Nature Walks and Other Outdoor Fun

We have been enjoying the cooler breezes in the mornings and evenings, so we use those times to take long walks with the boys. In the morning, we use the walks to explore God's creativity all around us! The boys (especially Jack) are really observant and can pick out new things each time. On a few of the trips where we did not bring the camera, we saw a hermit crab walking across the road and also a small snake - much to Jack's delight! One of the most prevalent plants around here (and one of earth's most unfriendly, we'd guess) is this terrible thorn bush. They line the roads and are so dense in some areas, we wonder how the first people to form settlements ever got through the stuff. We've had three different flat tires on our stroller because of it and look what some dried thorns did to Jack's flip flop! But we are grateful for what these trees remind us of. Josh commented the other day that they must have something like this in Jerusalem, since it looks like what a crown of thorns might have been made of that they placed on our Savior's head. It makes His agony and death for us just a bit more real when we see these thorns.

Jack has noticed that we see pink flowers in the moring, but not at night! And we see many varieties of cacti all over. We have a few in our yard, too, but the boys know to stay away from them.

This interesting tree has large fruits of some sort. One day, Josh broke one open and the odor was terrible - something similar to paint thinner! We'll have to find out what these trees are and if they serve any purpose! But for now...the purpose is that the boys like to use them as balls and throw them around! The other day, Jack noticed a new tree that we had not spotted before. From this picture, it looks like it has just a normal-sized seed pod....But look how huge it really is!!! There were two of them, so the boys brought them home and use them to make music (the dry seeds rattle around) or have sword fights...go figure! Every day we walk past a group of cliffs. We've been told that this is a favorite hangout for iguanas, but until the other day, we had never seen one. But yesterday morning I saw something running along the edge and in my mind, I first thought it must be some sort of small cat (like a bobcat or something) because it was quick and the tail was in the air, and it was fairly large. But when I looked closer...it was a HUGE iguana! (See a picture farther down to get an idea of what this one looked like.)We notice a few dead things as we take our walks. Jack is beginning to understand a little about death. Once we saw a huge dead grasshopper being eaten by ants. He stared at it for quite a long time and said, "Poor grasshopper." Then we found a dead bird (a bobwhite). We see it every day and Jack always wants to stop and look at it. Today he said, "Mommy, birdie go doctor." We love our double stroller so much! But Jack often wants to be the big boy that pushes the stroller instead of just riding along. Sometimes we let him.Today Jack noticed something entirely different. I didn't even see it, but he said, "Mommy! Rainbow on the road!!" (He loves rainbows.) So we stopped to look at it and found more along our route...which we had to stop and examine. Jack even asked to have the camera to take some pictures of his own. (Another blog post will be coming about Jack's photography!)We see lots of birds as we walk, but most are too difficult to capture with the camera. However, our little yellow birds that the boys like to spot stay in one spot long enough for us to take a picture! (A yellow warbler or a saffron finch???)

We have some pretty gusty winds along the shore here, so after weeks of Jack begging to fly a kite, we took one out. While it was fun to watch once it got up in the air, it caused lots of frustration...especially for a certain three year old who thought somehow he'd just be able to fly a kite without any difficulty!

Sometimes we drive Daddy to work and pick him up, so that we'll have use of the car while he's gone for two days. Well...one of the best parts about this drive is that we get to see "Fred". He hangs out on an old pole barn near the airport and he is always there in the morning around 8am. So, we are outside most of the time...but lately, it has been raining a little more than usual. So, we have inside fun, too. Any piece of furniture or pillow is game for the boys. They love tipping over one of the ottomans and pushing the other brother around in it! Or using their desks to color, work on letters (Jack)...or just have a good view of the neighborhood! :-)

And sometimes, for special treats, we have breakfast or lunch at McDonald's (when we have in-town errands to do) and let the boys play on the playground until they are worn out!

We hope this gives you all a little better view of our new island! Curacao is a very interesting place. We'll write more later about some of the special people we've been meeting!

Love,

Josh, Kam, Jack and George, wilderness explorers