last of the vacation - a trip to the ocean

At Jais Aben - a resort

some local transport

look at that blue water!

was SO handy to have this little "boat" that we borrowed for the trip!

Thea

Zeke, Daddy, Thea

some little fishes we swam with

This resort was really nice, and would let you swim on their beach if you bought something.
We enjoyed ice cream cones and some really yummy steak fries!

 

early morning fishing

We recently took a vacation to the coastal town of Madang. The kiddos woke up early pretty much every morning. But on this first morning, just Thad woke up as the sun was rising so Jamie took him out for some early morning fishing.

 

As you can tell, the place that we stayed was pretty close to the ocean with some beautiful views and nice sea breezes.

heading out together

beautiful sunrise!

the fishermen

You can't tell, but there are some pretty big rock/coral just past the grass. It just drops off from there to the water, so it's not really a place you can take small kiddos swimming.

fancy coffee

My barista at work

Jamie, the non-coffee drinker in our house, has become quite the fancy coffee maker. He has started experimenting with different flavors and has come up with a really yummy combination:

 

Put in the coffee press with about 2 c. water and let perk for a few minutes:

Coffee grounds,

1/8 t. cinnamon, ground

1 pod of cardamom seeds, crushed with the back of a spoon

1 heaping teaspoon of cocoa powder

¼ t. vanilla

 

After the coffee has achieve perfect brew-ness, pour into a large mug and add:

1-2 teaspoons of sugar

Chocolate soy milk to taste

 

This weekend he even got REALLY fancy, and whipped up some cream for the top! It did make it seem like something I should have to pay money for J The extra cream he froze in dollops on a cookie sheet and once solid, transferred them to a freezer bag. So now I can put a dollop of whipped cream on my coffee whenever I need that extra “something”.

 

What an act of love from a man that isn’t fond of coffee himself!

some of the ingredients

 

flying to Huon

Jamie and another pilot went on a flight to the Huon peninsula a month or so ago. Here are some photos from their trip:



Jamie, the pilot



on the way to the first airstrip

At a stop...




at the airstrip





A distant waterfall








The village off to the side, behind the fenceline





onlookers



looking up the airstrip



At another airstrip...

a crowd usually gathers to see what's going on

looking down the airstrip from the plane...

 

...and up towards the plane



a pretty view



someone's garden

 On the way to third airstrip...

coastline



Flying through a gap in the hills, under the clouds to get to another airstrip







Welcome back, Daddy!

A few weeks ago, Thad, Thea and I went out to aviation to watch Jamie come back from one of his flights on a Friday afternoon…

Waiting for the plane

Thea says, 'Hi!'

  

landing





taxi-ing to a stop

 

Thea and Daddy



Jamie - the pilot



Thad gets to go with daddy and take a look at the plane



Thad & Jamie checking out the plane

Carnival

In early November we went to 'Carnival'. Carnival is a fun day put on every year for the community by the high school students at the international school here—games, food and fun and 1/2 the profit they give to a PNG charity.

Thad enjoyed playing in the bounce house,

trying Coke,



and going for his first horse ride!



Thea spent her time smiling.

I tried to convince Thad to try cotton candy, but he thought it was 'too funky'!

Thea found a new friend just about her size!



By far, Thad's favorite thing was the Ferris Wheel!!



The ferris wheel, which is really more of a square, is a four seated ride that is propelled by the arm muscles of the high school boys.



Thad recognized the ride right away (he has pictures of Ferris Wheels in a couple of books) and kept saying 'ferris wheel'. We weren't sure if he really wanted to ride, or just thought it looked like fun to watch. We decided to have him try it out with Jamie and just see what he thought. As you can see, he thought it was super fun, and was all smiles the whole time.