified when she saw the kiddies all ready to go to school looking like fashion school dropouts. I am proud of their dress sense and they were off to school happy and content.

We have a couple of Easter egg hunts for Sunday that we are looking forward to. I also guess we will be spending a lot more time this Easter weekend at the airport park. Enjoy your Easter and may all your eggs be chocolate!

My Left Foot

Today I had another x-ray of my foot taken to see how it was healing. The broken bone is slowly fusing together but I am not ready to start running again yet. This is getting frustrating sitting here watching lots of people run up and down the beach by our window and not be able to get out there myself. I did get into the water this week and had some lovely ocean swims up and down just off our beach. It is a beautiful place to swim with crystal clear water. I also had a meeting at school this week to finalize our timetable for next year. It is nice being in the position to be involved in planning for next year which would be much harder if I were not here on Island.

The kids finished their first full week of nursery. They are adorable every morning going to school with their backpacks and hats. Ellie still cries every morning when I drop her off but she soon settles down and has lots of fun. The ladies who watch after her group are amazed at her eating abilities, the way she uses a spoon or fork and chows down her food and then starts on theirs. She also impressed with her ability to put a whole rice cracker in her mouth whole and then eat it. She is definitely taking after her dad. Alex is the old hand who plays it cool while we drop Ellie off first at her class then go upstairs to his class. He is by far the youngest in his class but is doing well and always has a big grin on his face when I pick him up at lunch. It is nice that Emma can come sometimes also to pick them up. We still only have one rental car so we drop her off at work in the mornings and go get her in the evenings. The kids are very impressed that "Mommy go to work today."

Our favorite hang out in the afternoons is the airport park. Their are some great climbing frames, slides, swings and open space at the park. The parking lot is right next to the runway. We stand at the fence not more than 100 metres from the runway and wave at all the planes as they land and take-off. The kids get a huge kick out off seeing the planes from up close. Everyone on the planes must think we are the local greeters there to welcome them to the island and to wish them luck on their trip home! Ellie still believes she is the same age as Alex. She follows him up and down the climbing frames and slides. This terrifies me as she still topples over when walking. Today she started climbing up a curved ladder Alex just mastered a few days ago. Just to prove a point she insisted on carrying her little teddy bear blanket in one hand and refused to give it up to her terrified dad. During a major melt down Alex had this afternoon as the result of refusing his nap today, Ellie figured she should start crying to. Alex abruptly stopped crying and said "No Ellie cry, no Ellie cry". They are very cute together when they are not working on maiming one another.

We think we have finally found somewhere to live full time, at least for the next six months. We decided on a lovely town home with 4 bedrooms, a very large yard and a pool in the complex. It is less than a mile from the kids' current nursery and also from the Montesori they will start at in September. It is also less than a mile to my new school and about a mile-and-a-half to the coast. Unfortunately, we cannot move in until May 1 so we are stuck in our beach condo until then. Once we move we will have plenty of space for visitors, so be looking for us off the left side of the plane waving to you as you land!

Driving in the Caymans is interesting. We drive on the left side of the road British style, but the cars seem about 50/50 right side drive/left side drive. It appears the max speed limit on the entire island is 40 mph. Traffic at certain times of the day is just horrendous also. Mostly a result of small roads and everyone working in one small city with the same hours, compounded by thousands of cruise ship visitors crossing the roads in the small downtown around the port.

We love Cayman more every day as we get to explore and see more. Last Sunday we were invited for brunch at a friend of Emma's from work who has a son Alex's age and another older boy. Some friends of friends of ours in Muscat also came over with their kids. Alex and Ellie had a great time playing with the kids and all the great toys they had, as will as swimming in the pool. Everyone is very friendly, relaxed and helpful. To quote the ending of the same book on the Caymans I mentioned last time, "Caymanians know that the time to be happy is now and the place to be happy is here. Man, this is paradise, dis is Cayman!"