All our things are in the container and on their way to Oz. It is hard to believe that we haven't been married eight years yet and this is the fourth container we have put on a ship. It was quite a chaotic and confusion packed week trying to get everything packed. The movers had looked at our stuff and said it would all fit in a 20ft container. After packing up our stuff in the house they went to our storage locker, which they had seen when they did the quote, and said it wouldn't all fit. If we had know that we would have prioritized and some of the things in the back of the container already we would have left out. Emma spent some hectic days trying to prioritize our stuff in the storage locker and after packing what we had felt was critical, they said there was more room. We went to look and there was lots more room; it probably all would have fit. We were able to throw more things in and in the end didn't have to leave anything really worthwhile. We have been trying to sell the rest of our stuff including a huge yard sale. Fortunately our house is furnished so we have most of the necessities we need to survive the next few weeks. In between packing and taking care of all the little things that need to be tied up before leaving a country we have been taking advantage of the beaches and the pool with the kids. (And mummy and daddy being able to go out to dinner by ourselves whenever we want. We are not ready for a nanny-free life just yet!) One Saturday afternoon we took the kids to "Margaritaville", Jimmy Buffet's bar and restaurant here. They have a large water slide with pool in the restaurant. It was funny to realize that on Saturday afternoons the long lines at Margaritaville are not at the bar, but the little kids in line for the water slide. Saturday afternoon is kids birthday party day as once the cruise ships leave, there is not much business. We all had a blast on the water slide, even Ellie who said she was too scared to try, eventually went down with me and had a blast! We then enjoyed some Cheeseburgers in Paradise to make for a wonderful family outing.
I have also been taking advantage of some awesome ocean swimming. Several times a week I manage to get a swim in through some of the best snorkeling spots on the island. I start at Sunset House, a dive resort and hotel south of George Town and only a few minutes from our house. I swim north past Don Foster's Dive Resort, past Eden Rock, and to the float out if front of Paradise Restaurant then turn around and back to Sunset House. It is a nice 35 minute swim where I see lots of turtles, sting rays, barracuda and a huge assortment of tropical fish. On June 19 I returned to the Flowers One Mile Ocean swim. This year the course started north of the Ritz Carlton and we swam south. It was gorgeous, sunny and smooth. There was an even tougher field of Olympians, NCAA All Americans, and world class open water swimmers. (Even the Governor and his wife swam.) I went from 71st last year to 50th this year and went from 28 minutes down to under 24 this year. Just goes to show what doing a little training can do for you. There are lots of big prizes after the race but like last year, I didn't win a single raffle prize. When I got home and showed Alex my finishers medal (He loves to see the medals I get for my races) he looked at me and said "Daddy, did you win?" To all swimmers out there, I highly recommend coming down for the swim that Swimming World magazine has called one of the 13 must do swims in the world.
A couple weeks my grandmother Block passed away at the age of 98. Emma postponed her departure for Australia and the whole family went to Vermillion, South Dakota for the funeral. At my grandmother's request the entire family, except for OJ who is in Afghanistan, were able to make it and we had a wonderful family reunion. It was wonderful to see so many family we haven't seen in years and the kids just loved playing with their Block cousins all weekend. On our flight from Cayman to Atlanta where we had a connecting flight to Omaha, the two kids and me were in first class while Emma was back in coach. The first class seats were compliments of Priceline. Initially I thought I had won the jackpot, while after a few nonstop minutes of "why" questions, spilled juice and arguments about who got to sit next to daddy, I started thinking that maybe mummy reading her book in quiet in back had the better deal. Then we got our wonderful lunch with open bar. Emma had a bag of peanuts back in coach and kept trying to come up and steal our food. I had to keep asking the flight attendant to move her back! Little Ellie had an empty first class seat next to her the whole flight. Even after we were in the air they wouldn't let Emma move up to the empty seat to sit with her kids! In Atlanta, after numerous delays, our flight was cancelled at 2200. We were fortunate that because we had kids they put us up at the airport hotel while everyone else on the flight had to stay in the airport. We had a 0600 flight the next morning so it seemed that we were getting up shortly after going to sleep to get back for our flight. After seeing everyone else looking more dishevelled than us after a night in the airport we didn't complain too much. We finally made it to Omaha, got our car and made the drive to Vermillion. It was a really nice weekend, we had some great family meals and lots of time cleaning out the house to reminisce, look at pictures and catch up with everyone. Back at Omaha we had to say goodbye to mummy as she was off to Oz and me and the kids were back to Cayman to finish school and tie up the rest of the loose ends. It was a uneventful trip home for us and Emma just made it to her flight to Oz in LA.
Last week we had our high school graduation at school. The English system doesn't really do graduation, it is more of an American thing. In England you don't really graduate, you just finish school and you don't find out how you did until August when your exam results actually come out. Cayman is a blend of the English and American so while the students don't know their external exam grades, they still have their school grades and know whether they have met the criteria. Some were graduating for the second time as they graduate after year 11 when they complete their IGCSE and then again after year 13 when they complete their A levels. It is a big event and looked just like an American high school graduation. Our main hall started filling up an hour-and-a-half before start time. The soon to be graduates parade in with their gowns and mortar boards and everyone sits through lots of speeches. What made this graduation different from American ones I am used to, is we started the ceremony by singing "God Save the Queen" and while some music was performed by the concert band, some of the music was provided by the school steel pan band. It was a nice blend of America, England and Cayman!
Yesterday we went to the kids end-of-year picnic at school. They finish Montessori on June 24. We had fun eating lots of junk and playing in the yard. The kids loved showing me the school rabbit and all the toys they play with. At one point I was pushing Alex on the swing. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye I noticed a little girl walking right in front of Alex. I turned around and grabbed her just before she was clocked by Alex swinging. There was another dad pushing his kid and he said "Good thing you aren't Robert Green!" (For those out there not following the football, Robert Green was the England keeper during the match against the US). It seems as if it was just yesterday I was off to MQ in July to watch the England-Sweden match one night at the outside coffee shop during the last World Cup while Emma sat at home, very pregnant, waiting for the satellite guy to come by and hook up our football package. She joked at what seemed like an eternity away, that by the next World Cup we would have a big boy. (We definitely would never have considered having a big girl by then also.). World Cup fever is evident here in Cayman too. Last week I had a couple free periods during the US-Slovakia game so I went down the street to Wendy's to watch. There were quite a few other people obviously taking an extra long breakfast so they could watch the game.
I still remember the spectacular view as we first flew into Cayman in March last year. Being able to see the whole island and the reef around it is really something. Coming in this time we had another spectacular view of the island again, only now we can actually recognize many of the landmarks we have come to know over the last year. It struck me that this might be the last time we see this view. Once you land you get introduced to the island right away. No jet-way, you go down the stairs and feel the sun on your face and smell the ocean as you walk down to the immigration building. Live Caribbean music is being played and lots of people in the open on the second floor where you can shout hello to the arrivals. Today we took part in a Cayman farewell tradition. We went down to the shoe tree and nailed a flip-flop to the tree for Alex and one for Ellie. It is only 12 more days to get things wrapped up before we are off to Minnesota for the summer and then on to meet up with Emma down under. It has been another great adventure and once again this ending is yet another beginning.
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