At sea and Grand Cayman

Happy Boy

Yay! My last post. This took me way too long. Here are some pictures from around the boat and our last stop, Grand Cayman.

Luke's cruise-wear

We never could figure out what this is. Grandma said it was a sloth, I think that's a little obscure, maybe a bear?

This is the kids pool on the ship. It have a big water slide.

Luke is in this picture you just can't see him because he's under water!

A little terrified, but he still has his shades on.

At the beach, it was too rough to go in the water but Luke tried anyways

Grand Cayman was beautiful. I was hoping to spend my day snorkeling and soaking in the sun but, when we docked we discovered that the water was really rough. It was so rough that the ship docked on the other side of the island from our intended port. Since we were further away, we had to pay extra to get anywhere. I'm pretty sure the "tour guides" were riping us off. Oh well... we went to the Tortuga Bay Rum factory (aka store front): free samples ;) Then we went to a little town called "Hell" named for a rock formation that looks like fire. After that we spent some time on the beach.

Post office in Hell (the town we were in). I sent a postcard from there.

Hell rock formation

This sign cracked me up. The guy was selling fresh coconuts (or I guess he was more selling the coconut water). Apparently coconut is a cure-all for most health issues.

Chickens and baby chicks eating the leftover coconuts.

This is outside the rum factory. You can see how big the surf is.

Sunset from our deck... ahhhh

Last formal night

Monkey towel

We arrived back in Miami without incident and went straight to the airport. I'm not gonna lie... our flight home was pretty horrible. Luke was not as patient as he was the first time around and the flight was packed. And my biggest bonehead move the whole trip: I didn't pack enough diapers for the flight home! And we did have a poop incident (of coarse). My poor baby was stuck in a poop diaper for several hours. And the poor passenger probably thought I was the worst mom ever! Ugh.

Other than the flight home, it was a pretty special trip. I got to spend lots of time with my mom and grandma. I crossed another continent of my list (I have a goal of going to every continent expect Antarctica). And Luke was exposed to all sorts of cultures and fun things. I'll never forget it.

School Update...

Excuse the cheesy metaphoric "finish line" picture, all of my brain cells are dedicated to school.

This quarter I'm taking 10 credits (2 classes). I haven't taken more than one class since before Luke was born. Normally at this point in the quarter I'm freaking out and feeling really behind. But, I'm hanging in there. Maybe it's because I getting better at managing my time and the classes aren't as foreign to me as many of the concepts are repeated in science classes (cell structure and function, metabolic pathways, that sort of thing). One thing that is helping me this quarter is that I've started to study in the morning, before Luke wakes up. It's peaceful. I'm well rested and focused.

I'm already 1/2 way through. 10 week quarters go by really fast.Then I only have 2 more classes before I can apply to nursing schools! I can see the finish line! Unfortunately, the finish line is more like a half way point since nursing school will be an even bigger challenge but I have to set little goals (or I'll go insane).

Panama Canal: Gatun Locks

I am very slowly adding the rest of my cruise posts. I think only one more after this one.

For our first stop in Panama we went the Gatun Locks. They are the furtherest east (and closet to us). Very interesting, but not super exciting. We sat on bleachers and watched the huge boats come down the canal. There are several sets of Locks, we only saw one. Once the ship gets to the Lock the water slowly drops, which lowers the ship. Then trains pull the ship through to the other side.

Pretty sky. I couldn't figure out what type of bird was flying around. It looked like a cross between a seagull and a black hawk.

Lock closed

After the locks opened

Trains pulling the ship

We were super close to the ship, close enough to jump on board. This particular ship was carrying oil.

Then we went to an "animal sanctuary" aka our cab driver took us to this guys house. Other cabs came too and they gladly to donations "for the animals". I'm a little skeptical but Luke liked it. He got to feed the monkey peanuts.

Bird nests nearby

Our last stop was to a grocery store located conveniently at the port. The staff on the ship said they did all their shopping there since it was so cheap. I scored on some good quality coffee ($2 a pound!), rum, and more diapers (good combo, huh?). Grandma was pretty excited to see all the wine! When you buy any type of alcohol at the various ports you have to check it in once you get on board. Guess they want you to buy your booze on board. But I smuggled some on for her.

I thought this was a little disgusting. It's a vodka energy drink in a tube (as if it were toothpaste)! Go Wodka!

Gardening

Flower boxes for the front of the house

The gardening bug got me this year. I've planted a few things here and there each spring but we otherwise have treated our backyard space as more of a burden than usable space. Luke being both an active toddler and destructive boy makes the backyard a great place to burn off some steam and explore. Plus, we had a gorgeous, rain-free weekend that made me want to get outside.

Seedlings in egg cartons. I saw this idea on a gardening blog. It's super cheap and when your ready to plant you just cut out each plant section and plant the whole thing in the ground (since the egg carton is biodegradable). We'll see how it goes.

Luke's new table. He drew on it in chalk. Chalk was also found on his shoes and the dog.

Our apple tree came back to life (no thanks to us). It has produced tiny apples that never really ripened and last year it got some sort of plant fungus on it. We'll see if we get some good sized fruit this year.

Check out my new raised planted boxes that my handy husband made me! I think he mostlydid it to take up more grass space (less to mow). We are planting a big veggie garden to save some dough and get some good, fresh, organic (certified by me) veggies. If I had the time I'd raise my own chickens too! Maybe in the future.

Luke loves to point out bugs. He can point out worms, snails, spiders, rolly-polly, bees and everything else is a "bug".

Easter

Can we say "adorable"?!

We went to my mom's new house (in Sequim) for Easter. It's 1.5 hours closer to us (yay!). Tracy, Craig and Aliya came over along with Kylie (Dave's daughter) and her two kids. We aren't very religious so for us, Easter is more the welcoming of spring. We colored eggs, opened Easter baskets, had an egg hunt, and had a big dinner.

Knuckle

Noggin (it's a "Finding Nemo" thing)

Alan (dabby) and Luke. They were coloring eggs but Luke decided to dip his hands in the dye instead.

Opening their baskets. Luke got some cool-guy sunglasses

Aliya in her pretty dress.

Coloring eggs with Kyle and Meriah

Costa Rica

Costa Rica was beautiful. Very tropical. I saw lots of little poisen dart frogs and goregous orchids everywhere. I can't wait to come back to this country and spend some more time. My mom and I did a zip line tour, which was awesome! I felt like I was flying. I didn't have my camera with me, so I'll have to get the pictures from my mom.

Can you see the lizard in this picture (hint: it's in the center on the branch), our tour guide said it was called the "Jesus Christ" lizard because it walked on water!

We did a river tour to see some wild life. My pictures don't do it justice but we say monkeys, birds, alligators, lizards, and even sloths.

Our cab and tour guide "Jason". Where ever we went people spoke english. Well, I take that back. All of the cab drivers, tour guides, and sales people spoke English. I imagine that if you spent some more time, especially out in the country side, you would encounter more of a language barrier.

Beautiful flowers just grow wild

On our river tour, Luke is upset because I wouldn't let him walk around the boat. (mean mommy)

Me and Grandma over looking Puerto Limon