First Ultrasound Picture

Here are the pictures from our first ultrasound.

We'll be doing updates on "Baby C" on the baby blog from here on out. You can find the link for that blog to the right of this page. It is "Baby Cummings' Journey".

Seven Weeks and One Day

Today we got confirmation of what we have suspected for two weeks, Katie is pregnant. The Doctor tells us that the baby is seven weeks and one day old based on the size etc. as calculated by the ultrasound machine. We got to listen to the heartbeat which was a strong 144 beats per minute and the baby is 10.7 mm in size. The due date is November 11. We have some ultrasound pictures but need to scan them in later and will post them later today or tomorrow. Will be a fun next seven and a half months.

Random bits and peices

The winter quarter finished yesterday and we are trying to close out all the paperwork for it while also getting all the registrations processed for the spring term that begins on March 29. We are doing well with our walking in the Grand Harbour area and are watching a bunch of houses go up in that neighborhood. The most populated part of the Island is the area know as West Bay and lately they have been having really bad gang problems with several shootings and a couple of murders. The island is not used to that kind of crime and it has everyone talking. It is also having the effect of getting people who have the ability to do so, moving to other parts of the Island and the Red Bay/Grand Harbour area that we live in is seeing that movement. This weekend Scott worked the career fair put on by the Chamber of Commerce and had a brief cameo on TV talking to people at the fair on the evening news.

As some of you already know, we are hoping that this week will bring some big news and will share that once we get confirmation from the doctor. Watch for an update next Friday.

Juvenile Hawksbill Turtle

Here is a video we took last summer of a juvenile hawksbill turtle. He was very playful and seemed to enjoy the attention.

Mastic Trail Parrot

Here is a video of one of the parrots we saw yesterday on our hike of the Mastic Trail. The load time is slow depending on your internet speed.

Mastic Trail

This morning we decided to hike the Mastic Trail which is in the center part of eastern end of Grand Cayman. The trail runs parallel to Frank Sound Road which connects the southern and northern sides of the island once you get past Breakers heading east on the main road. Last year we took Katie's sisters on a hike of the trail and started on the north end. On that occasion we had started around 9 a.m. and went about 2/3 of the way in before doubling back because it was too hot to go on. This year we decided to start on the southern end of the trail and begin early enough that we would have cool weather for the time needed to complete the 4 mile round trip hike. We took our camel backs full of water so we didn't have to carry water bottles and after applying bug spray were ready to go. We got to the southern trail head about quarter after 8 a.m. and started our journey north. While there hasn't been a lot of rain the past week, the trail was still muddy early on as the overgrowth prevented sunlight from getting to the ground and drying up the puddles that were days and possibly even weeks old. The trail itself is a combination of dirt, rocks, tree roots and limestone outcroppings. It is not an easy walk and you have to watch every step so you don't break an ankle. This causes a fairly short hike in terms of distance to be quite long in terms of time. One of the highlights of the Mastic Trail are the Cayman Parrots that are very prevalent especially in the southern part of the trail. They have a very distinctive call and you can hear them communicating with each other in very vocal tones. We also saw some ground doves and several other smaller species of birds. Katie got a heck of a shock when a snake that was sunning itself on the path got surprised by her stepping near it and slithered away angrily. We actually saw several snakes after that all of whom seemed to be out enjoying the sun. The walk north took us about an hour and a half and as we got to that end of the trail we both felt in pretty good shape. We then started our return hike at a surprisingly quick pace and though we expected to take longer going back then we did heading up, we actually got back to our car just an hour and 13 minutes after leaving the northern trail head. By about 2/3 of the way back though we both started to feel it in our legs and as we got into the car it definitely hit us. We were both very proud of ourselves though for doing the complete hike and have attached a few pictures of the parrots we took. We also have a couple of video's that we will try and post later today.

Attack of the Noreasters

Cayman has been unusually cold these past few weeks and it has led both of us to be under the weather and home sick for several days. We have been hit by several Noreasters that have brought chilly winds and colder temperatures. Of course that doesnt mean the ice and freezing weather they have been getting up in Miami but it has meant temperatures into the low 60's which is downright cold for us. Feeling better today we decided to try swimming even with the lower temperatures but the water was very cold and with all the wind way too choppy to get a good swim in. We are in the last two weeks of our Winter quarter and the big news on campus is the new accreditation cycle which has started in advance of a visit next year. That means doing a college self study, reviewing and possibly revising our mission statement and a slew of other activities that will get us prepared to have a good visit and hopefully a smooth process of getting the new grant of accreditation. It is keeping us very busy in addition to our normal duties. We have decided to go back to Jamaica in June for a couple of days and are getting excited about the prospects of seeing a different part of that Island. We are staying in Negril on the western coast and plan to explore along the south coast. Last time we were in Ocho Rios on the north Coast and did activities along the north and eastern part of the island so this will be new experiences entirely.