Outdoors

Some outdoor shots of the village we went to for lunch on Sunday. And Astrid in her outdoor teeny knit hat. She is definitely getting chubby with a little double chin and an extra fold in her little legs.

Ballet

Oona will prepare for her ballet exam and is very serious, though she also likes to hang upside down like a chicken. This week-end was truly sunny, beautiful and warm with trees and magnolias budding everywhere. We picnicked in the park on Saturday and had a pub lunch outside on Sunday.

Falafels

Here's Astrid dressed to go about town again among sprouting daffodils.
















Kiefer waited patiently at the falafel lady's stand which is a regular stop on the way to swim-
ming and he munches happily away. We had a nice time floating about. Every morning and every evening Kiefer watches the Sick Turtle DVD and Oona watches the dolphin clip. Oona asked to keep the DVD.

Playdates, soccer and swimming

Oona is just playing and running in the sunshine with two play date friends after school. I took Kiefer to his soccer practice where he worked very hard on very elaborate exercises. Nimfa, meanwhile, took Oona for a swimming lesson. After dinner I attended a political discussion group put on by a group called "Front Line." Mainly the discussion by the panel of bureaucrats centred on Darfur and whether the UN should be declared a defunct organization or not. Excellent audience with excellent questions and input.

Hangin' Out

Spring is definitely here earlier than in Canada. Both Oona and Kiefer had long days at school today. Oona has after school activities like ice skating and the chess club, but on separate days. Oona took my queen in three moves as I looked on stunned. Kiefer is very tired after we pick him up at 3pm and complains, "its OK but its too long." Astrid Rosamund sleeps for a long time in her carriage outside as we walk but has trouble sleeping at night.

Sunday/Monday

This morning we dropped Oona with her cello and Kiefer to school and then had coffee with Astrid. She is so very small and sweet and wants to feed often. Kiefer was very eager to show me how fast he runs. And he does! After coffee with Astrid we went to a mini first concert by Oona's class. Twenty little ones in her music class playing violin and cello. Oona, was of coarse, in my eyes brilliant and did her little cello solo perfectly. She practices a lot and is very eager to learn. Very cool weather in London.

Congratulations Sonja and Alex!!!!

Yipeeeee The new baby is here!! A 7 pound beautiful baby girl! All is well. Congratulations Sonja and Alex, Oona and Kiefer.! So exciting to hear the news here.
Her name is ....

Dolphin Swim

Today we actually held onto the dorsal fin with our left hand and hooked the right hand under the belly of the dolphin, held our breath and the dolphin dove under and torpedo swam about the lenght of an olympic pool in 10 seconds. You really really had to get close to the dolphin and really really hold tight. The third time I got it right. What powerful, gentle intelligent mammals! Fantastic! Here are some pictures of tourists posing with the dolphins. They do not look real.They respond to hand signals and a whistle that I could not hear. The trainer has a pouch of fish and feeds them constantly. They were born and live in captivity in a large pen, in ocean water, have never been out and would not know how to hunt. The trainers say that keeping dolphins is the same as keeping horses corralled. But they make so much money from this thrill (500US for two of us). We have an underwater video of our rides.These are two of the pools at the resort and the huts across from ours.
Flying tomorrow :(

Wake Runners

This out rigger canoe paddles as fast as possible to ride the wake wave of the little tender that takes us to shore from the ship. A few canoes compete for the ideal spot so they just steer for the ride. We took a tour of the bridge today and got a thorough explanation of boat functions. This is a picture of a black tip reef shark. I snorkelled just a few minutes before the shot. I don't get why they didn't take a chomp of my arm or leg, but they do not attack humans and I think its because there is so much food for them that they are not hungary. The guide did feed them bits of fish so the sharks and the rays seem tame and come for handouts. Then dinner was polynesian dress up night where these ladies taught us how to make leis. I made this one for Allan. What a florists dream. All these beautiful flowers just grow wild.

Tahitian Men

These guys were crazy! and we went with them to snorkel with sting rays, lemon sharks and sea turtles. Afterwards they took us around the island of Bora Bora serenading with the banjo. I have never swum with sharks as they were being fed. Incredible! Tonight we will go to a lecture by an expert entitled, "What Really Happened On the Bounty." Had a very delicious birthday lunch on shore at a French restaurant. Our boat guys told us not to go there because they don't like the French and support the independance movement. Very Busy.

~I~