An Island Without Power

We were awoken this morning at 6:30 by the familiar but never welcome sound of the click of all the appliances, fans and air conditioning units turning off as they lost power.  At first we thought it was just our neighborhood but as we drove Arianna to school we heard on the radio that it was island wide.  A short up in West Bay caused a system wide failure that affected the entire islands grid.  The outage would last most of the day and this evening parts of the island still remain without power.  We finally got it back around 2:30 p.m. and are holding our breath that it wont go out again tonight as has happened to a couple of our friends who got it back for a few hours and now have lost it again.  We went snorkeling early in the day with Russ and Gail at Sunset House.  Around 8:30 we were re-joined by Arianna who's school had closed after an hour and a half of waiting for the power to return.  We all headed over to Camana Bay which had generators and was up and running.  While there, we saw more people at Cafe Del Sol (which had a generator and wifi) than we had ever seen before. The whole island was out looking for A/C and Internet access and Camana had both.

Late in the day we got another unwelcome surprise, the government is looking at introducing taxation of work permit holders.  It looks like a 10% flat tax but we don't have the full details yet.  Never-the-less it does look like our tax free existence is coming to an end. In the coming days they will release the full details of how much and what income is subject to it. 

Here are some shots from our snorkeling with GG and Russ the last few days.

Sunday Afternoon at Rum Point

Yesterday we went to a special service at Cayman Islands Baptist Church for our new President Dr. Garcia in the morning and then after Arianna's nap we headed up to Rum Point.  The last time Russ and Gail were here was right after Arianna was born and one of the first places we had all gone together was to Rum Point so we took a picture of them with Arianna at the same spot as one we had taken with them and Arianna when she was just over a week old.  It is fun to compare the photos and amazing to see how much Arianna has grown in 21 months.

The water was very warm and it was a hot day at the beach.  Typical of Sunday afternoons in Cayman there were a ton of boats that had made their way up there which made for a very picturesque setting.

First day with Russ and GG

On the Crewe road bypass right as you get to the roundabout to Bobby Thompson Way there is a goat farm and every time we pass it during the day the goats are out eating the grass by the side of the road.  You can see a farm back from the road but until recently we hadn't looked any further than the goats.  A few weeks ago one of the mommies in Katie's group found out that the farm on the weekends does a petting zoo for little kids.  We decided that would be a great first day activity to do with the grand parents and headed over there Saturday morning.  We met Arianna's partner in crime Braden who was also seeing the petting zoo for the first time.  Arianna got to do a horse ride, pet some rabbits and goats along with a donkey.  Later in the day Arianna took her grand parents for an afternoon out at the Duck Pond, Dart Park and finally, the fountains at Camana Bay.  After getting Arianna to sleep, we did a baby swap night with Braden's Mom and took Russ and Gail for all you can eat lobster at Deckers on Seven Mile Road.

GG and Papa arrive

Last night Katie's parents Gail and Russ (also known as GG and Papa) arrived on island.  They are here for a week and we are looking forward to some fun times with the grand parents.

Referendum Day

Today is a national holiday in the Cayman Islands as locals go to the polls to vote on a national referendum to reform the election system.  With such a small population, elections are difficult to hold if it is a normal work day so they typically declare a national holiday.  This is both so that everyone can get to the polls and so that all the poll workers aren't missing a day of work.  The issue at stake today deals with single member districts and the concept of one man, one vote.  The current system allows people in each district to vote for all the representatives in their district meaning that some people have up to five votes while others have as little as one in the smallest districts.  The referendum can only pass if a majority of the registered voters approve it which means it must not only win amongst the people who actually vote but must get 50.01 % of the total registered voters whether they vote or not.  It has been a lively debate among the population and amongst our students so it will be interesting to see how things go tonight when they count the returns.

Goodbye Terry

We got the news last night that GG's beloved friend and companion Terry had to be put to sleep yesterday.  GG and Papa were both there to say goodbye and we were all there with them in spirit to say farewell.  All dogs go to heaven and there is a special place for Terry there.

Other shots that didnt make the cut

The A/C is back on and the house is once again a reasonable 80 degrees.  We are still editing and playing with our photos and videos from the Orlando trip.  We took almost 4 gigabytes of photos and videos while in Florida so many of them aren't making the cut on either blog.  Here are a few more we really liked but just didn't fit any of our posts.

Unplanned Hotel Night

Last Wednesday our air conditioning gave out and we discovered from the repairman that our condenser unit had given up the ghost.  The next three days would be spent by the repairman and our landlady trying to find a replacement unit.  We have gotten by with fans and keeping activities in the house to a minimum.  Five days in the tropics without air conditioning is no fun at all and we have a new found respect for those who lived here when there was no such thing as air conditioning. 

Saturday night though Arianna started to run a mild fever and we never could get it back down.  With the house so hot we were concerned both that the heat was causing her fever and that it was preventing the medicine from working properly.  When we learned it would be Monday before the replacement unit would be available we started looking at local hotels so that Arianna's fever would go down in a cool room.  We headed to the cheapest hotel we could find and after a dinner out put her down to sleep.  She was very restless and our secondary hope that she would get a good nights sleep wasn't realized but her fever did come down and stay down.  We are back home now and hopefully the A/C gets fixed today and everything goes back to normal.

Day Two at Disney

Our second day at the Magic Kingdom was just the three of us since everyone else had to head back to catch flights or head home.  We had mapped out the day and planned to hit the rest of the rides that were Arianna size as well as pop over to Epcot and of course at both parks see a few more of the characters. 

We started the day by meeting the Disney Fairies, Tinker Bell and Vidia.  Arianna doesn't watch much TV but she absolutely adores a Tinker Bell video she got from her Godfather Chuck and so this was one of the few characters that she actually recognized.  After that visit we were able to ride Aladdin's Magic Carpets (three times as Arianna kept wanting "more"); Pirates of the Caribbean; The Jungle Cruise and even see a show at the Enchanted Tiki Room.  Then it was time to hop the monorail over to Epcot.  Arianna was getting close to her nap time and we thought Epcot would be a quieter option for hopefully a longer nap.  She did get a little under an hour sleep while we walked around the various countries and then when she woke up we did the Nemo ride and were going to do Crush the Turtle but she kept wanting to walk up to the screen and touch it so we had to leave early. 

Arianna was getting pretty exhausted from several long days and this last afternoon she bounced between really excited, really tired, and melting down.  She got to see Chip & Dale and Daisy Duck at Epcot and then two different visits to "The Mouse" when we got back to Magic Kingdom.  We picked up a personalized pair of mouse ears with Arianna's name on them and she happily wore that around the park.  There were just a few rides left on our list of Arianna sized ones so we headed to tomorrow land and rode Buzz Lightyear and then did the People Mover.  That turned out to be an unfortunate circumstance as it broke down and we were stuck on the track for 20 minutes waiting for them to repair it.  Arianna was not pleased and let the world know about it drawing stares from below. We had thought about staying for the fireworks but it was clear Arianna needed to get a good nights sleep and both of us were feeling the same way so we headed out around 5 to get some dinner and have a quiet night at the hotel. It was a great two days in the park and we will definitely be bringing Arianna back again.

First Day at Disney

We start this post with a huge thanks to Uncle Brent up in Naperville without whom we would not have been able to do two days at Disney or be able to park hop or have some extra spending money to get gifts.  Brent came through with passes for the entire family and we are all grateful beyond measure.  Thank you very much for the passes! We owe you a bunch of babysitting next time we are your direction or you can get down this way.

Our first day at Disney World started with the three of us along with Grandma and cousin Eileen headed to the Magic Kingdom.  Once we had our tickets we got on a ferry ride across the lake to the entrance.  Arianna was awe inspired by all the sights and at times couldn't contain herself she was so excited.  We headed immediately to fantasy land and the lines were very manageable as we got on the Carousel, Winnie The Pooh ride, Dumbo ride (twice), Mad Hatter Tea Cups (twice), It's a Small World, Peter Pan, Mickey's Philharmagic and even took in the noon character parade ahead of Arianna's nap. 

After a nice but short nap that involved Katie and I riding a monorail and then riding the ferry boat back just to mark time while Arianna slept, we had a fun afternoon of meeting Mary Poppins and what was by far the highlight of the afternoon meeting "The Mouse".  Arianna all day had been yelling out "Mouse" whenever she saw Mickey or Minnie and as we took her in to meet them she was literally screaming with excitement which led all the other kids to scream with excitement and gave all the parents a great chance to live vicariously through the pure excitement and happiness of their kids.  After the 'Mice" we crossed the hall and went in to meet some of the Disney Princesses, including Mommy's favorite Belle.  We also rode the train around the entire Magic Kingdom and mapped out which rides Arianna had not done and what we wanted to do with her the rest of the time we had the next day.

We left the park at four with everyone exhausted.  That evening instead of heading back to the park Katie went out to finish all our shopping while Arianna and I went over to the fountains and lazy river at the villas with the rest of the family.  Arianna ran herself ragged in the fountains and after saying goodbye to everyone as they were leaving the next day, fell asleep as soon as we got in the car to head back to our hotel.

Universal Studios

Friday July 6 was our first day at one of the huge theme parks in Orlando.  Kevin and family had season passes to Universal Studios and a friend of ours from here in Cayman had taken one of Arianna's friends to it earlier in the year and raved about Seuss land so we were looking forward to the visit.  It was very hot that day and that definitely affected everyones energy level including Arianna. Still Arianna was able to do the Seuss Carousel, Seuss Trolley, Cat in the Hat Ride, One Fish-Two Fish, catch a show with the Seuss characters, watch a dinosaur egg hatch in Jurassic Park and even patiently watch the holograms in the Harry Potter ride line. 

We broke up the day by leaving the park around 1 for lunch and Arianna's nap then returning around 3:30 for a second session.  During the evening visit we saw the show in Suess land and she got to dance with Thing 1 and hug the Lorax and Cat in the Hat.  Then we went back to Hogsmeade and got some butterbeer which Arianna thought was awesome and proceeded to drink from everyones cup.  That evening Arianna got to do a slumber party with Grandma, Uncles Kevin and Alex, Aunt Kristy and her cousins Scott and Kelsey while Katie and I went out and did some shopping and had a nice dinner together.

Resort Stuff

Our trip to Orlando involved lots of day trips to various parks but a big part of it was also down time at our hotel and at the resort where the rest of the family was staying.  Our hotel had two pools, a regular size one and one that we called "Arianna size" because it never got more than 1 and 1/2 feet deep so she could walk around the entire span of it.  Arianna got in lots of pool time in that pool and every once in while would press us to take her in the big pool.  She had a great time with her cousins Sue and Eileen when they arrived swimming in both pools.  At the resort she got to go on a water slide with her Uncle Kevin and a lazy river with daddy.  She never missed an opportunity to put on her swim suit and have some fun.