A loose screw

One of my biggest fears became a reality tonight.  I say one of, because when it comes to my children, I have a lot of fears.  I guess you could call me paranoid, among other things!

Tonight, well actually last night, our fan broke.  It just fell over and broke out of the stand.  So tonight I went and bought a new fan.  And no, no one stuck their finger in it, which is another fear!!  But anyway, Erick was changing the plug on it.  It comes with a 220 plug, but the wrong type for our outlets, so Erick was going to re-wire it with the right plug.  And of course Kyler wanted to help.  We were all in the kitchen, I was talking with a really good friend, and her kids were all over playing with Bryn.  As they were leaving, Kyler was sticking his finger up his nose and making a blowing sound.  Immediately I knew what had happened!  We go through all the questions, what did you stick in your nose?  Show us what it looked like? etc. We finally figure out it is a screw.  The problem is, he was sticking his finger up there to get it out and pushed it up even further.  Erick tried to see it with his light, and he could see it, but it was way too far for him to do anything.  Of course the clinic is closed by this time, so I call the EMT's who cover any medical issues after the clinic is closed.  I explained what happened, and they told me where to meet them.  This whole time Kyler is screaming.  We get to the school, and luckily I was able to get Kyler calmed down on the way.  The first couple of EMT's don't even want to try to get it out, so they call in a doctor to come help.  When he gets there, they are trying to decide what they are going to use and what all they need.  The whole time Kyler is silent, they get what they need, still not a peep from Kyler, they go in there and after a little digging, they pull out this huge screw.  I say huge, because even the doctor said, "Wow, that's bigger than I was expecting."  Then they all go on and on about how good and quiet and still Kyler was!  It was amazing, first of all I can't believe that it fit in his nose, and then I couldn't believe that he was so still and let them do what they needed to do.  When I was putting Kyler in bed, he said, "I promise not to put anything in my nose again mom, I promise, Okay?"  

Emerald pool Trip

I can't believe I forgot to post pictures from this trip.  

During the break, we went with some friends to a place called Emerald Pool.  To get there you take the road that would take you to the airport.  This road is anything but appealing for the weak stomach, but well worth the ride to see the sights.

We left early that morning with Renn who we hired as our driver for the day.  All the kids were piled in the back and having a blast.  Along the way there were some great views of the ocean.  Which is the Atlantic Ocean on that side of the island.

This is a cocoa pod.  They grow on the trees, then you cut open the pod to find the cocoa.  The tower in the middle is the actual cocoa.  People like to suck on the individual beans and get the white off.  It is sweet and pretty good.  However, if you bite into the bean it is so bitter and you can't get rid of the taste all day.  (word of warning)
This is a picture of nut meg.  The also grow on trees.  They smell amazing when you open it.  The red stuff on the outside can be used, but the nut underneath is the nut meg we are used to.
Kyler got tried on the long trip, I thought it was so cute that he could actual be asleep like that. 

Sophia and Bryn

Along the road there was this guy making bread which I can't remember the name of the bread, but it is made from a plants root that has been ground.  In the picture above Renn is "pretending" to grind the root.  He steps on the board on the bottom and pumps is like a piano pedal.  The pumping makes the wheel turn and then you hold the root to the wheel and it grinds it.  The flour is then collected and dried and made into bread.  It was pretty tasty!
Bryn Jumping into Emerald Pool.  I couldn't get a shot of her in the air, she was too fast.  By the way the water is freezing!!!!

Erick and Kyler Jumping in

The pool from the hike in.  It is so beautiful and peaceful.

The hike in

This is a flower they call a wax flower.  It looks and feels fake, like wax.

#1 Beach

I don't know how this beach got it's name, but they call it #1 beach.  We took one last trip here on the 7th of September, right before school got started again.  It was so much fun.  The waves were so high because of the hurricanes.  All the guys loved it (including Kyler, who counts himself in as one of the guys!)  Everyone had a really good time.  The beach is on the other side of the island, so the water is the atlantic rather than the caribbean sea.  The view is beautiful, and the high waves looked awesome as they were crashing up on the rocks.  Once again pictures do not do it justice, but we try!

 Bryn and William

Kyler, he found a coconut!

Erick, body surfing the high waves!

First Day of 1st Grade

Monday was Bryn's first day of 1st grade.  She was so excited to start.  She had her outfit picked out the night before and had gotten her backpack put together without any help.  For school everyday she had to take a water bottle and a snack, and she had gotten both and put in her backpack and had the pack sitting by the door just waiting.

Her teacher is Miss Fredrick.  In her class in 1st and 2nd grade.

HAPPY GRANDPARENTS DAY!!

I was looking through my planner today- starting to plan the month since tomorrow it officially begins!  And I noticed it was Grandparents day.  I told Bryn and Kyler, and Bryn said, "Oh shoot, I don't have anything to give them."  So I told her we would write them all the "letter" on the blog to wish them a happy one.  Some of you might not see this for a while, but really any day could be grandparent day right?

We just want ALL of you to know how much we love you and how much we miss you.  The kids miss you all and talk about you constantly.  Especially Bryn, she is our little reminiscer, she likes to say, "Mom remember when...."  Most of those stories has something to do with one of her grandparents!  

Just know we all love you and miss you and appreciate your support!

Since the day is almost over we hope you have a great year until the next "Official" grandparents day!

Love,

Bryn, Kyler

Leslie and Erick

A Lazy day at the beach

We have been doing so many things around the island since Erick got out of school for the semester break.  One day we decided to just have a very lazy and relaxing day at the beach.  It was so fun to have Erick go with us.  I usually take the kids every Saturday morning and sometimes more often that that.  But it is just me and the kids, so to have Erick go with us was very fun, and very relaxing for me!!

This is called PBH beach, it is right next to the school.

Bryn playing hop scotch on the beach!

A nice trip up the Indian River

We went on another one of the school funded trips on Monday up the Indian River.  It was so fun.  The kids have been wanting to do this since we first got here, and we have just never done it.  The river runs right though the main road going from Picard to Poutsmouth, down to the ocean.  They don't allow motor boats up the river, so they have a whole bunch of "guides" that row you up and back.  Our guide had been doing it for 15 years!  There were thousands of HUGE crabs all along the banks- he said that they are protected there, so they just hang out and can't get caught.  There were also lots of Iguanas, birds, and flowers.  There is also a spot where they filmed Pirates.  Once you get to the top there is a Rum Bar where you can order drinks.  Erick let Kyler order some water, he thought that was pretty funny to let Kyler order from his first bar at 2 years old!  

On our way home it started to rain, actually more of a down pour!  Everyone in all the boats were getting umbrellas, pretty funny to see all these boats coming down the river with about 6 umbrellas per boat!  Our guide told us that is was just Dominican snow!