We flew out to Minnesota on Sunday Dec 20. We had a layover in Chicago which was extended due to the big storm which had hit the east coast the days before as the plane we were waiting for was stuck in DC. There was lots of snow on the ground and the kids loved seeing the snow through the airport windows. As they usually do, Alex and Ellie made lots of friends in the airport. They love to go up to people and say "What are you doing?". They then usually make themselves at home. Ellie has become quite the little chatterbox and talks non-stop. Papa Denny and Grandma Gwen were there to pick us up from the airport. The only hitch was one of our suitcases did not show up. It was the one with all the Christmas presents and Emma's warm shoes and clothes.
There was quite a bit of snow on the ground in Minneapolis and first thing Monday morning Alex and Ellie were all excited to go out and play with their cousins in the snow. After just a few minutes it was too cold for Alex and he wanted to go in. Ellie kept following the big kids out to the hill to watch them sled. Soon though she had lost both of her rain boots ( we don't have a large winter wardrobe) and fallen into a big pile of snow and then lost a glove. That was enough cold for her and they spent most of the rest of the visit indoors. After the rest of the kids had gone off to school we were off for some last minute Christmas shopping and haircuts for the kids which they really enjoy. Emma spent the day walking around in sandals as her boots were in the missing suitcase. The street the Hodgins live on looked very festive every night. Every house had lights all over and on all the trees. It looked very Chirstmassy and the kids loved seeing all the lights and really made it feel like Christmas.
Late that night Eric went to the airport to pick up OJ and Songul. Sometime while he was out from 0000 until 0100, the missing suitcase was delivered and waiting on the front porch. Emma now had some warm shoes and clothes and everyone else would get their special presents we had brought from the Caymans!
The weather forecast was for lots of snow coming just in time for Christmas so we were all excited. Tuesday we went to the Mall of America and Alex had lots of fun going on the rides with me. Ellie decided that while they looked like lots of fun she didn't want to go on them. She didn't really want Alex and I to go on them without her either. Wednesday morning we all went downtown to see the amazing Christmas display in Macy's. The kids loved the Santa's Workshop display. Alex has spent all Christmas season walking around going "Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry Christmas". Ellie follows him around going "I'm a reindeer, I'm a reindeer." She has been eager to see some reindeer and we were hoping they might have some at the display. When we finally got to Santa's house the reindeer were out of site behind the big barn door. You could hear them and see the doors moving as if they were trying to bust out. This was not going to cut it for Ellie so she went over to the lady playing Mrs Claus and bluntly asked where the reindeer were? She didn't really like the answer that they were being kept behind the doors. She kept going back to Mrs Claus to keep trying to get to see the reindeer to no avail. After Macy's we wandered around downtown checking out all the lights, decorations and fountains. The kids had a blast wandering through all the walkways and seeing all the sights.
The snow started later that afternoon but did not keep me, OJ, Songul and Brad from heading back downtown to the Xcel Energy center to see the Minnesota Wild play the Edmonton Oilers. Brad got tickets from work and we had a fantastic time. Our seats were in the club level. Excellent food, lots of room and a relaxing atmosphere, and a good game which the Wild won 3-1. It was Songul's first hockey game and she had lots of fun. The snow was getting heavy as we left and it took a while to get home.
It kept snowing on Christmas Eve and most of the kids played outside and made a snowman. Alex and Ellie were content inside and watched the snowman from the window in the study. We had lots of great dinners all week and the kids had a blast playing in the basement with their older cousins. Christmas morning was a treat with seven kids going crazy over a huge pile of presents. Alex had lots of cars, trucks and planes and Ellie had lots of dolls, a tea set, crayons and bizarrely, a pair of scissors. The reindeer food Alex and Ellie had made in school and been carried across the hemisphere had been polished off and the cookies and milk for Santa had also been devoured. It kept snowing and the kids played like crazy all day. Emma got a Wii and a Wii Fit so we all know how we will be spending our year. The Hodgins already had a Wii and we spent lots of time trying it out. They also got a Wii Fit for Christmas so we got to try it out. Alex loved the ski jumping game and is all excited we now have one at home too!
We enjoyed our last few days relaxing and spending time with everyone. On our last evening, Alex and Ellie finally decided to venture outside again to go skating with their cousins over at their school. They aren't quite ready to skate but had loads of fun walking on the makeshift ice rink on the frozen baseball field. Alex also went exploring across the deep snow and had a hard time keeping his boots on. (They were borrowed so a little large.) They had lots of fun even though it was bitterly cold for us beach Blocks. They had lots of fun and keep talking about the snow. We had to be at the airport by about 0500 on New Years Eve. We figured it wouldn't be too crowded that early but were in for a shock when we saw the lines! Security was not too much of a hassle and all our flights went smoothly. We had a couple hour layover in Tampa this time and the kids told everyone they could find that they had been in the snow and were now going home to see Lala. (That is what they call Latha and of course strangers were very puzzled by what these two little munchkins were talking about.) We had a reminder of how small our island is when the Religious Education (RE) teacher whose classroom is right next to mine and her husband sat down next to Emma on the plane. One of the boys from my tutor group and maths class came down the aisle a few minutes later with his family. The kids were very good on the flight and were very happy to be home to show Lala all their presents from Santa. We had been up since before 0400 so we didn't make it to see in the New Year. On Jan 2 as I was driving by the airport, I noticed a huge fleet of private jets parked at the airport. I have never seen so many at one time here. Must be a lot of high flyers come in for New Years.
The tree was just taken down and the decorations all put away. Monday, Jan 4, I go back to work and the kids go back to school. We have had a wonderful Christmas and love being able to spend more time with the Blocks and Hodgins in the US after being on the other side of the world for a while. We hope everyone else enjoyed their holidays and the start to 2010. Our weather is perfect and while we enjoyed our white Christmas, the beach Blocks are glad to be back by the Beach.
Having fun in Brisbane!
January 04, 2010
December 18, 2009
Christmas Concerts
Wednesday night was the candlelight carol service at my school. It was held in our lovely courtyard. My class looks out on the lovely courtyard with some trees and a pretty fountain in the middle. There were beautiful Christmas lights across the courtyard and through the trees. The school concert band, choir and of course steel band all performed interspersed with carols sung by all. The highlight was the alto sax solo by one of the 6th formers (seniors) during "Have your self a merry little Christmas". Apparently he was the young musician of the year for the Cayman Islands last year. It was so good, he did an encore after the concert while we were waiting for the big raffle draw to take place. Unfortunately we didn't win any of the prizes in the big raffle. (The grand prize was $25,000!!) The trombone section in the band has quite a few women it too.
A side effect of the Madden's visit in November is that Ellie now believes all babies are Madeleine. Madeleine had just turned 1 and Ellie and Alex really enjoyed having a little one around. Alex was so gentle with her and followed her around helping her. Every time Ellie sees a picture of a baby she says "Madeleine". Even when she sees baby pictures of herself around the house, she insists it is Madeleine and won't believe us that it is actually her.
Today at school we only had a half day of classes. We then had a wonderful Christmas lunch in the canteen. Each tutor group had a table to decorate and enjoy lunch together. Afterwards the year 11 students put on a Panto in the hall for all. The tradition is they poke fun at the teachers. I guess since I am new I got of relatively lightly as they don't know me very well yet. It was very funny and the younger kids loved seeing the year 11's making fun of the teachers. Tomorrow we only have a half day and no classes. There is the big talent show and then mass before we break for the holidays. We are all looking forward to our break and the students don't realize that the teachers having been counting down the days more closely than them.
Tonight was the Christmas concert at Montessori for Alex and Ellie. There was a huge crowd watching, I never imagined there could be that many cars parked out in front for a small school. The kids all sat in chairs out on the patio with lights and a beautiful tree, with a packed audience of parents, grandparents and others crowded around, standing room only several rows deep. Alex and Ellie had their best Christmas outfits on and school provided jingle bells for their wrist and lovely angel tinsel halos for their heads. Ellie's class of two year olds was first singing their ABC's. Then Alex's class of the three year olds and the other class of four year olds came out in their little parade and took their places. They all sang a great collection of Christmas classics and did a wonderful job for a group of such young kids. The genius of the concert was it was very short. Lots of kids waving to their parents in the audience, some good singing and then before anyone could get distracted or grumpy we were done and on our way. The secret to a outstanding little kid performance is brevity! Afterwards we all went to see the amazing Christmas light display again. The kids just love wandering around all the lights, Santa's (except Ellie who is scared of any kind of Santa, even a mechanical one singing Christmas carols), reindeer, trains, polar bears and snowmen. We even ran into two of Alex's classmates, obviously the lights were the thing to do after the concert, and they were running all over with Ellie chasing after them trying to keep up.
This afternoon while watching the movie "Cars" (yes it is still Alex's fav) Alex said he wanted a Mack truck like in the movie. We told him we could put it in his request for Santa to bring to him on Christmas. He insisted that it had to be bought in the store and was not convinced that Santa could get him one. Sunday, the 20th, we are off early to Minnesota to soak up a cold and hopefully a white Christmas. The kids are all excited about singing their carols to Grandma, Grandpa, tata Tam and uncle Brad. The kids are also delighted to be going on an airplane again and keep asking when we are going to pack and dragging their little wheelie bags around the house and putting their essentials in. We hope everyone has enjoyed their Christmas build up and have a fantastic holiday. As Alex loves to say while his little reindeer Ellie follows him around, "Ho, Ho, Ho! Meeeeeerrrrry Christmas!!"
Love Eric, Emma, Alex, and Ellie
A side effect of the Madden's visit in November is that Ellie now believes all babies are Madeleine. Madeleine had just turned 1 and Ellie and Alex really enjoyed having a little one around. Alex was so gentle with her and followed her around helping her. Every time Ellie sees a picture of a baby she says "Madeleine". Even when she sees baby pictures of herself around the house, she insists it is Madeleine and won't believe us that it is actually her.
Today at school we only had a half day of classes. We then had a wonderful Christmas lunch in the canteen. Each tutor group had a table to decorate and enjoy lunch together. Afterwards the year 11 students put on a Panto in the hall for all. The tradition is they poke fun at the teachers. I guess since I am new I got of relatively lightly as they don't know me very well yet. It was very funny and the younger kids loved seeing the year 11's making fun of the teachers. Tomorrow we only have a half day and no classes. There is the big talent show and then mass before we break for the holidays. We are all looking forward to our break and the students don't realize that the teachers having been counting down the days more closely than them.
Tonight was the Christmas concert at Montessori for Alex and Ellie. There was a huge crowd watching, I never imagined there could be that many cars parked out in front for a small school. The kids all sat in chairs out on the patio with lights and a beautiful tree, with a packed audience of parents, grandparents and others crowded around, standing room only several rows deep. Alex and Ellie had their best Christmas outfits on and school provided jingle bells for their wrist and lovely angel tinsel halos for their heads. Ellie's class of two year olds was first singing their ABC's. Then Alex's class of the three year olds and the other class of four year olds came out in their little parade and took their places. They all sang a great collection of Christmas classics and did a wonderful job for a group of such young kids. The genius of the concert was it was very short. Lots of kids waving to their parents in the audience, some good singing and then before anyone could get distracted or grumpy we were done and on our way. The secret to a outstanding little kid performance is brevity! Afterwards we all went to see the amazing Christmas light display again. The kids just love wandering around all the lights, Santa's (except Ellie who is scared of any kind of Santa, even a mechanical one singing Christmas carols), reindeer, trains, polar bears and snowmen. We even ran into two of Alex's classmates, obviously the lights were the thing to do after the concert, and they were running all over with Ellie chasing after them trying to keep up.
This afternoon while watching the movie "Cars" (yes it is still Alex's fav) Alex said he wanted a Mack truck like in the movie. We told him we could put it in his request for Santa to bring to him on Christmas. He insisted that it had to be bought in the store and was not convinced that Santa could get him one. Sunday, the 20th, we are off early to Minnesota to soak up a cold and hopefully a white Christmas. The kids are all excited about singing their carols to Grandma, Grandpa, tata Tam and uncle Brad. The kids are also delighted to be going on an airplane again and keep asking when we are going to pack and dragging their little wheelie bags around the house and putting their essentials in. We hope everyone has enjoyed their Christmas build up and have a fantastic holiday. As Alex loves to say while his little reindeer Ellie follows him around, "Ho, Ho, Ho! Meeeeeerrrrry Christmas!!"
Love Eric, Emma, Alex, and Ellie
December 14, 2009
Merry Christmas
Hello all,
I realize it has been a long time since we have posted so I will try to catch up. Life has been very busy here on tiny Grand Cayman.
Emma has been busy looking for a job and looks like she is close to getting a position to start with a new firm early next year. Nothing is certain yet but things are looking good. Along side the job search we have had lots of visitors during November. First were our good friends the Maddens from Oman. They are in Senegal now but had been in the States because Sean was undergoing medical treatment. He was unable to come down but Kim came down for week with Abi and Madeleine. Abi is three days older than Alex and they were best friends back in Muscat. We haven't seen them in almost a year and half, yet Alex and Abi picked up as if they had just seen each other the day before. Ellie had a blast playing with a big kids as she wasn't walking the last time she had seen Abi. While I was at work everyone else had a great time enjoying the sites of the Caymans. One day my cousin Melanie and her daughter Tricia were in town for a day on a cruise. Emma and Kim picked them up and they spent the day at Rum Point, a wonderful beach on the north side. The cruise ships are not in town for long and they were back on the ship by the time I was done at work so missed them. There were also trips to the beach and the Turtle farm which the kids just loved. The highlight was the trip out to Stingray city. There is a shallow area out in the north sound where stingrays congregate. You can get in the water and the stingrays swim all around and you can feed and touch them. Everyone had a fabulous time and i was quite jealous being at work all day.
A few days after the Maddens left, Emma's parents came into town for a couple week visit. We had fun hanging out, enjoying the beach and enjoying the kids' first batch of Christmas presents. The kids are still enjoying Montessori and swimming in the pool and at the beach. We also still make lots of visits to the airport and the airport park to watch the planes. While all our visitors were here Alex and Ellie slept in our bedroom with us. Alex has a single mattress and Ellie slept in her cot. After Emma's parents left we put Alex's mattress back in the kids room where our visitors had been sleeping. We decided that Ellie was getting too big for her cot so put her in a bed. The other bed in the kids room is a queen size bed. We offered Alex the big bed but he wanted to stay in his mattress as Nana had just brought him a single bed size Cars blanket and matching pillow case. He was more than happy to let little Ellie have the queen bed. So now Ellie has more bed per size of person than anyone else in the house. She loves her new bed but only sleeps in a tiny corner of the bed on the side next to Alex's bed. Alex is still getting up at various times in the night and coming upstairs and crawling into bed with us. Ellie has done this only a couple times but now has started getting up and going into Latha's room and getting into bed with her. One morning I came down and Ellie had gotten out of her bed and wandered into the living room and was sound asleep on the sofa!
Alex and Ellie have really been enjoying the Christmas season. They helped put up the tree and just love watching the lights on our tree. While decorating the tree we put on lots of beads. They are Mardi Gras beads I got in New Orleans back in 1998 when I went to Mardi Gras with OJ. Ellie just loves the cheap, tacky beads and plays with them all the time. She keeps holding them in her hands and saying "Thank you daddy for my beads". As I told her, I am more than happy to make the sacrifice to go back to Mardi Gras to get her more if she wants. It is hard to keep them on the tree as she takes them off to wear them and play with them. They both enjoy Christmas music and can now sing along. We watch the Disney Christmas DVD's. Sadly for us there are only a few of the old classic Christmas programs that the kids like. They enjoy the Gumby Christmas, Tom and Jerry and the Grinch. None of the others like Rudolph or Frosty, when we try to get them to watch they aren't interested. They are really enjoying the Dora Christmas special. I wish I could say we were enjoying them but after a few dozens times we have had enough. We have been to see Santa a few times. This year Alex doesn't cry and will sit with Santa but Ellie is still terrified of the big man in red. We have also enjoyed driving around and looking at all the Christmas lights. Unlike in Oman, a lot of houses here go overboard with the Christmas lights. There is one house which beats anything you have ever seen in any TV show or movie. I am sure it is a good marker for planes on final approach to the airport. You can park and wander around the front lawn to see all the lights. It is very amazing and the kids just love it.
I go on Christmas break next Friday, the 18th and then on Sunday we fly to Minneapolis to spend Christmas at my sister, Tamara's house. My parents will also be down and my brother OJ and wife Songul will also be coming out. It will be nice to see the family and for the kids to experience American Christmas, with all the trimmings including what seems like will be bitter Christmas cold and hopefully some snow. Hopefully we will be able to stay more current on the blog. We wish everyone a wonderful holiday and hope to see a lot more of you next year.
Merry Christmas and a wonderful new year.....
Love Eric, Emma, Alex and Ellie
I realize it has been a long time since we have posted so I will try to catch up. Life has been very busy here on tiny Grand Cayman.
Emma has been busy looking for a job and looks like she is close to getting a position to start with a new firm early next year. Nothing is certain yet but things are looking good. Along side the job search we have had lots of visitors during November. First were our good friends the Maddens from Oman. They are in Senegal now but had been in the States because Sean was undergoing medical treatment. He was unable to come down but Kim came down for week with Abi and Madeleine. Abi is three days older than Alex and they were best friends back in Muscat. We haven't seen them in almost a year and half, yet Alex and Abi picked up as if they had just seen each other the day before. Ellie had a blast playing with a big kids as she wasn't walking the last time she had seen Abi. While I was at work everyone else had a great time enjoying the sites of the Caymans. One day my cousin Melanie and her daughter Tricia were in town for a day on a cruise. Emma and Kim picked them up and they spent the day at Rum Point, a wonderful beach on the north side. The cruise ships are not in town for long and they were back on the ship by the time I was done at work so missed them. There were also trips to the beach and the Turtle farm which the kids just loved. The highlight was the trip out to Stingray city. There is a shallow area out in the north sound where stingrays congregate. You can get in the water and the stingrays swim all around and you can feed and touch them. Everyone had a fabulous time and i was quite jealous being at work all day.
A few days after the Maddens left, Emma's parents came into town for a couple week visit. We had fun hanging out, enjoying the beach and enjoying the kids' first batch of Christmas presents. The kids are still enjoying Montessori and swimming in the pool and at the beach. We also still make lots of visits to the airport and the airport park to watch the planes. While all our visitors were here Alex and Ellie slept in our bedroom with us. Alex has a single mattress and Ellie slept in her cot. After Emma's parents left we put Alex's mattress back in the kids room where our visitors had been sleeping. We decided that Ellie was getting too big for her cot so put her in a bed. The other bed in the kids room is a queen size bed. We offered Alex the big bed but he wanted to stay in his mattress as Nana had just brought him a single bed size Cars blanket and matching pillow case. He was more than happy to let little Ellie have the queen bed. So now Ellie has more bed per size of person than anyone else in the house. She loves her new bed but only sleeps in a tiny corner of the bed on the side next to Alex's bed. Alex is still getting up at various times in the night and coming upstairs and crawling into bed with us. Ellie has done this only a couple times but now has started getting up and going into Latha's room and getting into bed with her. One morning I came down and Ellie had gotten out of her bed and wandered into the living room and was sound asleep on the sofa!
Alex and Ellie have really been enjoying the Christmas season. They helped put up the tree and just love watching the lights on our tree. While decorating the tree we put on lots of beads. They are Mardi Gras beads I got in New Orleans back in 1998 when I went to Mardi Gras with OJ. Ellie just loves the cheap, tacky beads and plays with them all the time. She keeps holding them in her hands and saying "Thank you daddy for my beads". As I told her, I am more than happy to make the sacrifice to go back to Mardi Gras to get her more if she wants. It is hard to keep them on the tree as she takes them off to wear them and play with them. They both enjoy Christmas music and can now sing along. We watch the Disney Christmas DVD's. Sadly for us there are only a few of the old classic Christmas programs that the kids like. They enjoy the Gumby Christmas, Tom and Jerry and the Grinch. None of the others like Rudolph or Frosty, when we try to get them to watch they aren't interested. They are really enjoying the Dora Christmas special. I wish I could say we were enjoying them but after a few dozens times we have had enough. We have been to see Santa a few times. This year Alex doesn't cry and will sit with Santa but Ellie is still terrified of the big man in red. We have also enjoyed driving around and looking at all the Christmas lights. Unlike in Oman, a lot of houses here go overboard with the Christmas lights. There is one house which beats anything you have ever seen in any TV show or movie. I am sure it is a good marker for planes on final approach to the airport. You can park and wander around the front lawn to see all the lights. It is very amazing and the kids just love it.
I go on Christmas break next Friday, the 18th and then on Sunday we fly to Minneapolis to spend Christmas at my sister, Tamara's house. My parents will also be down and my brother OJ and wife Songul will also be coming out. It will be nice to see the family and for the kids to experience American Christmas, with all the trimmings including what seems like will be bitter Christmas cold and hopefully some snow. Hopefully we will be able to stay more current on the blog. We wish everyone a wonderful holiday and hope to see a lot more of you next year.
Merry Christmas and a wonderful new year.....
Love Eric, Emma, Alex and Ellie
October 09, 2009
Ellie Picaso
We haven't written in a while and it is probably because we have been busy. The weather has been great and we are two-thirds of the way through hurricane season and not even a whisper of a storm. I have been through five weeks of school and am very busy. I am really enjoying St Ignatius Catholic School. I am the head of maths, which is a small department, only three of us total. One of the other teachers is new also so we are very busy. Learning names of all the kids, teachers, parents and how everything works on top of teaching and getting the department organized. I have six classes, in the American system I have a class in each grade from 7th grade through 12th, and in the English system it is Year 8 through 13. I also have a year 9 tutor group. School is close enough that I can bike to work everyday and our classes look out onto a lovely courtyard with a nice fountain in the middle. The kids are really nice and I am really enjoying the school and glad to be back to work again. We are doing the IGCSE and A levels but the school has had to mesh this English system into an American system with grade point averages (GPAs) as many of the kids go to university in the States.
Back in July we purchased a beautiful house here. It took us a while to get all the paperwork for the mortgage as we have bank accounts in 3 countries and have just moved from a fourth. This makes it very hard to get all the papers you need, and to get them quickly. Although the seller had accepted our offer and deposit, a couple weeks ago, just as we were finally ready to close they accepted a higher offer and pulled out on us. This was a big disappointment as it was a beautiful house for a very good price and we had spent lots of time and money trying to get everything needed. The government had a big reduction of stamp duty for houses sold before the end of September, so since we finally had all our financing and paperwork in place, we quickly found another beautiful house. A couple days before we were due to sign the final paperwork Emma was laid off from work. It was not a big surprise as the office has been very slow for the last few months. She came in to build up a banking practice and there was no work so the newbie had to be the first to go.
Emma is actually really excited as she now has lots of time to hang out with the kids and already has several good leads and a job interview. We decided it was not the right time to buy a house so we have renewed our lease and will stay in our rental. The kids started Montessori school in September and are having a great time. The school is just around the corner from the school they went to earlier in the year, so Emma or Latha can walk them to school. Every morning when I leave on my bike Alex follows me out and reminds me to wear my helmet and to be careful while on my bike. Last week when Emma picked the kids up, Ellie's teacher let Emma know that Ellie was a very talented artist. Combined, Eric and Emma, have no artistic talent and we usually just throw away most of the blobs and scribbles of art that the kids bring home from school. Our house is not that big and we already have lots of pictures and paintings on the wall. Ellie's teacher said that the painting she did that morning was the best one she had seen in over 20 years of teaching pre-school. We are still not sure what she is talking about but what do we know? We will let you decide. We have kept this one just in case...
In November my cousin Melanie and her daughter Tricia will be pulling into Cayman on their cruise and will have a day here. Emma is going to pick them up and probably hang out at the beach with them or whatever they want to do for their day in Cayman before getting back on the ship. Emma's parents will be our first overnight visitors in November when they visit for a week. We do have room still for visitors so come on down and visit. We are planning on having our second cold weather Christmas in a row when we go to Minnesota at Christmas to see my parents and Tamara and the clan.
Now that Emma has more time and things are starting to settle down a little at school we can get back to regular blogging. Hopefully we ride out the end of November without a hurricane as the weather is already starting to cool down a little.
a Block breakfast before a big day at Montessori
Back in July we purchased a beautiful house here. It took us a while to get all the paperwork for the mortgage as we have bank accounts in 3 countries and have just moved from a fourth. This makes it very hard to get all the papers you need, and to get them quickly. Although the seller had accepted our offer and deposit, a couple weeks ago, just as we were finally ready to close they accepted a higher offer and pulled out on us. This was a big disappointment as it was a beautiful house for a very good price and we had spent lots of time and money trying to get everything needed. The government had a big reduction of stamp duty for houses sold before the end of September, so since we finally had all our financing and paperwork in place, we quickly found another beautiful house. A couple days before we were due to sign the final paperwork Emma was laid off from work. It was not a big surprise as the office has been very slow for the last few months. She came in to build up a banking practice and there was no work so the newbie had to be the first to go.
Emma is actually really excited as she now has lots of time to hang out with the kids and already has several good leads and a job interview. We decided it was not the right time to buy a house so we have renewed our lease and will stay in our rental. The kids started Montessori school in September and are having a great time. The school is just around the corner from the school they went to earlier in the year, so Emma or Latha can walk them to school. Every morning when I leave on my bike Alex follows me out and reminds me to wear my helmet and to be careful while on my bike. Last week when Emma picked the kids up, Ellie's teacher let Emma know that Ellie was a very talented artist. Combined, Eric and Emma, have no artistic talent and we usually just throw away most of the blobs and scribbles of art that the kids bring home from school. Our house is not that big and we already have lots of pictures and paintings on the wall. Ellie's teacher said that the painting she did that morning was the best one she had seen in over 20 years of teaching pre-school. We are still not sure what she is talking about but what do we know? We will let you decide. We have kept this one just in case...
In November my cousin Melanie and her daughter Tricia will be pulling into Cayman on their cruise and will have a day here. Emma is going to pick them up and probably hang out at the beach with them or whatever they want to do for their day in Cayman before getting back on the ship. Emma's parents will be our first overnight visitors in November when they visit for a week. We do have room still for visitors so come on down and visit. We are planning on having our second cold weather Christmas in a row when we go to Minnesota at Christmas to see my parents and Tamara and the clan.
Now that Emma has more time and things are starting to settle down a little at school we can get back to regular blogging. Hopefully we ride out the end of November without a hurricane as the weather is already starting to cool down a little.
a Block breakfast before a big day at Montessori
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