Weekend of September 24th

Once again a busy weekend. Jenn and I attended the opening of the new Port Facility on Friday evening while Aunt Shirley took H&H for dinner. The usual Saturday with piano and gymnastics for H&H and work for me. Saturday night was spent at Boggy Sand Road with dinner at Granny's, then I was up at 4:30am for a fishing trip to the "banks". We caught a buch of "Bonita" (little yellowfin tuna) and two skipjacks in addition to three large barracuda, pretty much all before 8am. Then we returned from the 12-mile banks for an afternoon trip to Rum Point with all the kids. Now exhausted, I am about to grill some fresh tuna and then enjoy an early night to bed!

Galas, Gambusia, Salon, Swimming

First the gala opening of Uncle Darvin's Gallery. A good crowd for drinks and food even as the lightening lit up the evening sky in all directions but thankfully no rain 'till later at night. Today was primarily a quiet day at home: Jenn and I received make-overs from Hayley, Hunter and I went catching gambusia (mosquito fish) in the pond, played dinosaur fighting and finally a refreshing evening swim in the neighbor's pool. Send enough money and I will post my makeover photos!

Fishy Saturday

After piano H&H were off to gymnastics. So Jenn and I went snorkelling down the road and took some underwater pictures. Hope you enjoy seeing the fish, lobster and squid as much as we did! We also saw a very large barracuda but I was so startled I didn't snap a picture. It has now turned cloudy and it should be raining anytime soon. We are all off to Uncle Darvin's Gallery opening this evening so hopefully it will wait until after that to start.

Thursday Night Fishing

The weather has been unbelievable and going to work seeing the ocean as flat as glass has been tough on us all. So we went night fishing last night. Carol kindly babysat so Jenn could try her luck and Shirley, Owen and Gary rounded out the crew. It was a beautiful evening and we caught some great fish; not many but all were big, Bar Jacks, Yellowtail Snappers and Mangrove Snappers. Owen also caught a few Cravalle Jacks but we through them back as they can be poisonous. The flat calm seas and complete lack of breeze continued through today. Should it persist it will be very difficult to get anything constructive done! We'll see.

Wild Weekend

What a weekend! It all started with a back to school party on Friday night, then dinner at the Reid's. Hunter and I worked in the yard while Hayley had piano lessons on Saturday morning then we went to Granny's in the afternoon with an overnight bag; snorkelled and played on the beach. Saturday night we had lots of company that stopped by to visit at the apartments and after they left I went out to do some fishing. I discovered a large sea turtle nesting right in fornt of the apartments so eveyone came back to watch the spectacle. Turns out it was "Murph"; the one that they attached the tracker to, back to lay her second nest of eggs. You can see her wanderings at www.seaturtle.org. On Sunday morning we went out in the boat with Gary and Theresa and stayed out the entire day. We are all exhausted, I can't even spell I am so tired, so I am going to bed! Pics: Beach at apartments Sunday morning, Murph heading back to the sea, Jenn having a cold one at Rum Point, Hayley snorkelling. All taken with the new waterproof camera.

Back to School

Back to school this morning in the new uniforms! Two very tired children tonight!

Sunday and Monday

Movie Night was fun for the kids, Jenn and I went out for bite, then H&H spent the night at Aunt Shirshir's. Sunday morning we kayaked out to the reef in Frank Sound until we were all exhausted, then had a relatively quiet evening at home. Tonight we released a baby Loggerhead turtle at the beach across the street. Sorry, I was not allowed to photograph the turtle so you got the empty bucket instead! There are lots of turtle nests this year and one adult has been fitted with a tracking device and can be monitored at www.seaturtle.org The turtles all claw their way out of the nest at once and the ones who don't make it out are dug out the next day and released that night. Out of 140 babies only this little guy didn't make it! So now he is off to the tough world on his own and we sure loved watching him make his way to the sea. Good luck little guy!

Saturday Morning

At this time of the year one must make good use of sunny calm Saturday mornings. So after piano, off we went to half-moon beach at East End for snorkelling and beachcombing. Everyone had a great time including Rex!
He also got an overdue bath afterwards and the kids are having a well deserved nap. Going to movie night tonight and hopefully sailing tomorrow morning. Meanwhile it is raining and a thunderstorm in town so who knows what tomorrow will bring.

More of Little Cayman

Gary and I clean the catch, the Mangrove Club in full swing, oops a non-Little Cayman picture of H&H doing crafts at home, and Jenn shows off her yellow-jack that was bitten by a shark right at the back of the boat!

First weekend "home"

We ignored the forecast track of Ernesto and headed to Little Cayman. I am not the weatherman's son for nothing! And luckily I was right. Beautiful weather all weekend; lots of tubing, fishing, snorkeling, swimming, you name it. But tired now so more later. Pics are the Twin Otter about to land (note the road is paved the runway is grass), Jen and Hayley at the terminal, Hayley and Whitney on the tube, and the girls swimming at Point of Sand.

All is well

Thanks for everyone's concerns about Hayley. She is doing just fine now and will spend the afternoon at Granny's beach if the weather improves! Then they will watch the release of some baby turtles tonight while I, unfortunately, will still be at work.

We are home

We are home after an uneventful trip. Arrived home to find a house full of people and no water! Of course it was Sunday but ended up with water before 5pm which I thought was quite an achievement! Hayley awakened at 4am with fever and vomitting and is having a rough morning and we will shortly collect Jennifer from the airport. Hopefully we will all settle in and get back to our "normal" routine.

Waterslide and petting zoo

As promised, kids to waterslides; daddy relaxing and driving around Vernon. Sorry, no pictures of daddy driving around Vernon.

Name that town

It is with regret that I inform you that I have been diagnosed with CDD; Compulsive Driving Disorder. On Monday we left for another city and after a short detention at the border (hint) and a 6 hour drive we arrived at our destination. We walked in the park looking at all the squirrels and Marmuts, we watched "Ant Bully" in the Imax (hint), we did lots of shopping, we went out for dinner, but the thing that H&H seemed to enjoy the most was having the Disney Channel on TV! They even gave up swimming in the pool and riding the rides in the small amusement park to watch it! On the drive back we saw the Grand Coulee dam and a humongous deer that just about kissed me as we zipped by at 100km per hour. We got home at almost 11pm and thankfully Canadian immigration and customs were a little more friendly. I guess they let any kind of riff-raff in! H&H playing with Kelsey, Taylor and Brianna today and then maybe the waterslides this afternoon. I will not go but instead do some more driving around.

If it's Sunday, this must be Kelowna

Up early and over to Kelowna to see Nicole before she returned to Vancouver. So there's a group shot of most of the Roed clan and Hayley and Taylor about to jump into the pool one more time. That was about it for the day; swimming and enjoying all the company, sunshine and warm temperatures. Randy and girls here in Vernon for dinner, then they head back to Edmonton tomorrow.

Saturday August 12

A sunny day in Vernon and an unexpected visit from Randy, Candace and their three girls. I got my haircut, did a little shopping while all the others went to the "beach". All in all a quiet relaxing day except for playing freeze tag!

Back to Vernon

After a cold, overcast, lazy morning in Victoria we said our goodbyes to Jennifer and caught the 11am ferry to Vancouver. After fighting through traffic and endless stoplights in Vancouver we decided to take the long but scenic Highway 3 home. It is a winding road and sometimes steep, but beautiful views and almost no traffic. It was also sunny and warm until just outside Kelowna when the clouds and rain returned. We had a quick dinner and the kids are already asleep in bed.

Victoria

A full day in Victoria with a visit to the Bug Zoo, strolling around the waterfront, a visit from Auntie Steph and Uncle Dan, a walk through Beacon Hill Park (we missed the running of the goats), "Whales" at the Imax theater and Hayley gave daddy a makeover (sorry no pictures of that!). Jenn leaves us tomorrow and we ferry to Vancouver and then a 5 hour drive back to Vernon. The road trip number two will be completed. Still cool but a little more sunny today.

Bruce and Peggy Boan's

We stopped in Mill Bay to visit the Boan's on our drive from Campbell River to Victoria.
Hunter collected lots of crab shells on the beach and Hayley fell in love with a friendly seal! Now in Victoria at a wonderful little hotel right downtown. Had dinner and walked the waterfront this evening.