And We're back...

From Trinidad and Tobago that is. We got back late Saturday evening and I spent Sunday unpacking, doing laundry and generally recovering from traveling. We were also trying to get Jansen at least close to his regular schedule since he had to go back to Grace's Monday just like we had to go back to work!

Now... for our trip!! I'll start with the only negative. Jansen is TERRIBLE in the car. He essentially screams unless I'm in his face talking to him the whole time. Even then he still breaks out with some doozy hollers. The seven hour drive to Houston he slept for about an hour and hollered for the rest, then the drive home from Houston he hollered for about 6 1/2 hours and then fell asleep about a half an hour from home. Grrrr!!! It was sooooo frustrating. I don't know how Richard drives so long listening to that without having an accident because of the distraction. It drives me insane and I'm not trying to concentrate on the road!!

Now for all the good stuff!!! Hope you have some time to sit and read because it was AWESOME!! Friday night we went to Houston to stay the evening with Richard's Godmother and her husband. It was really nice to see them again and let them meet Jansen. When I had my stroke in '06 they let us stay with them to rest up before we drove home when I was released from the hospital. I was so happy to be fully functional this time!! We had a short but really nice visit, then were off to the airport on Saturday. The plane ride to Trinidad was 5 1/2 hours. The flight was smooth. Jonathan always loves to fly and so he was great once again. I think the plane is the only vehicle that Jonathan doesn't nap in at all!! =-P He loves the ride and peeks out the window all the time. He doesn't even pull out the DVD player or toys on a plane!! Jansen was soooo good on the plane. It was like traveling with a whole different child from the one in the car. He gets a little fussy when he wants to stretch out and there isn't much room, but overall he was happy, slept a little, and worked the crowd!!

When we got to Richard's Mom's house we had Roti (I'll try to define the foods we had for those of you that haven't had such things at the end) right away! Yummy!!! I can only hope that with practice I will become a fraction of the cook that Valerie is with curry!! I can hold my own with some things because I do love to cook, but her curry is amazing! We met Rhon's girlfriend, Maxine and Randall's girlfriend, Ruan that night. They were there when we got there and Jansen even stayed up to visit too. I think he was already working on winning over his uncles' ladies!! =-P Jonathan started out hanging with the puppies to warm up to everything. He also ran up and down the stairs a few times. By the end of the night he was comfortable and settled for the week!!

Sunday we got up and had breakfast and doubles. Then we headed to the ferry for a boat ride to Tobago for a couple of days. Rhon met us there (he flew instead of sailed with us and got the room checked in). Poor Jonathan had a rough boat ride. It was windy so the ride was a little rough. About 2 hours of the 3 on the boat were really choppy. He turned a bit green and eventually dozed off for a little bit. He kept it all in, but it was touch and go for a while if he would or not. Jansen loved the boat and would laugh every time it listed. I think that almost made it worse for Jonathan because he was so miserable and his little brother was laughing. At least he understood that Jansen wasn't laughing at him! We got in late in the afternoon. Then we went down to the beach as soon as we got settled in to our room. The room was actually more like a studio apartment with a kitchen and full sitting area. It was also right on the beach. The wind was still up so the waves were a little rough down at the beach. I lost my shoes and had to chase them and I was only trying to put Jansen's toes in to see how he liked it! (He didn't at all!-BTW) Rhon and I moved higher up on the beach while Jonathan and Richard actually swam, but the waves kept chasing us and trying desperately to get us wet! We weren't down there very long because it was getting dark and our tummies were grumbling. We got all cleaned up and went to a BBQ place. I tried a Mauby for my drink. The man behind the counter was so cute trying to explain to me what it was and what to expect from the flavor. When I said that I'd just go ahead and order that to try, he decided to give me a little sample first. I really liked it. He was a little shocked, but went ahead and filled my glass with a grin!! Jansen tried to dive into my plate so he wiped me down with BBQ sauce before it was all said and done. We got back to the room, got cleaned up, and headed for bed.

Monday we got up and went for breakfast. Richard had fish for breakfast... that was odd to me. I hadn't heard of many breakfast dishes that were fish based, but it was common there! After that we took Rhon back to the room (he was catching a plane back to Trinidad a day earlier than we were leaving), and we went to Pigeon Point. It was one of those beaches you see in the brochures with the turquoise water and white sand beach. You could go at least 30 feet our into the reef and still only be at chest level. It was calm and gorgeous. The sun was bright and stayed with us all day. It was a perfect day at the beach. Jansen liked it much better Monday and even let us put him in the water, not just his feet. He didn't giggle and grin too much in the water, but he didn't really fuss and frown either. He was also hugely popular there. I think he was the youngest around, so from adults to youngsters they all kept coming over to meet and coo with him. He LOVED all that attention! I think he will be quite the flirt with the ladies, he's already off to quite a start!! Jonathan was ecstatic! I think the beach is his very favorite vacation spot of all time. He LOVES, LOVES, LOVES it! He is a fish swimming around and won't come out even when he is a prune!! He jumped waves, caught floating seeweed, dove for shells, played the "hold your breathe" game, and on and on!! Richard and he played the most at first while Jansen and I got comfortable on the beach and in the water. Then Richard and I switched. It was a perfect day, but Richard and I did get a little sunburned. Amazingly the boys didn't. Jansen must have had super sunscreen power with the Water Babies stuff (it's so hard to rub on him because it's think and sticky, but apparently worth it) and Jonathan just gets toasty even with his sunscreen. I slathered it on myself, but since I'm so fair and my Mommy passed the redhead gene to me, my fair skin still gets a bit pink! We left the beach late in the afternoon and went back for more of that BBQ from the night before. Jansen was getting really cranky because his swimmer diaper was not holding in what it needed to and he was stuck in his carseat sitting in it. Gross!!! When we finally got back to the room I got him all cleaned up and he settled down. When we were all settled and fed we walked to the lookout point and listened to the waves crashing on the cliffs around us while the sun went the rest of the way down. I don't know many babies here in land-locked North Texas that can say they nursed to sleep listening to the ocean waves crashing around them!!

Tuesday we didn't have to get on the ferry boat back to Trinidad until 5 so we took a glass-bottomed boat tour. We went out in the Buccoo Reef and swam in the Nylon Pool. It was awesome. We saw some pretty amazing things through the boat bottom. It reminded me of the salt water aquariums Dad used to have, except there was the knowledge that you could step out of the boat and you'd be "in" all of it!! Richard got to snorkle some while I stayed on the boat with the boys. He said he saw some great coral and a few fish. The fish tend to head away from the snorklers according to the guide. We stopped at a a place where the ocean (in the middle of the sea) was only about 3 - 31/2 feet deep. That is the Nylon Pool. They say that the water has rejuvenating properties and the "sand" is a great exfoliant because it's all crushed shells. I will say that Richard and I both rubbed it on our rough patches (elbows, knees, feet, etc.) and it felt awesome!! Legend also has it that if you kiss your mate under the water your relationship will last forever. We kissed underwater (while Jonathan said "Oh Gross!") and it is not an easy task. The first time I think I spit saltwater right in Richard's mouth!! We eventually got it right, maybe that is the trick to it. If you are persistent enough to get a real kiss in under water, then maybe you are made of tough enough stuff to weather the other stuff! =-P Jansen was the happiest there than he was in the ocean anywhere else and we even got some giggles out of him! The guide said that it used to be called the "Dance Bar" because people would go out there and dance in the sea!! It was really cool!! We caught the ferry back shortly after we got done with the boat tour. Jonathan took a couple motion sickness tablets for the trip back to Trinidad. Both he and Richard went to watch the ferry leave port, but Jonathan didn't make it. The tablets kicked in and he was practically asleep before his butt hit his chair. He slept that trip until about 15 minutes before we docked. It was good because he didn't get sick at all and he was rested up for the evening ahead. Richard knocked off for a bit too, but not Jansen. He stayed wide awake the whole boat ride so, of course I was awake too!! =-P He was a little restless so we had to get up and move around a bit, but he wasn't bad at all. When we got back to Richard's Mom's we had more scrumptious food and visiting.

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday were all spent in Trinidad with Richard's family. We did get in some relaxing while everyone was working, but most of the time was spent visiting and meeting people. Richard and I had our first outing alone together since Jansen was born. We went to the mall for a little bit and the boys stayed with Grandma Valerie and Uncle Rhon. I was surprisingly relaxed instead of worrying that he was being difficult the whole time! Richard also showed me lots of the places he hung out at while growing up. I even got to see his school (though we didn't get to go in). I loved Tobago, but the best part of the trip for me was meeting/seeing everyone and experiencing life there in Trinidad! The differences were fun to experience, like: really narrow roads, driving on the opposite side of the road-heck even the opposite side of the car, the difference in the street signs (most of them there have a white sign with a black image and a red ring around it, though the shape may change), the way people drive in general, seeing everything in kilometers instead of miles, the prices with the currency difference (we paid $98 for a few snacks and some water-felt crazy to me!!), the list goes on!! It was just soooo neat to be amongst everything that was so new to me. We also got to meet so many wonderful people that I am still reeling from it all! It was extra special to meet Richard's grandmother and be able to introduce her to Jansen. She wanted to make sure that I was having a good time!! I think we hit it off pretty well!! =-P We got to drive down and spend a couple of hours with Richard's Dad so he could see Jonathan and Jansen one afternoon. Richard had also lived for a couple of years in the town that his Dad is in (he's the mayor) and so we saw a few more places that Richard haunted as a kid! On the way there we saw Pitch Lake. It's a lake entirely of pitch that comes up from underground. I'd never seen anything like it before. They even had structures built around it like the lake properties back in Wisconsin! On Friday afternoon Valerie (Richard's Mom) and I got to have a little "girl time" and we went in to the mall. It was a really nice time!

We were blessed that Stephen and Kisha (they live in New York) chose the Sunday after we were there to baptize Kye in Trinidad, so I finally got to meet the famous Stephen. And... bonus! we got to meet Kisha and Kye. It will be so fun having the two boys grow up in tandem! Kevin was able to make it in too (he lives in Barbados), so we were fortunate to get to spend some time with Richard's closest friends while we were all there!! Since Kevin was there when Jansen was born he got to see the progress he's made first hand! Kevin's girlfriend Carla came in on Friday night and was able to come to the BBQ so we even got to meet her, too!! And that takes us to Friday night...

On Friday night, Richard's Aunt hosted a BBQ. Once again there was a plethora of fabulous food and visiting! There were even more new people and she was such a gracious host along with Cousins Kimberly and Krystal!! What a splendid way to end our trip there!! I can still smell the chicken sizzlin' if I try!! =-P We got back to Valerie's and tucked in at 1:00 am and had to get up to get to the airport at 3:00!!!

We got to the airport and after some parting baby snuggles and hugs from Jonathan for Grandma Valerie we had to get on that plane back to the States. I can't say I was ready to come home AT ALL!! I had such a wonderful time and though traveling with kids is a bit stressful and complicated it was worth every moment. It was an amazing trip!!!! I missed so much in the summary here, but I'm back and forth all day adding a bit here and there so I did the best (yet I'm sure, disjointed) depiction that I could. I hope that the wonder and joy of the trip came through and gave you all an opportunity to vicariously experience our trip!

I'm going to list some of the foods/drinks and try to give a description. I'm going to miss some things I'm sure but just know that I LOVED every morsel!!
Roti-An unleavened bread (flat like a tortilla) and are primarily made from wheat flour, baking powder, salt and water. It is torn in pieces and used to pinch the curried meat (sometimes rice too) and eaten with the fingers. Sooooo good!! One of my very favorites!
Doubles- A sandwich made with two flat fried breads, called "bara", filled with curried chick peas, called channa. It's then topped with a variety of spicy chutneys and extra pepper sauce. I think my very favorite of all!!
Callalou- Can vary in consistency, but is essentially a soup whose main ingredient is a green leafy vegetable (like spinach). It can be made with any number of other ingredients, but has to have the green leafy base! So good!!
Pelau- A rice and pigeon pea dish. You can add chicken and it becomes a full meal all by itself.
Coconut Bake- An unleavened bread that looks kind of like biscuits and is a little sweet, but not like a pastry. Just a sweeter type of bread. Richard likes his with cheese. Of course being a "Cheesehead" I do agree that it is great that way, but I could have enjoyed it without too!
Macaroni Pie- Pretty much the only way to describe it is like a different version of Mac and Cheese plus stuff!
Portugals- These reminded me of Clementine Oranges.
Sorrel Drink- A sweet juice that reminded me a lot of grenadine. The juice is made from a plant (I think it's a fruit) that the fleshy parts are soaked and then sweetened into a juice and also has bitters added. I liked it a lot, but it was really sweet. The sorrel is also used as a flavoring in other drinks or fruit cakes and such.
Shandy- It has a hint of beer in it, but is sweet like a soft drink. It has low carbonation and is flavored either sorrel, lime, or ginger. I thought the ginger tasted like a hard ginger ale, the sorrel like it had a dash of grenadine, and I felt like the lime was the sharpest of them all in terms of flavoring. The ginger was my favorite, but I'm a sucker for gingerale!
Mauby- Is another drink. It is made from a tree bark and sugars. I thought it tasted at first like a root beer, then had an after taste like licorice. It was a pretty strong aftertaste, but I really liked it!
Milo- Is a malted milk chocolate drink. It is served hot or cold, but most often hot, apparently. Story behind this one is Richard had told me about it and described it as a chocolate milk-like drink. He then got some at the airport right before we left and stuck a straw in it. He kindly offered me a taste and I took a suck on the straw expecting chocolate milk... well, it was as hot as fast-food coffee and I blistered the top of my mouth from right behind my teeth all the way down my throat (there were 2 layers of blisters) and my tongue too. Oh, the pain!! I actually had tears in my eyes and some I think spilled over even. Richard said he thought I knew because the cup was warm when he handed it to me, but he forgot that he handed it to my "dead side" that I don't feel temperature on very well since the stroke. Ouchy. I'd like to try it again some time when it is either cold or I know it's hot so I can taste it for real, pain-free!
Benet Balls- Richard calls them the bird seed balls! They are sesame seeds in molasses, sugar and rolled into ball shapes then hardened as a candy. You need to suck on it a little to start it softening, then eat it as it is soft enough to chew. I really liked it. I was sad that I hadn't gotten enough in Tobago to bring a bunch back since that is where we had to get it from. They also make it in other shapes now like sticks and discs. Richard says that is a fairly new change.
Sugar Cakes- These are discs of sugar base with LOTS of shredded coconut in them. They are kind of soft and easy to bite and chew. I thought the sugar base kind of tasted like those orange sugar peanuts, but since there was so much coconut in them that was the main flavor. Scrumptious!! Again... I missed out getting some to bring back. =-(

I know I missed something(s). It was such a great trip that I think I got at least the majority of it on here after coming back to this post several times today!

Wish you could have been there too if you weren't and those that were... we miss you already!