Pink, please

In case there was ever any doubt, we have recently seen proof that Kata is in fact, a girl. A girly girl.



It helps to have a big sister who's every move you live to imitate...but I'd just like to point out that this little outfit was put together while Norah was at school. Silk dresses and barbie dolls and jewelry. A little pink, anyone?

Pony ride, take two

Friday the ponies made another appearance at a friend's birthday party! Kata would not let herself be excluded this time, and Norah was more than willing to scoot back and hold her sister tightly.

Kata does not want any assistance, though...didn't want Norah's hands on her at all.



FUN!

The third coolest country in the world!

I saw a sign in the Kingston airport that proudly advertised Jamaica as "The Third Coolest Country in the World!" Apparently only slightly less cool than Brazil and Singapore, we had a fantastic, and very cool four days in Jamaica last week.

We flew from Guyana to Trinidad to Barbados to Jamaica. On the same airplane. We weren't allowed to deplane at each stop, so the girls coped by chasing each other up and down the aisle and having tickle wars.



Until there had been enough of that.



We got to Jamaica late Saturday and went straight up to Ocho Rios for two days on the beach. Sunday was cloudy all day, but that did no stop us from enjoying the beautiful beach..





...or the great kiddie pool at our condo. Really Norah is laughing because that water was very cold. I was happy to stay out and be photographer.



Patrick wins dad of the year for staying in that cold pool with them.



Kata just being Kata. Waving at her adoring fans.



Monday, we woke up to bright, sunny skies..and this. Needless to say Ocho Rios was a very different place the day the cruise ship unloaded.



Amazingly though, the beach never got too crowded. Happily for us, it seems the cruise shippers were more interested in shopping in town.



The girls spent the morning running back and forth between playing in the sand



and swimming in the clear, calm water. Beautiful!



Monday afternoon-- Ocho Rios to Kingston.



Tuesday Patrick attended a conference at our hotel (the whole inspiration for the trip in the first place) and we were left to entertain ourselves. Norah enjoyed the hotel pool, while I enjoyed (?) chasing Kata from the pool steps to the koi pond to the pool steps to the koi pond to the pool chairs to the pool steps to the koi pond...



Norah was a big hit parading through the hotel lobby with her Jamaica flag.



A highlight was Tuesday afternoon when we got to visit with friends! Andrea and Laura used to live here in Georgetown but were relocated to Kingston in March. We had such a fun time playing and catching up!



Not bad, Jamaica. Not bad at all.

The written word

As I've said here before, what's the point of these blogs if not to give me a platform for some shameless proud mama plugs? Here's a big one!

Check out what Norah did to entertain herself as we packed our bags in our Kingston hotel room yesterday morning:

She wrote "Mom, Norah, Kata, Dad" on her own-- names she has already learned to spell. And then! And then she showed me "Flyr"...Flower! She sounded out flower completely by herself (as, like I said, Patrick and I were busy in pack mode).



Needless to say, I stopped packing when she showed me this! She's almost as proud as I am!

Mimi and Papaw head South!

We just had a really, really wonderful visit from Mimi and Papaw last week. They traveled a long way, but I think our Guyana Girls made the trek worth it! Everyone really enjoyed having them around.

Mimi and Papaw were so good about taking pictures of everything, that I didn't pull my camera out as much as I should have. So, I don't have that many pictures to put up now (but if they e-mail me some, I'd be happy to revise...hint, hint). Here's some of what we did last week:

Lots of this:
Liming



Sundowners and afternoon shade



More liming. Chuck Taylors at the Pegasus pool.



Back at the Pegasus playground...remember pictures of Dad here over a year ago?!?



Swinging!



We also celebrated Patrick's birthday. Saturday morning, Norah put on her official party dress and wrapped herself up in pages from a coloring book. What better present could a Dad ask for?



Modeling the fabulous dress-up clothes Mimi brought the Guyana Girls, Norah helped me decorate Patrick's cake.



Chocolate-mouth fairy princess. Evidence of having been a really great helper!

Late Addition!

Uncle Louis reminded me that I did in fact have two extremely important pictures to add to the account of our girls' latest USA expedition!

World Famous Bluffton Mexican Night!

The Guyana Girls ate (and ate, and ate) like they had never eaten before. Poor girls are so deprived of delicious, cheesy Mexican food down here in Guyana...thank goodness we can all get our fill when we go home. Check out these contented faces:

Here is the infamous french fry burrito. That was really just the icing on the cake after having eaten the rest of her meal...



Don't forget the baby...I actually didn't order her a meal because I figured she'd just nibble on some of mine, some of Norah's etc. THANK GOODNESS that the wait staff either didn't understand me or didn't trust my instincts and brought out two of Norah's meal, because K merrily wolfed down an entire quesadilla all by herself.



Uncle Louis, I think we need to go ahead and make a reservation for our Christmastime Mexican feast...

Giddy Up!

After weeks and weeks of "Mommy, I want to ride a pony. Mommy, can I ride a pony? Mommy, when can I ride a pony?" (thank you, Dora) I booked a pony ride at the National Park and invited a few of Norah's friends. Here's how it went:

Once again, Norah surprised me with her bravery. Didn't blink a lash. "Hey pony. Your new name is Pinto. I'm going to call you Pinto. OK, Pinto?"



This was the routine: one girl got a turn on the pony to ride down the field and back. All of the other girls ran alongside.



They did this for an hour. Safe to say they all slept well that night.



Norah and Thandi: BFF.