Life's a beach

Nice up yuh self!

Cale’s blond hair and round cheeks have earned him a new nickname from the locals on the beach – Richie Rich! I’ll walk by after a morning of work and Duke the fishermen will call out “Is it Richie time now?”. It is quite amazing to see Jamaica through the eyes of a two year old. Cale has quickly learned how to respond to all the people on the beach trying to sell us fruit, crafts and boat rides – he’ll very politely say “No thanks, not today. Maybe tomorrow!”. He’s also commented how people in Jamaica “love to honk their car horns” and that the “ocean water is awfully warm”! Only once so far has he spotted Bob Marley. Although we are surrounded by dreadlocked rastas, only one man really caught his attention and as he called out “what is your name?” to the man, he whispered to me, “look mom, it’s Bob Marley!”.

It seems Caleb has grown up in the short time that we’ve been here. He is incredibly confident in the water, talks to everyone he meets and I’m very proud to say that he is very close to being fully potty trained. After several months of trying, he finally had his first successful poop on the potty! We had enticed him with promises of a ‘potty party’ and told him we could skype with his dad as soon as he did it. We had the party, complete with popsicles, balloons and several games of hide and go seek, and I’ve rarely seen him beaming with such pride as when he got to call his dad and tell him the good news.

Potty Party!

Lunch time coconut water. We eat every meal outside on our patio

The beach mapping is coming along well. My dad and I head out each morning together with our GPS and other gear in tow. We watch the frigate birds and pelicans circle above our heads as we measure the beach and look for signs of erosion. We are quickly learning to troubleshoot problems as they arise, and we now know to give ourselves extra time to talk to everyone we meet along the way. Everyone has questions about the surveys we are doing, and they all offer up great information on how the beach has changed and eroded during their lifetimes. I’m planning to begin filming some of the people I talk to as a record of the wealth of local knowledge I’m encountering.

New friend Caden, his grandma works at our resort.

Caden is a little unsure of the hand holding!