Bula Bula!

It's Friday. Today I went snorkeling right outside our room. There were a ton of small silver fish near the beach but when we go out not too much. I did see a couple of medium sized fish, plus crabs and a lot of coral. Plus the most amazing thing - bright blue starfish!! Later it was time for Trick 'n Treating. They don't celebrate in Fiji but for the wedding all the bures (beach huts on the water where we were staying) gave out candy and all the kids went door to door. Kerry & Kevin had a cocktail Halloween party with the wedding party. I'm sitting outside our room just listening. The boys are sound asleep inside and the waves are crashing right in front of me. I can faintly hear the band from the pre wedding cocktail party just down the beach. There is a frog (toad???) looking at me and it is the biggest one I have ever seen. (about the size of my foot!). And our house gecko is making his presence known as well. This is such a tropical paradise. I can't be...

Malolo Lailai Island Plantation Island Resort So this morning I had a breakfaat of fruits, fish , black currant juice and champagne. It was wonderful! Then we packed up and checked out. We took the Bula Bus to the marina to catch our ferry. It was just under an hour to get here and along the way we passed Castaway Island (where they filmed the Tom Hanks movie). Sofitel was very nice but it felt like it could have been anywhere. Plantation Island is soooo Fiji!!! When our boat docked the entire staff was singing traditional music and greeted us with shell necklaces. Watch for falling coconuts. Literally. They fall out of the trees onto the beach. One landed not too far away when we were sitting outside. It made a huge THUD when it landed. You really have to look up and see if you are in hitting distance. FYI Just in case you didn't know... Fiji bottled water really IS from Fiji!

Today for breakfast I decided to try vegimite. I've been curious ever since I learned about it from the Men At Work song in the 80s. Even though I heard it was terrible I had to taste for myself. Yep. It's nasty stuff. We swam in the pool for a couple of hours. It was early - 9-10 AM - but so hot. No need for towels here, you dry off in minutes of getting out! In fact it gets unbearable so and you have to jump back in. Later we went to a christening at local church. The church had a school and a group of schoolchildren sat through the service singing at both the beginning and the end. It was really nice. After we went back to the babys grandmother's house which was walking distance. (Though it was a bit of a rough walk, especially with strollers - like 4 wheeling). They were preparing a traditional Fijian feast. There were musicians playing music, they served kava, and the food was cooking in the ground. They dug a hole and cooked a pig, fish, and veggies. Everything was ...

The boys were absolutely perfect on the flight. I think we were all afraid to say anything because we didn't want to jinx it but they made it through better than we even hoped. And they slept most of the way so they were ready to start their day in Fiji when we landed at 5AM. When the plane landed the turned all the lights off and local island music was playing. Walking outside was like going into a sauna! Baggage claim and customs seemed to take forever but then it was the biggest plane i have ever been on. We were actually on the second floor. They call it the bubble. When we exited customs, we were greeted and given shell necklaces (like leis in Hawaii). We took a shuttle to Denarau Marina to the hotel. Our room not ready since it was 7AM. We got another room meanwhile to change and went to the pool. Kids adjusted perfectly to Fiji time with no jet lag. Meanwhile Kerry & I was exhausted!! We went to see the show at the hotel of traditional Fijian dancers. It was so good. ...

We made it to LA!! We left the house dark and early yesterday morning and got to the airport. We checked our luggage (you need a lot of stuff with twins!) The first flight was the longest -5+ hours. The boys were mostly (well, kind of) good. One was sleeping or quiet all the time (meaning one was sad a lot of the time). At the end Tommy was ready to get off the plane but so were we! The next flight was great. About an hour and a half. Oh and we were all seated in one row which helped. Our plan was for Kevin to change with someone but that person couldn't move because he had a dog. What are the chances? So we got to the hotel and went to the pool, had lunch, then we all took a nap. This morning we are meeting some twins from Kerrys message board for a playdate. We are getting out late and heading to the airport tonight for our next flight. When we get off the next plane we'll be in Fiji!!!

I'm testing a remote posting to make it a little easier to update the blog during my trip. Just 3 more days to go. I'm mostly packed and starting to get excited!!!!!!!!!!

Friday we left in the morning and drove to the Pacific coast. We saw a couple of properties, had lunch, and then drove back to Managua. Checked into the conference and got to the hotel at 6:00 PM. Then left at 6:30 PM for the opening presentation. There was a panel of speakers (yes, in Spanish) for the first hour. But then each of the 7 countries represented each had a traditional dance performance. It was excellent. Saturday was a full day at the show and back to Granada for dinner. I have met so many people and even found people here that we work with but I had never met so that was fun. Today was sooooo hot. I'm looking forward to enjoying a little fall went I get home!! (And I'm also looking forward to an American meal. Sadly the food here is not my favorite)