Our visitors are all gone now that Patrice has headed off on her Cayman airways flight back to colder than here New York. We have loved having lots of visitors and getting to enjoy so much of what Cayman has to offer. We spent her last night at Calico Jack's on the beach with another nice dinner, cold and fruity drinks and another spectacular sunset. This morning Emma and Patrice went down over 100 feet on the Atlantis submarine and enjoyed the sights. Alex and Ellie were enjoying Easter celebrations on their last school day of the term with Easter eggs and an Easter lunch that Alex says was carrots and juice. Eric celebrated Easter with the stations of the cross in church with the students and then we were all off to Governor's Beach for the rest of the morning. The trip to the beach is the school's annual celebration to the end of the term. I never get tired of the gorgeous shades of blue of the water and the gorgeous sand. Not often will you get to spend your school trip on a gorgeous beach ten minutes from school. We are now packing for our trip to Disney World in Orlando. The kids are really excited and I am not sure how many princess dresses Ellie will require us to pack.
The winds of change have been swirling and howling around Cayman the last few months. The seas have been so rough the kids haven't really been able to get in the water and it is hard to stay put. At the start of "Mary Poppins" the admiral points out that the winds are changing direction and to watch out. Not long after that all the nannies are blown away and Mary Poppins glides in. (The kids have been watching a lot of Mary Poppins recently) Maybe more apt is the wind that lifted poor Dorothy and Toto off the ground and dropped them in Oz. You can just picture Emma as Dorothy if she had some pig tails in. Alex and Ellie would be in the role of Toto (child labor laws means they can't work enough hours for just one to play the role). That means Eric must be scarecrow, tin-man and the lion. Dorothy remarks that they aren't in Kansas anymore and sets out to try to get home by following the yellow brick road. A strong wind has taken us and we will soon be dropping in Oz. Brisbane, Australia to be more specific. That will be the end of the yellow brick road for us and it feels like we are going home. Emma has accepted a job at Blake Dawson in Brisbane after having no luck finding anything here in Cayman. We are sad to be leaving, especially as I am really enjoying my post as head of maths and the school. Sometimes the winds of change just take you though and the best thing is to go along for the ride. We are all really excited about the new opportunities even as we will miss our beautiful island. Eric and the kids will be leaving sometime in July after school finishes. Emma will probably have to head to Brisbane before then, but details are still being worked out. After our big adventure to Disney we are going to be really busy organizing another move half way around the world. Stay tuned for more details of our next big adventure...
Having fun in Brisbane!
March 27, 2010
March 26, 2010
Irish Twins
We thought this would be a good year to introduce our own little bit of Ireland, our Irish twins, to St Patrick's day. We covered ourselves in green and went off to the Irish 5k jog at Britannia golf course. Emma applied herself as usual and soon had our double pushchair covered in shamrocks and green balloons. Ellie and Alex were green leprechauns, including shamrocks painted on their faces. Coincidentally, they had learned all about shamrocks at school that morning. We brought up the rear of the pack of over 1000 participants as Ellie insisted she had to walk and refused to get in the pushchair. Ellie and I had a great time watching all the runners and walkers go by in the other direction. Ellie waved at everyone, smelled all the flowers, and chatted to me nonstop. A few hundred metres into the walk Alex spotted his long lost girlfriend and was off running after her with mum trying to keep up, and her friends. Eva is Alex's good friend from his last school and even though he hadn't seen her in many months, he spent the whole rest of the evening following after her. Ellie finally did climb into the pushchair and we cut some corners, caught up with mum and Alex, and found the finish. We all had a great time walking, watching the stars come out, and seeing some old friends. Alex told us he now loved Patrick and shamrocks so maybe their is some Irish in these little munchkins of ours!
It has been a busy week for us with lots of visitors from the States. Last Friday, 19 March, my uncle Herman and aunt Patti arrived for a long weekend visit. We had some lovely dinners by the water, the first night at Paradise and the second night at Breeze's. On Saturday we all spent the morning at Rum Point and wandered through town in the evening before dinner on the patio at Breeze's. Patrice had also flown in from NY on Friday and spent the weekend at the Westin. The kids really enjoyed two trips to the airport on Friday. Sunday we met Patrice for brunch by the beach at the Westin. It was a lovely afternoon and even nicer that the champagne flows freely all through brunch. We were all too full to do much more than lounge around the rest of the afternoon. Herman and Patti flew out Monday morning while Emma and Patrice began the exhausting task of seeing the sights and lounging at Rum Point. Patrice swam with the stingrays and they both went to Hell. (Hell is a small town here on Cayman). They also checked out St Pedro's castle and some of the shopping in town. Eric had a busy at week at work while Emma and Patrice ran themselves ragged. Today was last day of classes for me before we go on our two week end of term break. Our last day is a half-day trip to the beach to reward everyone for a busy and successful term.Emma and I are rewarding ourselves, (or maybe its the kids) by jetting off to Disneyworld for 5 days on Saturday. It will be our first family holiday where we are not visiting family. The winds of change that have been swirling are soon to touch down and really mix things up.......
March 16, 2010
Pirates and Wenches
On Friday the 13th, 2009 we arrived here in Cayman and one year on the kids are really enjoying exploring all this little island has to offer.
A couple weeks ago we went to Dolphin discovery (one of the two dolphin parks on the island) with the kids. They loved watching the dolphins swim around, jump and walk across the water. It was fun watching the people in the water with the dolphins also. The best part is you can go in to just sit by the big pool and watch the dolphins for free. The ocean was really rough that day so the ways were breaking over the wall and into the tank.
Alex had his interview for kindergarten at St Ignatius and has been offered a spot. He had fun telling the head how he went to the cold during xmas to see grandma Gwen, tata Tam, Roro, Maia and Reese. It is funny how when he tells the story he says he went yesterday on the Cayman airways plane. When we watch the planes at the airport park he also loves to watch the planes and recount how he was on the plane yesterday. He now knows his planes and can tell from a distance the Cayman Airways, Air Canada, and British Airways (also known as Nana airways) planes.
I got in the pool for the first time since Nov 2008 and swam with a masters group for the first time since we left London over 4.5 years ago. It really hurt but I managed to lead the second lane! It took me a while to recover and eventually pull myself out of the pool at the end of practice. The coach is Mike Barrowman who all you swimmers out there will know. For those who don't he was a famous breastroker who won gold in the 200m breast in the 1992 Olympics. They only practice twice a week which is about all I can handle right now.
Alex got a new grave digger monster truck toy from Latha this week to go with his El Toro Loco one he already had. It came with a monster truck DVD which Alex and Ellie watch over and over. They like to rock out to the heavy metal soundtrack while the trucks crash, roll and crush in the background. At one point Ellie started spinning around in circles and Alex informed her that this was not a princess song but monster trucks. Ellie duly modified her dancing to match the heavy metal and tried to get up on the table. Ellie loves the "rhino" truck.
On March 5 we had the first ever Maths Fair at my school. All our year 7 and 8 students made a project and displayed them in Loyola Hall, our big school hall. The projects were excellent and I was really surprised with the effort and creativity that went into them. The kids really enjoyed them and the rest of students in school all had a good time exploring the projects and playing the games that many of the students had made.
Two Saturdays ago we went to DART park ( a beautiful park by the ocean known as chicken park by the kids for all the chickens that run wild). Once again they invited themselves to a birthday party going on while we were there. After saying goodbye to our new friends at the "Cars" birthday party, they were both playing on the big climbing frame with another boy a year older than Alex. As Alex and the boy were climbing down one of the ladders, Ellie came over to follow them down. The boy told her she couldn't come down because she was a baby. She replied "I am not a baby, I am Ellie the girl." Later in the afternoon they went to the birthday of one of Ellie's friends from school. Ellie really enjoyed the princess party.
A couple Sundays ago we went to the Botanical gardens. The gardens were beautiful and we spent the morning walking through the gardens. We saw 3 blue iguanas, which are the only native land animal to the islands and the rarest iguana in the world. They have a breeding program at the gardens and they are one of the few places on the island to see them in the wild.
To celebrate our one year on the island, Emma and I went out to a nice dinner and a show at Vivendi on the 13th. The show was like a cabaret and the dancers and acrobats are from Cuba. While we had a good time, we have mixed reviews of the show. For a very expensive ticket, the dancing to the modern pop music was average at best. The two acrobats were very talented; a lady who did lots of aerial work from a rope, and a guy who did some amazing balancing on different sized metal cylinders. The second half was mostly Latin music and dancing which was much better. They went for total tackiness to end the show with a version of "I've had the time of my life" which my child bride tells me was exactly the same as the movie "Dirty Dancing"!
This past Sunday we went to the pirate caves and zoo in Bodden Town with Alex and Ellie. You can't go to the pirate caves without your pirate outfit, so Alex put his on and Ellie put on her prettiest princes gown. We had a chance to play with the parrots and walk through the nature park which has lots of animals. The kids loved the pigs, horse, goats, chickens, iguanas, a lot of different birds and even some fresh water sting rays. We went down the stairs to the pirate caves and the kids got a little scared. Daddy had to take Alex's sword and go in and make sure there were no pirates in the cave. It was a bit like the "Pirates of the Caribbean" in the caves with the decorations. The caves were really interesting and are actually real pirate caves where they have found treasure. Since I didn't find any pirates, the kids decided to explore them and loved exploring the caves. Later we went and hung out at the beach for a while until nap time.
I find it fascinating how a 2 year old and a 3 year old can push each others buttons. They are both creatures of habit which makes it easy to upset them. The other night they were having their evening bath. The routine is Alex always gets out first. When Ellie really wants to wind him up she will get out first and he will end up in tears as a result. Before I could even finish saying "time to get out", Ellie had jumped out. She then stood there, doing a little victory dance with her mischievous smile, taunting Alex, saying " I won, I won." She got exactly the response she wanted, Alex was distraught. Of course they also randomly give each other a big hug and say "I am your best friend. I love you."
Every night they like to listen to music when they go to sleep. We found a CD of Jimmy Buffett's best hits which someone has turned into lullabies. The CD case has a parrot on it so Ellie always requests parrot music when they go to sleep. It is never too early to become a parrot head.
We have had rough seas the last few weeks and some strong winds. I am sure "the answer my friend is blowing in the wind..."
A couple weeks ago we went to Dolphin discovery (one of the two dolphin parks on the island) with the kids. They loved watching the dolphins swim around, jump and walk across the water. It was fun watching the people in the water with the dolphins also. The best part is you can go in to just sit by the big pool and watch the dolphins for free. The ocean was really rough that day so the ways were breaking over the wall and into the tank.
Alex had his interview for kindergarten at St Ignatius and has been offered a spot. He had fun telling the head how he went to the cold during xmas to see grandma Gwen, tata Tam, Roro, Maia and Reese. It is funny how when he tells the story he says he went yesterday on the Cayman airways plane. When we watch the planes at the airport park he also loves to watch the planes and recount how he was on the plane yesterday. He now knows his planes and can tell from a distance the Cayman Airways, Air Canada, and British Airways (also known as Nana airways) planes.
I got in the pool for the first time since Nov 2008 and swam with a masters group for the first time since we left London over 4.5 years ago. It really hurt but I managed to lead the second lane! It took me a while to recover and eventually pull myself out of the pool at the end of practice. The coach is Mike Barrowman who all you swimmers out there will know. For those who don't he was a famous breastroker who won gold in the 200m breast in the 1992 Olympics. They only practice twice a week which is about all I can handle right now.
Alex got a new grave digger monster truck toy from Latha this week to go with his El Toro Loco one he already had. It came with a monster truck DVD which Alex and Ellie watch over and over. They like to rock out to the heavy metal soundtrack while the trucks crash, roll and crush in the background. At one point Ellie started spinning around in circles and Alex informed her that this was not a princess song but monster trucks. Ellie duly modified her dancing to match the heavy metal and tried to get up on the table. Ellie loves the "rhino" truck.
On March 5 we had the first ever Maths Fair at my school. All our year 7 and 8 students made a project and displayed them in Loyola Hall, our big school hall. The projects were excellent and I was really surprised with the effort and creativity that went into them. The kids really enjoyed them and the rest of students in school all had a good time exploring the projects and playing the games that many of the students had made.
Two Saturdays ago we went to DART park ( a beautiful park by the ocean known as chicken park by the kids for all the chickens that run wild). Once again they invited themselves to a birthday party going on while we were there. After saying goodbye to our new friends at the "Cars" birthday party, they were both playing on the big climbing frame with another boy a year older than Alex. As Alex and the boy were climbing down one of the ladders, Ellie came over to follow them down. The boy told her she couldn't come down because she was a baby. She replied "I am not a baby, I am Ellie the girl." Later in the afternoon they went to the birthday of one of Ellie's friends from school. Ellie really enjoyed the princess party.
A couple Sundays ago we went to the Botanical gardens. The gardens were beautiful and we spent the morning walking through the gardens. We saw 3 blue iguanas, which are the only native land animal to the islands and the rarest iguana in the world. They have a breeding program at the gardens and they are one of the few places on the island to see them in the wild.
To celebrate our one year on the island, Emma and I went out to a nice dinner and a show at Vivendi on the 13th. The show was like a cabaret and the dancers and acrobats are from Cuba. While we had a good time, we have mixed reviews of the show. For a very expensive ticket, the dancing to the modern pop music was average at best. The two acrobats were very talented; a lady who did lots of aerial work from a rope, and a guy who did some amazing balancing on different sized metal cylinders. The second half was mostly Latin music and dancing which was much better. They went for total tackiness to end the show with a version of "I've had the time of my life" which my child bride tells me was exactly the same as the movie "Dirty Dancing"!
This past Sunday we went to the pirate caves and zoo in Bodden Town with Alex and Ellie. You can't go to the pirate caves without your pirate outfit, so Alex put his on and Ellie put on her prettiest princes gown. We had a chance to play with the parrots and walk through the nature park which has lots of animals. The kids loved the pigs, horse, goats, chickens, iguanas, a lot of different birds and even some fresh water sting rays. We went down the stairs to the pirate caves and the kids got a little scared. Daddy had to take Alex's sword and go in and make sure there were no pirates in the cave. It was a bit like the "Pirates of the Caribbean" in the caves with the decorations. The caves were really interesting and are actually real pirate caves where they have found treasure. Since I didn't find any pirates, the kids decided to explore them and loved exploring the caves. Later we went and hung out at the beach for a while until nap time.
I find it fascinating how a 2 year old and a 3 year old can push each others buttons. They are both creatures of habit which makes it easy to upset them. The other night they were having their evening bath. The routine is Alex always gets out first. When Ellie really wants to wind him up she will get out first and he will end up in tears as a result. Before I could even finish saying "time to get out", Ellie had jumped out. She then stood there, doing a little victory dance with her mischievous smile, taunting Alex, saying " I won, I won." She got exactly the response she wanted, Alex was distraught. Of course they also randomly give each other a big hug and say "I am your best friend. I love you."
Every night they like to listen to music when they go to sleep. We found a CD of Jimmy Buffett's best hits which someone has turned into lullabies. The CD case has a parrot on it so Ellie always requests parrot music when they go to sleep. It is never too early to become a parrot head.
We have had rough seas the last few weeks and some strong winds. I am sure "the answer my friend is blowing in the wind..."
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