Strawberry Shortcake and the Rat

Well, I have been waiting for Louis and I to have time to blog this one together but we are just too busy. I guess you can hear the story from me. On the 25th of November, Makiah turned 3. She asked for a Strawberry Shortcake birthday so I called around and found a pinata at the local store. I was afraid they would sell it before her birthday so I purchased it a week early. We did not have a lot of places to hide a 3 foot tall pinata so Louis put it up in the top of the dive shop on a shelf. It was a great hiding place except that when I brought it down to fill it with candy, there were holes all over it. It really took me about 5 min. before the horrific reality dawned on me and I realized our pinata had been eaten by a rat. On further examination, the whole back of the head was missing under the long red hair. It was like a Grey's Anatomy surgery gone wrong. The crotch was missing, her little scalp was eaten completely off and even her face now showed a blemish where a hole had been eaten. I patched it as good as I could (AKA bow on the shirt and hair pieces retaped strategically all over the back). Kiah had no idea and it was a great party. She carried it around and played Ring Around the Rosies with it for a few hours before we strung it up. By the way, I had the dive shop boys shake the heck out of it to make sure the rat or his family was no longer living it it. All I could imagine was this little "Templeton" from Charlottes Web thinking to himself "how cool is this...this is prime realestate left here just for me!" He did not even have to shred up the pieces because it was already done for him. It was a very lucky little rat!
Kiah had a great birthday and loved the pinata. Louis finally had to finish her off after several...and I do mean several attempts from everyone to break it open. They make them much sturdier here than in the US.

For Auntie Erin

We received an email a week or so back that said for us to put up some pics of Papa Guy and Grandma Sweets with the kids. This is the photos taken at Kiah's birthday.

Big Sister

Kenda has been such a great sister to Makiah and Gabe. She is helpful and always very loving. Kiah has become very attached to her big sister. The other night I found her sleeping on Kenda. The girls go everywhere together. We are very blessed to have such a nurturing little 4 year old in our family.

Gumbalimba on a Saturday

Louis was able to take a few hours off and we headed to Gumbalimba with some friends. It is a botanical garden with a swinging bridge, monkeys, tropical birds and iguanas. Although the girls had come before, it was Gabe's first time. Even Louis had a monkey on his head for a while until it started licking him across his forhead. It was a fun day and a great break from the routine day.

Gabe learns to roll over on camera

Halloween

Well, as tradition would have it, we took the girls and Gabe around the resort trick-or-treating. They went to the bar and grill, the reception area, and even to some friends we met last year who had stayed at the resort and purchased a condo nearby. We were accompanied by a family who moved here as a volunteer doctor for an island clinic. They had 2 little boys who joined us. Kenda and Kiah wore beautiful princess dresses picked by Grandma Sweets. Gabe dressed up as GI Joe.