After the Storm and Kindergaren

 No power was good for sleeping at least

 As soon as you take out the camera he makes a silly face

 Savannah's first kindergarten masterpiece

 Our old birdhouse had not such a good fate before the storm so they painted a new one to put up after the storm

 Hello Kitty Cutie on her first full day of kindergarten

 I love how they are working together

 Pretty Kitty Girl

 Such concentration

 This was a great activity

 100% Sweetie Pie

 Green is Seth's favorite color

 First Day of School with her Kindergarten Rocks shirt.  It was cool and pouring rain, so we had to take a picture under cover.

 Bringing my baby girl into kindergarten

 Torrential rain outside so we took pictures in the car

 Savannah's new silly picture face

 Asked her not to make the silly face

 They gave out Clifford Goes to School

 We either get the closed eyes or the bugged out eyes

 And this is all I can get from Seth

Kindergartener in the house!

Well, 5 days after coming from vacation in the Caribbean and Florida where you would expect a hurricane/tropical storm we had one in New England.  Hurricane Irene made landfall in North Carolina which softened the blow here and made a tropical storm, but the 40 mile per hour winds knocked out our power for SIX AND A HALF DAYS.  The power went out on Sunday morning at 7 a.m. and did not come back on unitl 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.  It was quite the challenge with two kids, two cats, and a dog.  We stayed in our house with NO WATER (which was the worst part), no power and just candles, flashlights and charchol grill until Wednesday morning.  The straw that broke the camels back so to say with moving to a hotel was that Rich's car broke down and stranded him at work where he had to be towed home.  At least work had power though!  But, I could not be stuck home with the kids and the animals and no power and no car.  That is too much to bear.  So it was very hard to find a hotel with power and availability and close to Rich's work and stuff to do and calling on our cell phones with little signal.  We finally found something at MGM at Foxwoods.  It was great with a gorgeous pool and plenty to do.  We were so appreciate for a shower, hot water, and some electricity.  The kids and I had fun even though it is still harder than being home and it is still a hotel and not your house.  I don't know what I would have done without my amazing pet sitter and best friend who picked up our car and brought it to our house so we did not have to come all the way back and then back to the hotel again at 9 p.m. at night.

We left the hotel on Friday evening with hopes that our power would return that evening.  It was projected to, but no luck.  So on Saturday morning we headed to NJ and spent a glorious day and evening at the Jersey shore with my aunt.  Her complex had a Luau end of summer pool party and we just relaxed, enjoyed and had a good let loose time and found out during the party that our power was finally restored.  Yeah!  On Sunday we headed to see more family in NJ at the mall with back to school shopping and then up to see my dad.  We went home on Monday with no Labor Day traffic and stopped at the food store and refilled the fridge that was nice and cold.  On the way we got a call from Savannah's teacher that power was restored to the school on Sunday at midnight and they were opening as scheduled on Tuesdays, September 6th.

Savannah started her first day of kindergarten with a three day phase in period of just going from 12:30 to 2:00 p.m. instead of until 3:30 p.m. She had her first full time span on Friday.  She loves school.  She is in the same class and same teacher, so she thinks this is school and kindergarten is something else at some other place.  She asked if after school we are going to kindergarten, like it is an after school acitivity.  I tried to explain to her that kindergarten is the grade she is in at school.  So now she says that kindergarten and school are the same thing.  She will get it when they start separating the kindergarteners out to do kindergarten work.  She did bring home letter tracing so that was fun.  So, our big kindergartener is going 5 days a week from 12:30 to 3:30.  They do have a whole day Friday option that I am thinking of starting in January, even though Savannah said she would like to spend the whole day at school and eat lunch with her friends.  She is making new friends and enjoying spending time with her friends from last year and being reunited.  I love the atmosphere at her school. 

Seth is doing great and is our happy go lucky little guy.  He is talking up a storm in full sentences and he started Mommy and Me gymnastics, but he was hesitant to participate until the last 15 minutes, which of course at the end he said, "I play more."  He told me he had fun and he likes gymnastics, but then he told Rich he doesn't like gymnatics.  We will see what next week brings.  Savannah starts up her activities again this week--cheer leading today for the first time and dance and play practice this week and next.

A Grand Day With The Turtles in Grand Cayman

 Our ship anchored by St. Georges Grand Cayman

 Looking at the turtles

 Holding the baby turtles

 Seth's turn.  Look how nuturing

 Savannah showing Seth how to hold the turtle

 Savannah rubbing the baby turtles neck

 Seth analyzing the baby turtle

 My all time favorite picture of Seth with the baby turtle

 We got to swim with the turtles. Savannah went first and then she got one for Seth

 Both kids holding their turtles

 Seth got very attached

 Savannah bringing her turtle over to see Seth's turtle.  She said they were friends and love each other and made the kissing sound.  Seth is not letting go of his turtle for anything.

 Highlight of the trip

 Savannah letting her turtle go swim

 She played with all the turtles where Seth got attached to one

 Playing with the turtles

 Savannah holding her turtle to flap and swim

 Laughing at her funny turtle

 Seth and the turtles

 This was so awesome

 Such fun and a once in a lifetime experience

 You could also swim in the lagoon with turtles and fish

 Savannah loving the water swimming with the reptiles

 Can't get enough of Seth and his turtles

 Two week old turtles are amazing

 First time Savannah held the turtle (Seth was sleeping).

 She was VERY excited

 Swimming with the turtles

 Our ship from shore

Seth and I hung out every morning on our balcony with coffee (me) and danish (him) and watch the ship come into port or just relaxed with it sailing.  I will miss that morning routine

Our last stop was Grand Cayman.  I loved this stop and location.  The town was awesome, clean and safe.  There were so many tours to do and things to see, but I chose Turtles, Turtles and More Turtles Deluxe so we would get to swim with the turtles.  Both of my kids adore turtles and are not afraid of them.  There were also tours to swim with dolphins or sting rays which we heard were amazing, but I knew my kids would be afraid.  We definitely chose the right excursion.  The place was incredible with a fresh water pool, lagoon, snorkeling, restaurant, store, and turtles, turtles and more turtles.  The tour started with viewing the giant turtles and the beach where they lay their eggs.  The tour guide was excellent and explained how tame giant green turtles are and how the staff here digs up the eggs, puts them in an incubator and determines the gender of the turtle by the temperature in the room where the eggs are.  Turtles bury their eggs and never go back.  Baby turtles I meant to fend for themselves.  He also said that if one of us fell in the water the giant turtles would scoop you up on his shell and carry you back to the beach.  Next we went to a tank where you could touch, feed, and hold young turtles and then the two week old babies.  This was amazing and the kids loved it.  They wanted to swim in the pool with the turtles but it was really crowded and there was a line so we went in the lagoon and swam with turtles and fish.  Rich did snorkeling, Savannah did swimming and Seth went in the water a little bit but mostly played on the beach.  Then the skies opened up.  The only rain we had all week was five minutes when we got to Cayman Islands, 5 mintues on the beach and then about 10 minutes while we were eating lunch.  So with the rain we went to eat lunch and then took the kids back to the turtle tank to swim with the turtles.  It was perfect timing.  The guide was there and there was just one other family with two kids.  Seth went in the water without hesitating this time. Savannah was already in so he saw what she was doing.  This was the true highlight of the trip.  They loved holding and nurturing the turtles and being one with them, just swimming along.  Seth got very attached to one and it hugged him as he held on and he would not let go.  Having to catch our bus was difficult and Seth threw a fit.  He said, "Where's my turtle."  For some reason, he thought that was his turtle and he would get to take it home.  I explained to him that we were just visiting the turtles and that they had to stay in the pool with its family.  He seemed to understand and settled for a stuffed turtle that says "Cayman Islands" on it. 

We then had 3 hours before we had to tender back to our ship.  We walked around the great and clean and safe town and went to Hard Rock, Margaritaville, Ron Jon and into some shops and got some souveniers.  It was really fun and we end our time in town with awesome sorbet/gelato from a pink shack called Sugar.  It was so crowded and rightly so.  Some of the best ice cream ever.  The cherry on top to a grand day.

Grand Cayman was our last stop in our island hop.  The destination on this trip were some of the best ever.  I really enjoyed both the ship and the destinations.  It was a near perfect vacation.