The Patio of My Dreams...

Here in base housing, it is the thing to do to put up these huge tarp canopies over the back patio.  B got ours done with the help of his dad, and I love it!

It, you know, rains here.  A lot.  So I am sooo excited to be able to still send the girls out, and go out myself.  We have their sandbox, which I finally filled with sand, that they love to play with.  And B and I love to go sit out under the tarp at night, and listen to the rain fall.  A lot.

Grandma made the tablecloths, and I sewed bandanas together for the pillows.  And, best of all, all the furniture, except these yellow chairs:

Was free!!!  Curb crawling here is fantastic.  It almost makes up for the utter lack of thrift stores...

And I planted zinnias in some of the pots.  I love them.

Sister Pictures...

Are up on the other blog!
http://missasdays.blogspot.com/2012/08/sister-pictures.html

Star Wars Invitations...

Miss A wants a Star Wars party this year!  This makes me happy.  I have so far miraculously avoided throwing a princess party!  I'm not quite sure how...  Not that I think princess parties aren't great- just that it seems so inevitable with three girls...  So here are the star wars invites we made:

I printed the invitations out, just from Word, and put some silver star stickers on them.  Then I glued them each to two sheets of 12 x 12 paper I had (glued wrong sides together), rolled them up with a strip of black paper, and taped them shut to make light sabers.  I cut rectangles and squared out of duct tape to make the buttons.  Pretty easy!

Grandma and Grandpa's Visit...

Grandma and Grandpa came for a wonderful two and a half week visit.  And, although we were somewhat hindered by torrential rains and a serious bout of the flu, we had a wonderful time.  It was just so amazing that they took the time and trouble to travel halfway around the world to see us!

The little girls LOOOVVE their grandma and grandpa.  After all, who else makes waffles on demand, takes you to the swimming pool or beach every day, and plays memory for long stretches of time? 

 They took the big girls snorkeling and hiking, and helped the little girl learn to walk, and cheered her after every step.  We love them and miss them!

Hiking With Grandpa...

We  took Grandpa to see the Piti guns, which were put in place by the Japanese to defend against the American invasion in 1944. 

These girls love them some guns!  In fact, "Gunnns!" was one of Miss M's first words.  We lived in Virginia at the time, and would go visit the cannons at Yorktown.  She loved them.

 

The trail is through some seriously beautiful jungle.  It really looks just like a botanical garden.  Flowers, blue tailed skinks, mahogany trees...

 Unfortunately, I forgot to bring bug spray!  There were swarms of mosquitos.  They practically carried us off.  So we took off pretty quick.

Then we went to Asan Beach, where the main American force landed in July of 1944 to liberate Guam.  (Liberation Day, on July 21, is a much bigger holiday here than the Fourth of July.)  There's a monument, and you can imagine the poor marines wading in from the reef, where the lcacs had to drop them off under fire.

And yes, Miss M does have mismatched shoes...  She lost a turquoise one in the jungle when we first got here (Miss R kicked it out of the stroller) but they are her favorites, so although she has two pink ones, she continues to wear one of each...

Why I Hate Non Native Invasive Species...

1.  Nightingale Reed Warbler.  Formerly on Guam but extirpated by the brown tree snake.

2.  Mariana Crow.  Guam population has been nearly extirpated by brown tree snakes.

3.  White Throated Ground Dove.  Formerly on Guam, but believed to be extirpated by the brown tree snake.

4.  Collared Kingfisher.

5.  Micronesian Honeyeater.  Formerly found on Guam but extirpated by the brown tree snake.

6.  Mariana Fruit Dove.  Occurred on Guam, but was extirpated by the brown tree snake.

7.  Guam Rail.  This bird was almost eliminated in the wild by the brown tree snake.  (Although B claims to have seen these on his way to work...)

8.  Rufous Fantail.  Formerly on Guam but extirpated by the brown tree snake.

9.  Bridled White Eye.  Formerly on Guam but extirpated by the brown tree snake.

(All information from the book Common Flora and Fauna of the Mariana Islands.  Scott R. Vogt and Laura L. Williams.)

Doesn't this make you sick?  This island should be full of flittering colorful birds.  I should be able to put up my bird feeders and watch birds that I would never see any where else we will ever live!   But no.

A non-native invasive creature has killed them all...
This has always been one of my most hated things.  You know on Miss Congeniality, when she gets asked what she thinks the world needs most?  ("Harsher penalties for parole violators, Stan.")  I would say "Get rid of all non-native invasive species."  I wish I could spend my days climbing palm trees and hacking brown tree snakes with my machete.

So, glad I got that off my chest!  Thanks for listening, and no, I'm not really unbalanced...  That much...

A Perfect Beach...

We have found the all time, best ever, most perfect, paradisaical beach!  Look at that smooth little cove of sand, halfway shaded by flowering jungle vegetation, with gentle waves lapping at your toes.  Oh, and the rocks have built in hooks for hanging all your stuff on.  Nice bonus.

Private, surrounded by cliffs, but easy to walk to.

While Daddy and Grandpa were diving, Grandma and the girls and I relaxed here.

 

The girls played in the sand.

I finally remembered the sand toys!  That is pretty much a miracle...

Miss R loved being free to roam, and although we had to stop her from crawling head first into the ocean a few times, she didn't get into too much trouble...

 She does have this little problem with eating coral...  You need constant vigilance to keep it out of her little boca.  Of course she sneaks it in all the time.  I figure it builds the immune system, right?

 It's strange to think that when we leave here in a couple years, she'll be Miss M's age, and all she will know is Guam!  I wonder what she will think when we go back to the States, and the temperature drops below 76 degrees.  Or when she walks into the ocean, and it's not warm, and full of colorful fish.

 Our little tropical baby!

I never fail to be cheered up by some sandy raster...

I walked around the cove, taking pictures, looking for heart shaped rocks (I collect them...) and watching the waves.  I really like having a private shady beach...

Miss M has this thing for pouring water onto rocks.  She would have very happily spent the entire day in this pursuit.  Here her efforts were really quite pretty; the jagged lava rock made perfectly tiny little fairy waterfalls.  Miss R kept trying to get close to play in the water.

Miss R suddenly discovered that she really dislikes being covered in sand...

 It's everywhere!  Yuck...

Rub it off?

Still there.

 Ah, an idea!

Rub it off on the hair!

 Not so much...

Finally Grandma got her a bucket of water to rinse her hands in.

It works!