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!"
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