We have been working on assessments of the kids in school.  I wish I had done them when they first started.  I know how much they have progressed and it is so very rewarding to see and be a part of!  We have been giving Suni many more responsibilities in the school and she is thriving!  It has also been extremely rewarding watching her grow in confidence when working with the kids.  There are some photos in the post below of this.

Well, after Odil learned how to sew a little pillow for her doll, she went ahead and sewed 3 more.  Haha When I asked her where the blankets were to go with the pillows, she responded with a “ you didn’t teach me that yet?”  Haven’t done that yet, but we did build her a doll house as well.  I had her and her sister and brother help me build it and them I let them go to town to build a box/bed for their new puppy. Today I am going to bring over paint for Odil's doll house.  She wants it to be pink.  A girl after my own heart! J

I have started the seeds for my veggie garden, and made the plant boxes so they hopefully won’t drown again.  The soil here is so fertile here that you can take a branch off of a bush and plant it, and I will usually grow.  It’s amazing!  Sandra loves to garden and has lots of plants and flowers.  She got me started with a collection of my own.  They are beautiful!  They are all planted in containers.  I hope they all grow well.  We’ll see just how green my thumb is.

This month is Carnival.  It is not so big out here in the campos but in the cities it is Huge!  Last weekend, for Chris’ birthday, we went to Puerta Plata and experienced Carnival first hand.  They had closed off a huge section of the street by the beach and there were beer tents all over.  There was a main stage area where the costume/dance contest was held.  Groups of Dominicans dressed up in elaborate costumes and one at a time went up on stage for a minute or two.  Some had little skit type dances, and some just jumped around.  There were street venders walking around selling masks.  Jamie bought one with spikes, and we both bought some with feathers.  Boys walked around with a ball on a string and hit the people walking by.  There were tons of Dominicans and tons of tourists.  The energy was amazing.  It was a great day! I took a ton of photos of this.  I'll post some of them later after I go through them.

This morning we went kayaking.  We went to a spot where supposedly there are a group of manatees living.  The boys that took us out said that they are always in this cove area.  Today unfortunately we saw no manatees.  Oh well… maybe next time.  It was still a beautiful kayak trip!  Chris took some photos.  I’ll try to get a few to put up.

Before we went out on the kayaks, while walking around the beach, I found a beached starfish.  I threw it back into the water.  J

I found another when we got back but it was dried up.  I took that one home with me! J