Cayman Art Gallery

May is Child month here on Cayman, so they had several activites for the kids to do all month, and they were all free, and super cool. We were able to attend the art gallery here on the island, and the exhibit this month was recycled art, which Jane got a real kick out of. They had a scavenger hunt in the gallery, wehre you had to count all the birds in the paingtings, or they put just a small part of the painting on the paper and you had to find the painting it came from. then they had a fun art project were the kids made masks. Here are a few of our favorite pieces.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cayman Heart Fund 5k

One of my fave new things I have been doing since we got here is running in a few races.... This was the first one I actually got pictures at though, I like that gives me someting to work towards. My friend Petra and I decided to run and I committed before I realized it was on a monday, so I would have to schlep the kids since Brandon would be at school. But it was awesome and I am so glad we did it, Jane ran more of it than I expected but started crying when she ran across the finsh because everyone cheered, and she thought they were yelling at her to run faster. so there were some tears, but overall super fun.

I couldn't help but think of my nephew Payton and how much we love him. I am contintually amazed with Payton and his family, even with how much they have endured and will have to in the future, they are all the most positive selfless people you will ever meet. Payton you are amazing, and so much fun, you make me realize what a wonderful life I have, love you bud!
I know the silly paper sign was lame, I had all these plans of making a shirt.... but 6am comes very early people....


 

 

 

Jane always says I have a really bad sunbrun on my face after we run... lol...

Nolan's Pirate Parrrrrty!

I totally plan on doing a whole blogpost dedicated to my little noley canolli and his first year on this earth in review, but for now let's just focus on the festivities!! We had a great birthday bash with friends for our little man, Brandon cooked up some burgers on the grill and we partied poolside, and then finished off with a treasure hunt at the beach where the kids dug for buried treasure!! then ended the evening with nolan trying to eat his candle. All in all it was a great party!! Happy Birthday little Taj!!!! 

funny kids

Jane's funny quote of the week:  "Mom, I getting chocolate dehydrated..."

 

 

Nolan is 1! and still not potty trained :(

Turtle Farm

 

 

 

 

As part of our Dolphin Park package we also got tickets to the Grand Cayman Turtle farm.  Jane couldn't help herself from kissing the baby turtles (to Ashley's dismay, something about fears of salmonella, but these are turtles not salmon, silly girl!)  They breed all kinds of sea turtles here for many different reasons, one of which is for culinary purposes, which I for one am very excited about (just looking at those little guys makes my mouth water)
Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa our family will be proud season pass holders to the turtle farm which also includes pools for snorkeling and a mini water park, its amazing to me that the resident discount for an annual family pass is the same price as a single day pass for tourists.  We are very spoiled to have these experiences on a regular basis, it is such a blessing to live on this island at this time.

Dolphin Cove

We were lucky enough to check out the Dophins at Dophin Cove which is just a few minutes from where we live.  Thanks to Grandpa and a local resident rate we got to have the dolphin experience of a lifetime.  Jane for all her big talk about how she loves dolphins and how she was going to kiss them was surprisingly timid as Grandma about touching the majestic sea creatures.  She eventually did and in her false memory she acquired a few hours later she even kissed the juvenile dolphin named "Raggae".  Grandpa and Brandon got to swim and dance with the dolphins which was pretty amazing.  Brad got a belly to belly ride which resulted in an open mouth kiss later while Brandon got propelled by his feet by two dolphins at the same time. The dolphin park is pretty awesome located in a protected cove right on the ocean there, every once in a while we were told that dolphins from the wild will jealously watch their pampered cousins playing. We also learned about an infamous local dolphin named Stinky Grand Cayman's notoriously strange Dolphin rated PG-13 for being too friendly with scuba divers, if you know what I mean.