carousing carousel

it really is a merry making machine

yarn along

i'm joining ginny in her yarn along once again.  it's been awhile since i've played along, but my needles still are busy knitting away everyday.  there has been a little granny square crocheting going on as well to make granny square slippers for myself, but lately i've mostly been working on a monkey for a new friend's baby - a little island baby due this august, and have all the pieces of stella's rose cardigan ready to be sewn together for completion.  i haven't been reading much in the way of a good novel.  without a car, library membership or any money to buy a book, i'm reading blogs and picking up "playful parenting" whenever i feel like reading a bit of good parenting advice.  the bottom line is to play with your kids.  the more you enter their world the more they'll cooperatively enter yours.

power out

yesterday the power went out.  the power goes out often on the island and i've heard many friends complain about it whilst living here.  they're in the middle of cooking dinner and the power goes out - can't finish cooking - meal goes to waste.  it was out so long that they lost all of their food in the fridge - think hot summer months and the milk goes sour.  they couldn't finish the laundry while their little one was napping - not so bad but a nuisance nonetheless.  we've been fortunate to live in a hotel with a generator and haven't had these problems.  even during the hurricane we had intermittent power throughout the day.  but yesterday when the generator tried to start it failed after several attempts of the maintenance men trying to turn it on.  the fans and lights inside would start up weakly and then falter.

the lights at the foot of these villas tells me that they're either solar powered or that their connected with the generator that was working at the hotel next door.

we ended up being without power like most of our neighbors for many hours and when it was sunset time we headed out to the balcony where there was more light and made lanterns for the evening inside.  we don't light candles on a regular basis - although i would like to - in the past i've forgotten to blow them out and michael is afraid i'm going to set the house on fire.

last night we had a reason to light them so we finally used up the materials we have to make these glass jar lanterns i've seen on some blogs out there but cannot remember where.  i won't be bringing these jars back with us to america so it was a nice feeling to use them for a purpose i had always wanted to - other than the usual painting jar purpose they've been fulfilling.

i made a few and ezra made one.   i glued the pieces of transparent paper and he stuck them on.  

it was a magical moment when we lit up his lantern - making me want to light candles everyday.  hmmm.  maybe we will start again at dinnertime! 

he also enjoyed the specialness of the night getting to use the flashlight for a real reason not just for play. we even went to 'rescue' daddy who would be walking up the stairwell and down the pitch black corridor to get home after 7:00.  we timed it perfectly (neither of us have cell phones anymore in case you're wondering) and met him in the stairwell before he would have to walk from memory to our door. we had about an hour together with our candlelight before the power came back on.  we were worried about the food in the fridge and put it in the freezer.  we were grateful when the power came back on and we didn't lose all the food and were able to heat up the soup i had made yesterday.  if we had lived here for 20 months with frequent power outages i'm sure they would've lost their mystique.  it was fun though last night and made for a fun evening together after a long day at home.

mullet bay

michael took the day off from studying today and we all walked down to mullet bay beach.  he has been spending more and more time with us and we are basking in his presence.  it has all of our spirits lifted and ezra has a noticeable spring in his step!

this is how the beach looked today - ta da!  spectacular!  the weather is warming up as well as the water.  it turns this amazing shade of turquoise during the summer months and going in the water is like taking a therapeutic color bath.

ezra prefers to play in the sand when there are waves, although we did each take him on a run down the strand kicking and splashing through the water rushing up the shore.  i ran along with him feeling free like a kid myself.

michael and i took turns out in the water.  it is heavenly.  the water is so salty and warm - you are so buoyant and your skin gets smooth from the salty water bath.

here is where we set up our little camp for the day.  i love that the beaches of st. maarten are rarely crowded.  the only day you can expect a lot of people is on sundays when all the locals are off from work.  

i brought my ipod - something i normally never do because i need my ears to listen for ezra's needs.  it was great having my own personal mini concert with some of my favorite tunes.  the yarn came along too but i was too busy listening to music and shooting pictures.

with the beatles singing 'girl' in my ears i looked out at this view ahead of me,

this sky above me,

and occasionally this little guy came into the foreground and i was in heaven.

with a constant breeze blowing on us michael took a nap under the umbrella, we watched boats come into anchor in the bay, planes come in for landing and we even saw a mini air show with four planes flying in formation together.  i am so grateful for this great family day we had at the beach today.  

this moment

a friday ritual.  a single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week.  a simple, special, extraordinary moment.  a moment i want to pause savor and remember.  inspired by soulemama

arts in the plaza

caribbean dancers, the philipsburg brass band, artwork on display and meeting up with other island friends made for a fun night this week.  it was arts in the plaza at porto cupecoy and i was giddy the whole time with the excitement of the music, friends,  and little moments of breaking into dance moves. it felt like a celebration for many of us who are (or whose husbands are) in the fifth and final semester of basic science courses on the island.  20 months truly has flown by.  i can't believe it's almost over.  we only have 3 full weeks left on st. maarten.  i know i will miss it dearly but i am getting really excited for what is to come next.

playground fun

the other day we went with some friends to layla's.  i followed my intuition and brought ezra a sweater but forgot the one i intended to bring for myself.  it was blustery and super cool (for us island folks - probably about 70 degrees).  the moms and other ladies sat away from the playground but i stayed and watched the little ones have a blissful afternoon at one of the only playgrounds on the island.  i stayed warm running around after them trying to get some shots and making sure they didn't get clobbered by the older kids breaking all the proper etiquette of playground rules.  the teacher in me will always be there.  ezra and bianca had a great time and so did i.  

a lovely afternoon

after a long day at home where the hours seemed to stretch and we'd already done everything there was to do (including reciting and acting out nursery rhymes like "walking through the jungle," "one potato, two potato," "5 little monkeys," and more, bake spring flower cookies, trace and color in a favorite page from bernard most's book "if the dinosaurs came back" we headed down to our beach to blow bubbles.

 the conditions were just right and the wind blew them up toward the hotel villas on the beach.

ezra called out, "go higher bubbles, go higher!  come on wind!"

we drew in the sand.  i made numbers out of dots and ezra connected them.

we also walked all the way down the beach together over those rocks and to the white buildings you see in the distance and back.  when we returned our friend and neighbor amanda and her dog layla came walking by.

at first ezra was wary of layla, but amanda showed him what a friendly dog she is.

she is what they call a coconut retriever - an island dog that amanda and her husband jamie adopted since moving to st. maarten where jamie goes to school with michael.

amanda is a super friendly gal as you can see here.  i wish she had been my neighbor the whole time we've been living here.  it was just what i needed yesterday to have an afternoon chit chat with this other lady while ezra threw layla bits of coconut to retrieve,  (she really does retrieve coconuts!)

and dug a hole in the sand,

and barked at the cat that sailed by (hee hee)!

ezra had a good time too!

on our way back home we saw some of the hotel cats and said hello.

 "hi kitties! meow, meow, meow."

then ezra said, "look at those ants mama!"

can you see just above the blue tile's upper right corner there is a group of worker ants carrying something back to their queen at their nest.  science lesson for the day ✓.

we took in the beautiful sunset 

the bright, blooming bouganvilla, 

and this happy hibiscus.  

i love when your day can turn around by just stepping outside and finding what life has to offer.