Happy Valentine's Day!

Call me cheesy, but I love me some Valentine's Day. I know...it's essentially a hallmark holiday. But who cares? I embrace the cheesiness with open arms! I can't wait to have kids so I can decorate homemade cards and cut food into heart shapes. There's nothing better than a holiday that's all about love!

This year felt especially lovey-dovey. I woke up early and very quietly made pumpkin pancakes for a surprise breakfast in bed. I have to laugh at my ghetto presentation. Ah, remember the good old days when I had a real silver tray, a pretty white syrup pitcher and a ceramic butter dish? Now we don't even having matching silverware. Haha, I love our random little island life :)


I heart this guy...


and this guy too, even though he didn't get breakfast in bed.


I wore my red Havaianas for the occasion.


And even though we were far from home, I didn't forget who this special day really belonged to.


I had been looking forward to our date for weeks. Brent made reservations at one of the Ritz-Carlton restaurants, Periwinkle. On the way there, I snapped this shot representing Brent's other true love. Only 43 days till Opening Day!


The lovely Perwinkle restaurant


I love these next two shots of Brent and me. We get so many of each other, but since we moved to Grand Cayman we only have a few together. The server actually did a great job handling the SLR!


Little view of the Ritz


My other true love - mudslides


On Saturday Brent and I exchanged Valentine's gifts. I gave him a shirt and he got me a beach chair. But Brent had another surprise for me, beautifully wrapped in his dinner napkin.


Check out this awesome sea turtle necklace!


This is actually a necklace we saw weeks ago at the Governor's Art Festival. The artist starts with a normal coin and carves out the picture. We watched him working on one for a while - such painstaking work! I immediately loved this little sea turtle (a real coin from Cape Verde) but didn't think I should make a rash purchase. I was so surprised to see that Brent had snuck back and gotten it for me! He is the sweetest!


Dinner was awesome, mostly because we were in such a beautiful place. Brent got snapper with lobster medallions and I got spinach lasagna.


At the end of the meal they brought out complimentary cookies and this pretty rose. What else would you expect from the Ritz?


Periwinkle usually has nightly "movies under the stars" and they were supposed to play Sleepless in Seattle for Valentine's Day. Unfortunately it was too windy to put up the screen, so we decided to walk around the Ritz instead. Just as fun, maybe even better!

Quick note - Brent's mom bought me this dress and mailed it with some other things a few weeks ago. I couldn't wait to wear it for V-day!


Back at home, not to be outdone by my ghetto breakfast tray, the fancy Ritz rose sits in its makeshift vase:


Hope you all had a very merry Valentine's Day!

Walter on the Boat

Soon after we arrived back on island, our fickle old boat decided to stop working. At this point, I'm not even sure what was wrong with it. But we got it fixed last week, and Walter got to take his maiden voyage Saturday evening. Brent and I didn't want to go for a long ride, we just wanted to make sure the boat was still working. So we decided to cruise around the canals and bring Walter along. I figured a nice slow ride would be a good way to get him acclimated. And I must say he looked adorable in his little doggy life jacket!


Overall I think Walter did really well on the boat. He seemed a little wary and did a lot of exploring. But he mostly stood up front and looked out at the horizon. First mate Walter!


Proud parents


He seemed ok aboard the boat, but he was also very excited to get out once we docked!


After church on Sunday, we took the boat out again with Jeremy, Sheena, Jenn and Nate. Walter was ready to go!


We went first to Stingray Sandbar. I just can't get enough of this blue water!


Brent's favorite thing to do on island. Look how happy he is!


Walter stayed in boat at the sandbar and was a very good dog. I was worried he might be overly curious with the stingray, but he wasn't at all interested. Maybe he didn't realize they were animals.

After hanging out with the stingrays, we headed to Rum Point. Walter had to swim to land, and he was NOT happy! He tried to swim back to the boat ladder but couldn't get up. It was really pathetic. Ultimately Brent ended up carrying him. I guess we just have to accept we don't have a water pup.


Once we waded to shore, we found out that dogs are only allowed on a tiny corner of the beach, way back by the street. We got drinks and lined up on a log in the dog-friendly area. I wish I had brought my camera - it was pretty comical!

Fun day. I hate to say it, but we once again had to get towed back to our dock. How embarrassing. Still not sure what the problem is - it's very unusual for an engine to cut out while you are running it. Ah, the life of a boat owner.

On a unrelated note, I got my hair cut! It feels so much better to have it shorter, but it's just as unruly as ever. I'm resigned to daily ponytails. This picture was taken just after straightening it, and before stepping outside. It didn't stay like this for long - but at last I could take a picture to show the new length!

Art@Governors

Last Saturday was Grand Cayman's annual art festival, Art@Governors. In the parking lot of Governor's Square, there were a bunch of local artist selling paintings, photography, jewelry, carvings, and other art. And then inside the Governor's garden there were artwork displays from each of the schools on island. Our friend Sheena is a teacher and told us about the event Saturday morning, so we decided to walk over together. I'm so glad we went - it was a really fun event!

We started out at Governor's Square with Walter, then tried to get into the Governor's garden but were turned down by security (little dogs only, apparently). Brent offered to walk Walter back to the apartment and then meet us inside, but after 5 minutes I realized I had the keys in my pocket. So Sheena and I headed back as well, which turned out to be a good thing because I got to pick up my camera.

These pictures are inside the Governor's garden, which is actually where the Governor of Grand Cayman lives. It was neat to go into the gated yard and walk right beside his beach-front house.


We happened upon some hermit crab racing and joined in the next round. Everyone picks a hermit crab (they have numbers on the back) and they are all dumped in the center of a big circle of sand. The first one to make it to the grass wins!


We have a winner!


This hermit crab was the biggest by far - the guy said he was 40 years old!


There were drummers playing fun island music, and these two adorable girls dancing in front. So cute!


Brent and Sheena drinking lemonade and admiring the artwork


As much as I love spending the day at the beach and pool, it's fun to have these events to mix things up. I look forward to going again next year!

News from the Home Front

Brent got a call on Wednesday from our renter, Heather. She's always incredibly nice, but it's usually not a good sign if she's calling so I immediately tense up. Apparently one of the trees in the backyard fell on our neighbor's garage. Uh oh.


Brent checked our renters insurance and it seemed like this sort of thing would be covered so we were somewhat relieved. Later that day we found out that we couldn't even file a claim, that it was the neighbor's responsibility since it was their property. I feel so bad that the neighbors have to deal with this, but they are being really nice about the whole thing. Luckily their insurance is covering everything. We really dodged a bullet with that one! I am incredibly relieved, especially considering we just had to replace the furnace in our house. I'm also having major deja-vu. It was about this time last year that we found out our gutters needed $25K of repairs. The joys of being a home-owner apparently don't stop when you move to another country. Oh winter, you sure are trouble.

Here are the pictures our neighbors took from their upstairs window:


Whoa.

Saturday (Walter) Pictures

Brent had to go into work for an hour on Saturday, so I decided to take Walter on a little photo adventure. I've never taken photography classes, but I figure the more pictures you take, the better you'll get. I intended to get some nice foliage shots, but I only got this one flower picture before it turned into a Walter photoshoot. Oh well, I tried.


These are all taken by the boat docks at Lime Tree Bay. I realize now they would have been much better if I had taken off his scary pinch collar.


Wait, that wasn't Walter. How did a tree get in here? Sorry about that. Back to the dog.


When Brent got back we decided to take a walk on the beach. I made him take a couple shots of me and Walt before we headed out.


It started out as a nice overcast day, but the sun came out before we got too far!


When we got back, we ate lunch on the table outside our apartment. This is one tired and sandy pup!


We always brush Walter down before we head inside, but you just can't get it all. I love the ring of sand around his eye in the next pictures.


You can't tell, but yes, we do (occasionally) cut his toenails.


Sigh.