Sunday, April 25, 2010

Oranjestad

Oranjestad is full of tropical color and Dutch whimsy.



Just a warning to watch for crazy drivers.

Pretty in Pink


We should have eaten here.


Palm Trees are not native to Aruba, but plastic will do.


This home was for sale.  I like the entry.


Beautifully restored home from the 1920s...





This was the biggest church in town.


Time for shopping.


Lots of flowering trees.


Legos, anyone?


See what I mean by Dutch Whimsy?  I think I've coined a new architectural term.


This tour bus offers everything but air conditioning.


Sidewalk Gardens


Everything was in English.



We found this as we detoured through a neighborhood.

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Saturday, April 24, 2010

Aruba's Welcome Squad

So, instead of Paris for spring break we ended up in Aruba. It was not what we had planned, but it was definitely better than sitting home all week feeling sorry for ourselves. We spent Thursday night at home, re-packed our bags and rented a car and drove through Friday night to Philadelphia ( all flights out of Rochester were booked through Monday) and took a 8 AM flight to Aruba.

Upon our arrival at the resort, this was one of the first things we saw.


These iguanas were everywhere--running around the pools and under the tables at the poolside grill. It's a little freaky to be eating your lunch and have a 3 ft iguana run under your feet.

This guy was hanging out near a light house.



We saw lots of skinny dogs. They were slow and seemed to have little interest in people.



We saw this one climb the tree and enjoy the view over our heads.



I had read that there were wild donkeys on the island, so when saw these guys hanging out at an abandoned lot, we had to stop and get some pics.

Feeding iguanas at the resort's iguana sanctuary (which is just a few rocks along a path).


This guy came barreling over the wall when he smelled the lettuce and then back where he came from when he was done.



These blue lizards were spectacular. A female (on left) is brown with blue spots and the males are a bright turquoise blue.



The color is almost too blue to believe.



This little one stopped by for dinner.


Lots of friendly critters to be found on the island.

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Friday, April 16, 2010

Anticipating the trip that didn't happen

Thursday, April 15
12:51pm
Waiting for our flight to Paris, not a care in the world.


Happy Thoughts
"I'm going to climb the Eiffel Tower!"

"We will explore the halls of Versailles."

"We will cruise down the Seine."

1:11pm ( 4 minutes before flight)
"What did you just say?"
"What volcano? Where?"

2:39pm
"Joanna, can you come and pick us up?"
"Plans have changed."

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Saturday, April 3, 2010

Roxy's Visit

Our favorite little Jack-a-poo came to visit us for a few days.  We love to have her come.  Bea dotes on her and Winnie gets lots of walking.  For some reason, having two dogs in the house makes me feel twice the guilt for not walking them,
so we walk-sometimes multiple times a day.
We even find other dogs and kids to join our pack.

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Sunday, March 28, 2010

Banana Cookies

Noah doesn't eat many things, but he likes to bake and these are one of our favorite treats.

Find the recipe here-
http://friendsfamilyandfood.blogspot.com/
Sometimes he gets distracted.
There is no broccoli in the recipe; we compost.

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Thursday, March 18, 2010

Science Fair

Noah and a classmate submitted a project for the middle school science fair.  Mediocre project that he  wasn't all that interested in. He had to be coerced to show up for the fair.
Annabel wasn't a participant, but she is eager to go to any social event at the school.

It kills Noah that he and Annabel are in the same school; she loves it. He'll have 2 years in the High School without her, come September.

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Friday, March 12, 2010

Book Club recommendation

I loved this book.
This is from Amazon.com:
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Lauded for his sensitive memoir (My Own Country) about his time as a doctor in eastern Tennessee at the onset of the AIDS epidemic in the 80s, Verghese turns his formidable talents to fiction, mining his own life and experiences in a magnificent, sweeping novel that moves from India to Ethiopia to an inner-city hospital in New York City over decades and generations. Sister Mary Joseph Praise, a devout young nun, leaves the south Indian state of Kerala in 1947 for a missionary post in Yemen. During the arduous sea voyage, she saves the life of an English doctor bound for Ethiopia, Thomas Stone, who becomes a key player in her destiny when they meet up again at Missing Hospital in Addis Ababa. Seven years later, Sister Praise dies birthing twin boys: Shiva and Marion, the latter narrating his own and his brothers long, dramatic, biblical story set against the backdrop of political turmoil in Ethiopia, the life of the hospital compound in which they grow up and the love story of their adopted parents, both doctors at Missing. The boys become doctors as well and Vergheses weaving of the practice of medicine into the narrative is fascinating even as the story bobs and weaves with the power and coincidences of the best 19th-century novel. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Signs of the Season

The Witch Hazel is in bloom...
and the bulbs Bea and I planted are coming up.
Yippee!

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Tuesday, March 9, 2010

First Bike Ride of Spring

Bea came home from school with one thought on her mind. She was craving a bike ride.

Noah agreed to join her and they pulled out the bikes and pumped up the tires.

Have fun.


Noticed how much has melted in 6 days? It's almost gone.

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Thursday, March 4, 2010

The Thaw Has Begun

The weather is warm and the sun is out. Bea and I decide to walk to Darren's office to walk him home.
The Spring melt is beginning.

The snow is beginning to creep back from the sidewalks.



Soon it will all be green again.
Headed home.

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