While the Hubbies are away...we PLAY!!!

Beth and I love to try and find any excuse to play...especially because we knew she'd be heading home for the summer and I'd be right behind her not much after. Our husbands love to tease us about our projects and outings. Maybe it's because we don't get anything done around our own houses when we're together, but I think it may be because they are secretly jealous of our fun.

We took Mia and Damon around the island and hit a few "must see" spots...

First was Romney Manor. It was once owned by Thomas Jefferson's great-great-great grandfather. The grounds were amazing, and it was fun to explore...

Romney Manor is home to "Caribelle Batik," where beautiful clothing and fabric is made by a lengthly process of using wax to dye the fabric. It was so impressive that I couldn't resist getting Mia a little purple Batik dress. It was well worth it, she looks adorable in it!

Mia was so impressed with it all that she figured she'd run around the store and not listen to me. I decided it was time for a regroup (a.k.a.) time-out.

Here is the bell tower that was used to call the slaves in from working...

As we were heading out...we had to make sure to avoid running over a guy that was taking a break in the shade of the street...

Our next stop was Rawlins Plantation. We wanted to have a quick picnic with the kids and head to the art studio that is on the property. Again...another fabulous, tranquil part of the island.

Here's our little Mia and Damon. If we have our way, they will get married one day and we'll have all these fabulous pictures of when they were 2 years old and in love.

The Book Boat...

I'm just a mere 3 months late on this post. No biggie.

The "Logos Hope" Boat a.k.a. "The Book Boat" docked in St. Kitts for a few days back in April. It was pretty exciting around here.

It is a boat that is funded and operated by a Christian organization and brings books and such at great prices to developing countries. I was extremely impressed by their operation.

The people that work on the boat are from all over the world and they give up two years of their lives to travel and support this cause...without pay. Sounds pretty familiar...

It was very, very busy!!! Dave, Mia, and I met some friends Saturday to take a boat tour and check out the book shop...and eat some delicious soft serve ice cream. It was divine. There is no where to get that here...I liked it so much that I dragged Beth and Damon along with me the next Monday to get more ice cream..uh I mean books.

It was a little unlucky...that was the major field trip day for the local schools and it was PACKED. And I mean PACKED...

Beth and I were trying to enjoy our ice cream, when this cute bunch of kids came over and asked us if we were the face painting station. Huh?

No...we were just two girls that were skipping our morning workout to come pig out on ice cream instead.

They sure loved Mia and Damon though...

3 Years and Counting...

Our happy third anniversary happened in June, and it was the first year we didn't "go anywhere" for the special day. So we decided to save up ahead of time and treat ourselves to a night out in St. Kitts at the gorgeous Ottley's Plantation for dinner. It was unbelievable!!!! It was originally a 17th century sugar plantation, and has now been turned into an inn and restaurant.

Here's our view at our sunset dinner overlooking the ocean in the distance. The food was spectacular. Seriously. It was delicious and well worth it!!!

The happy couple with the "Grand Plantation House" in the background. I think I was about 26 weeks pregnant at this time...

Here's the entrance to the rainforest hike on the property. Check out those mangoes...I'm addicted. The hike started out nice until a few bats swooped by our heads as we entered, so we quickly turned around and headed to dinner instead.

Look at that belly!!!

Below is one of the cottages on the property that you can stay in. I think this is my favorite place in all of St. Kitts. It is so quiet and beautiful!!!

Oh...we have a blog??!!??

I have two words for you...load shedding. Don't know what that means? Neither did I, until I moved to the West Indies. Load shedding is a not-so-pleasant term around here that basically means you're not going to have electricity for certain periods because the generators on the island are going hay-wire. Our "designated time" with no electricity is supposed to be every Friday from Noon-5 pm. Well add Monday nights, Wednesday mornings, and Thursday afternoons to that, and there you have our true load shedding rotation. For about 4 weeks I felt like telling people..."Hey! I don't live in the Caribbean, I camp in the Caribbean!" When we'd have power, our internet went out. So forget getting anything done whatsoever. They couldn't figure out the problem. I figured it was time to cross my fingers and switch to the only other internet company on the island after 4 weeks with only a few hours of internet each day.

Spoiled am I?

I suppose so.

I realized how grateful I was for the internet when we first moved down here last year. I kept telling Dave that I felt far away, but having our vonage phone and the internet really helped me feel connected and close even though we're in the middle of the ocean. This past month affirmed that sentiment.

I like to have electricity and I like to have the internet. Running water is great too, but I'm not nearly as bummed when that's out because at least I can store water. I can't store power or the internet.

I've had power consistently for a whole 9 days now. It's weird. I hope they fixed whatever problem they were having and I can get started on the blog again.

(here's Mia getting creative during her nap with no electricity. experimenting with acrobatics and then crying for me when she gets stuck.)

Mr. Cuteness and little cuteness

Today was the last day of Dave’s two week break from school. If I thought that Christmas break was the perfect break, I had no idea what the word perfect meant. This break was incredible. We had the perfect daily combination for a vacation.

Beach. Pool. Lunch. Nap. Amazing.

So on the last day of this perfect break, Dave offered for me to have my own “mommy break” today. He told me last night that I should take four hours this morning all to myself, and he and Mimi would play.

Deal.

I thought I’d go shopping, go to the beach, or relax by one of the resort pools, but when I woke up this morning, all I wanted to do was sleep. So he took Mia and went in the family room, and I got out of breakfast duties, diaper duties, and being a responsible parent in the morning.

It was perfect.

About 40 minutes into my “four hour” break, I went out to the kitchen to get some breakfast for myself. There I found the evidence.

Milk. Eggs. And Cookies for breakfast. Busted.

Complete with messy face and all.

Apparently, I wasn’t supposed to see that because I was supposed to be sleeping.

I retreated to the bedroom, and about 10 minutes into the next part of my “four hour” break, I heard the familiar little knocks at my door.

Little Cuteness. I couldn’t resist.

Mia came in and snuggled and talked and talked about very important things she wanted me to know about. I couldn’t understand her one bit. But I could understand how beautiful her morning hair is as it falls across her eyes and how cute her little tongue is when it moves over her teeth when she talks.

I love that little girl.

So even though my “four hour” break was more like “one hour,” I am grateful. It was a nice, kind, gesture from Mr. Cuteness.

Back in my previous life (aka pre-med school wife times), Mr. Cuteness used to watch Mia on Saturday mornings for hours while I indulged in my addiction for garage sales. Then Saturday mornings turned into ½ marathon training time, and again, Mr. Cuteness stepped up and gladly watched Mia while I ran for two hours. He would even drive with Mia and meet me at different points along my route with water and lots of encouragement.

I say “watched,” I know. It’s not babysitting. It’s parenting. And he’s wonderful at it.

I am grateful that we support each other in our individual dreams, desires, concerns, and needs.

That’s not mushy. It’s family.

And I love being in my little family.

St Kitts...Tuesday

Yeah...maybe this idea of a weekly update is a bad idea for someone who doesn't blog regularly. Oh well.

This week's installment is all about solutions in St. Kitts.

What do you do when the bathroom stall is so small that the door won't open inward? Instead of changing the hinges to have the door swing out, just cut the door to go around the toilet as it swings in. This is at Ackee Cafe in Frigate Bay...

(foooouunnd)

Sometimes the roads are bumpy, sometimes the roads are slick, but what do you do when painting the lane line on the side of a road that is crooked? Just follow the curves, mon!!! This is at Port Zante in Basseterre.

(fooouunnnd)

St. Kitts Saturday

I've decided to start a new feature of our blog. There are so many different, funny, and interesting things to see and experience in St. Kitts, that I find myself telling friends and family back home " You'd have to see it to believe it!" So every Saturday, I'm going to post something unique to our everyday experiences in St. Kitts.

A few weeks ago, I was on the other side of the island and looked toward the volcano. There was smoke rising and covering a lot of the island. As I drove closer to home (and toward the mountain), I quickly realized that they were just burning the sugarcane fields. So in this case, you just carefully drive home, close all your windows to keep the smoke out, relax, and let the fire department worry about flames that get out of control!

Travelin' on the St. Kitts Scenic Railway

We sure have been busy around here lately. I manage to check all my friend's blogs daily...and I even get ticked when they don't update it regularly. Then I realized that I haven't updated our's in almost a month. So here's a lot of pictures to make up for it.

A school group took a ride on the St. Kitts Scenic Railway at a nice discounted price, so Mimi and I were sure to be on board. It is a double-decker train that tours the island, provides all of the smoothest virgin pina coladas you can handle, and they even have a little choir that comes to each car throughout the tour as you glide through the island and let the cool breeze take you away.

I was a little intimidated with taking care of Mia on this probably-not-so-safe train by myself (by school group I mean the spouses of students...the boys are always studying). To my surprise (and relief) she was very obedient and delightful.

The tour started out with a glance at the quarry on the island. I was pretty impressed. It was pretty official.

The workers were sure to take a break and give us a wave.

The former conductor (now the guy that comes around and counts how many people are on board in his semi-retired days) was sure to stop and ready his "props" for a very posed picture. I wasn't expecting it, but he sure seemed eager and was used to being a "celebrity."

We quickly started seeing remnants of the sugar industry as the tour continued. Sugar was the main source of income for both St. Kitts and Nevis for a very long time. Sugar production only stopped in St. Kitts in 2005, when it's main interests for revenue turned to tourism.

This is called a "sugar slider." It was what they would transport sugar products on.

Sugar cane still grows wild all over the island. You can sometimes see locals out chopping it down to use.

Look closely at the top of this almond tree. Can you see a sneaky climber enjoying a morning view of the ocean?

Our tour guide told us she retreats to this black sand beach when life gets stressful. I would love to do the same, but I haven't figured out how to access this beach as of yet!

We crossed over bridges...

And looked ahead to bridges we were yet to cross...

We tried to gaze through the clouds at Mt. Liamuiga , meaning "fertile land." It used to be called "Mt. Misery," so I guess it's a good thing I'm pregnant and won't be able to climb it after all.

Here are "chimneys" from the sugar plantation days. This is where the husks from the sugarcane was burned during sugar production. Many of these still dot St. Kitts and Nevis.

Mia was a great traveling buddy...even though towards the end she didn't consider staying by me to be the most fun anymore...

As we passed by schools throughout the tour, the little school children would all wave and shout "Good Morning!" to all the passengers on the train. It was very enchanting. This class even took time out of their story time under the mango tree to bid us hello!

On the "country side" of the island, you can see the islands of Statia and Saba in the distance. They are relatively close, but not as convenient to get to as there aren't regular (and affordable) ferrys.

We took a bus to get back to our car, and Mia enjoyed the car-seat-free ride a little too much. There's no such thing as "car seat laws" in St. Kitts, so sometimes in binds, she gets away with it...

So as you can see...although we are a world away from everything that we know and love...we are sure enjoying where we are and what we are doing. We are only here for a little while longer, so we're taking advantage of all the opportunities we can get and meeting some wonderful people in the mean time!