Well, things are still going great here in beautiful St Martin! It is starting to feel like home here. We don't really have a routine or anything but we do have some things that we have to do and we know where and how to do them. We went shopping yesterday for a couple of things. We had to get a new DVD player because the one we had blew up from watching too much Doodlebops and Elmo videos (and here I thought I was the only one that was going to explode if I heard "Hey Moe" one more time!) We also got some cheese and a really nice peppercorn beef loin from Cost U Less that was cheap but looked awesome. I thought that because Tangra had been studying so hard and hadn't seen the boys and I in a while I would have her take the evening off of studying and I cooked her dinner. We had grilled loin, mashed potatoes, and corn (not the hardest meal to cook or the most glamorous but it was good and the evening was very relaxing.)

Other than that it has been the same type of things here! We take lots of walks on the beach and down by the bridge to watch the boats. We've done a lot of exploring to see what we can find. There are just so many places to go look around! We can even go to the end of the runway and watch planes take off which is always a crowd pleaser.

Today I feel like a pool day so I am going to take the kids to the pool up the street for a couple of hours so they can swim and I can get a tan, then we will probably have to come back here for naps! :-) I have learned to love naps! Tonight Chuck and Geneva are coming over for K-bobs on the grill which should be fun.

Have a great day and we will talk to you all soon,

Matt

The "Zoo"!

Well, on Friday we went to the zoo with the Spouse's Club and we really had a good time. It wasn't the best zoo I've ever been to but considering it's on a Caribbean island it was nice. There were plenty of animals to see and there was also a nice playground for the kids when we were done walking. The highlights for us were the screaming bird and the rock chucking monkeys. (I was relieved that it was just rocks and not poo!) If you threw a rock in the cage the monkey would pick it up, climb half way up the cage, and then aim at someone and wing the rock at them. We had to be careful though because he was really good aim and threw really hard! Chuck almost lost a spleen in the line of fire. As for the screaming bird . . . well, I'll just let you see for yourself. (click on the video.)

Once we were done at the zoo we went home to take naps before going to dinner with Chuck and Geneva. We started off walking Maho trying to figure out why all the places were closed. Turns out that because High season starts in November a lot of businesses close around this time each year for a vacation before the big rush. We ended up at a little French Bistro close to the airport that turned out to be the slowest restaurant on the planet. It took over two and a half hours for them to serve the 6 of us dinner. The food was OK but after waiting that long for it I can't say I would like to go back again.

Saturday was beach day at Friar Bay. It was a nice beach with relatively calm, shallow water that was perfect for the kids. The boys had a blast playing with the other children and thanks to the other spouses I even got a little break from childcare to go on a hike to Happy Beach about a half mile away. After visiting the beach we went to Rick's for some free Iced Tea and Dinner with Chuck and Geneva. (It totally made up for dinner the night before.)

Sunday morning Tangra had a study group so the boys and I took Chuck and went to Ace Hardware and Kooyman (Caribbean Menards) to find a swiffer and a grill. Luckily we were able to find both. Once Tangra was done with her study group we decided to take the afternoon to tour the island some more. We went exploring on the french side for a while before getting Domino's for dinner and relaxing at home.

Today the boys and I did some shopping to stock up on the necessities and just hung out. Tonight was quarter wing night at Pineapple Pete's so Chuck came over and we had a cheap dinner. Now the boys are playing with their toys and getting ready for bed. I think that catches everyone up. Be sure to check out the pictures that I have added to the Photo Album!

Talk to you all soon,
Matt

Today it was pool day again! After doing some much needed house work, we headed up the street. Noah met some new friends and had a great time playing. After that we headed back here for naps which were by that point much needed!

The last couple of days have been pretty normal. We spent some time looking around for a little car for me to drive. I had hoped that I would be able to get a bike and get around that way but with traffic and the streets the way they are I am afraid that will not work. So we are trying to find a cheap little 4x4 for the boys and I to take exploring. Hopefully we will be able to find something soon because there is a lot of island for us to explore.

Tomorrow we are going to go with the spouses club to the Zoo which should be fun. I'm not sure it is much of a zoo but I hear the monkeys tend to throw poo so that should be entertaining. After that I think we will probably continue the search for the 4x4.

Talk to you all later,

Matt

Tangra's first block exam is over!

Yesterday was Tangra's first block exam. She hasn't received her grades yet but she feels like she did pretty well. The exam started at 8am and went until about 12:30. After the exam they were asked to go into the Rotunda where they were greeted by applause and cheers from all the 2nd-5th semester students congratulating them on completing their first test. They had cake and punch for everyone and all the 1st semester people really appreciated it. I can't say I can imagine that happening at a school in the US. Everyone here has been so nice.


At around 4pm we got together with a few other married couples at Mullet Bay Beach (No Nick it has nothing to do with real Mullets!) and had a cookout. It was very relaxing and everyone had a great time. Noah is a little fish and loves the ocean!


Over the weekend Chuck and I did a lot of exploring with the boys. On Saturday we went to our first Beach Day with the spouses club at Plum Beach.
There was a pretty good turnout and the boys had a ball. Noah swam and played with the other boys while Nolan rode around in his baby boat. He is quite the floater.

Once we were done swimming we went to change and take naps after which we all went to Phillipsburg to see if Taco Bell here tastes the same. I must say that, what they had, actually tasted better, however, they are always out of at least 2-3 basic things. When we were there they were out of hard taco shells, rice, and baja sauce.


Sunday we decided to go find the fort but we went all the way around the island without actually finding it! OOPS! We had a great time though. We tried out the Getz's abilities on some more good "island roads" which it handled with ease. We saw a couple of new beaches (Cupecoy, Oyster, and Pinel) and walked front street looking for the quicksilver store which we also did not find.

After we had explored nearly all day we met up with the girls around 6:30pm and took them out for a good dinner to help them prepare for their first big test the following morning. (They had been told by their professor that they should stop studying around 7pm the night before the exam and not look at the material again until the test, so that is what they did. We'll see if it works or not!) I think it was just a ploy to get a really good meal from Pineapple Pete's, but if it works who am I to doubt!

Well, I think that brings us back to current on the blogging. Hope everyone is doing well and we miss you lots.

Take care,

Matt

It's been a couple of days.

Well, it's been a couple of days and boy have we had fun. On Wednesday afternoon I packed the kids up in the stroller and hiked off to campus to meet Tangra for lunch. Turns out that it is a little farther than it seems. I think the exact math is nearly 4 miles which in a car seems quick but by foot pushing two kids seems like forever! We made it though. I can't complain too much because Chuck offered me a ride twice but I was determined to make it so I kept walking. After lunch you can bet your backside that I took the car home though!

Yesterday it was time for another trip to the pool. Tangra was home for lunch before spending the afternoon and evening studying at the school so while her and Nolan took a nap Noah and I took off. I finally remembered to take the camera and snapped some pictures.

This time, after we arrived a few other children came down so Noah had fun playing with them. The only problem was that the other boy kept getting in trouble because he was not allowed to get his head wet and Noah was practicing his jumps which are more like a glorified belly smacker. After the first few I had to have him do something else.

When we returned from the pool, Tangra was finishing up typing some notes and then she had to leave for her lab and a couple of study sessions. Noah took a nap while Nolan and I played on the floor and then we all went for an evening walk before eating some supper and sitting down to watch some tv. Tangra returned around 8:30pm and we all cashed in about 10.

Which leads me to today! Like normal Tangra was gone when the boys and I got out of bed. I decided that because our diaper stash was running low that today would be a great time to try out the cloth diapers. Now, I'm not sure what IDIOT invented cloth diapers and thought they were a good idea but thank God for the guy who decided they sucked! I mean really, who wants to reuse something that has had crap shot all over it! Anyway, for some reason, I had decided that because my mom had used them (God bless her for putting up with that) I should too. Besides that I might be able to save some money!

Ok, so here's the story. It took me about fifteen minutes to get the stupid pins to somewhat hold the diaper and another five to put the little plastic shower cap thing on. It took Noah about 15 milli-seconds to take it all off again. All he would say was "I don't yike it Daddy!" and sit it on the floor next to me. After another ten minutes and some stern conversation, I had convinced him that daddy knew best and that if he left it on he could have a snack. This of course lasted long enough for him to scarf down the 6 measley fruit snacks that come in a package (which is another story that I won't get into now) before ripping it off again. About 6 packs of fruit snacks and an hour later I finally got Noah to watch some Elmo (with his diaper on) giving me some time to attend to Nolan who was supprisingly quiet through this whole ordeal. What I soon found out was that he was quiet because he was unleashing the motherload in his shorts! Now we aren't just talking a little poop were talking a HOLY CRAP! The poor kid had it from his belly button to his shoulder blades and everywhere in between. I got about half way through the diaper change process when I realize that unless I wanted to use all the wipes that we owned I had better just give the poor little guy a bath. So I stripped him down and plopped him in the sink at which point Noah walked up and said "Daddy, I need go poop!" I left the baby sitting in the still dry bathroom sink and proceeded to try and get the now bionic pins from the cloth diaper that before would not hold anything. Unable to get my nimble fingers to unclasp the pins I decided to pull the diaper down like a pair of underwear only to find that I was too late! Now I had one poopy kid in the sink waiting to be cleaned off, another poopy kid on the pot waiting to be cleaned off, and a soiled cloth diaper stashed in the corner which also needed to be cleaned off because as we all know "you don't throw them away... that's how you save money!" Well, needless to say after two showers for each boy and four for myself. . . I LOST MONEY!

(On a side note, whoever said that you could just put the poopy part of the diaper in the toilet and flush it and all the poop would just "COME RIGHT OFF" has obviously never tried it!) I trashed that thing quicker than you could say Huggies and packed that poor kid in one of Nolan's diapers till I had a chance to get more.

After all that it was lunch time so I made some Ravioli for Noah which as you can see he thoroughly enjoyed. Of course I gave him one more shower and now everyone is laying down for a nap. As a matter of fact, that sounds like a great idea.


Later for now,

Matt

PS. To top off the whole story . . . as I was finishing up writing this message, Noah came up saying "Ucky daddy!" When I looked over I realized that three of his fingers were covered to the second knuckle in crap he had dug from his too small diaper, so I had to take a break to clean him off one more time. What a "crappy" day! :-)

Pretty Uneventful.

Well, yesterday was pretty uneventful, but very relaxing. In the morning I did some housekeeping while the kids slept in. Once they got up we took a walk to get milk and then returned home to watch Mickey Mouse, Handy Manny, Little Einsteins, and Doodlebops. After all the shows were over they both decided it was time for a nap which gave me time to do some more cleaning. After they took naps we had grilled cheese and dutch apple pie (Baby Food!)for lunch! It was yummy! We just messed around all afternoon playing games and stuff until Tangra came home around 5pm. We ate dinner with her and then she studied on the porch while the boys and I walked down past McDonalds and back (about 1.5 miles.) By the time we got back they were both ready for bed so we laid down on our bed and watched Doodlebop and Elmo videos. When Tangra was done she took the boys in their room and put them to sleep.

Like I said, uneventful but relaxing. I'm not sure what we are going to do today. We might go to the pool and then to see Tangra for lunch but we will see.

Thanks to all of you who have been keeping track of us. We really appreciate your thoughts and prayers. Take care and we will see you all real soon.

Later,

Matt

IT HAS BEEN FOUND!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After days of searching and searching . . . the elusive donut has been located . . . and it was delicious! We couldn't believe our eyes when we saw it. It was just as I had dreamed it would be! There Chuck and I were in some shady little bakery shop in the middle of nowhere when all of a sudden we both squealed with excitement like a couple of little school girls! Gazing through the glass we could almost taste the fattening flavor. However, dreams could not prepare us for the tastebud heaven that we were about to encounter! Words can not describe it, but pictures sure come close!

Anyway, after enjoying our donuts we headed to Cost-u-Less for all the things that our wives had told us to buy (and a couple of things they didn't.) Once we had finished with our shopping we met the girls at the cafeteria for lunch. Then it was off to Phillipsburg to find DVD-R's and a printer for Chuck.

All in all we had a great day and didn't even spend too much money.

Talk to you all soon,

Matt

A couple of good days!

We have had a great time the last few days. Friday was Tangra's white coat ceremony and it was really neat. The only problem was that with all the speakers, presentations, and 171 new students it took nearly 3 and a half hours. I am proud to tell everyone though that I was the only person there with children and no one even knew! The only peep they heard out of the boys was during the moment of silence when Noah though someone was getting in trouble and said "Uh-Oh", which gave everyone a nice laugh. I am soooooo proud of them! After the ceremony they had a dinner at the school and then Chuck and Geneva came over for ice cream, and we sat around talking till about 1am. Needless to say none of us were worth much on Saturday without a long nap.

Saturday Tangra kept Nolan and had a study group come over while Chuck, Noah, and I went to the Spouses Club Welcome Breakfast. We all met at Rick's place and had breakfast and played some games. I won one of the games so as a prize, I got my breakfast for free (Yeah me!) The new people also received beach bags with various St Martin pictures on them. After that we went home and both the boys decided it was nap time so Chuck and I left them with Tangra and her study group and went for a drive. We decided we would like to see just what a Getz can do!

We went and found a couple of "Island" roads that went up the side of the mountains and drove till they stopped at the top. WOW!




At one point we were going up a hill that was probably at least a 45-50 degree angle and I had the gas all the way to the floor and the car was almost stopped. On the way back down it was so steep that Chuck took off his seat belt, opened his door, and keyed 911 into his cellphone in case he had to bail out that way it would be easier to get help. However, I had 100% confidence in the Getz and she didn't fail me! (We will try to go back sometime so that we can get some pictures to share.) After we got home from that we all took naps and then Tangra had a study session at the school and we walked Maho and watch planes until she was done.



Today, Tangra had another study session and was going to study on campus the rest of the day so the boys and I went to the kiddy pool up the street to relax and catch some rays. We all had a great time and now the boys are both sleeping so that is a perfect time for me to write in the blog. I think tonight we may go to the pool at Chuck and Geneva's house and grill some hamburgers and hotdogs.

Talk to you soon,

Matt

The search for the elusive donut (and other island tales!)

Today the boys and I dropped Tangra off at class so that we could have the car to do some errands. However, as I drove out of the parking lot we were all overcome by an extreme craving. One like we had never experienced before. We had to do something and fast! I picked up my buddy Chuck (another one of the spouses from Louisiana) and we set out in search of the elusive donut. Now we aren't talking about some French pastry that resembles an extremely small loaf of bread, we're talking about a jelly filled ball of yeast, boiled in grease, and covered with sugars. We set out across the island stopping at every bakery, supermarket, and convenience store that we encountered but each time we were pointed in the direction of the stale bread and croissants that they consider breakfast. (How anyone can see that as breakfast I will never know.) Anyway, long story short I am convinced that there is not one donut on this entire island. We had one store that showed some promise at first but quickly lost clout when the lady told us to come back in the afternoon. (I mean really, who needs a donut in the afternoon?) Needless to say we didn't get a donut today and I am considering investing in a Dunkin Donuts Franchise.

Ok, enough ranting about the donut search, on to new things. Tomorrow marks the end of Tangra's official first week. It is going well but it is very hard. She was really excited the other day though because she got to start dissecting her cadaver. I guess by the time it is done they will have dissected and examined every part of the human body. (Great, yet another reason for me not to mess with my wife!) Her first "block exam" (a two hour exam that tests all 3 of her classes at once) is a week from Monday. It finally sank in yesterday and likewise caused her to have a slight meltdown but as usual I was able to help calm her down and she is much better today. I can understand her worry though because she has more notes from one week of class than I had in my entire college career!

Tomorrow night is the white coat ceremony where all the first semester students get a chance to put on their white physician's coats and go through a ceremonial march similar to a graduation. It is a very prestigious event which marks their entrance into the field of medicine. I will be sure to post pictures for everyone to see.

Well, I guess that is enough for now. Talk to you later,

Matt

I finally have my own internet!

After 3 weeks, 14 calls, and 12 arguments I finally got someone to come out and hook up my internet. Although they say the people on the island are friendly they can never say they provide good customer service.

Anyway, hopefully I will be able to do a better job of keeping everyone up to date on the happenings. Tangra is doing a lot of studying which we figured she would, but we may have under estimated the actual amount of time it would take. It is a lot of info to know but as usual she is handling it like a champ.

The boys are doing very well, although we had a rough day yesterday because of the internet guy. (We were stuck in the house all day waiting for a tech that never showed up!) Needless to say by night fall we were all in desperate need of a walk!

I will write more later, I just wanted to say hello!

Later,

Matt