Papua New Guinea in Review

After one bus ride and 4 plane rides, we're home from Papua New Guinea. We got in over 40 dives this trip , we just might sign up for more dive trips.

Kirsten has blisters on her toes from the fins. We have 4 hours of some great video, including footage of a couple different octopuses.


Skull Caves
We took an on-shore tour of the Skull Caves. The skulls are centuries old; they date back to intertribal warfare. Tribes with bigger skull piles had bigger reputations. They paid no concern to warriers, women, or children. The skulls all have a hole on the top, the size of a sword or stone ax (clearly the cause of death). The tribes finally buried the skulls in caves some time later. Where they rest now has a calcium drip on them, so they're slowly melting over time.


Nudibranch
These bottom-dwelling, shell-less mollusks are part of the sea slug family; they have some of the most fascinating shapes, colors, and patterns of any animal on Earth.




Anemone Fish
These are one of my favorite things to watch underwater. All they do is play in the anemone.

Diving Update

In Papua New Guinea...

We have had some rain here but it doesn't affect our diving. Just before we arrived they had quite a rain spell. The water has been a perfect 82 degrees and the visibility under water is fabulous. Dad has done 8 out of the 9 dives we have done so far. I think that is a record for him! He only had one headache the first day and missed one of the dives.

We get up at 6:00 am, eat breakfast at 7:00 am and leave for diving at 8:00 am. We get back about 4 or 5:00 pm and nap until dinner at 7. While on the boat we have snacks after the first dive, lunch after the second. The food has been delicious. Michelle I have not had a soda since I have been here, water only. I am in bed easily by 9:00 and we are both sleeping well.

Last night we lost our power for a couple of hours. The main line to the generator burned up. Luckily as divers we all had lights with us. We sat around and talked by candlelight, and ate dinner that way too. The hardest part was it got so hot in the dining area without the AC or fan going.

Four people have birthdays while we are here. It is nice because the chef makes them a cake.

We have already seen some incredible fish that we have not seen before. And of course we have seen my favorite anemone fish, or Nemo. I could watch them play all day.

At end end of the week a live-aboard boat will pick us up at the end of the dock and we will do the second half of our trip on a boat. I enjoy the rocking motion of being on a boat.

Diving As We Speak

We're currently on a Scuba Diving trip in Papua New Guinea (look it up on a map if you want to know where that is). We'll spend some time diving nearby, and some time staying on a boat to dive further out.

We'll return home on October 28th and we'll let you know how amazing the adventure was!
Don't worry, we take lots of pictures and video footage of the fish that we see- just ask my children who REALLY ENJOY seeing it all.

Our Grandkids Came to Visit!

Our grandkids and daughter Michelle spent 4 weeks with us in September. We had a long list of things we wanted to accomplish while Michelle was in town, but with two adults caring for two children, we never seemed to have time for anything! I don't know how she survives on her own in Chicago! We managed to work on several quilting projects, do some cupboard cleaning in my kitchen and pantry, get Daphne's shots, get Dayton's haircut, work on some trick-or-treat bags, and a few other things...

Gary played Michelle at ping-pong and tennis, and kicked her butt at both!


Fair
We went to the Puyallup Fair.
Because I'm his Nana, I got to spoil Dayton with ice cream and an elephant ear.































I took Dayton on his first carousel ride.














And Gary took him on his first train ride, which was the highlight of his fair adventure. He LOVED the 'choo-choo.'































Walks
We went for some hilly walks with the dogs and kids for exercise. Whenever we left the house, Dayton requested to go back to 'Nana's houf.'















Goals
Derrick gave me two goals to accomplish during their trip:
1. Get Dayton to feed himself.
2. Get Daphne to eat solid foods.

I accomplished the Dayton goal on the first day he was here.
He can even feed himself cereal in the morning.




















I worked on Daphne, and she's eating a little better now.
Here she's disgusted with peaches.


























Airplane
We spoiled the kids with toys (most from when our girls were little). Gary got a remote-control airplane for Dayton, which they enjoyed for a few minutes before crash and burn.































Phantom
We all went to Seattle and saw the Phantom of the Opera. It was spectacular.



















And here are some extra fun pictures of our beautiful grandchildren.
Come back and visit anytime!