Yeah, Mon.

For those who don't know, we made it here safely.  For those who know even less, here is Jamaica.  We are on a 7-day trip with our friends Jamie and Christine and their little girl, Olivia.  We are at a villa named Cannon Cottage in the Silver Sands community.  It is absolutely amazing.  We have great views of the sea, a wonderful staff (cook, maid, and handyman), and a one-minute walk to a very private beach.  You will, of course, see photographic evidence below.

Natalie is having a really good time.  She gets a little timid in the water.  She really likes it when we hold her and take her out.  She is starting to warm up to going out on her own a little too.  She spends most of the time filling one bucket with sand, pouring water from another bucket (that any adult around her paying attention has to fill up periodically), and mixing it together.  She is usually making a cake.

Let me talk a little bit about the food.  It really is great.  Lorna, the cook, is fantastic.  She makes local dishes for us at every meal.  I have not had anything yet that wasn't fantastic.  Tonight we are scheduled to have curried chicken and shrimp.  Sounds horrible, right?  We are waiting for the local fishermen to bring a good catch to have some fresh fish.  They aren't having much luck out there right now as the water is pretty choppy, though not so on the beach in the morning at least.  The fruit is so flavorful.  Everything comes fresh from the trees.  It doesn't have to spend a week on a boat or truck to get to the market like it does at home.

Anyway, I hope you are all jealous.  For those of you thinking we are rich, we aren't.  This is a VERY GOOD deal and I recommend it to anyone interested.  Finally, Amy is concerned that I am telling everyone that we are on vacation and not at home.  I say, anyone reading the blog is either a close relative or friend or doesn't know where we live.  Just in case, though, we have very nosy neighbors (love you, Mom) and a ferocious guard cat.

Sadly, though, the pictures will not appear today. We don't have the cable to transfer from camera to laptop.