and baby makes 6!

Flower girl

She took her job as flower girl very, very seriously. You would have thought it was she who was getting married. She even called her flower girl dress her “wedding dress”.

Soon enough little one. Blow some bubbles and play with your baby dolls just a tad bit longer. Your love is out there waiting for you…..probably playing with his Bionicles and catching frogs.

You won’t have to work to find him…..trust me on this. You will find your way to each other, just like your father and I did.

Boat games and first aid

Nerf basketball hoop + kids + boat = great fun! I bought this with the image of my boys playing with it in the water. I didn’t imagine jelly fish joining in on the fun. Swarms of them. Huge ones.

After dropping anchor, Cory let out a loud “whoop” and launched himself into the water with a front flip. The other boys followed, and after several front flips, cannon balls and back flips Cory came out of the water doing the “ohmygodithurtssobad” dance as he rubbed his legs, chest and arms. A huge jelly got him from toe to shoulder. Quinn quickly followed. Alcohol was brought out to douse the stings, and for the parents to drink, and the water was deemed to be jelly territory for the night.

Jelly fish facts:

Jellyfish are prevalent in our local waters. Some types can produce a painful reaction that is caused when the tentacle touches the skin and releases poison from the nematocysts located along each tentacle.

Symptoms include intense pain, itching, rash and swelling. Some people have nausea and vomiting. It is possible to have a fatal reaction if you are allergic.
Initial treatment involves removing the tentacle. Rinse with vinegar for 15-30 minutes. You may use sea water or rubbing alcohol.

DO NOT USE FRESH WATER AS THIS WILL CAUSE MORE POISON TO BE RELEASED. Did you know this? It is true. So don’t grab that icy cold water that will feel soooo good on the burn. Um, no, it will make it worse.

Alcohol is always on a boat. Sun-downers are a requirement and a welcome refreshment after a cluster-you-know-what sail to your anchorage.   We always have an assortment of rum… Captain Morgans, Bacardi white, coconut, mango, banana….mmmmmm.   Hopefully your first aid kit contains rubbing alcohol, but if it does not, you can grab that bottle of Captain Morgans and douse some on the sting, then take a slug.

So, what should your first aid it contain?

-sunscreen (don’t get me started…..then again, I will do a post devoted to this tomorrow)

-vinegar (for jellyfish stings)

-rubbing alcohol (for cuts and jelly stings)

-antibiotic ointment

-benadryl (allergic reaction)

-Tylenol (kid and adult for fever or pain)

-Motrin 9because sometimes a kid fever is not doused with Tylenol)

-tweezers

-scissors

-bandaids

-gauze

-tape

-saline solution or eye wash

I have some live aboards who read this blog, so I would love for you guys to add to this list and give your seasoned advice as well.

One final word…….some Jelly fish stings can be quite bad.  If someone gets stung and you know this person has severe allergies, do not waste time getting them to a doc.   However, most people just experience intense pain for a short period, followed by some welts or redness.  For Cory, he was better within 15 minutes, but was done with the water.

It’s just a small part of living in paradise.

Hoist the colors

Arrrrrrrrrrrrr

I hope that someone gets my….

message in a bottle..

I found this little kit in a shop near us a few weeks ago, and tucked it away for the 4th.  It was so incredibly cute.  There was a little bottle, adorable notes in English and Spanish that you could fill in your name, where the bottle was launched, and your mailing addy so whoever finds it could send you a note and tell you were it ended up.

We filled out the form, wrote a funny note on the back, and also asked that whoever finds it let us know where it drifted ashore etc, then we stuffed the note in.

Even Honey was curious.  Billy was busy scraping barnacles off the prop…….he’s like that you know….always moving and doing.

Then we fired up the tea candle, grabbed a spoon and melted the wax to seal the cork. There were lots of “Let me melt the wax” and “Can I spread the wax on”. Um, no. You cannot play with fire on the boat that is filled with wood. Mom gets that honor.

Then the kids fought over who would get to throw it overboard until finally Mia grabbed it, threw it and said “THERE!” loudly. Right on baby sista.

I wonder if it will end up someplace exotic and fun. Like Paamul? Keep an eye out for it, guys. ;*)

Solitude

We took off for the weekend and after an aggravating sail filled with a broken boom traveler and frayed nerves, anchored off our little island for some solitude. We got there right around sunset, got the kiddos into their jammies

and watched this from the stern

and this from the bow shortly after

It was a really lovely, hot night. We kicked back and after dark watched the fireworks from the deck of our boat, with nary a soul around us.

Happy belated 4th of July!

The Son, the Moon, and the beginning of the End

This is the pic of my son, taken by one of his class mates, after he got his mohawk.

Bawk, bawk, bawk, baaaaaaaaaaaaaaawk. Chicken! The boys completely Barbied out and decided not to do the mohawks. Hair is just too important when you are 14.

The reality is that all the girls just about had a cow when he told them he was shaving the “Golden Locks” so he had to please his adoring fans by leaving all the flips and curls intact. His hair has celebrity status at school, and by golly, hair like that must persevere on to high school.

Yes, I have my hands full with this one. He is a complete and wonderful riot, and our relationship is one of the joys of my life…….most days. Some days, the teen ego has me wanting to scream. And I do. Then I regret it and we move on…………..because that is what it is all about. Imperfection. He and I are imperfect, and together we muddle through and make it joyful.

My teenager makes me proud. When he is grown, and I look back at his teen years, I won’t remember the battle of wills. I will not write about them here. They are trivial and unimportant and I will not talk about someone I love in a negative way for all the Internet to absorb. It is never right to do that, no matter how it is sugar coated. His life is not mine to plaster here for his friends to find and read about. I won’t do that to any of my children. This is not my personal diary to rag about my kids, and I will not treat it as such.

The teen I will remember is the one standing in the kitchen making smoothies for himself and his siblings. I will remember his sister leaning on his legs at Vacation Bible school and his arms wrapped protectively around her. I will remember how he looks me straight in the eye when he speaks to me.

I will smile and remember the day he announced that he was going to call me “Jody” from now on. When I laughed and protested, he smiled that incredible smile and said “Woman, that’s your name!”

He is unbelievably smart, funny, handsome beyond words, kind, strong willed, egocentric, selfless, selfish, generous, brutally honest, secretive, wide open, and a maze of personality and spunk that will take a lifetime to wade through and learn about.

He is my first born son. He is my blue eyed son.

He is nearing adulthood, and I find myself knowing that it is time….time to allow him the privacy that he deserves.  The privacy that my children deserve.  I am not sure where to go from here with this blog.  Some days I just can’t wait to get on and post about our day and share it with you….but I never do.  The reality is that most days, I want to hold my memories close to my heart and savor them all to myself.

Even though I don’t post as frequently, life goes on here, same as it always has.  Lots of love, surf, sand, and sailing.  Billy and I are as we have always been…happy, healthy and in love.  We will celebrate 19 years of marriage soon.  For our anniversary, we are planning to take the kids on a route that we traveled together for our honeymoon.  It will take us through the mountains and the desert, sleeping in a tent for almost 2 weeks.  When I asked Billy to tell me a word to describe what he thinks the trip will be like, he replied slowly and carefully “Challenging”. 

I will be taking my camera to capture the challenge.  I will photograph the look on their faces when they see the mountains.  The joy of bathing in a cold, mountain stream.  Making espresso over an open fire.  All of us, sardined together into a tent.  My children sitting under the same sand stone arch that their parents sat under 19 years ago looking at the moon.

I can’t wait to photograph the amazing red rock of Utah. God lives there, I do believe. It is the most majestic place, so it must be His earthly home. I know my pictures will never do it justice.

My guess is as good as yours if I will post them here. The time may have come to move on. Yes, I do believe, it just might have.

I suppose we will just have to wait and see.

Coastal summer

While summer officially arrived a week or so ago for the rest of the upper states, it has been in full swing for Texas since April.

Temps have been between 90-105 through most of the state, but those temps for Texas mean she is just warming up. August is our steamy month. While the hill country and upper Tejas have that lovely dry heat, the lower coastal region has the stifling, humidity. Down here in the sub-tropics, the word “hot” is usually dripping wet. It is like walking into a steam room…..with all of your clothes on.

I could never live inland in heat like this. The water brings a breeze that cools things down and makes it all so much more tolerable. I could never live in Houston. Houston has no breeze. I think it is the single most stifling place I have ever been. I feel claustrophobic in Houston during the summer months.

Ahh, but the coast. Even when the breeze blowing off the Gulf is wet and humid, it is uplifting and alive. There is nothing, IMHO, like the smell of the ocean. Clean and organic. That salty smell makes me come alive.

Everything grows down here. All you have to do is stick it in the ground and water it occasionally and it flourishes. Bougainvilleas grow as tall as the house, and the the scent of frangipani and jasmine float in the air.

We have some fun plans for the 4th. Boats are involved. Messages in bottles. Beer. Sausage. Watermelon. Fireworks viewed from the deck of a sailboat.

It’s just another day in paradise.