First Week of School and Stuff....

Yes, we have our stuff! It's been almost 2 months since I've seen this stuff. And it is stuff, 20 boxes worth. Before we get into that, this has also been the first week of school for Ethan. He attends Grace Lutheran School, a private school, and he seems to really like it so far. Here's a few pics from our first week.

The girls are ready for the big day

Ethan learned to tie his shoes on Monday, had it down by Tuesday

Yeah for 1st grade!!....kinda

Ethan has to wear a uniform everyday: purple embroidered shirt, khaki shorts, white socks, and black or white shoes. His waist is so tiny, that I am sure these shorts will last him the entire 2 years we are on the island. I think he looks sharp!

With Ethan now is school, that leaves me and the girls to have some fun. Usually after we drop off Ethan, Noelle goes down for her morning nap and Analeigh and I have school. So far we have learned about the letter A and how to spell her name. She loves to color and it's hard to tell at this point if she's going to be lefty or righty. She draws with both right now.

When Noelle wakes up we have a busy schedule. Monday is pool day at the beautiful University Club. It's a really nice resort-looking establishment that appears to be a nice place for visiting professors and guests of the university to use. They open it up for the SO's (significant others) to use on Mondays and Thursdays. Tuesday is playgroup at the Grand Anse campus. They have a nice swing set for the kids to use.

Wednesday is beach day at gorgeous Grand Anse beach, Thursday is pool day again, and Friday Analeigh gets to go to the Grand Anse Playgroup or GAP. It's a daycare setting and she'll go from about 8 to 12:30. It will give her a chance to play with some other kids and new toys. Meanwhile, Noelle and I will conquer grocery shopping and perhaps a trip into St. George's.

The Carinage - "downtown" St. George's

There are fruit stands everywhere. I love to get fresh fruit all the time. 

This is my favorite pic of The Carinage. It looks like a painting doesn't it?

So that brings us to Saturday and Sunday. I still have hopes that we'll see Josh on those days, but it's not like he has those days off. He usually goes up to school all day to study. The last 2 Sundays we've been walking down to Lance Aux Epines beach for a quick swim with the kids. It's so cool that we can walk to a beach! It's not my favorite beach, but for a quick swim it will work.

How to Get Your Stuff:

Hopefully some future SO will find this helpful someday. First of all, plan on this being a half day adventure. We are on "island time" after all. Don't let the Indy 500 driving fool you. We used Tropical shipping and there is an office on The Carinage. You have to go there first to get your paperwork. Then you have to drive over to the shipping dock and pay for a pass at the front gate. This is also where you'll ask the guys that are milling about for a broker and, if necessary, a driver. With 20 boxes, we needed both. The broker is there to help talk to the customs officers. Sometimes the accents here are very thick and it's hard to understand the locals. If you keep asking them to repeat themselves, you might aggravate the person charging you customs fees. Our broker was Mr. Biggs or Banks, I honestly have no idea which,. but he was great. We did have to open ALL 20 boxes and we did not have any sharp opening utensil. So my first piece of advise is bring a box cutter. My second piece of advise is to bring some tape. Once you open the boxes, you'll have to close them. Duh on both parts for us.

All our boxes were filled with diapers for Noelle and Analeigh. I mean filled.

This is how you pack: diapers in the toaster

The customs officer asked us "how much for the pampers?" but we thought he kept say "how much for the pom poms?" Again, that's why we need a broker. After a long survey, he decided to charge us $0 (that's both in US and EC). That's right, $0!! Go Broker Go!! After we got the good news, we had to wait forever for the broker to go back to his office and file some paperwork. We paid him $150EC and hired a driver for $110EC. Here's our stuff  in the warehouse:

All the boxes fit on 2 palates

In the warehouse

Boxes boxes everywhere

Some didn't fair so well, but I am a master packer and the contents were okay

So I have been slowly going though each box and trying to put everything away. Sure there are a few items that I wonder why I would pack such an item for island life, but mostly I am so happy to have my stuff. The kids are ecstatic about having their toys back. Analeigh missed her princess dresses so much! Eventually I will be able to get my sewing machine out and get to work. That will be a happy day!

In Other News:

Noelle took her first steps on August 27th. It was one wobbly little step, but she hasn't stopped since. I think she is so happy to be walking around like the big kids. Pretty soon she will be running!! 

That's pretty much it for this week. I hope y'all are doing well back home and we miss all our friends and family!

Cheers,

Tarryn