a slow return

Well, yes... I did take quite a respite from blogging. I think I'll blame it on Facebook. I don't know what possessed me to join but I did and it became well... annoying. Sure, it was cool catching up with some dear old friends and family that I hadn't seen in ages but it also got... annoying. I'm just not suited for knowing what everyone I know is doing every minute of the day. I also found myself getting heated up about political crap that frankly I don't give a crap about.

So, I've decided I'm much better suited for one way conversation, namely from me and about my girls (and me). I'm taking my 'free' internet time to continue documenting for them our everyday life.

It's a great time of the year to start again and this is Halloween weekend, so pictures to come...

hoedown throwdown

We're not Hannah Montana fans here so poor Cristina didn't really know this dance... but she did a great job keeping up!

Ohmmmmmmmmm

mini pro

I went to see Xixi during the tennis lessons she's getting at camp and I have to say I was really impressed with her maturity.

You have to admit, she's the best dressed one in the group.


takes the stretching seriously

good eye contact

and balance.


keeping hydrated

week 1 at CLH

Week one at CLH has passed and Cristina is loving it. She even asked to stay at Thursday night's campover. It's amazing what a difference a year made. The last few years at CLH I felt that Cristina was not really enjoying it because she's so shy. But now at almost 8, she's slightly out of her shyness and was happy to see her campmates again.

2008


2009


Closing ceremony, Cristina carrying the orange unit flag

fetishes

Xixi and I share these traits ~ we're neatniks and love shoes

mango mania

It's mango season in S. Florida and our little tree has been quite fruitful!


I've made all kinds of goodies. Xixi approved of the mango ice cream.

comparing moustaches

Xixi and Papi on Memorial Day

Silly songs

To end the school year, the West Lab kids put on a silly songs show. Cristina's class sang 'I've Gotta Crow" from Peter Pan.

Naturally
When I discover the cleverness of a remarkable me,
How can I hide it
When deep down inside it just tickles me so
That I've gotta let go and crow!

goodbye crib

May 23rd, Xixi moves to a big bed ~ she was very excited!
Another step in her plan to outgrow her sister

busy, busy

I've been working four day weeks since the beginning of June and I have to say, it's hard. The days get to be so long and then when my day off comes around, I end up having to do catchup with the things I didn't get to during the week. So far I haven't gotten what I wanted - some free time for just me. I've always loved being alone and now it never happens.

I know, I know... I could always get a babysitter... but where am I going to go? I can't stay home which is where I want to be. I also miss those days of going wherever I want at whatever time I wanted. I used to be nocturnal. My friend Liz and I would go to Walmart at 3am just to walk around and see if we'd find anything interesting. Or midnight movies... whatever, I just don't have any time alone and I miss that.

oh well... I am not sure why I went off on this tangent but I guess it's because I have fallen behind in life and don't understand why. I feel like that hamster on the wheel... always running, running.

I didn't finish up writing about our Jamaica trip so I'll finish up now. Our last full day in Jamaica was my 53rd birthday ~ yeah, 53! I guess I shouldn't disclose my age.. I think it's a female thing to keep your age secret, but I am so over most PC things that I really don't care. We spent that day in our villa and out on the beach and had a most uneventful day ~ just peace and relaxation. It's been a little over a month since that day and I'm ready for another vacation, that relaxed state just does not last for more than a few days. So here are a few pictures from my birthday.



Bones brought his daughter, Ashika, in the afternoon to play with the girls. The girls couldn't quite understand her Jamaican English at times, but it was ok.. she was really funny and playful and they got along great. Here they are with the cabbage vendor.



Xixi and Ashika got in this little pink boat we found at the pool of the villas and Cristina would pull them along as she swam with her mask and snorkel. They'd all be on the lookout for starfish.

When they'd find one, Cristina would dive down and bring it up to show them.



and of course, she'd carefully put them back.



After sunset, we had dinner back at the villa and Dottie made me a cake.



After dinner, the girls plopped in front of the TV to watch a movie. Xixi has a tendency to be a copycat sometimes.

The next morning we bid adieu to our friends at Crystal Waters and took the ride back to Montego Bay to catch our flight home.

first day of camp

One of these days, I'll catch up on May, but June and summer are officially here.

So here are our first day of camp 2009 pictures. What a madhouse this morning, I'm glad I took a flex day!

Last gulp of chocolate milk



We dropped Jie Jie off first

And then on to the crazy camp. I can't believe my peewee is going to take tennis lessons.

jamaican horses

On Wednesday, Bones drove us to the Rhodes Hall Plantation to go horseback riding.
Cristina and I got our own horses and Xixi rode with our guide, Evans.

Evans was cool guy, he must have answered Xixi's 'where we going?' question at least 27 times.
Heck, I was able to capture it twice in some random videos that I took with my camera.

The ride up the mountain was a nice shaded trail.

We came to a grassy clearing which was a lookout area. We could see all of Negril and out into the ocean, it was beautiful. It was also very breezy and cool as a storm was passing over another hill close by. We stopped there for a little bit to let the horses graze.

On the way down we took another trail and Xixi continued yakking away. The trail continued through a long clearing where we saw horses grazing and eating mangos from the trees. The trail however, was unshaded and it was hot!

It was only after a few minutes that I realized that Xixi had stopped her talking. When I looked back, I found her like this ~ fast asleep on Evans arm.

When she awoke, we where already by the shore. We continued to ride through a mangrove trail to a lagoon where we saw crocodiles. For some reason and I don't know why, seeing these crocodiles was the highlight of Xixi's vacation. There is not one person in our circle of family, friends and acquaintances that has not heard her recount of falling asleep on the horse and going to see crocodiles.

When we got back to the plantation, Evans asked if we wanted to go swimming with the horses and of course we did. We dismounted so the saddles could be removed and blankets were laid on their backs. We got on again and started wading into the ocean. Our horses were snorting really hard, those big nostrils blowing out the salt water. I could see Mandela's (my horse) hoofs touching the sand as we walked in deeper and deeper. All of a sudden I see his legs and hoofs moving in front of him through the water ~ he was swimming! Cristina and I began to giggle as we floated off the horses so Evans told us to grab on to their manes. I almost fell off a couple of times but it was great.

I couldn't get pictures of us out there for obvious reasons so I left my camera on the beach.
As we were coming in, the old guy that helps out there, Chuy, picked up my camera to take a picture. He ended up filming us and that's him talking to himself








So, we said goodbye to Evans and Bones drove us home. The nice girl at Rhodes Hall whose name I cannot remember gave the girls a Ting which they shared on the way back to our villa.

And when we got back, we ran out to the beach to cool off and watch the sunset.

May madness

I think May is my favorite month of the year ~ Xixi and I have birthdays in May, mother's day is celebrated, cucujos make their appearances and the school year winds down to a close.

Well, this year May was busier than ever ~ so many events, so little time to blog.
The month's passing was a big blur. The rainy season is here, so it's time to relax and enjoy the indoors. So... what better time than a rainy evening to sit down and try to recapture the past few weeks.

We'd planned to leave for Jamaica on Saturday morning but being the crazed and blind person that I am, I messed up the times and missed our flight. At the airport, I proceeded to the ticket counter, suitcases and girls in tow, to negotiate our way onto another flight. But as Murphy's Law would have it, swine flu was in full swing and vacationers had changed their destinations to other places in the Caribbean.. ie Jamaica. The AA ticket agent was nice, he said I'd picked the wrong day to miss a flight~ the next flight was oversold 30 seats and so were the subsequent flights into Sunday. He gave us standby tickets, told us to proceed to the gate and wished us luck. I was so angry with myself! I couldn't believe that I had planned this vacation for weeks and now I was going to miss it.

So we walked up to the gate and I gave the agent my best humble dog look. He told me I had picked the wrong day to miss a flight (ok, knew that already). He looked at our boarding passes, then looked around the counter to get a look at the other two passengers, and we were told to sit down ~ he'd see what he could do.

I don't know how I managed to sit there (actually fidget) for that hour without screaming. The girls both picked up that mommy was @#$%&&ing so they behaved their best ~ Cristina listened to music on my iPod and Xixi colored.


An hour later they began boarding the flight, they went throught the usual boarding routine. I swear, I was counting hundreds of people on that plane already, but I just sat there and did not move an inch. Finally, when everyone was on board and the gate was empty, the agent called me over. He said "I'm not supposed to do this, I could get in trouble but... single woman traveling with two small kids ~ here you go, have a drink on me" Yahoo, the single mom status pays off again - he put us in first class!! I had three screwdrivers on the way to Montego Bay! What a relief!


So we arrived in Montego Bay and were met at the patty stand by our driver, Bones. We headed to Negril which is an hour and a half away and on the way we stopped at a fruit stand. The fruit stand woman thought Xixi was cute and that's all you need to say for Xixi to start her 'look at me, I'm Sandra Dee" performance. Apparently this woman only had boys and wanted a girl so she asked if I would let her have Xixi. I know that she was kidding (I think?) but I wanted to see Xixi's reaction so I responded 'uhmmm... well, uh.. OK, but I'll trade her for a jackfruit." When Xixi heard that, she stopped her showing off so quickly and immediately jumped back into the car. We laughed so hard. An hour later, we arrived at our villa and it was getting dark. Thankfully, a home cook meal was waiting for us.

The rest of the week was paradise ~ we did have some bickering banshee moments but they were few.


The next day, we met our housekeeper, Dotty. We'd arrived late the day before so we missed her.



Dotty would come in the mornings and make us breakfast. Then she'd stay during the day to clean up our little house and set us up with fresh flowers, towels and linens. And before leaving, she'd prepare our dinner. It was great, the girls and I ate and slept so good during our stay. Dotty was sweet, I don't think she liked that I called Xixi termite because coincidentally in Jamaican English, Chichi actually does mean termite and it's a pest. But I think she was too shy to tell me so.




So after breakfast, we went into town to the Hi Lo grocery story to buy our food for the week. Here are the girls at the Hi Lo eating Irie pops.

We'd spend our afternoons at the beach until sunset ~ Cristina snorkeling for shells or starfish, Xixi playing in the sand and me just relaxing listening to music and watching the stream of people walking along the beach. Some were tourists, some were selling something, all were respectful, no one tried to push anything on me. The only one that was insistant was the old patty man who said we had to stay with him next time we came to Negril.




Next door to the villas is a place called Margaritaville and it was kind of nice having it next door. They had a little play area for kids and good music playing all day long. That Sunday afternoon they played a song dedicated to the moms and that's when it dawned on me that it was mothers day. I told the girls what day it was and they gave me a mother's day salute.



The next day was Xixi's birthday so I thought we should do something different. I asked Clifton, the security guard, to please find us someone with a boat who could take us snorkeling. After breakfast we marched out to the beach and found Mike waiting for us in his glass bottom boat. So we went out to the reefs.

Xixi stayed on the boat


while Cristina and I snorkeled. The snorkeling was great, we went on some reefs in an area called Bloody Bay which apparently was the site of some battle with the English ships. There was a sunken cannon and a giant anchor in a sandy area by the reef. We also saw a resident spotted eagle ray that was probably bigger than Cristina.



After the snorkeling, Mike took us over the reefs so that Xixi could see the fish through the glass bottom and then for a ride along the coast back to our place.



When we got back, Dotty was putting the finishing touches on a birthday cake she made for Xixi.


We sang Happy Birthday and celebrated with cake and ice cream

followed by a nice, cool nap

to be continued....

celebrating early

since we're leaving for Jamaica on Saturday and won't be around, I decided we should celebrate mother's day and Xixi's birthday with my family. I bbq'd a carnivorous feast and the girls swam in the pool while Tia Merch watched them. Since I was cooking I wasn't able to take any pictures, but I did manage to get my camera for in time for two.

Practicing for the BIG 3!
Dig the sunglasses on her head ~ 'just like mommy'

Another fang out courtesy of Papi