Post Christmas Snorkeling

This morning we headed over to Sunset House to do some post Christmas snorkeling. We weren't able to make it out yesterday choosing instead to get in an exercise walk. For the second year in a row we are both carrying extra pounds that we need to shed so we are trying to get in a walk or an exercise ride each day. Today we got in our walk early and then got on our swim suits and pulled out our snorkel gear. We were both a little shocked to realize that neither of us had been out swimming since August so we weren't able to swim for long. We swam out to the mermaid Amphitrite and then on our way back saw an Ocean Trigger Fish for the first time. It was nesting near an outcropping and at first we thought it was a ray the way it was swimming near the sandy bottom. We both realized how much we miss snorkeling and vowed to try and get out more often. This evening we are having dinner with a friend who used to teach at ICCI and has moved back to the States but is visiting for the holidays.

Merry Christmas

We want to wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas. We are having a quiet Christmas here on the Island. Later this morning we are going to church and then we will go to a beach and snorkel which has become something of a tradition since we have been here.

Computer Issues and TV appearance

This week we have gotten to experience life without home computers. We already had one lap top stolen and this week our second one gave up the ghost with the hard drive giving out. That means having to go in to the college to check emails and the like. We should have two new lap tops to start the new year but until then postings and emails from us will be sparse. Meanwhile since we have limited access to Skype, Merry Christmas to everyone and we will try to call as possible.

Linked below is Scott's TV appearance from earlier this week announcing another recognition for ICCI.

http://www.cayman27.com.ky/news/item/3747

Bahamas Cruise

We are back in Cayman after our 5 day cruise in the Bahamas this past week. We left from the Port of Miami last Monday and stopped Tuesday at Freeport on Grand Bahama, Wednesday at Nassau on New Providence and Thursday at Great Stirrup Cay in the Berry Islands. At left is a picture of us at the lighthouse on Great Stirrup Cay that we hiked out to. The cruise had a couple of shows we were really excited to see including a salute to Broadway with songs from Wicked and a tribute to Frank Sinatra, who we consider "our singer". Scott got to play poker and made us about 100 dollars which we used to pay for all of our souvenirs in Freeport and Nassau as well as part of our day trip in Freeport to Port Lucaya. We are back in Cayman through the holidays and will enjoy some down time here as we get ready for the start of the Winter quarter and for our graduation ceremony on January 7, which Scott would like to point out is also the day Texas plays Alabama for the national championship. The ceremony starts at 6:30 and kickoff is a little after 8 p.m. so you know Scott will be headed out as soon as the last diploma is handed out.

Katie back on Island

Katie got back yesterday after being in Maryland for five days for the funeral of Nana. Unfortunately, the trip ended on an extremely sour note as the hotel room that she was staying in with her Mom at the La Quinta Baltimore Washington airport in Linthicum, got broken into and they got robbed on the last night of the trip. Fortunately, she and her Mom were not in the room when the break in occurred but whoever it was got a couple of lap tops and digital camera's. The biggest loss was all of the photo's from the funeral and all our photo's from the North Carolina trip which had only been saved onto the lap top that got stolen. We are also having to change all our bank account numbers as the robbers had access to those numbers through some documents Katie had in her bag. An all around crappy way to finish what was a difficult trip any way. Next week we are headed back to the Bahamas for our Christmas get away. We are trying to get a temporary digital camera for the trip and if we do will post some pics when we return.

RIP Nana

Katie's great grandmother Dorothy Carlyle passed away yesterday at the age of 105. She was affectionately known as Nana and will be tremendously missed. Katie and I were fortunate enough to see her before we left for the Cayman Islands and remember fondly the time we spent with her. Katie is leaving tomorrow for Maryland to be with the family and attend the funeral. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of Nana's children, grand children and great grand children, she leaves quite a legacy of family.

Wright Brothers Memorial

One of the highlights of our trip to the outer banks was the day we spent at the Wright Brothers National Memorial. The national park includes the original takeoff spot as well as the landing spots for the four flights flown on that famous day in December 1903. The first flight was only 12 seconds long but they were 12 seconds that changed our world. The park has a fantastic Visitor Center and the Century of Flight museum. It also includes Kill Devil Hill off which the Wright Brothers did their glider experiments and on which now stands the huge memorial column to them. We spent the morning and afternoon reading the exhibits and wandering the grounds where the first flights occurred. At left is a picture representing the first flight. Above is us by a tablet with the memorial column on the hill in the background and the Century of Flight museum to the side. Below is a picture of the original take off site and the four columns represent the landing sites for each of the first four flights. Interestingly, the park and memorial are in Kill Devil Hills not Kitty Hawk which is famous for the first flight. The only settlement in the area in 1903 was Kitty Hawk a few miles up the road so that is where the first flight is said to have occurred even though now technically the location is not a part of Kitty Hawk.