Football 2015

We didn't get many pictures of Colin's football season. It started off well, but games were crazy because Caleb hates the stroller and just wants to run all over the field. It meant not only are there few pictures of Colin playing, but I also didn't really watch the game either. Then I got smart and paid a baby sitter to come to the field to chase Caleb around while I sat happily in my chair with my coffee snapping pictures and cheering Colin on. Score! Or maybe I should say, TOUCHDOWN! Then the season was interrupted by Typhoons. Then as we neared the end of the season the two 7-9 year old teams had suffered too many players lost to PCS moves and neither of us could field a team. It cut the season a bit short but Colin still had a great time and loved playing. He played both running back and wide receiver depending on where he was needed. In fact, at the end of season party the coaches made up personalized certificates for all the kids with little nick names on them based on how they played. Colin was dubbed "Mr. All Around" on his certificate because of his ability to jump in and play where ever they asked him to. He has a lot to learn but he loves football.

Colin's first touchdown!

Happy Memorial Day!

On Memorial Day and Veterans Day the Asan Beach National Park area plants hundreds (maybe thousands) of flags. They do a phenomenal job and even place a little battery operated LED light under each flag, so not only is it a sight to see during the day, it is equally as impressive at night. We didn't make it out during the night this time, but we did take the kids during the day to see the flags and teach them what they are for. Here are some pictures of our visit. 

Terrifying Tub

Caleb usually takes baths in his little inflatable duck tub. I like it because it's small and it conserves water and he stays in one place for the most part. He's getting kind of big for the tub though, it doesn't seem to bother him that he's all folded up inside it, but I thought it would be fun to let him experience the "big" tub one night. This is the reaction I got.

Sheer terror. He was so scared he was screaming like a banshee and shaking uncontrollably. All because I set him down in the bath tub! The same bath tub he sits in every night, he just sits inside of a duck inside the tub. Good heavens I won't try that again for a while! I guess I'll continue to stuff him in the duck tub until it just isn't possible anymore. I suppose I should probably start looking for a bigger duck too! 

Cub Scout Crossover

Today was a big day for Colin in Cub Scouts. He finished his year as a Tiger Cub and crossed over to the next rank of Wolf.
The afternoon started off with The Pledge of Allegiance.

Who wants to be a Wolf??? We dooooooo!

Let me hear your best wolf howl!

 Caleb hanging out during the ceremony, the few moments we didn't have to chase him all over the place.

 Crossing over!

One one side a Tiger, at the other...a wolf!

 Being greeted with his new neckerchief by a Wolf that is about to promote himself.

Who's afraid of the big bad WOLF?!

Hungry Hungry... Hippos?

Here is what happens when you give a bunch of cub scouts skateboards, laundry baskets and balloons! Real life Hungry Hungry Hippos!

Typhoon Dolphin

We live in what is known as "Typhoon Alley." It's also an El Nino year which supposedly means that we should have increased storm activity this year. It isn't often that Guam takes a direct hit from the eye of these storms, but because of the changes an El Nino year brings it increases our chances greatly. Shelby was told in a base preparedness meeting that forecasters anticipate that our island will take a hit by 3 strong storms (cat 3 or higher) during this season. So it's never a good thing when your news forecast shows this...

 Or this...

The island (base especially) turns info a frenzied panic when it's realized that the storm is actually coming our way. There are so many things to do to prepare and it takes time (and patience!). We initiated our prep routine at home. Gassed up the vehicles, generator ready and gas cans filled, food and water stored, freezers packed and set to coldest setting, propane and charcoal stocked, everything outside either brought in or tied down, storm shutters closed and locked, extra water jugs filled for household use, electronics charged, all the laundry done, etc... Growing up in Florida we didn't have to prep for too many storms that I can remember, not as many as we have in the year we've been here. I suppose growing up in Florida also makes all this stuff less strange and unfamiliar. There are local Facebook groups for members of our community and the questions always increase ten fold when a storm is on the radar, and they usually make for some entertaining reading. So now that we are prepped and ready we wait. 

Thursday afternoon the outer bands of the storm started passing through and the storm had shifted north, which was looking good for us. But Friday it moved back and stalled a bit, heading directly for us at the northern end of the island. We lost power Friday early afternoon and the winds were terrible. The eye of the storm was almost bigger than poor our little island! It ended up looking like this...

Our house was fine, built for this sort of thing, and we were just waiting out the storm and thankful for the generator to keep the fans blowing. We played indoors to pass the time. Even the cats got in on the fun. See the paw sticking through the slit in the side? He'd swat at the ball every time it went by.

By Saturday the storm had moved on leaving us with just some gusty winds and rain. We were still without power, had very weak water pressure and terrible cell reception due to downed towers I'm sure. It was hot but not unbearable in our house so far. Shelby had reported to work to check on his building and it took a little damage, but nothing major. He said most of the damage he could see from the drive to work was just downed trees and power lines. The houses here for the most part are meant to withstand the weather. The only exception are the small shacks and shanties that dot the island throughout the jungle, those sadly are not built for any kind of storm and their residents hopefully sought safety in a public shelter location. The news reported on several families left homeless after the storm because their "homes" were destroyed. The majority of houses here are solid concrete though and can take a pretty good beating. 

Going on 40 something hours of no power, the boys are cooking breakfast. 

By Sunday the storm had moved on and nice weather was upon us. Unfortunately we still did not have power. While I knew a generator was a necessity when we moved here, shelling out the cash for it still hurt when we bought it. Let me tell you, after a few days without power during this storm that generator has paid for itself. Worth every penny! Our neighbors, who we shared our generator power with would probably agree too! Sunday was HOT. Hotter than the inner circle of hell hot. I was worried about not having the water heater and weak water pressure, little did I realize that a cold trickle shower would never feel good. Hot water would have been a total waste! It got up to 84 degrees inside my house when we said screw it and went to Home Depot to buy another portable air conditioning unit for our bedroom. We had a used one we had purchased from someone secondhand, it was supposed to be a dehumidifier and air con. We realized right away the dehumidifier part didn't work as we had hoped, and now come to find out the AC part doesn't work so well either. When it hit 84 in the house I was DONE. Off to Home Depot we went and after 52 hours with no power or air con they could have asked me for a kidney and my first born and I probably would have handed them over without batting an eye. We came home and got to work hooking up the unit to start cooling off our bedroom to sleep that night. Magically, just as Shelby was about to finish setting up the AC, about 10:30 PM on Sunday, our power came back on. You could hear the shouts of joy up and down the street. We were one of the lucky few in our neighborhood who got out power back that night. The two perimeter roads were restored, and must be on a different grid, because the rest (and majority) of the neighborhood was on brown out power. Those poor folks wouldn't get their power fully restored for another day and a half! Yes, we were very blessed that night! 

The excitement from the storm had finally died down and we had made it! The only casualty of this storm was my beloved Cuisinart coffee pot. I guess it didn't like generator power. Or it was just time to die, it was several years old after all. It ran like a champ on generator power keeping my coffee fix in check, but when the power came back on and we plugged it back into the wall, lifeless. I guess we fared pretty well, but I'm in no hurry to do this again! Typhoon Dolphin (dumbest name for a typhoon ever, by the way. Who fears cute, curious dolphins??) was only a category 2 typhoon, but seeing what it did to the island I do not want to be around for anything stronger than that. My house would be fine, but the amount of time it would take the island to restore power, water and roads after a super typhoon, no good! Let's hope those forecasters are wrong about this season!

Milestone Alert!

Guess who can now reach the counter tops??? Mama learned that one the hard way. Caleb too I guess, though he wasn't too upset about his milk bath, and he loves to sweep and mop, so I guess he probably didn't learn much. The cats certainly appreciated it.

Gecko Patrol

I despise geckos. They are the stuff my nightmares are made of. Most people think they are cute and interesting, me...I wish death upon them all. They are hideous little creatures that defy the laws of physics. There is nothing cute about a fat, transparent gecko showing off his internal organs hanging out on my window. Give me snakes, rats and roaches any day...a gecko. NOPE! For the most part they stay outside, but every now and then one is stupid enough to venture inside. Little do they know I've got all my minions trained and ready! Caleb will scout it out and shout to alert the others, the cats will throw it around a bit and torture it until Cooper gets his turn to pounce and then Colin escorts what ever is left of it outside. I have to say the accuracy with which Cooper can stop a lightning fast gecko with one paw is incredible. This was the scene Shelby walked into one evening. Gecko on the window, Caleb spotted it right away and alerted me, and it wasn't long before the whole family was in the bathroom stalking the gecko. Fortunately for this one he was on the outside and he lived to see another day.

Eating like a big boy!

Caleb loves mango, peaches, plums, apples, and stuff like that. I typically will peel it and cut it up as necessary so he can eat it. Today I was lazy and handed him a nectarine to see what he would do with it. Well he ate it. All. Then I had to pry the pit from his mouth as he tried to eat that too! LOL

Field Trip to Farm

Colin's class took a field trip to a local farm here. It is isn't your typical idea of a farm and was quite interesting. The farmer has huge tanks of tilapia and the dirty water from the fish tanks is pumped over to where the plants grow hydroponically. The farmer grows different varieties of lettuce and other leafy greens this way. He also has tons of basil, which grows very well and wild here. The kids thought it was hilarious that the food grows in fish poop. The farmer is all organic and mostly sells his greens to restaurants around the island. He also has lots of chickens and farms eggs, which restaurants also buy, and he puts them in a local market for sale too.

The kids checking out the fish tanks...

The farmer showing them what the fish look like.

 This is how the lettuce grows, entirely in water. (Poop water!)

 Look at all that basil. Can you say PESTO?!?! MMMMM!

 Chickens on the farm.

 A papaya tree growing on the farm land. The grow wild all over the island. We love papaya!