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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