Monday and Tuesday

Yesterday was pretty low-key for the most part. Peregrine's fever had broken in the night and he seemed perfectly fine, thankfully! Poppy was awake way too early, which means I was too. We had a leisurely morning; I made pancakes from a mix and some scrambled eggs. We had bought a jar of Nutella and had that with the pancakes for a treat. It was very overcast and windy again. We had to get the rental car back by nine so we all drove into town to drop it off. After that we meandered around a bit, looking in a few small shops, and stopped in a little place for some fresh orange juice and fish tacos. (We weren't really hungry, but fish tacos seem to be a breakfast thing around here and I wanted to get some to try.) After that we walked down onto the beach where the kids wanted to see the old lighthouse that is leaning to one side. Apparently it ended up that way after a hurricane in the sixties (I think). It's no longer in use, but is sort of a landmark, and even in its leaning state has withstood all the subsequent hurricanes.
After that we walked up the beach, just taking our time and pushing against the wind. We stopped and the kids played in the sand and Peregrine in the waves. It was a nice day to meander a bit and sit and play more since it was so overcast. It rained a little as we were sitting there, but not for too long. After lunch and rest time we walked toward town and stopped to say hi to John and Renie, the couple we'd met in the jungle the day before. They have a nice place here in town, and then their stick house out in the jungle. They invited us in and we must have stayed and visited for at least an hour and a half. They are both retired and spend about half their time down here. After a while we all walked the rest of the way to the town square where we ate at Dona Triny's again. The kids did great, and we stayed and visited until after 9:30, sitting outside and enjoying the evening air and the company. The kids ran around the table and played in the dirt nearby. John and Renie are a very interesting couple, both retired from the educatiojn/psycology field. (I thought it best that I didn't bring up homescholing!) They know a lot about the area and were happy to share their knowledge, and, we found we had a lot of common interests.
By the time we got home and got to bed it was after ten, and the kids, for some unknown reason, were awake at 6:30 this morning! Well, the bright sunlight could be a reason, I suppose. Erik got up with them and I slept until 8. Jim's wife was coming to clean our place at ten, so we left for the beach and had a nice, relaxing time there, swimming and playing in the sand. We made a chocolate cherry vanilla sand cake decorated with seaweed- it was quite lovely I assure you. A culinary masterpiece, although possibly a bit on the gritty side. There were several people out kite-sailing today, a sport I've never seen before but found quite interesting. They ride a board about five feet long and are attached by harness to a huge kite, probably twenty feet long. They have control over the kite and can "steer" it and can go amazingly fast across the water. Some of them even caught air above the water and spun their boards around before landing. It was pretty fun to watch and I can think of a few people I know who would probably enjoy such a sport. (Neil?)
By 11:30 we figured our place should be clean but when we got back Tere was still cleaning, and she said it would be another hour! So, I grabbed a loaf of bread, a jar of peanut butter and some honey and took it down to the yard where Erik had waited with the kids. We had a nice little picnic lunch and the kids played in the pool while we waited. Erik and I sat on lounge chairs in the shade and relaxed. I think it was after one o'clock before we were able to come back up to our sparkling clean apartment. We all had a nice siesta and a smoothie before walking to town. We went early and let the kids play on the playground in the square, then ate at a place that had Asian food. It was a nice change and we all enjoyed it. We came home early and are calling it a night. More adventures tomorrow!