From our bedroom window...............

You won't believe what we witnessed from our bedroom window. The other day Amelia went off to the bedroom to watch .....you guessed it "REBA" and all of sudden she comes running out to the kitchen yelling, "mom, come quick I think the neighbors are doing something to that huge bird they have."

From our bedroom window, we can see the house next door. The have quite a bit of land and they raise goats and ......these huge looking birds. We thought they were geese but our landlords say it is a turkey.....doesn't look like any turkey I have seen? Regardless, this huge strange bird is kept in this coup and we have been spying on it for a while.

As Amelia and I return to the bedroom, these two women are helping the bird across the lawn. One women has her hand around the birds neck and the other women has the body, but they are still allowing the bird to do the bulk of the work by letting its feet walk on the ground to the middle of the lawn. It was a really strange sight to see.

Once they got to middle of the lawn, the women holding the body, pulled the feet out from under the bird and laid it down and then grabbed this wooden box and placed it over the bird. There was a open end that the head could lay outside of. So at this point the birds body is under the wooden box and its head and neck are outside of it. I know full well what is going to happen. Amelia (who is a vegetarian and will be forever more!) turns so her back is to the window and hugs me and I can not pull myself away. I know, I am 37 and have known for a long time that somehow chickens, cows, pigs, turkeys.......are killed, so that we can enjoy their meat but I never actually had given it any thought. Now here before me was this beautiful creature we had been studying and watching, about to die. It felt really odd.

Unfortunately, the ladies must not have had an axe because much to my horror, they got out a serrated knife and this is how they removed the head. It is at this point that the two women and their son, choose to look up to our bedroom window. There we were, looking on in horror. It didn't seem to phase them though and they continued. We couldn't take it anymore and we left the bedroom but Millie couldn't stay gone for long. I got a play by play for the rest of the tasks they had to complete and Millie got an education.

Last night Amelia, saw the neighbors move their goat from the pasture to the front lawn. She started screaming, "They are going to kill the goat. They're going to kill the goat." Graham, Alex and Amelia tear off to the bedroom with the video camera in hand.......so far, the goat is still alive but it is very strange that they have it tied close to the house in the short grass.....we will let you know what happens.

I think I might be closing the curtains for the rest of the week!

Our new "BUG" normal.....

The first couple of weeks here, I was jumping and screaming and calling Graham or Alex to kill or scare away freaky bugs or critters, but now they have become our normal. Each time we walk outside you catch sight of a lizard scurrying away from you. They are really quick but Alex and Amelia are quicker and they managed to catch one and then they put it on our boat to eat any bugs that may have made their way inside when the roof was off! They named it Mr. Greenbeans. Graham saw it the other day in our forward bathroom, doing his job!

The cockroaches are the yuckiest. The other night I came out to the kitchen to get a glass of water and there was a huge red one with what looked like a suit of amour on. It ran so fast from the stove across the counter and under the sink, it was insane. The next morning we tried to find it but it is gone.

The funniest thing I have seen is when Graham took the cabbage out of the fridge last night and he jumped and yelped and there on the floor was a little frog that had jumped out of it. Unfortunately it was half dead and Alex did the honors of removing it.

The most beautiful bug we have seen is this really colorful, acrobatic, catepillar. I probably never would of noticed them but Graham seems to have an eye for these things and called our attention to them. Once we saw the first one, the trees came alive and we saw MANY! Funny how that works.

The grasshoppers here are 10 times bigger than the grasshoppers we know. It is like they are on steroids. You can't help but stop and watch, it is like a freaky movie. I still feel a little scared when I see them.

We have a huge abundance of these ummmm cross between a fly and hornet thingy's. They don't seem to bother us but if you do get in their way they sting. Alex was stung once by one. The "no see ums" seem to be the worst though. Our feet and ankles are all chewed up.

Our normal is slowly changing........

Pure Happiness

Today we headed out on another adventure. We looked on our map and found out that the tallest waterfall on the island was on our side of the island and only one bus ride away. It is called Mt. Carmel and is located on a fellows land. He charges a $1 and lets you hike in. Let me tell you, it was well worth our buck. We loved it. It was neat to hike through the lush landscape and then through the trees see an spectacular water fall. Alex kept saying how much cooler this was than the Concord fall. He really liked the trek part and that we were the only people around.

The best part of my day was when he asked if I would climb up on the rocks with him and stand under the waterfall. My usual answer to questions like this is ....."Ask your Dad". Once I see Graham do it, then I will usually follow suit but this time, I said "SURE"! He was shocked. While Amelia and Graham swam, Alex and I made our way up the slippery rocks and stood under the rushing water. He let out the loudest hollar you have ever heard. Pure happiness is what I felt. This new plan of getting out the house is working out!

What the heck happened to us????

Graham and I were talking about our backpacking days. It occurred to us that we backpacked thru Egypt without so much as a bandaide in our packs. We didn't even think about where the nearest hospital or doctor or the police were for that matter. We would never have considered a paid tour, never would of taken a taxi, never would of carried sunscreen and bug spray with us whereever we went. We were always looking for something out off the beaten track and getting there without a herd of tourists with us, was an accomplishment!......the conversation ended with...."What the heck happened to us???". We decided that even though we have kids and we do have to have a bandaide in our packs, it was time for us, to get back to our roots and start adventuring!

We were going to pay $25 US each and do the island/waterfall tour but under the new family guidelines, this was out of the question. Time to figure out how we see this island and the waterfalls without tour or taxi. As a family we pulled up the tourist map of Grenada and picked a the Concord Waterfall's for our first adventure.

We took two buses to get to where they let us out on the main road at Concord. Then the locals began harassing us, to take a guided tour or a taxi. They seemed shocked that we planned on walking all the way with two kids. We didn't let it affect us and off we started on the road to the falls. People we passed on the road seemed equally shocked that we were going to walk all of the way. It turned out that the hike was 2 miles UP, in extreme heat. We had lots of water with us, so we all stayed hydrated and we took plenty of breaks. The only worrisome thing was that Amelia's face, turned into the elephant man. She gets this freaky red blotchy face when she gets extremely hot and sweaty. We decided it was time to cool off in the stream that was coming from way up at the top of the mountain. We used their hats as buckets and pour hatful after hatful all over us. Once we were sufficently cooled we began the second half of our journey. Even though it was hard, we were all having fun.

When we arrived at the top, we all felt proud as the locals kept asking how we got there, with no car, bus or taxi. I am sure you can all imagine us proud as peacocks! We went down the stone stairs and there was the prettiest waterfall. It wasn't huge but there was a nice pool below it that you could swim in. It looked straight out of a movie. We were all so hot that it didn't take long to strip down to our suits and jump in. HOLY CANOLY.....it was so COLD. Didn't matter to us though, feeling cold was wonderful. Graham took the kids for a swim behind the waterfall and we ate our P&J's at the top of one of the mini falls overlooking the beautiful scenary. It felt like we were sitting in Jurassic park. Really cool and lush.

The hike back down was pretty easy and seemed so much quicker. We all had such a great time. We can't wait to go and explore the other parts of the island. The other benefit is that the kids are obviously not getting enough exercise because they woke up this morning, VERY SORE. It is hard to exercise in this heat but I think the hiking to waterfalls is the way to go, because it ends with a swim!

So, Graham and I have managed to recapture a little bit of our adventerous spirit. We both realize we are now parents but we want to teach the kids that sometime the best time is not the waterfall at the end but figuring out how to get there!

Spending Uncle Rob's Money.....

Today was the day that the kids have been waiting for, for a while! Uncle Rob gave both the kids $30 bucks when we left Toronto, to buy themselves something. The $30 has been burning a hole in their pockets ever since.

We headed by bus to the capital city of St. George. The first thing on the agenda was a hair cut for me. We found a great little beauty shop with AIR CONDITIONING and a TV with Fraiser on???? We all could of spent the day in there. We then headed up and down the streets and into all the little shops, so many interesting things. Alex found a great wallet for $2 and a beautiful necklace for Amelia for her b-day for $12. They both split the cost on a couple of really nice presents for Nanny and Papa, in hopes they come down for a visit! Amelia found a really cool shirt with "Yes I'm Pretty" written in bedazzle across the front, for only $4 and she also got a keychain.

They were both really happy when in amongst so many different shops and smells, we came across a SUBWAY! Amelia got her favorite veggie sub and Alex his, the BMT! A little taste of home.



Amelia got in a fight with a nasty shop keeper. She went in to ask how much the bikini was in the window and the lady said $30ec (which is about $12cdn) and Amelia said oh thats to much for me, since she didn't have that much money left. The lady thought Amelia meant that $30 was too much for a bikini and she proceed to blast her. I walked in, in the middle of it and explained to the lady that Amelia was spending her own money and didn't have that much left. Once she realized she started laughing. Geeesssh!

Our last stop was the fruit and veggie market. We got a bag of mangoes, passion fruit and sweet oranges for $2 a bag. We got a bunch of tiny bananas for only $1.

We got home and Graham was already home from the boat and making fresh lime juice, with limes from the tree out back! He then whipped up an amazing curry for inside the four Rotti's I bought at the market. Right now we all full and have finished a tournament of battleship and are just waiting for survivor to begin. All in all, a pretty cool day. THANKS UNCLE ROB!!!!