Day 5 and 6

Day 5 (Wednesday)... My mom, Hawken, Matix and I went with my friend Liz and her daughter Emmy to a natural hot spring and pool that her brother had found in the middle of the jungle pretty close to our house. It was a short walk from Tina's grocery store down the road, and then onto a trail littered with fruit trees and these trees with crazy ribbon looking roots.

It started out as a rainy day, but once we got to the pool it had cleared up and we got to enjoy the natural hot tub! :) I love Dominica! Thanks Liz for taking us there! We had SO much fun, what a cool adventure.

And of course, Grandma got some good grandson time with both Matix and Hawken.

Emmy let Liz hold Hawken for a little bit too. :)

This is a picture of me with Matix, just after he accidentally went underwater. He came up out of the water looking startled, but okay. I think he is slowly getting used to the idea of going underwater. :)

That afternoon we went to the pool (as usual), but since it was so windy, Hawken and I stayed out while Matix and Grandma swam. Matix had a blast!

Wednesday ended with bed time stories from Grandma. Good day for sure!

Day 6 (Thursday)... We went to Emerald Pool. Yay!! I love Emerald Pool. It is SO pretty.

Matix was mostly excited to go for a ride in Roosie's van! :) Cute boy!

Although the drive there was long, the hike to the falls and pool was short and easy. Here is a quick video of our walk there, and out. Roosie came on our way out to "help"... I think he just misses his grandkids, and Matix doesn't mind being the substitute. :)

On the ride home both boys fell asleep. It was so nice to have mom Mom there, not only for the company and fun adventure, but for the help. :)

That afternoon we got some of the kiddos together from our play group and had a mini Easter egg hunt. It was lots of fun, but I wish more kids could have come! Maybe next time, right? All the kids had fun running around collecting their eggs and eating the candy (of course).

Another busy, but FUN day!

Paul Update

So how is the student you ask?! BUSY!

This week Paul took 4 tests... First was his Neurology Practical. Then he took his Histology Practical. Then he took his Doctor Patient and Society Practical. Last he took his Anatomy Practical. He said he felt good about all of them, but was only feeling 'okay' about the anatomy one. He has said that before though and has still done very well for himself. :)

This upcoming week, on Tuesday, he will take his last mini exam for the semester. YAY!!! He thought it was on Monday and got bummed when he found out it was actually Tuesday instead... but I think it will be good to have that extra day to review, although he says he just wants to take the test and get it over with. :)

Then the week after that he will be taking his 3 finals. Yes, 3! Yikes! (I know the picture of the sign only has 2 boxes to check off, but I fixed it later) And, they are cumulative from this and last semester's material! Paul is very smart and I am sure he will do well regardless, but keep him in your thoughts and prayers as always. We want him to do really well.

Day 3 and 4

Day 3, also known as "Easter Monday"...?! Everything was still closed. :( BUT, we had lots of fun at the pool, and planning out the rest of our week. We tried out some of the new toys Grandma Kim brought.

Hawken is still a little small to use this float by himself yet, but Matix sure liked it!

Matix also tried out the new boats and watering can. So fun. And for some reason the kids here think this shower is just as fun as the pool is... ? :)

Day 4 (Tuesday), we went to the Carib Territory. The Carib Indians are the native people of the island and they make these incredible baskets and crafts. It was a bit of a long drive to get there, but it was cool to see. Sadly, I left my camera at home :(, but got this picture of Matix with his new Caribbean maraca made out of a coconut shell. Fun!

That afternoon we went back to the pool and met up with Shane and Kelly. Shane had fun with some of our new toys too. :)

Toward the end of our time at the pool, Matix's diaper split open and got what looked like slimy snow cone material all over the ground. Yuck! So he got to be naked for a few minutes, and LOVED it! :)

Grandma Kim VIsits Dominica!

My Mom is here visiting all the way from freezing cold Wisconsin! Matix and Hawken anxiously awaited her arrival! :) They even made her a welcome sign.

She got here this past Saturday (the 3rd) Saturday and will be here until this Saturday (the 10th). We are so happy she is here and we are doing so many fun things, I really needed to start posting about what we are up to... So here are some pictures and videos from her first 2 days here... More pictures and videos to follow soon (hopefully). :)

Grandma came bearing gifts! Lots of them! Thanks Mom for all the toys, the baby bouncer, the snacks (both for kids and for adults), the secret presents for Paul which he STILL doesn't know about.... (I am very good at hiding things!), all the spare pacifiers, rainy day activities, baby books, swim suits for me, 2 school books for Paul, and (of course) for making the long trek down here!

Matix was especially happy about the new shovels. He got 2! He ran outside to try them out right away! :)

The second day was Easter Sunday. We chased a lizard out of our house after breakfast... yuck! What did you do for your Easter?! :)

We had our Easter egg hunt for Matix (which I already posted about) and then we went for a tour of campus. It was fun to walk around and show her where Paul spends most of his time. Matix helped Grandma fill up the water jugs (we get our water from campus because it is filtered). He is a big help, as you can see from the picture. :)

Hawken got to spend some much needed snuggle time with Grandma too. He was very happy to see her again.

After listening to the General Conference talks, lunch and naps, we walked down to the beach and tried out the new shovels and buckets. Matix was very happy and didn't want to leave. :)

This was the first time for all of us to have Easter on a tropical island! So fun. You can't beat this! :)

First bite of food!

Hawken had his first couple bites of food on Sunday. He just turned 4 months old and was MORE than ready to start eating rice cereal. Although he made lots of yucky faces, he ate quite a bit, and continues to eat more and more each evening when we give it to him. He is even going to sleep more easily (I think it is because his tummy is more full now).

The funny part about starting to feed Hawken real food, now Matix is showing some jealousy and wants to eat it too. So, we let him try it, and he really does NOT like it. He didn't like it when he was a baby and he still doesn't now. :) BUT, because Hawken is having it, Matix always wants a bite, just to be sure we aren't feeding Hawken something really tasty. :) So funny.

Hawken is such a big boy now. He is still learning to open his mouth for the spoon, it is an entirely new concept. Here are some clips of the first few bites of rice cereal. YUM! :)

Easter Egg Hunt

Matix had his first Easter egg hunt on Sunday.

We waited until after his nap, so he has crazy hair in the video, but I think he really got it. It was so much fun watching him run around the living room. He still needed lots of help from us finding the eggs, but it was so fun.

Thanks to the Easter bunny for finding us down here in Dominica. :)

Last Friday

On Friday we went to the beach for our root beer float Fridays... Hawken had fun in his stroller.

Paul and Matix played in the waves.

We all enjoyed our floats! :) Hawken wished he could have some.

Then Paul and I had a great date night. We made pizza's and watched a movie.... So fun. :)

Here comes....

Trouble!!! :) Yes, my sweet boy Matix is quite the trouble maker lately. But I can't help but smile when I see his face after I catch him. :)

He is not supposed to climb onto the desk or play with Daddy's ukulele...

He is not supposed to dump his snacks out on the floor...

He is not supposed to pull every pot out of the cabinet while I am putting the baby to sleep...

Happy Easter!

This is Hawken's first Easter and Matix's second. We are going to try the easter egg hunt thing tomorrow afternoon for Matix. We will see if he gets it. :) Look at these cute babies! :) Happy Easter everyone!

Hawken is 4 months old!

Hawken is 4 months old today!!! He is such a sweet boy! We are going to let him try rice cereal later today. I will post more about that later. :)

Anyway, he is an amazing little boy and we love him so much. He giggles and laughs all the time and is generally such a good boy. He still has trouble falling asleep unless he is snuggled and prefers to be out of the sun and wind.

Oh, by the way, today we went to the beach and he learned how to roll over fro his back to his tummy. He had been doing it on the couch by pushing off on the back of it, but he wasn't able to do it by himself yet. Well today he did it and got a face full of sand at the same time. He is growing so fast!

Why not?

Why is this the most comfortable seat in the house? We have a couch, lots of chairs, a few pillows, but Matix picks to sit in a box? :) SIlly boy.

Momma's boy no more!

Hawken has been loving his Daddy time lately. Thank goodness the "Mommy ONLY" stage is coming to a close! When it was time for bed, Hawken used to scream and cry with Paul, and then be calm the instant I held him. Even though Paul would be doing the EXACT same thing I was doing... I love it when they get to this age and Paul can give me a little break.

And Paul is such a natural. Paying infinite amounts of attention to them both and loving them SO much. I love watching him with the boys.

Root beer float Friday!

This is our new tradition. We just barely started it, but it was SO much fun we will be doing it every Friday! Friday nights Paul comes come for dinner and doesn't go back to study because it is our date night, and now we have added root beer floats with the kids on the beach.

Root beer floats in Dominica are less fancy than the ones you can get in the States... Paul got root beer from the vending machines on campus (we have since located A&W root beer at James store, yum!), I got ice cream from KFC and we mixed them together in Matix's sippy cups. :)

Matix LOVES them, but really who wouldn't?!

We had fun together as a family, playing on the beach and watching the sunset.

Hawken has graduated to facing forward in the backpack, which he loves. :) Although some of these faces might make you think he doesn't like it so much... He is so expressive. :)

Matix helped push the stroller all the way home. :)

Stopping to wave good-bye to some cows along the way.

So, if you live here in Dominica, come and join us on Fridays at 5pm on the sandy beach just south of Sister's beach (near the Prince's house). Bring your own ice cream and root beer, or just join us for the company. :)