A picture is worth a thousand words...

By far the best shot I took!

Austin concentrating and naping on the beach

Girls getting braids, water ballon contest, girls on boardwalk and girls in sand

While boarding, the city of Castries had rain in the background. Amaya didn't like the ride so much but Lilly did. Our Villa is the one at the top left behind Lilly.

On the Hobie Cat

These are a few pics my new buddy Kaitlin took. I STILL havn't found my digital so I rolled lo-tech and there coming soon.

Our truley magnifecent view and a night at dinner.

The Ladies (including Carice's Mom)

We we in the kids bed lookind at the cool ceilings and Troy snapped a candid. Look close, Silly Lilly is cross-eyed!

Campagne Ping Pong and the boys suckin' it all in!

Carice and Kaitlin, Mackenzie and Gary, Carice and Gary

Kaitlin and Troy

Our villa and sunsets

Views, from villa and beach, one of the fruit man, AKA Weed Man

FIRE

At home

We made it! A 19 hour trek, including a 9 hr. layover in Puerto Rico,went on a mini-adventure, then something happened that blows our minds. We were on the last flight out of San Juan for the night. The pilot was running late so we sat. then he got in, doors locked, we even recieved the saftey shpeel. Then we sat for over an hour. Turns out the ground crew leaves at 7:00 pm. Our pilot's tardeness didn't stop them from clocking out and going home! We had no way to take off or get off the plane. So we sat and waited for the airline to contact the employees and for them to return. I'm not sure what to think... All my pics are being developed later today and I'll post some soon. For now I'm going to throw a load of sandy clothes in the wash and take a nap!

Update

Today we ki-yaked (sp?) in the ocean and I swam out a few hundred yards to a slide and "iceberg" like rockclimbing with no ropes in 30 feet of water. I did it by swimming on my back with my eyes closed saying "I'm in the pool" over and over. I had a hot stone massage, ordered a hand carved wood sign to say REMMEL and be done Saturday, watched fire dancers, got picked as the "stupid tourist" and they tried to get me to eat fire....ha ha... in front of everyone, pics 2 come. had a romantic dinner with hubby and filled another kitties tummy, 2nite with mussels;) Turns out, according to locals, we are on a volcano. Thought the carribean chain was due to platetechtonics ans shelf shifting more than volcanic activity....Need to google, these folks are kind and attentive, but based on my experience thus far they have NO schooling. They cannot speak in sentences. Very bizarre language barrier, even managers and co-ordinators. Still, very kind people. 2morrow is sleep in day for us all. Then and art show, and a big paryt. Oh and Lilly is in love with a "kokonut" that how they spell it here. She name him Coke-a-nut. She took it to bed! Kids!!! Mom, Dad, Crys let me know that u know I'm here and ok! I'll buy another card 2morrow! Love u all

Hi everyone. I'm in St. Lucia, (southern west indies) and having a blast! Got a "internet access card" so I can update ya'll. $$$$$!!!!! Short story, absolutely georgeous, romantic and all inclusive rocks. Kids are wearing braids and our party is 14, +kids, but a nanny keeps them for our 2 to 3 hour dinners. Everyone is sunburned a bit, Lilly has developed freckles an we had a wild finch in our villa yesterday. We have been sailing the Hobie cats, I'm learning and pretty good, The kids went on the Banana boat tube thing, went to a disco party and did coconut bowling. The speak creole here so my French is coming in handy! I can't wait to post pics! This IS paradise! All the stress of moving has been tough, but there is something in the air that rekindles the romance. Austin and I are like honeymooners! We so needed this trip! There are kitty cats everywhere! The restaurants have no doors or windows so they prey on tourisms sympathy. I gave a scrony black cat a 9 oz. piece of mahi last night! Any given meal you can feed something by hand! At your table! With the all inclusive the kids are eating , onaverage 5 to 8, ice creams and desert a day. they are having a blast!! I've had a curry dish, salt fish..ew....and octopus...surprisingly yummy! I tried a Harvey Wallbanger, too yummy, and a bloddy Mary...not so yummy! I, so far , have gone in the water about mid thight aND dipped to my shoulders, then got out quick! Progress.... Anyhow this place gets 5 stars, no doubt. The treat you like a rockstar and the view from my villa is breathtaking! Oh , btw, we got an upgrade to one of the "Estate Villas" 3bdrm, 4 bath, private pool and at thje top of the mountain. a van picks us up and brings us home on demand. Freakin' awsome! Pics soon, Love and miss you guys!-Molly

Our new home continued...

We have moved to a community called Lake shore in the town of Pasadena Maryland. Austin got a job at General Dynamics and is doing who knows what with who knows who.....but it's a big leap for his career. Austin is a Senior Lead Engineer. I'm not sure what that means but he is pretty young for the level. We love the area we found. We are very close to the Chesapeake Bay, our bog is protected (still trying to figure out why) and have water privliges at the neighborhood ramp so a boat may be in our future! Everyone has a boat here for skiing, and crabbing! The girls want quads so well see....

Sorry...sideways phone pics...my new home

family room/kitchen

supercool-faucet

closet w/ 2. yes 2 windows!

My new home

I drove by this morning and the big trucks are finally gone, she's done!! The walk thru is later today so I'll be able to post some interior pics. I sure hope the kitchen is as nice as I envisioned it when I picked everything out! The yard goes back almost an acre and we have a bog. The kids are going to love it! Also we have woods to 1 side and a home is being built next door, making 8 on our street. I can't wait to move in!

Crystals doing ok.

Alls well. Crystal is in recovery. Shes home and resting.

gotta do this!!!!

www.skype.com
free download

go to target, walmart, bestbuy...whatever...get a logitech webcam (u might have 1 all ready)

get all set up, easy-peasy- I DID IT!

we can have awesome live chats with video feed...

Q's...comment;)

Hi ho, Hi ho, off to school we go...no....

Evening prior, we shopped to ensure a good impression at the new school. Girls in pink and purple, with Hanna Montana shoes, High School Musical back-packs, matching hair clips and butterfly tummies, late to rest as nerves set in.
Early ro rise, the girls looked adorable. Neither would eat because their tummies hurt. Poor babies. I gather their belongings, check my ever-growing red binder for all my needed documentation and head out, descending 3 flights of stairs to load into the mountaineer. Programming the GPS is a new task I hadn't planned time for, but had to be done. It was the 1st day of school so I figured being late might be better. We weren't, after all, registered yet.
We arrive after most of the kids had found their way to class with the exception of one little asian girl crying in the front office. Turns out she spoke no english and didn't know her name. The found her on the front step. I felt so bad for her. She was so scared. Who would do that to a little kid? I'll never forget that.
Anyhow.... I waited my turn and was eventually called 4ft. over to a new chair. I pulled out my contract on the new house, birth certs, all that jazz. As the woman begins the process, a man walks in and says, "you must be the family from florida".... I had spoken to this "transfer student officer" before.
See, Howard county in MD. praises itself on its great schools. This man refused to enrole and educate my chilren based on the fact that I was residing in Anne Arundel county in a temporary corporate apartment. He insisted that We should find temp. housing in their school district or enroll the girls in AA county schools until we close. That would be 6 weeks. I, surprisingly calmly expressed that psycologically my children had suffered enough loss in the past few weeks with such a life change and I didn't want them to make friends and go thru more loss. He said that was my problem. Then I explained it was almost $300 a night (where we are is paid 4 by Austins work) for an appt. style, fully furnished unit and we can't afford that Xtra cost (with 3 mortgages and trying to buy another!). This As#$ole! said, and I quote "If you can't afford to live in Howard county, your kids can't go to school here".
(I'd like to see HIS W2)
If you know me, at all you know it took a lot to contain myself. I had luckily forseen the possibility of running into a person with to much power, and I had a plan. I calmy asked for some resources for homeschooling. I figured I could pull it off til we close on the house.
Guess what this dude says to me... " You don't live in Howard county, We can't help you. You'll have to contact the Anne Arundel County School Board." He grinned and turned then walked away. In my mind, I ran up kicked, him in the arse and watched him hit the pavement, and then I spit on him....in real life I took my girls to the car, tried to explain why they couldn't go to school, yes, tears, then went home to research my homeschooling future...... and in real life, I WILL speak to the Howard county superintendant. Thats how I roll....
(GOD HELP ME)

Why can't anything be simple?

We made the flight. Whew! Due to a full flight, Austin was fortunate enough to sit with strangers and rest while I sat with the girls and mediated. I find it fascinating how much interest children have for saftey cards and barf bags!
One sreaming baby, one large black man with a way 2 loud ipod and one $5 glass of questionable cabernet later, we landed gently in Baltimore.
Loading all our luggage into the rental car took a touch of creativity on Austins part but the temporary apartments we simple to locate. Atleast the complex was. We did not have a code for the securityu gate. Like that was a surprise! The office was closed, of course! We had an email that said we were in Apt 307. It did NOT say what building. So, after pressing buttons, calling numbers and getting no where, someone pulled up behind us and thankfully open the gate and granted us access to the parking garage. Now all we had to do was figure out which building housed #307. Of course they all did! The girls and I sat in the car while Austin walkeds around and around. Eventually he gets an answer from on of his contacts. We are bldg 2105! Different security gate.....of course....but we lucked out and followed someone in. All the way on the 3rd floor with NO ELEVATOR! Can you believe it, the keys are in a realtor-style lock box. At this point my brain feels like popping! Austin rummages thru the paperwork and before I had an actual meltdown he finds the code. Open sesame! Time to take a bubble bath and prepare for registering the kids in school based on the contract we put on the most charming house! It's perfect for us and has everything we want in a house. Were here. The drama is over! Everything is going to be fine now!......

Continued....

The sand bags worked!!! Yippeeeee, and the neighbor made us delectible brownies. BUT< the crate man couldn't build the crates, to protect my lillte art collection, in the rain. AND, due to the area flooding the loaders were not coming either! So, delay delay delay. A few nights of take out and box dodging and at 4 PM load they did.
My truck had been dropped off 2 weeks prior, so we had been sharing Austins Mustang. The flatbed arrived a bit earlier than expected and wooshed away our wheels. Now how do we get to the airport to get our rental car? At this point I am wondering what a personal assistant would cost! So we call a friend for a ride. He can help out but it's gotta be quick, seeing hes on lunch. Go figure, who shows in the chaos but the realtor wanting to take pics for MLS! The porch is flooded and adorned with multicolored make shift trash-sand-bags, the upstairs exterior is tarped and shuttered. There are 4 sweaty dudes trying to empty my house. Excuse me but WTF??? These realtors are just geniuses, ain't they?!!
As the day goes on, as moist and sticky, let's not forget noisy and dirty, the house was empty at 11:30 PM> fast to sleep at a friends, early to rise to catch a plane.
Oh, to catch a plane with Austin should be considered a sport. I am not being comical! 20 minutes to departure and we are begging to cut the security line because TSA sucks ans Southwest is cheap because the higher lazy asses that don't help at all. We ran, again moist, sweaty and dont forget loud. Amaya, of course has to pee, sorry kiddo, you goota hold it. Can someone tell me why the gat is ALWAYS at the end when you are late? Running in an airport with carryons, 2 kids, cuddly banket and a big stuffed elephant......

Update, quite the story....

So, we've move to Maryland. My do-hickey that loads my picks to my laptop is in a storage place somewhere in the US. Soooo, I guess I'll have to TYPE!!! So a few weeks ago the movers arrived for a day 1 scheduled "packing". It went well. No one seemed to care that a tropical storm was rolling in. Neither did we. Pack they did. North American is extremly professional and kind. Not only did they turn stuffed animal packing into animal basketball with the kids, they went beyond all expectations. As Fay drizzled her way in, unassumingly sly and incognito, the windows upstairs began to drip from the 1 and 1/2 year old trim. (builder liability is under investigation) The movers readily volunteered to get out on the roof, 40-60 mph winds, using ladders, nail guns (powered by electricity), and shear gonads, the 2nd story was tarped and metal, HEAVY>>>I LIFTED THEM UP>>> hurricane shutters were put in place, and the water stopped!Thanks guys!!!!
Next day...all that is left unpacked is beds, bedding and our suitcases for the trip. Oh the maze of cardboard boxes may annoy us, but the girls viewed it as a new adventure. Little did we know what was coming...The rain was insane. It fell down, left, right , even in occassional bizarre swirls...everchanging. Then at 7 am or so I awoke hubby 'cause the water was rising. Minute by minute the water inched toward our 2 expansive 98" wide sliders. Past experience told me we needed sand bags and we needed them fast.
More 2 follow...good night.

Make-up fun..and a wig...

Do they look like their Momma?

Amaya 8 and Molly 9

Lilly 7 and Molly 7

This is at the Orlando children's museum. Itsa tube enclosure that creates winds equal to a Cat. 1 hurricane. Sorry it sideways.

This was taken a few hours after they were asleep. Amaya (R) is very hard to share a bed with. I guess Lilly had enough!

Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort with Friends Carice and her daugther Mackenzie

Lilly in the main pool. It was built like the ocean, starting at 0 inches and gradually gets deeper. They built a huge rock structure that hoses waterslides! No chlorine, and no salt...not sure how they do it, but it's beautiful!














Amaya standing infront of the waterslide mountain


















Amaya, Lilly and Mackenzie playing in the pool at the Grandstand, where we stayed.



















Pool decor at the grandstand. (Like the Saratoga race track in NY)


















My friend Carice.