Michael helping with layer one of many paint layers on the gecko cage.
Diana loved this hammock at a friend's house. She was so cute relaxing as she was swinging and she couldn't get out which was a nice plus. :)
The kids got party bags with grow pills at a birthday party. Put the pills in warm water, and the thin plastic-like coating comes off so the little sponge animal pops out. The kids LOVED these!
Jim went surfing in Puerto Rico last week! A 6.4 earthquake struck before he arrived and actually walked the beds of the guys across the rooms. When he got there (a few days later than the others) he decided to do a much cheaper plane ride instead of bus or car rental. It was the tiniest plane he'd ever flown in, what he called "minivan size."
Luggage was stored in the wings.
Jim could have sat next to the pilot, but because his knees were hitting some of the levers they made him sit behind the front seat.
Jim said: "The plane didn't even have a computer. It had a boy scout compass thing he would turn toward coordinates by hand. When we got in he said we were going to go around a storm. We flew out to sea and around some weather. The plane tail
was sliding back and forth several feet. Then when we got ready to land
the pilot pulled out an instruction manual for review before landing! Very
glad to be safely here."
No a/c in the plane, so when it got stuffy (when they weren't in the air) this is their a/c.
For many meals, the guys cooked some amazing dishes with local ingredients. Jim loved it!
Here's a bunch more pics from his trip- the island has a ton of amazing surf spots, all different from each other. Jim said if you were making an island to be a surfer's paradise, this is it. However, there is maybe two feet of sand before you hit coral and sharp stuff, so it's definitely not boogie board coastline! Weather was 70s and 80s.
We had normal cell phone coverage from Puerto Rico so the kids could talk with Jim a bunch. With surfing on the brain, here is Michael's rendition of the future: "Surfing with Dad" (from left to right: Mike, Diana, Jim)
Nicole had her first game of the season one of the nights Jim was gone. It was entertaining just to be in the bleachers with the boys and D with all their chaos, and Nicole did great. She really doesn't like the buzzer and the whistles and for the first half of the game had her hands over her ears 90 percent of the time and was looking at the refs to see if they would blow the whistle about half the time. It was pretty hard to play and worry about the sounds at the same time! At half time I told her I'd give her two cookies as a celebration if she could make it the rest of the game without covering her ears. She was a star and earned those cookies! She is the youngest in the league which is tough since some girls are almost two years older (which is a lot at this age) but I tell her "I love to watch you play" and I just want her to have fun learning and not stress about it. She does great!
And back to shots of bliss:
Jim met this former pro surfer that now makes surf boards. He had fun collaborating a bit on the materials used to make different types of boards since prosthetics use some similar materials.
Leaving out the earthquake and mini-plane, Jim liked Puerto Rico more than Costa Rica because it had so much variety. There also was not any day that had waves too big for him to surf, so he enjoyed that too! Jim bought the kids a gift for while he was away, Disney's "Peter Pan," and the kids watched it at least a dozen times and felt loved by him even though he was so far away. They were so happy to see him back, although Mike had really enjoyed being "man of the house" and getting to pick who said prayers. I'm glad he had a wonderful time and was able to go on this trip instead of the one to Costa Rica two weeks before my due date! :)
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