Kevin and Family Head Home

Yesterday morning bright and early we put Kevin, Kristy and little Scott on their flight home after a quick three day visit to the Islands.  Tuesday afternoon we had taken them to Hell and Seven Mile Beach and then one final snorkel at Smith's Cove to see the sunset.  It was a whirlwind trip and there is so much more we wanted to show them so we will just have to get them back here soon.

Hell



Last Snorkel at Smith's Cove



Playing tourist with the Georgia Cummings



Family at Eden Rock

This week we are getting to play tourist again with Kevin, Kristy and their son Scott. On Monday Katie took them snorkeling at Eden Rock and then in the afternoon they did the stingray sandbar trip.  In the evening a night swim at Smith's Cove and the sunset over the water capped a great day.  This morning we hit the Botanic Gardens and the Blue Iguana's followed by East End and stops at the Blow Hole, Wreck of the Ten Sail and of course a true Cayman lunch at Fosters buffet. This afternoon it is a trip to Hell and of course some time on Seven Mile Beach before they head home tomorrow.



Blow Hole



Scott and Kristy with the rays







Second Wedding

The family after the service
with Father Paul

Katie once told me that when her parents first got married they actually did the ceremony three different times.  I can certainly understand how they could operate under the theory that if celebrating your wedding once is great then celebrating it three times must be incredible.  Feeling a little inadequate in comparison, Katie and I until yesterday had only celebrated our wedding  once.  As many of you know we decided last fall to settle on one church so we could raise Arianna going to the same place every Sunday.  We settled on the Catholic church and last month Arianna was baptised in the church. 

Yesterday we took the next step in confirming that decision and since we hadnt been married in the church, had our marriage blessed by the church.  This involved literally going through another wedding service including vows, rings and all.  My brother Kevin who was one of my best men at the first wedding was on hand to again act in that capacity and his wife Kristy (Arianna's Godmother) did one of the readings.  It was a great way for us to renew our original vows and once again recommit to each other (even if the church viewed it as our original commitment).  Kevin and family are here for a couple more days and we are enjoying playing tourist with them.

Kevin, Kristy and Scott Kieran with
Katie and Arianna

Kevin, Kristy and Scott Visiting

My brother Kevin, his wife Kristy and son Scott (my Godson) are all on island this week visiting.  They arrived last night and this morning we took them over to Smith's Cove for their first swim in the Caribbean. 

A Significant Day in History

April 12 is one of the more significant days in the history of the United States (and not just because it marks the 22 week birthday of one Arianna Macias Cummings).  It was on this day that two critical events happened 100 years apart.  150 years ago today the first shots of the Civil War were fired at Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor starting a conflict that would last four years, take over 600,000 lives and end a practice that had stained Thomas Jefferson's famous claim that America was a country where "all men are created equal".  As a civil war buff who reads all he can find on it and looks forward to one day taking his daughter to the parks and introducing her to his love of studying the past it is an important day to reflect on the start of the defining event in our nations history. 

Ironically, 50 years later another event would occur on the same day that would also radically alter American history as Yuri Gagarin would make his famous first flight in space.  Now you might ask yourself how is that significant in American history, a Russian making the first space flight and orbiting the Earth for a little less than two hours? Well, it is widely recognized that Gagarin making the first flight ahead of the Americans spurred President Kennedy to make his famous pledge to go to the moon before the end of the 60's.  Neil Armstrong's first steps on the moon are one of those "be remembered forever" events.  Five hundred years from now people will still talk about that event and it might not have happened when it did but for Gagarin spurring America on with his famous flight.  It is also somewhat coincidental but 30 years ago today was the first space shuttle flight and I can still remember often seeing the shuttle at Biggs Air Base in El Paso, Texas where the Plane carrying it back to Florida from California would land to refuel.  I may not live to see us go to the moon again or to Mars but in Arianna's life span it is likely she will witness those event.  As a history buff days like today are fun times to go back and read articles about the events, as a parent it reminds me of my duty to make sure that Arianna knows her history so she too can appreciate their significance.   

St. Ignatius Walk

This seems to be the school year for Fortieth Anniversaries.  Last September ICCI celebrated its 40th and this spring St. Ignatius Catholic School is celebrating 40 years as well.  Several of the St. Ignatius faculty and staff came to our Memorial Walk so this morning we returned the gesture waking up at 5:15 and heading over to the St. Ignatius walk that started at 6:30 a.m.  It was just over a 2.5 mile walk and we kept up a good pace that left both of us feeling sonewhat accomplished at the end.  As parishoners of St. Ignatius it was also good to interact with our church community in an event that celebrates how important the school has been to the Caymans. 

We did get another example of how small this island can be.  On Thursday, the ICCI office manager came in and said she heard a rumour about me and just wanted me to know about it.  She heard I was getting married next Sunday.  I had to explain to her that we were just getting our marriage blessed by the Catholic church which to the church meant we were getting "married" but legally we are coming up on our fifth anniversary.  Still if I get a few strange looks in the next few weeks I may have to explain that Katie and I really have been married already and that we havent been living together in sin since we got here.  Small Island.  The first week of classes was draining but we both have a full weekend calendar as we get ready for my brother and his family to visit next week.

Texas Football Spring Game

Hook Em Horns

This past Sunday afternoon was the Texas Longhorns spring football game.  It was televised live on ESPN and as expected was the centerpiece of my afternoon.  The two hour view of the Horns gave me a much needed fix for my football addiction and a chance to once again introduce Arianna to Daddy's biggest vice.  It was also a great excuse to put Arianna in one of her Longhorn onesies.  She is finally big enough to fit into a lot of the Longhorn gear that we have for her (including an awesome track suit my sister donated after her boys outgrew it).  She was not impressed with the Texas quarterbacks and worries that this season the Horns will struggle to win more than 8 games.  She misses the heady days of Vince Young and Colt McCoy.

Meanwhile, on the home front, this week we aren't sure if we live in Cayman or California as the electric company, CUC (Caribbean Utilities), has announced rolling blackouts to handle a load issue they are having.  We lost power Sunday and Monday afternoons and have been told to expect more this week.

Watching the game from her swing

Floor mat time during game

The week between classes

At the end of each term we have a week of no classes between the close of one quarter and the start of the next.  For the students it is a week off, for us it is a busy week of meetings, registrations, getting in grades and confirming arrival of textbooks.  This past week was our winter/spring off week and was no different than past ones as we held our quarterly Faculty meeting Tuesday night, New Student Orientation Thursday evening and the Internship/Placement and Seminar meetings on Friday night.  As the new term starts on Monday we are dealing with issues caused by the fire at the Miami airport fuel depot  almost two weeks ago.  Apparently since the fire plane cannot be fueled from the depot but must have fuel trucked to them which takes a lot more time.  As a result, several flights into Cayman for American Airlines have been cancelled and now our textbook order has not yet made it on island.  We will start classes on Monday for the first time in a while without our full complement of textbooks.  It looks like we will have around 200 students and for the fifteenth straight quarter since we got here see growth over the same term the year before.  Katie started work again Friday in a part time capacity and I am teaching three classes this term including our seminar in May in Atlanta.  We have several big events to look forward to in April starting with a visit from my brother Kevin and his family as well as getting out marriage blessed by the Catholic Church while they are on island.