Beach Baby

Another perfect day on the beach. Here is Andrew getting the little beach baby ready to enjoy the sun and sand. This is his favorite way to carry her, so I had to get a picture of it. Pretty soon she will be too big for this one armed tote. Funny how babies seem to grow so fast!

All covered up in her seat on the beach. Don't want her to get a sunburn!

A bit later, she tries out her cabana.

David says he's calling it a tent. It works great as a shady spot for Haleigh!

Sleeping in the cabana.

Andrew reads his book with Haleigh on his lap.

Andrew and Darci working hard to enjoy the beach.

Adam and Ryan looking at the scenery.

Time to watch the sunset, and Haleigh is ready with her shades on.

Looks like it's gonna be a good one.

Darci and Andrew.

Haleigh with Aunt Shylah and Uncle David.

Still lookin' good. No clouds below.

Haleigh watches.

Andrew doing his secret agent impersonation. Actually he's narrating into his flip video camera.

When the sun goes down.....

it's a perfect ending to another great day.

Leavin' on a Jet Plane

We left Monday morning for Grand Cayman, with 6 adults, 2 college boys (I like to call them the "little boys" but they're not so little), and baby Haleigh.

Here are David and Shylah at the departure gate at IIA.

Jim getting in some last minute work... or is is last minute winks?

Adam and Ryan.

Adam listening to some music on the iPhone.

Darci, Andrew, and Haleigh are ready for her first airplane ride.

Haleigh was perfect on the plane. We will expect the same every trip now.

Sweet sleeping baby.

We arrived in Grand Cayman around 1:30 local time. We decided it's great to fly on a Monday, as we got through immigration, baggage claim, and customs in record time. Even with a check from the dept. of agriculture to ok our meat. No problem!

Shylah and Haleigh watch as the guys attempt to load the luggage in the van. The goal was to get 8 people + 1 car seat + 1 stroller +13 bags in the 9 passenger van in one trip from airport to villa.

They are up for the challenge.

All the bags...

in the van!

All the people too!

Once we checked in and unloaded at the condo, we had to make a stop here. :)

A traditional Wendy Cayman meal.

Next stop, the grocery.

Just a few of the items we'll need for the week.

Haleigh enjoyed her first day on the beach, looking cute.

First Cayman sunset of the week.

Adam and Ryan trolling the beach.

Haleigh and Andrew having a little talk.

Adam and Andrew doing a little sparring.

Haleigh gets a kiss from her favorite uncle. Don't tell the others.

The end of our first day in Cayman. All are ready for a good night's sleep.

Packing

We leave bright and early tomorrow morning for Grand Cayman, and the packing is almost done. Well, MY packing is almost done, Jim and Adam are just getting started. I have done this packing thing a time or two, and it goes pretty smoothly. I have a master list on the computer, so I just adjust it according to how many travelers we have, and it's as simple as that!

We take fins, masks and snorkels....

some necessary food and laundry items...

and of course, the meat. We have never had trouble taking it through customs, which is fortunate. I'm afraid some of our boys might end up in jail if anyone tries to take our meat! Nothing like enjoying a good juicy burger after a Caribbean sunset.

We'll also be needing lots of sunscreen.

A couple of our bags are ready to be weighed.

Gumbo won't be making the trip with us, so he gets his own vacation at

Dogs All Day. They offer dog and cat boarding, day care, and grooming, and I know he'll have lots of fun there. They even have play groups for the doggies.

Here he is getting settled in his own private suite.

Bye, bye, Gumbo! See you next week!

I'm not sure how much blogging I'll get done while we're gone. I will be very busy, you know, sitting on the beach, reading a book, and sipping a cold beverage. We'll be on island time, which is even better than daylight savings time! :)

Weak in the Knees

Last week, I was at Methodist Sports Med with my mom. Today I was back again, this time with Jonathan. It seems he injured his leg in November, but wasn't bothered by it too much until he started playing intramural basketball in the last few weeks. On Friday night at the high school sectional game, he visited his old buddy Kevin, the trainer. Kevin has taken good care of Jon through his various high school injuries, and was nice enough to take a look at his knee. He thought there was a possibility of a tear in the cartilage, which is why we ended up here today.

The exam room did have some familiar faces on the wall, thanking the doctors for their help in getting them back on the field. There's our old friend Stuart Schweigert in the top row. You can also see Kyle Orton, and next to him, Joey Elliot, flat on his back. Sometimes it's tough to be a Boiler!

Here's Jon, waiting for the doctor. It might look like he's in pain, but he's actually concentrating on his phone and trying to prevent me from taking pictures.

Dr. Maiers checked out the knee and decided he needed an MRI. He also noted that I was wearing a Purdue outfit, while Jon is a student at IU. We told him not all families are perfect.

With time between the exam and the MRI, we headed out to grab a bite of lunch. Jon chose this place.

Again, checking out his phone while we wait for our food.

The best part of Fazoli's. Yummmm!

On our way back in to the clinic for the MRI, we saw a cowboy changing out of his boots to go in for his appointment. He had this sign on the back of his van. Just in case you wondered what PETA stands for. :)

Jonathan thought the waiting room in the MRI area had the feel of a talk show set. Here he is entertaining his imaginary guest.

Jon headed back to B-town, and I did a bit of shopping before starting home to the 'burg. This is what my drive home looked like. Fortunately we will be heading for sun and sand next week! Ahhhhh!

Your Hands

I love this song, Your Hands, by JJ Heller. Jennifer and I were just talking about what a great song it is. It reminds us both of Haiti. We thought it would be a perfect accompaniment to photos from the earthquake. Someone else thought so too.

Jennifer sent me this link. Be sure to pause the blog music.