Fresh Fish

For some reason, as yet undetermined, Hayley dressed up as a princess this evening. When we went to the neighborhood store for a couple things we passed Mr. Douglas coming in from fishing with his catch of two lovely "Dolphins" (or Dorado or Mahi Mahi but definately not the mammal) one male and one female; the male has a very blunt head. We bought some very nice steaks which we will enjoy for dinner tomorrow night although Hayley has made it clear she will not be eating "those beautiful fishies"! Hope that goes some way to explaining the picture!

Just another Sunday

A sunny hot Sunday perfect for cooling off in the ocean! Visited the stingrays for a while then relaxed in the quiet shallow water at Rum Point. Everyone was in the water all day and we are all now quite "well done" despite the sunscreen. We had lots of ripe mangoes and a few cold cervezas, the girls took a ride on the tube while Hunter had his nap, and all too soon it was all over.

Disney Cruise

Finally got some pictures of H&H's Disney cruise with thier aunts and cousin Katherine.

Heritage Beach

A great Saturday morning with about 30 volunteers restoring the Heritage Beach site.
We repaired the wall, raked the beach, planted a few dozen trees and plants, put up new signage and cleaned up the area. Then went picking mangoes for tomorrow's boat trip and visited the farm for some fresh Pasion Fruit Drink. H&H were at piano and gymnastics all morning , then to a school fair, visiting thier aunts, and then home. A long day for everyone.

Mist Netting

We were out in the mango orchards late last night with Wildlife Biologist and bat expert Annie Band mist netting and echo-locating bats. The mosquitos were awful and the hurricane has greatly reduced the number of bats around. But right after dark we caught a young female fruit bat which Hayley and Hunter helped remove from the net and take measurements of before Hayley held it and released it! The bat was so cute that both kids were completely unafraid of it and were very comfortable helping and holding it. A little of the wing edge was clipped to do genetic work on them and no more than they would normally lose while foraging in the limbs of the trees. The other excitment of the evening was when a large Tree Frog jumped onto Nana's forehead then fell to the ground with a thump! We also heard freetail bats on the echo locator as they zipped around overhead. A beautiful, clear star-lit night with good friends out in the middle of no where catching bats. Mmmmm.

Little Cayman Again!

On Friday H & H were off to Miami, Orlando, and the Disney cruise with thier Aunts, so Gary, Francina and I took off to Little Cayman for the holiday weekend. Spent most of Saturday and Sunday deep-sea fishing but only caught one small barracuda despite the beautiful flat calm sea. On Monday we did a little in shore fishing and took Francina on an island tour, but by evening it was getting too choppy for fishing outside the reef. On Tuesday the wind really started to pick-up and it even rained a little; probably the first rain in months for Little Cayman! Flew home last night and straight to a meeting so got home finally about 9:30. Highlight of the trip would have to be the variety of marine life we saw including a 6-7 foot reef shark right in front of the house. There were also several nurse sharks of varying sizes, several green sea turtles, and a school of Tuna that chased a school of bait fish right under the boat. And we still couldn't catch one! We also caught lots of bar jacks but released them all with the exception of one poor soul who was consumed by a large barracuda right behind the boat as Gary pulled him in. Pics are the reef shark's fin, Gary and Francina while catching jacks inside the reef, and Francina at Point of Sand. And now its back to work...

What would make a seemingly inteligent single man agree to a sleepover? I guess the joy of kids staying up all night wreaking havok on the house and love? New au pair Francina was a big help and everyone did end up with a few hours sleep before waking up at 6am. The newly opened playhouse will never be the same! It is Sunday and perhaps a nap is in order for the whole household today including Rex. Then hopefully out for the first sail in Hunter's sailboat. It is a sunny, breezy day perfect for it.