Jamaican Criters......

Here are some pictures of the sea life we saw while we were snorkeling along the corals.

You would be surprised how fast these sea urchins move!!!

Yes, these are alive and look so Prehistoric....they are soft and squishy like a slug.

Hundreds of sea urchins under the crystal clear sea waters.....I was so amazed.

thank God for Rui, because I would have NEVER picked this thing up to take this pic... I looks so creepy like a blood worm.

Can you see it?? A soft shell crab covered in what looked like fur....So beautiful

A sea conch......one word.....amazing

one of hundreds of fish that swim up to you to see if you have any bread crumbs.....

I found a perfect intact sea urchin shell under a rock and brought in my hand all the way back to the U.S so it would'nt break. These shells are so, so fragile.

I miss this place.......

What a wonderful day Mother’s Day turned out to be….. Started off my morning with amazing flowers from my sweet husband and my wonderful daughters and ended up with canoeing in the river banks of Millburn. I can’t believe how much fun we had. The girls of coarse love everything water….which was no surprise they jumped at the idea to canoe after lunch. After what seemed like hours of rowing, my upper body workout was done. I’ll tell you, keeping a canoe going straight without steering too much to one side is much harder than it looks. Trust me!!!  After washing the girls down “Portuguese style” (Interpretation : Hosing them down with the water hose, which by the way they loved) , had a bite to eat and headed out to Red Mango for a healthy and delicious end to a great day.  

oh yes, that is Natalie swimming off to get a closer look at the ducks....

At Red Mango with my Nieces, Cindy and Chelsea with her BF Maria.

such divas.....

Playhouse Project.....

After returning from our trip, and even before I had time to put away our luggage, Rui was already tackling the playhouse he wanted to build in the back yard for the girls. The playhouse would be placed next to our shed as an extension. Not only will the house be used for playtime but also for their bicycle storage. So here we go again with another construction project. I think when you have a house, there is always something to do or fix…. It just never ends. I wish I was rich enough to just pay a crew to have everything done in one shot. (one day….i hope!!!) in about 2 days Rui had the foundation done and the framing. Then came the roof and closing the walls. And boy I just have to say that most of the work was done by Rui alone, but Sunday we finished the roof and the walls together and man did my arms and the back of my thighs hurt!!!! The next day I couldn’t even sit down normally! Seriously, I had to sit down very slowly because the soreness was so unbearable. That’s when you know you’re out of shape!!! We are just waiting for the windows to arrive sometime this week to be installed and then the cream colored vinyl siding to cover both the playhouse and the shed.

Jamaican Adventure.....

 We came back 2 weeks ago from a glorious week in Montego Bay, Jamaica. The weather can only be described as heavenly, 86 degrees with 2% humidity, always sunny with a soft warm breeze in the air . We had a wonderful time of relaxing and exploring. We did a lot of swimming and snorkeling, and got a lot of amazing pictures of the sea creatures Rui and I found. The girls were on cloud 9, but it never seems to amaze me how different they are from one another. Natalie definitely has my personality and Sofia is showing traits of Rui’s character. Natalie is a real water baby like me! We love the water and really love adventures. Sofia on the other hand is an admirer of nature and likes to observe the water but is not too crazy about getting wet and is reserved about trying things that she has not done before. She will study it at first and if it pleases her, she will then try it. Like with every trip we plan, we want the girls to not only enjoy themselves, but to do something with them that they will never forget. This is my favorite age with the girls. They are old enough to try more adventurous things and remember them too. In Ocho Rios, Jamaica, they have the most amazing water fall climb that is open to the public. After climbing this 600 ft waterfall when I was 16, I knew it was something I never forgot and wanted to share  with Rui and the girls. Natalie took to the climb like a champ, but Sofia took one look at the rushing water and just froze. Rui took her in his arms and reassured her she would be fine, and off we were up the waterfall. Bringing cameras are optional. Had I brought a water camera it probably would have been easier than me carrying the little digital camera in a Ziploc tucked under my arm as we tried climbing up with the rushing water. I was only able to take a couple of pictures in the areas where the falls were   calmer. The Dunn’s River Falls should be on everyone’s list when they visit Jamaica. We loved it and were so pleased how kind the people were there.
Can't wait for our next adventure...... 

       

on our way to Dunn's Water falls

Me and Ruth have the exact same picture under the same tree taken about 15 years ago.

after a long day of adventures Natalie must write everything down in her story book.

I'll be posting more pictures during the week.......