#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!

Syndicate Falls

On Saturday August 30th, we went with a group from the school to Syndicate Falls.  Every semester they have a bunch of tours that are directed for the new students, but anyone is welcome to go on them.  We had not seen these falls yet and was very excited to sign up and go.

The whole trip was beautiful.  And the Waterfall was amazing.  

To get there we took a bus, and then hiked into the waterfall.  There were about 5 places where we had to cross the river that was made by the waterfall.  The water never got above our knees, but that meant it was pretty deep on the kids.  Of course they didn't mind.  We kept trying to get Kyler to hold one of our hands and he wasn't having any of that, so Erick started asking him to hold is hand so he (Erick) didn't fall.  Kyler was so proud of himself for helping his dad not fall!!!  This worked like a charm until we got to the last river crossing on the way back.  Erick stepped on a big rock while Kyler went around and Erick slipped!  Erick caught himself, but since he was holding Kyler's hand, Kyler face planted it into the river.  When he got up he said, "Dad, you just fell, but I caught you!  Don't worry dad, I caught your hand."  Still so proud.  Actually I think he liked that he got all wet and got to take his shirt off for the rest of the hike.

Bryn was the best little hiker.  She went through the river every time without help.  She also like to get wet.  Even if there was another way around the river, she chose to go through the river.

We had a great time.  

Enjoy the beautiful pics.

The first river Crossing...

The hike in...

A cool Tree, with crazy roots...

The Waterfall....

The hike out....

Kyler in the pool!

First of all I should preface this post with some information.  We have been moving this last weekend.  We moved out of one house into a smaller apartment further down the hill.  We still live on Banana Trail, however we live a lot closer to the school, and we now have some really great neighbors!:)

After we got everything moved out of our old house and into the new one, Erick took the kids to the pool to give me some time to unpack and settle in.  It was wonderful.  It gave me time to do what I wanted, the way I wanted it done.

When I finished doing what I was doing, I went down to the pool and found that Erick had been teaching Kyler a few new "tricks" in the pool.

Watch this little boy in action....