Miami Sea Aquarium

Lolita the Killer Whale


Sea lion hand stand

My dream job


The Get Along Gang

Coconuts for Sale

Coconuts grow abundantly here. By law, property owners have to keep the trees trimmed so that one of these (look at the bundles above) won't fall on anyone's head. This afternoon the landscapers cut down about 20 coconuts from the palms around our complex and Noah and Ricardo got $$$ signs in their eyes. The first day they sat in the parking lot and sold to people as they came home from work. They made $3 selling the coconuts for $1 each. The next morning they woke up determined to sell more. They set their table up on the main road hoping to get more customers. I have to say I wasn't very optimistic about the prospects of them making any money. But I wanted to be supportive so I helped them make a sign and left them on the corner. They sat there for 4 hours, in the heat, yelling, "Coconuts for sale, $1.00" over and over again. At noon I went to check on them but they weren't at their table. I came back to ask Terry if she knew where they were. She didn't know but said she would go look for them. Fifteen minutes later she returned and said she found them at the CVS check out counter. Ricardo was buying a basketball toy. Noah had a giant bag of Cheetos in his hands. They had made $14 and split it 50/50. I think we have some businessmen in the making.

Miami Children's Museum

On Tuesday we visited the Miami Children's Museum. It was fun checking out a new museum. The kids got so excited at every turn as they discovered another room. Noah's favorite part: steering the remote control boats, climbing the rockwall, and moving cargo boxes onto a transport ship. Ella Joy's favorite part: playing with moon sand, painting in the art room, and rockin out in the recording studio. Julia pretty much hung out in her stroller being the perfect third child that she is. Thank goodness for Cheerios that keep her happy and content.

Julia Crawls

Julia started crawling. She must have heard that Stillwell her 5 month old cousin was climbing stairs so she thought she better get a move on it. It has been really cute to see how excited she gets to be able to move around a room. Her face just lights up when she finally arrives at her destination. I think Noah is just as surprised as she is. He gets so excited when he puts her down in one place and then within 30 seconds she is across the room. "Its like Jack Jack from the Incredibles. She keeps popping up in different places." She doesn't have the most efficient crawl. She moves one leg forward and then kind of drags the other leg behind. However, it gets the job done and now we have to start hiding all the cords and cables from her.

Jungle Island

On Saturday, David's work held a welcome party for all the new residents and fellows at Jungle Island. After eating lots of yummy food, we spent the rest of the day exploring this great hands- on zoo. Highlights: feeding the goats red Kool-aid out of baby bottles, close up with the cutest baby tiger and ape, the liger (they really exist, I thought Napoleon made them up), an amazing bird show with a 6 foot Cassowary and an albino alligator. It was fun to watch Noah at the petting zoo. He really loves animals. I think he would love to live on a farm. He spent a half an hour feeding the goats and naming each one of them. I love seeing this sweet side of him. Ella Joy loved the bird show. We were sitting at the top of the arena so she got so excited when the birds would fly over our heads. Julia had a staring contest with a few of the parrots that were lining one of the walkways. It was a great day and it has been wonderful having David home so much. So far he has been getting home around 5:30 each day which I think only happened a handful of times during our 4 years of residency. He heard from the 2nd year fellows that the 1st year is pretty laid back and then during your 2nd year it gets busier. It has only been 2 weeks but hopefully his 5:30 arrival continues.

Ella Joy is 3

Nona' s homemade lemon cake--Delicioso

Ella Joy and Noah with their friends, Virginia and Ricardo
Ella Joy got her first Barbie doll and the first thing she wanted to do was cut her hair.
"It'll look pretty like mine."

Chocolate is her favorite

She practiced very hard to hold that pinky finger down

A common sight: Ella Joy screaming and Noah picking
A rare sight: Ella Joy not making any noise

Happy Fourth

We had a great fourth of July. There is a local parade which goes straight down the middle of the island. At 11:00 sharp F-16's flew over head. Then in true Latin style about 15 minutes later the rest of the parade slowly meandered their way down the street. It was fun seeing the floats, decorated golf carts, and interesting array of performers. After the parade we headed to the water sprinkler at the park. Later that night we headed to the beach for the most amazing fireworks show.