OMG, I am THAT Mum

On Monday we went to Cattlewash to see Kerri and Fabian.  They rented Cornwall house (where we stayed in May) to celebrate their daughter's 18th birthday. I just found the time to sit down and write a post about it and discovered that I am THAT Mum.  Looking through the photos I realised there was not one of the actual party or my actual friends.  In any other instance, I would take loads of me with everyone but not now, every photo was of Sebastian!  You cannot even tell there is a party going on!  To be fair he looked pretty cute but I just cannot believe it never occurred to me to take one other photo.  I am nipping this in the bud!

 Poor guy cannot go into the pool because of an ear infection.  

 He loved all the teenage girls (he is a bit scared of men, usually cries when he first meets one), he was hiding and watching them.  It was so sweet.

He loves his nanny, Kailee. She had a few days off at friends homes, well deserved but he missed her.
We had a great day.  I caught up with Janine and a few other people I was hoping to see, although you would not know it with these photos!

Almost Normal Weekend

From next week things in Barbados will pretty much be open, there will be a few restrictions (like masks) but for all intents and purposes, it will be business as usual.  I intend to try and enjoy these weeks as I am not sure how long this can be sustained unless borders remain shut and I am not sure how that can happen for too much longer.

 

Saturday Sebastian woke up the grumpiest he has ever been.  I think he has just had enough of all his ear infections (ongoing for months) and then broke out in a rash as well .  We finally made it, hours late, to Vicki and Hottie for lunch.  But poor Sebastian could not go in the sea or the pool, torture. 

We got home and played Kahoot with Craig and Laila which was very nice.

 

Today, Sunday, I took Sebastian to Aunty Andy's for a bit.  He loves it there, horses, dogs, stairs, music, Granny Andy and loads of things to try and pull down.  

The best part of my weekend was the family walk on the boardwalk this evening, with a stop off for a much-needed glass of wine.  Now preparing to start my last weekend of work in Thailand, which I have very very mixed emotions about.

The Week

Week 8 of online teaching almost done.  I will not be sorry when it comes to a close next week.  I have loved having the extra days with Sebastian but really I am tired now.  I just put together some pictures of the week.

 Mexican Monday, look how cute Dad and Sebastian are!

Looking at the monkeys

 Look at this face! He was looking at Kailee with her ice cream, very jealous

 But then he remembered he could not eat it and cheered up. 

 

A visit with Granny Andy today which meant music time of course.

 Waving us off, think he would have been happy to stay and play music

 But his parents dragged him to the boardwalk for a Blakey's dinner.  Here he is waving at the waitress as he is pretty much a regular now.

Black Lives Matter

If you asked me what it took a few weeks ago to keep Covoid from being the headline of the news, I would have thought nothing except possibly the outbreak of World War 3.  I was wrong.  Now every day the headlines are all about the protests throughout the world triggered by the murder of George Floyd.  I am, of course, horrified that this happened but I am happy that the world has responded, loudly.  It is not the first time we have heard or seen accounts similar to this and I can only hope this has set off a course of protests that will help ensure it is the last.  The systematic racism that is endured by black people in the US and throughout the world is sickening.  I would never say that these murders shock me more as a mother, that would be insulting and unfair.  However, I can say as a mother and a wife, I cannot even imagine having the constant worry about the safety of my son or husband at the hands of the people meant to be protecting them solely because of the colour of their skin.  The safety conversations I will have with Sebastian as he becomes a young man will largely be about driving a car and not about how to navigate through life being targeted (and not only by police) because of his skin colour.  I cannot even imagine how frightening this must be. 
I hope to see this in the headlines for a long time to come and I hope that this time, finally, something changes.    

Rally Driver and Blakey's

Yesterday was a busy day with things getting more and more like pre coronavirus days.  It feels so great to be able to see more people and spend time with my loved ones here now.  Our plan is now to leave at the beginning of July to start our new lives in The Bahamas.  I am not even sure I have ever mentioned it here, but we have both taken new jobs on the island of Grand Bahama.  We are so sad not to make it back to Thailand at this time, the only thing from not making it totally devastating is to focus on our new adventure.  Anyways, more about that another day.  Yesterday we went up to Hottie's raceway (well not his but where he races) and Luke took me and Luis around the track.  He is such a fabulous driver, definitely fast and there were a few times where I thought for sure we would crash, but we came away unscathed.

 

 

Sebastian loved every minute of it.  He loved hearing the car race by, which is unfortunate as he is never driving a rally car!

We then went to Blakey's, it is so great to be back at our favourite spot.

Shopping! Blakey's!

Today was the best day!  It was almost like a normal day. I really did not even know how much I missed regular life until I had a glimpse of it today.  The last few weeks have been a struggle for sure and this was just the day I needed.  Feeling way more motivated and ready to tackle whatever lays ahead.  I started the day by getting cold coffees for everyone (that was interesting), then we went shopping with the girls (the excitement to walk in a department store was amazing) and topped it off by bumping into an open Blakeys during our boardwalk walk.  Luis, Sebastian and I went on an afternoon walk and were so surprised to see it open (as I thought Fabian would wait a few more days or even weeks), it was such an exciting moment.

In town for a little shopping.

 Everyone was excited to be at Blakey's, Sebastian was big on exploring the whole place...

 and Luis trying their rum punch.

 There are so many things that people will take away from this time.  Amongst many things, I hope I never take the small things for granted again, or anything really.  Anyways, I just had a wonderful day.

Family Fun

With no new Covoid-19 cases in 8 days and only nine active cases on the island, not only is the Prime Minister relaxing the rules but people are too.  Of course, this could change at any time, especially when the airport reopens but for now we will enjoy it.  We have been here for ten weeks and yesterday we hosted the family party that was going to happen in March.  It was a lovely afternoon, I think people felt more at ease as well as the property is quite large, breezy and spacious.

A lovely last night at the house.  It was great to have a few days away (especially for Craig I would imagine, as we are the longest house guests ever).  We also were able to make some pretty big decisions, but I still feel too raw to talk about them.  Another day.