The weekend continued

As I mentioned, I want to document the rest of last weekend because it was one of those weekends where there were many moments that I felt validated that we made the right choice in moving here. There were so many times that I felt content...and I want to remember those moments...for the times when I miss home and wonder what we are doing here.

When we woke up at the Christian camp, we ate a nice breakfast with the volunteers and hung around while all the volunteers packed up and found their transport back to the city. Andie and Zoe found the Fijian children that reside at the camp and played happily (and barefoot) for the whole morning. They played with the dog, swung on the swings, played in their house, caught more bull-frogs, ate cake, and went fishing. As I packed up the room and heard them laughing with the kids, I felt so happy that they could make friends anywhere, despite language barriers. The kids took the girls fishing. This was not the traditional fishing that we think of when we imagine fishing in the states. The kids took off towards the stream with a jar, rope, and flour. Twenty minutes later, Andie came running up to us holding two fish! She was so proud and wanted to fry them up right then and there. (Instead, we gave them to the kids who lived there of course). I had to see how they caught the fish, so the kids taught me as well. They have a big mason jar that with rope tied around the mouth of the jar. They fill the jar half way with flour and toss it into the stream, holding on to the rope. Once the fish swim into the jar to eat the flour, they yank the jar up, fish and all. It was so cool! It took some patience, but I know from fishing with my dad throughout my youth, fishing takes patience...whether you use a pole and bait or a jar and flour. Andie had the same look on her face that I did when I was young and felt so accomplished at catching that first fish!

At one point, Warren said to me, "This is exactly what I envisioned with us moving here." He said exactly what I was thinking. I am so thrilled that the girls are broadening their horizons...playing with people from different parts of the world and learning new things...like how to catch frogs and fish in a jar and how to eat passion fruit and climb coconut trees. (Well, they cannot really climb coconut trees, but they try). Anyway, it was a great morning and I am hoping for many more like this one.

She was so happy with those two fish!

I just had to throw this throwback in from way back when. Me and Dad fishing. I am sure he's proud of Andie for holding onto those fish like that!

"Look what we caught!"

The fishing in action.

Here's the jar in the water. It's hard to see.

The flour used to lure the fish. Who needs worms?

We had to peel the kids away from the camp to go across the street to the resort. The resort is a small one, perfect for those looking for a more relaxed vacation. There is a small pool, a restaurant, and several bures and villas right on the beach. It was very relaxed and different than the mega-resorts we've been to thus far. Neither is better..just different. We had a nice villa that was sort- of air conditioned with a beautiful outdoor shower. The AC was a welcome change after the camp and two weeks of no AC in our house. We enjoyed swimming all day and went back to the villa in the evening due to a torrential downpour. We all hung on our porch in the rain. I kind of love hanging out on a porch in the rain. There is something really peaceful and sort of exciting about it, all at the same time. After a while, the kids watched a movie inside while Warren and I shared a bottle of wine outside. We waited and waited for the rain to let up so we could go to dinner, but it never did. We ended up ordering meager take-out from the hotel's restaurant and had a nice family evening inside. Warren and I always plan on hanging out after we put the kids to sleep at resorts, but without fail, we always fall asleep with them and end up dreamily walking to our own bed later.

The next day, we played at the pool a little more. There were so many Suva expat families there, being just 45 minutes from Suva. At one point, 11 kids were in the pool, and all 11 of them were from Andie and Zoe's school. Andie made friends with some older boys and Zoe became friends with a girl in reception/kindergarten at her school. The girls looked for crabs together for hours and Andie and the boys played cricket all afternoon. I sat by the pool. It was pretty nice.

After we relaxed pool side, we went into the town of Pacific Harbour for lunch (where we ran into more Suva expats) and ate a nice lunch. We came home on Sunday evening relaxed and ready for the week.