TGIF

Its now 6am, and Vani just went down for her nap.  Yup, we've been up a while.

This is the current view of our coffee pot.
First pot, I put the coffee where the water is supposed to go, vs. in the basket.  Still drank it.
Second pot, I poured a cup and dropped the pot, shattering the glass.  Still drank the cup.  Stopped myself from slurping up the coffee off the floor due to glass.
This is attempt #3.  Literally a pot of coffee.

A full day of work ahead.  Welcome home.

Turks Part II

*urgh, somehow lost this post.  Resposting what I remember.*

Back from the turks, second half of the pics...
Such a great time with the GogoPops.

 (btw these dogs need a home, the airlines subsidize the trips back to canada... anyone looking for a lovely well socialized dog?)  Kid friendly... check.

 LOVE.  Judy - your dress

Having a good time in the garden (as with our previous trip I tend to be a bit of a gardening minimalist, or as Riles says "mama kill all the plants?").  BTW, Tiny, we really miss you. 


This used to be overgrown bougainvillaea, hibiscus, desert rose and green stripy thing (that's a technical term). Aaah... space to breath now.  Mom, I promise it will grow back.

 Just 'cause my dad didn't already have enough projects, I insisted we add a new retaining wall and heighten the garden three feet.  Thanks to Alex, Moja and Erin for your hard work!

 Mango trees.  See mom how the hibiscus and bougi filled in after last trip where I decimated them?  I promise it will all grow back better than before.

 Orchids grow wild here in the trees.  On our walks we high-grade from empty lots along the road and now have a great collection going.  Couldn't seem to find any flowers today, but there are literally dozens of these thriving.  Now to understand why these guys can grow neglected in the crooks of a tree without soil, when I kill them at home.

 

 A naturally occurring hole on the property where the previous owners had filled up with cuttings, now composted.  Dad's dug it out to get (precious here) topsoil.  Its HUGE.  Trees on the side for scale.  PS - dad, love your randomness.  Now what to do with this damn hole?

Flamingos in the lagoon.  Sorry, shot from too far away.  They are neat, so hot pink!  Saw them every day.

Photos from our sundowners walk.  Love how there's always a puppy!

I swam to the islands, about 30 minutes hard swimming round trip with flippers, but in reality about an hour when checking out the reef out there.  Its nice n shallow most of the way, with sandy bottom and just the right amount of interest without being scary.  Lovely to have the destination, so much nicer than swimming in a pool. However, the last time I was on my own, I stopped for a huge starfish (2+ feet across) and almost stepped on a ray (medium sized, but with a huge tail, like 8+ ft!).  He circled me for a while, checking each other out, then a school of big (>1m) fish where hanging out around me.  All in 5ft of water.  I decided this was quite exciting enough while on my own and high-tailed it home.  Dad and I then swam back out together, but other course couldn't find the ray again.  Below see us swimming in the middle.

 Pops bought Riles this beat up dune buggy and fixed it up.  We didn't actually turn it on for him but he was THRILLED to sit on it and be pushed around the circle.  He hasn't stopped talking about it since.

 Potty training is ... interesting.  Pees are fine, but #2 is a disaster, and he seriously has three a day.  Its causing problems at playschool.  We have resorted to bribery in a big way.  Since he was naked the whole time we figured it would be easy to catch.  Yeah, no.  Finally the last day, we got a poo on the potty and he got the ultimate reward - ice cream and chocolate sauce WHILE sitting on the dune buggy.  I'm printing this and putting it up in our potty!

Thanks again gogo pops for a fantastic holiday!

Super Turks + Caicos

We've been having the most magnificent holiday with Gogo and Pops in the Turks and Caicos.  When we were last here, Riles was horribly sick, which cast a pall. This time, we are all healthy and having a great time.  Pictures below.

We flew out of Seattle, and had a bit of a wait there.  After our Trader Joes run, we were classy enough to pick up a nice raspberry beer, which we drank out of Riley's sippy cup!  Hey, with a redeye flight + two kids under three, we figured we needed some lubricating.

Seattle has the best kids playing area!

We were greeted enthusiastically by Pip, Casey and two super cute potcake puppies my mom is fostering.   Gogo, Pops, pool, beach, sun, puppies... very happy kids!  Photos below got out of order and its too nice outside to sit on the computer ... so well go with the flow.

Lovely place!

 Clara the potcake.

 Gogo with the pups @ yappy hour

Dad was just building the sandpit last time we were there ... its now the kids (and dogs!) favorite place.  Such a super spot.

 

 Vani and the pups are rediculous.  They adore each other, but in limited quantity.  When she gets excited, she grabs their ears/fur.  When they get excited, they scratch and nibble her.  But when we find that balance, gosh its cute

 

We walk on the beach every night

 Riley is just SO EXCITED!!!

 Papaya for breakfast, from the trees Pops planted.  How awesome!  We keenly await the lemons, avocado, mango, fig, starfruit, kiwi .... quite the garden.

 Vani nicely sharing her water with Clara

in exchange for kisses

Sequence below is another game of picaboo with the puppies (after Vani got a bit overenthusiastic).  It was about 20 minutes of hide + seek around the pots. 

 See Olive in the bottom corner?

 I know they are here somewhere...

 Standby party trick of hands in the air!!

 LOVE

 Oh, maybe I shouldn't have eaten that pinecone...

 Have pup will travel.

 Yappy hour (dog hour) at Horseeye jacks.  Such fun.  Dogs, band, rum punch and great food.  Gogo in her element!

 Another breakfast, another Papaya

 Her first time in the sand ... took a while to get used to.

 A swim after our nightly walk on the beach.

 We have been so spoilt with an afternoon on a snorkeling / conch collecting boat, fishing (don't ask..), and two dives yesterday off northwest point, the highlight of which was being 5 feet from a huge octopus.  The charades at the 15ft deco stop were hilarious!!

Thanks Gogo and Pops.