Well, it’s been almost three weeks since Carina left with Andi, Piper and Michelle to head back to St. Martin.  Tanner and I miss them terribly, but otherwise we are doing well in Suburbia, Minnesota.  We are enjoying the cool fall weather and the turning trees, and we both agree that if we have to be here and not in St. Martin, this is the time of year to do it, as the girls are suffering in crazy hot and humid weather right now.

Tanner is loving 6th grade where he has enrolled in the yearbook committee, an after school golfing class, and a baseball batting clinic.  He and his uncle Tommy  (who is a year younger than him) are living it up together. And Tommy, who would otherwise be an only child as all of his siblings are grown and gone, is thrilled to have a built-in room mate.

We are hearing good reports from the island, and I thought I would take some extracts from Michelle’s blog (with permission) and share them here as well. But before we turn the floor over to Michelle, I’ll include one update that happened after she wrote her last blog post.

Andi’s Toe:

Just about the time Andi, Tanner and I got back to the States, Andi began having trouble with an ingrown toenail. We nursed it along while she was here, hoping it would get better and trying to avoid having it surgically removed.  No such luck.  Not long after they got back to the island, it got even worse.  Luckily after one trip to the Dutch island family practitioner, Dr. Duckett, her toe is well on it’s way to being cured.  It did require a very minor surgery, but nothing the unflappable Andi couldn’t handle.

Good job being strong Andi!  Get better fast, and know that your dad loves you!

 

Okay, the rest of this post is courtesy of Michelle.  To read the full version, please visit her awesome blog.

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An Update from Michelle:

Our apartment is officially an estrogen tank. Lots of people are curious how it’s going living with just us girls, and to any who are curious it’s actually a lot of fun. More often than not we’re all sitting on someones bed just talking and laughing or reading and watching movies together. We know when its someones “time of the month” and when the freezer needs to be stocked with the appropriate junk food supplies that will be needed for the week, we laugh at each other, get cranky at each other, I make Cari and Andi clean their rooms once in a while, but all in all, we’re surviving living together 😉

BABIES!!

First things first, we have a new addition to our island family!! My good friends Ashley and Gary had their baby boy last Sunday! Parker is a cutie and is home with his parents and doing so well. We love to go down and hold him, its amazing how much lighter he is than Piper, and how much longer I’m able to hold him than her. Ashley is literally the cheeriest person I’ve ever met…she’s like a cheerleader on steroids (totally kidding) but she is a very positive and uplifting person, which is so nice to have in a friend, especially on the island where so many people are just whining all the time.

Sunday I called Ashley to get an update and see if she had the baby yet, she answered the phone herself and sounded like she’d just woken up from a 4 day coma and trip to a day spa because she sounded that relaxed and I thought for sure she was on so many drugs and hadn’t had the baby yet, but she totally had. Her pep just doesn’t die down even after child birth. She and Gary had the baby in a hospital on the French side so their son will have duel citizenship, pretty cool.

White Coat Dinner

Each new semester the incoming class has a white coat ceremony where they receive their white coats that dawns their achievements as a “doctor in training” I can’t believe its already been 9 months since Cari had her ceremony.

I babysat a set of twins while their mother and father were in the white coat ceremony. The twins names are Lily and Sadie and holy cow did Piper LOVE them. She was absolutely hysterical when they left. They’re eighteen months old, and I think Pipes likes younger kids because she’s really into feeling in charge.

Babies always want what they can’t have. Piper was drinking from her pink water bottle and Lily HAD to have it, and kept trying to take it away from Piper…I took a couple pics of the series of events that went down, it was hilarious to watch. Here’s the twins eyeing Piper’s water like it was the last drop of water on the desert. Just FYI, I’m not cruel, each girl had their own water, they just of course wanted someone else’s.

After the twins got picked up, we quickly got ready for the after white coat ceremony dinner at the C-Lounge. It was so crowded and we got there so late that most of the food was gone, plus Piper had skipped her nap and was struggling, so I took Piper and Andi home and made Cari stay to socialize with classmates without a kid on her hip for once. After an hour I told her I’d come pick her up, once I got out to the car she came out and asked if she could go dancing with some friends for a couple hours. Go, Cari! I regret to inform that I wasn’t able to take pics of white girl busting a move at a night club, just let your imagination do the work.

Fight Night!

After Carina came home from “bustin’ a move” I handed her the hypothetical baton of children and picked up Pierre (Casey’s note: Pierre is one of the Rainbow guards with whom Michelle has been on a few dates)  to see some friends who were hosting a “Fight Night” it was a rap battle that my friends Adi and Entry were in. We didn’t get there until midnight or so and only got to see a couple of rounds, and the final round, but the energy was awesome and there was a lot of talent. Free-styling is so impressive to me. It was held in Philipsburg at the “Heritage House” which was a perfect venue with lots of couches to sit on and a sweet light show set up.

 

 

Crystal & Fluffy

A friend of ours in the building asked me to dog sit for him while he travels about a week every month, he’s a super nice guy with two small dogs that Piper was first afraid of, but now greets with open arms and a fresh face for licking. His apartment is a rooftop villa with hot tub, satellite tv in every room (even the deck) and he generously offered it to me for use while he’s gone since the dogs get lonely and he’d prefer them to have company anyways. The view from his deck is spectacular, I absolutely love it up there. The clouds are my favorite, they’re so beautiful that they don’t even look real to me. Because it’s so high up, there are no bugs, and the cross breeze is incredible. We’re definitely taking advantage of it.

Learning Unlimited

Andi is loving her new school, her classmates are such sweethearts, and her teachers are very impressive. The only thing she’s not a huge fan of are the uniforms, but at least she doesn’t have to go through the hassle of picking an outfit every day!

The only disadvantage to Andi’s school is the commute, we’re really lucky because there’s another girl living in our complex who’s a year younger than Andi and goes to the same school. Her mom is so nice, and takes Andi with them to school every morning and then I usually pick them up. Carpool makes it SO much easier. Its quite adorable to see Cari and Andi off to school together in the mornings.

While the girls are at school, Piper are I rule the world aka we tackle our apartment cleaning…the apartment never seems to stay clean, what’s the deal? Hit up the pool, have play dates, go to the store, go play with our security guards, blow bubbles, head butt each other accidentally, dance to “call me maybe” etc.

Saturday morning we took a trip to town, we all felt kind of hungover from exhaustion from the previous night of Cari dancing and me up until 4 at the rap battle. It’s SO incredibly hot outside right now, I can’t even describe it to you. So walking up and down the boardwalk probably wasn’t the most fun idea, but I’m glad we went. It was a blast. Piper fell asleep in the car on the way there and was out cold the entire day in her stroller. Lucky girl gets to be pushed around and doesn’t have to walk in the heat. We ate at the Hard Rock Cafe and put her stroller up against the booth so she could lay down all the way, a bunch of waiters kept walking by and staring at her, which wasn’t awkward at all…leave us alone, she’s tired, okay?

Too bad I didn’t really get any pictures of the day besides Piper sleeping. Do you like her diaper pillow? Or that she sleeps with her eyes partially opened now? Or how her middle finger is sticking up slightly? Like she subconsciously was annoyed we kept photographing her while she was asleep?

Sunday Fun Day

It was so good to be reunited with my Primary Class on Sunday after being gone for five Sundays while I was in the states. They found some smiley face stickers and decided we should all wear them on our faces so we “have two smiles” ha they’re so cute. I asked Keisha to draw a picture of a strong person, and the muscles she drew were so funny that I had to take a picture. By the way, I put the picture in black and white because I am so pale right now from not laying out for months, that I look unacceptable next to their beautiful dark skin. Workin’ on it!!

Have a good week, friends! Love and miss you all!

 

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Final note from Casey:

Not being with my girls is tearing my heart out every day, I miss them so much. I know that Piper is at an age where she is growing so fast and learning new things every day, and it is killing me to not be there with her.  Say nothing about how much I love and miss Andi and Carina.

None the less, I am happy to have the companionship my my buddy Tanner, without whom I would be too lonely to handle. My new job is going well, and I am making plans with my boss to go down there for an extended visit in November and part of December, for which I am tremendously grateful.

As I’ve been hanging around Minnesota and re-connecting with old friends, I am surprised at how many tell me they have been reading this blog, thank me for keeping it current, and wish me luck during this separation.  To each of you, I say “Thank You!” with all my heart.  I really do appreciate your friendship!

Times like these make us appreciate family even more deeply.  I already knew I had an incredible family, and I grow more and more grateful for their goodness with every passing hour.

I love you Carina, Andi and Piper. See you soon!