MONDAY - day 2 with Mom and Maria
Today it rained. A lot. Yesterday it rained a lot too, so I'm hoping that it clears sometime before Mom and Maria go home so that they can enjoy the sun of Barbados! This is the new house.
I called this morning to see when Maria and I can do the dive and we can go tomorrow morning. The girls were asking if we could do the Atlantis Submarine today. Maria has done one before and Mom wasn't too interested, so we set off for Bridgetown all together, but their plan was to shop or go to the beach (weather permitting). We put Atlantis Submarine's in the GPS and made our way there first, I wanted to see where it was so that when we had to check in for 12:30 we could find it no problem. We ended up a bit turned around when we were supposed to enter the marina I went past it, but we back-tracked and found it. So we went in to the office to make sure the tour ran rain or shine, which it does, but also I asked if there was a good place we could have lunch close by (it was now 11:30) and the girl I was talking to pointed to a yellow building across the marina called Dockside. So we went over and parked and walked through the marina (which is like shipyard marina, not a boat slip marina) to the restaurant. Its like a cafeteria style, they have the stuff all pre-made and you order what you want from the options. I had the special, which was a beef stir-fry which was amazing - it wasn't a teriyaki sauce that you would expect, it had a caribbean sauce/gravy on it that was so tasty. Mom and Maria both had the stewed lamb, Sophie had mac n cheese (macaronni pie they call it) and Paige had a caesar salad. They were all really good.
After that we headed over to the submarine to check in and waited for us to be called. I had explained to Sophie that we were going on a boat out to where the submarine was waiting in the water and that we would have to cross from the boat to the submarine and she was fine. But, when we got out on the water, because we've had so much rain and clearly its a system of somekind, there were swells and it was making her nervous and she started to cry as we were supposed to board the submarine. I told her if we don't go on the submarine we still have to stay on the boat, its not like they'll take us back, and that once the submarine went under water we wouldn't be able to feel the waves - but she wasn't buying it. Finally, I asked if one of the crew could hold her hand as she went across the bridge to the submarine and a female crew member took her hand and then picked her up and walked her over and helped her down the stairs. At that point she had to go because Paige had already gone over and down the stairs with another family a few minutes earlier (there was no way she was missing out going on a submarine!). So Sophie ended up doing fine and loving the submarine and when we came back up to the surface and had to cross over to the ship again she did it all on her own with no hesitation.
Mom and Maria met us at the dock and we headed home, with a stop at the grocery store for dinner (and drinking) supplies on the way. I had also told the girls that I would make them virgin pina coladas, so we picked up the supplies for that as well. I didn't think, until the last day, to make some for Dwayne who had a pina colada every time we went out. So I picked up pineapple juice, a can of coconut milk and a can of coconut cream and a couple of bags of ice, which we needed anyway for the tequila sours. The girls were very helpful in the grocery store and making the pina coladas. And there is even little cups here with built in straws, meant for the children, that Mom used to enjoy her pina colada! Because those that know Mom knows she puts the straw in her mouth and doesn't take it out until the drink is done!
Mom made nachos tonight for dinner and when we looked at the tray she had made (using the Taco Sauce, no less!) both Maria and I said "Are you feeding an army? Oh my God". But we somehow managed to eat every last nacho and it was delicious! I'll have to remember what an easy and delicious dinner that is with a little salsa and sour cream that we had picked up. I said "Your picture of the nachos is a little blurry Maria"..she said "Yeah, imagine that..that was well into the pitcher of tequila sours".
Yes, it certainly didn't hurt that we had made a pitcher of tequila sours, with Paige's help
when we got home from the grocery store (this time getting 2 more bottles of tequila) - -
Maria can hold her own and shared the pitcher with me, making me proud! And apparently shocking Jim, while making him proud as well! At one point Maria started laughing..quietly!..and I said to Mom "Oh look..Maria laughs without making any noise too!" Too funny. We all sit in silence shaking with laughter..Mom and I with tears in our eyes. Sours and nachos are a perfect pairing! The girls played a bit of Candy Crush at the table as we chatted.
We all went to bed at the same time and when I got up to pee at 12:30 all the lights were on and the front door was unlocked...we literally went to bed at the same time. And in the morning both Mom and Maria said "I can't believe I just went to bed without saying goodnight or anything"..we all did. And I think it was 8:30pm, one of our latest nights yet! HAHA.
Maria FaceTimed Jim when she got into bed and I could just hear her laughing and laughing.....remember when we were younger it used to be a 2am drunk call? yup, he got an 9pm drunk call! Times, they are a changin'...
TUESDAY - Day 3 with Mom and Maria
We got up this morning, same time the internal clock wakes me up every morning, 7:30am and Maria and I got ready to go diving! Mom decided she would stay at the house with the girls rather than come into Bridgetown with us. We got to the dive shop just a little late, there was traffic again - and we're not used to going out at 8am and hitting the morning traffic - so when we got there there was only one other certified diver diving today so we headed off to the beach to meet Patrick again to go to our first dive. I followed behind in the car so that Maria and I didn't have to come back to the dive shop, she would be going down to the beach to do some underwater skills in the shallow water and then meet us for the second dive along with 3 other Discover Scuba divers.
We went to the same dive site as before, but this time there were huge swells in the ocean so the boat was popping up and down in the waves. I don't get motion sick, but if you did then this would have done it! We got in the water, descended and drifted along with the current for about 40 minutes before popping up to the surface again. Patrick has a long, orange noodle (I'm sure there is an actual name for it) that he blows up with his regulator and pops up to the surface so that Kenroy, the boat driver, can see where we are and come and pick us up. We managed to get in the boat in the swells, but as I was taking off my flippers I somehow released by weight belt and it sunk (obviously)...and we were at about 60ft depth when we came up so Patrick just left it down there without trying to retrieve it.
We headed back to the beach to pick up the snorkelers and other divers and Maria was still in the water..so I wondered if she had felt comfortable with the equipment. She said that it went ok, she was actually really comfortable with the skills (taking off her regulator under water, clearing her mask, etc) but didn't like being in the deep water, so wasn't sure how she would do on the dive. At least if she didn't like the dive there were 5 snorkelers on board, so she could always come up and snorkel with them.
Maria did great though, she ended up diving down to the ocean floor, at about 30 ft, and swimming around for a bit before she went back and finished up snorkeling.
We all went to bed at the same time and when I got up to pee at 12:30 all the lights were on and the front door was unlocked...we literally went to bed at the same time. And in the morning both Mom and Maria said "I can't believe I just went to bed without saying goodnight or anything"..we all did. And I think it was 8:30pm, one of our latest nights yet! HAHA.
Maria FaceTimed Jim when she got into bed and I could just hear her laughing and laughing.....remember when we were younger it used to be a 2am drunk call? yup, he got an 9pm drunk call! Times, they are a changin'...
TUESDAY - Day 3 with Mom and Maria
We got up this morning, same time the internal clock wakes me up every morning, 7:30am and Maria and I got ready to go diving! Mom decided she would stay at the house with the girls rather than come into Bridgetown with us. We got to the dive shop just a little late, there was traffic again - and we're not used to going out at 8am and hitting the morning traffic - so when we got there there was only one other certified diver diving today so we headed off to the beach to meet Patrick again to go to our first dive. I followed behind in the car so that Maria and I didn't have to come back to the dive shop, she would be going down to the beach to do some underwater skills in the shallow water and then meet us for the second dive along with 3 other Discover Scuba divers.
We went to the same dive site as before, but this time there were huge swells in the ocean so the boat was popping up and down in the waves. I don't get motion sick, but if you did then this would have done it! We got in the water, descended and drifted along with the current for about 40 minutes before popping up to the surface again. Patrick has a long, orange noodle (I'm sure there is an actual name for it) that he blows up with his regulator and pops up to the surface so that Kenroy, the boat driver, can see where we are and come and pick us up. We managed to get in the boat in the swells, but as I was taking off my flippers I somehow released by weight belt and it sunk (obviously)...and we were at about 60ft depth when we came up so Patrick just left it down there without trying to retrieve it.
We headed back to the beach to pick up the snorkelers and other divers and Maria was still in the water..so I wondered if she had felt comfortable with the equipment. She said that it went ok, she was actually really comfortable with the skills (taking off her regulator under water, clearing her mask, etc) but didn't like being in the deep water, so wasn't sure how she would do on the dive. At least if she didn't like the dive there were 5 snorkelers on board, so she could always come up and snorkel with them.
Maria did great though, she ended up diving down to the ocean floor, at about 30 ft, and swimming around for a bit before she went back and finished up snorkeling.
I dove with Patrick and another couple who had just arrived off one of the ships for a dive, and I took my underwater camera with me this time because its good to 33ft and we were only going to about 40 ft total, so I figured it would probably be ok!
We saw this awesome sea turtle coming out of the hatch of this wreck. My camera was almost dead, so it wouldn't take a video, but I got a couple of good photos.
Me entering one of the wrecks
After the dive Maria and I went back to Harbour Lights for lunch and I had the jerk chicken, which was delicious and Maria had the Mahi Mahi, which was the catch of the day. Then we headed back to the house and when we got here the kids were in the pool with Mom. We sat outside for a bit (Mom with a beer, me with a Pina Colada and Maria with a tequila sour) and Mom went in the house and came back out and said "What are you DOING?!? Are you playing Candy Crush?" "Yes, I'm doing it!" I said "I'm playing it, I won't get addicted to this game, I can handle it!" Mom said - oh that's funny, she has sworn that she won't play it because she knows a few people addicted to it, but she said "I wondered when the girls were going to play theirs so maybe I can see how it works". I think it helps me not to be addicted that I don't listen to the sound - Maria says half of the addiction is the sounds (like on a slot machine, you're just waiting for the bells!)
Maria made amazing stuffed peppers for dinner tonight, we ate and then went to bed at 8..another late night. I'm exhausted.
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