Hello Lizard

Today, while peacefully typing away (Jack was napping), I heard "movement". It sounded as if something was moving a piece of paper. At first I jumped, but it subsided so I typed more. Again it happened, this time I fled the room and peaked back inside, but nothing. So, this continued for a few minutes...typing, noise, Lisa running out the room, bravely re-entering...repeat.
Finally I swore I saw a lizard's head pop out from behind a box lid that was leaning against the wall. I took up position near the door jam and lobbed Jack's toys at the lid until it toppled over revealing a lizard at least 6 inches long. The next logical step was to leave the room and lock the lizard in by stuffing pillows in the doorway (ok, so the lizard could still escape under a pillow, but it made me feel safer).
I have finally re-entered the office, but no lizard. I imagine he has taken up residence nearby, inside the walls or the closet. And, I don't feel very comfortable about a reptile being able to enter my home. Will I see something larger tomorrow? I have a feeling I'm going to have a nightmare about a lizard bringing one of the neighborhood squirrels in.

Cruising in the Caribbean

We just came back from a week long cruise in the Caribbean with Lisa's family. Here are a few of the highlights (& lowlights):

- Family. We had a great time catching up with each other and watching the cousins play.


- Wildlife in Barbados - we were right next to turtles, monkeys, wallabies & even touched a peacock



- Clearest Water Ever - the water was gorgeous, especially in St. Maarten & St. Thomas. Jack loved the beach and ran right into the water even regardless of whether he was in his swimming gear or not.



Food - It was plentiful and great, but Jack went almost 4 days eating hardly anything. He did not consume one vegetable or fruit (even a banana) while we were there. He had a fever one night, and actually through up on the dining room table near the end of our cruise (yep, disgusting...I whisked him back to the cabin pretty quickly after that). So, although he had a great time in the pool and on the beach he was out of sorts.
Oh, you can order room service anytime for free so that was cool. Here's cousin Avery below enjoying her cookies for dessert.


Scuba - We went for our first scuba dive and it was amazing. We aren't certified yet, so it was a 25 foot dive but we still saw a baracuda, lobster, and other colorful fish.

Cruise Ship - The thing is HUGE. Jack loved seeing the ocean from our room and woke up every day saying, "I see the ocean". We even went to an ice skating show. This is a great photo of my niece in front of the ship.