And then there were 5.........

Well hello there friends!
How is your day/week? Did I ever tell you how much I love the weather in the Caribbean? It is absolutely spectacular every single day.....sunny and +27-30 most days now (getting warmer as we move towards "summer"...isn't is summer all the time here?) We have even had to turn on our air conditioning once or twice in the last few weeks due to the heat.....it is glorious....every morning when I wander out onto my deck and the sun is shining......I feel extremely blessed to be in this climate.....the Canadian climate is going to be a bitter pill to swallow when the time comes!
So I must apologize for my absence.....it has been a few weeks and I have been thinking about you all. The kids were on Easter break (spring break for 10 days) so my computer time was limited so I didn't really have much opportunity to write......anyway we had a wonderful time....we were swimming, snorkelling, hanging with friends, having sleepovers (my personal favorite...not) The beach is back now so we spent alot of time there! What I mean by the beach is back is that there is really only one beach here called Wells Bay and it is called a "wandering beach".....I will try to explain as it is a bit odd so difficult to wrap your head around sometimes....depending on how the wind is blowing, waves are rolling etc.....the sea brings sand in to the "beach area" and deposits it there on top of the millions of rocks that are normally there....then there is a beach to sit on/play on/build sand castles....but just as quickly as the sea brings the sand in, it can take it all back out again and the beach could disappear for months....leaving only rocks behind (which are not nearly as fun to walk on or sit on!) also when it is just rocks it is usually because the sea is too rough to play in, so beaching is not an everyday occurance here in Saba.....so the beach came back last week and we spent almost every day there! Nothing like packing a cooler full of snacks and heading down for a day in the sun! It was lots of fun, but also a little bit scary.....the ocean here can be pretty rough and unpredictable so you really have to be careful...it can be calm and flat one minute and then 3 or 4 huge (and I mean 3-4 foot waves can just roll in from nowhere....well from the open ocean I guess! So then these waves can be ridden with a boogie board all the way to shore, where you are thrown onto the beach and exfoliated (well that is what I call it....really it is a bunch of sand grinding into you very quickly....you should look inside my suit when I get home....i bring home half the sand with me....hmmm...maybe that is where the sand goes, it isn't the ocean it is the people taking the sand with them in all the crevices and folds of their body....ok ok I can hear Beth saying "Dawn you are way too detailed" and I can see Mike turning red so I better stop) So I have been getting better at the timing of boogie boarding and man it is super fun (when you time it right, not as much when you don't) I wear my life jacket just to be safe as those big waves lift you up quite high sometimes and it makes me a little nervous...Christian wears his too, just in case you are wondering......Monty on the other hand does not.....he is part sea creature I think and he loves the big waves.....our friend Rapha taught him the fine art of wave diving....this is where you dive into an oncoming wave and basically go under it! Monty thinks that this is awesome....he also loves the boogie board! So this week Monty got to go out snorkeling with our friends a few times and he had such an awesome time....I can't believe that I let him go....way out in the ocean in over 40 feet of water....the friends assured me they would look after him....i told them if something happened they should opt to not return to the shore....it wouldn't be pretty.....they laughed of course thinking that I was joking.....I told them about mama bears in Canada.....I think they got it and they took very good care of him! Anyway, Monty came into shore after snorkelling the other day and yelled "mom guess what I saw"? I of course said what dear? He said "SHARKS.....I SAW SHARKS.....2 SHARKS......Not what you want to hear from your 10 year old son after he has been snorkelling in the open ocean (remember that Saba has an "abundant" shark population!) So I try not to over react and he is so excited he c an barely talk....he then proceeds to tell me that they were young nurse sharks....phew I was relieved...they were only like 2-3 feet long...no biggie....better than the 18 foot great white I was envisioning....(I could hear the theme to Jaws in the background!) It turns out he also saw 3 sea turtles and they swam along with them for a few minutes as well......he had a wonderful time! We have also been swimming up at Willards of Saba....an awesome hotel with an amazing view (you could google it if you don't believe me!) So we had a lovely vacation......well the kids and I did....poor Joe basically studied and sweated about his final exams......he was quite stressed but you know what??? He kicked ass!!! He got 87 on his anatomy final and he was so worried about it....i was so proud of him....way to go Joey!!!! So semester 1 down and 4 to go.....Joe is now officially on break (now that the kids have returned to school!) so we have all decided that next week we are going to st maarten for 5 days for some family time .....the kids will get to miss some more school and we are planning to go over and do some normal things that you people take for granted (at least I did!) like movies!! and shopping!! and fast food!!! we are really looking forward to our trip together......we are going to go the real beaches in St Maarten and just spend some quality time together as the last few months have been pretty hectic.....we can't wait!!
so it has been a bittersweet week, some of our dear friends have left Saba as they finished their 5th semester....2 of them, sam and Rapha, who were our church leaders have left and it was so hard to let them go as they had become very dear to us and they both just loved our boys.....the boys miss them already, as do we....we wish them well in their next phase of the journey....Go with God, Sam and Rapha...many blessings upon you both!! This is the odd part of Saba....each semester you meet new friends but lose some old....it is a constant state of preparing to say goodbye (and you know me and goodbye....ick.........)
So do you remember the movie from the 80's...the Gremlins? do you remember what happened when you poured water on them? Yes that is right, they multiplied......so right now I feel like I have gremlin guinea pigs.....why you ask? well it is a rather funny story.....(ok not so funny?) You may recall a few posts ago that Monty purchased a 3rd pig? so we then had 3......well a few days ago , a neighbor behind us decided that she and her partner were leaving the island, she is leaving med school and she has a pig (the same one that Monty brought home a few months ago and we said that he couldn't keep so we gave it to her!) Anyway she gave it back to Monty so he brought it home and in the cage it went......so there were 4 pigs.....and of course he is a boy pig so he is thrilled with his harem.....and this is not good......THEN.....just when I thought that was not good......one of monty's friends from school came over, crying very upset, with a guinea pig in her arms....her mother was making her get rid of her pig adn she had no where to take it....so of course, Monty graciously offered to "help her" out of her difficult situation......and then there were 5!!! 5!!!! What in the world am I going to do with 5 pigs??? I have been trying desperately to find a home for a few...but apparently I am the only sucker on the island....nobody wants anymore guinea pigs!!!! So I have a big frisky boy in a cage with 4 lovely ladies.....can you imagine what is going to happen next?? Oh and by the way.....Joe hasn't looked in the cage lately.....so he isn't quite sure how many are in there? Adn luckily he rarely reads my blog....so I am ok for a few days, until he starts looking and counting now that he is not so engulfed in his studying and has a few days off......it is not going to be a good scene!!! eek! Anyway they are adorable and I don't mind them at all, but we may have gone a little overboard this time.....I have spread the word that I have some pigs to give away....any takers???
Anyway I better run, I have to go get my car to the shop for the brake pads to be replaced! these hills are hard on a persons brakes and last night when i drove it the car sounded a little like Freddy Kruger was following me.....now I am no mechanic but I can guess that is not a good sound when it comes to a car!!!
Have a wonderful week and I will talk to you all again later!
Love and God's blessings to you all.