It’s been another fun filled weekend. We finally made it to beach volleyball on Friday night which was awesome. My team beat By’s team 3-1 so it was a pretty good victory! Thankfully due to hurricane Igor passing by at some point out in the ocean there was a slight breeze which made enduring the heat easier! We will remember to take pictures next week...
Yesterday we hopped on our bikes and cycled down to Grace Bay Beach. Our bikes are being loaned to us by the people we rent our apartment from, and we’re so grateful for them! They are called ‘cruisers’ and I love the big wide handlebars, they make me feel like I’m back in the fifties or something (or now and then style singing knock 3 times...that’s a reference for my sisters!) and the best part I discovered yesterday is they’re actually called good vibrations which, being the huge Beach Boys fan I am, I love!
It’s about a 20 minute cruise each way, but it can feel longer with the sun beating down the way it does here! So we made a pit stop on the way there to ‘Fresh Bakery’. I was hoping to find some cupcakes but made do with a yummy pineapple pastry instead and By got a giant chocolate chip cookie. We also stopped at a little parade of shops that had some really nice flowers outside so we had to take a photo.
The beach isn’t looking at it’s finest right now due to the choppiness of the sea, the tides are washing up a lot of seaweed and debris that wouldn’t normally be there out of hurricane season, so I’ll showcase the beach to you when it’s looking prettier, but here’s a shot of the turquoise waters we swam in...you can’t beat that.
We also had a picnic on the beach and then made a pit stop at Giggles ice cream for some mango and strawberry milkshakes which provided some much needed refreshment for the cycle home.
Yesterday evening we were invited to our first island BBQ with a ‘Bubba Keg’ which is like a giant barrel that you can grill on. It was at my employer’s house along with Brandon and Alyssa and another family from Georgia who we’ve made friends with. I meant to take more pictures but I spent most of the time in the kitchen baking Hummingbird cupcakes...things sure take longer when you don’t have a KitchenAid around!(Mel-you better be taking good care of mine!) and they seemed to be enjoyed all round, as was the meatfest that was provided for us! Chef Brandon had made his famous dry rub for the ribs and it certainly lived up to expectations as Byron said they were the best ribs he’d ever had and coming from a South African that’s a pretty great compliment! I thought this may be a good opportunity to introduce to you Josiah and his sisters. Here is a picture I took of him last night, this was pre cupcakes and he’s looking rather grumpy...if I’d have taken it post cupcake you would have seen his smiley face! We discovered he is a rather big fan of cupcakes or ‘pot cakes’ as he kept requesting...which if you remember from a previous post is an altogether different thing and is what they call stray dogs here!
He is nearly 3 and a half and is the whole reason I am here. When he was diagnosed with autism there was nothing on the Island to help autistic children, and the only solution would probably have been for his family to move to The States. His mom, Nicole, researched into it and decided if ABA therapy was what was needed and no one on the Island could provide it then she would bring someone in who could. She recruited two ABA therapists from Canada and Dawn Program was created. For the past 6 months they have been giving therapy to Josiah and another little boy, and now Alyssa and I are taking over from where they left off. We now even have a waiting list of diagnosed children who are in need of therapy so the program continues to evolve and grow. Josiah also has two very cute sisters, Michaiya and Adaiyah.
Here is Adi who’s 1 and she is just adorable. She doesn’t stop smiling all day long and is very affectionate so we spend lots of time getting hugs from her, and Michaiya will be 5 on Wednesday and is the world’s biggest chatterbox. She is quite a character and definitely enjoys having us around, especially when I’m making cupcakes!
Here I am, happy doing what I do best! Since it's been National Cupcake Week this past week back in the U.K I was happy to be contributing to the cupcake baking that has been going down!
You do looked tanned in that last pic and really healthy! The bike ride looked like fun, it must be fantastic living on a tropical island. The icecream sounds lush too!
ReplyDelete