. November 2013 .
Hello there!
Well, that's another month down. A very busy month at that! We had the Triathlon, Pirates Week, Swimming, Visitors, a wedding anniversary, a birthday, MOvember and a few other things thrown in. No wonder we feel tired!
Enjoy the read!
We missed some Halloween photos from last month. This is from the kid's night out running around the streets and collecting buckets of goodies.
 |
| Sam, Morgan and Mya |
 |
| Don't ask what she pulled out of her hat... |
Triathlon
Michelle was up early on the first Sunday in November. Triathlon time! Her training had been disrupted slightly in the early stages but over the last month or so she had been putting in the miles. It was a slightly cooler and overcast day (at least at the start) so conditions were good.
Michelle was one of the first people out of the water after the 1500m swim.
The rain came and went a couple of times which meant the road conditions could be dodgy. But thankfully nothing went wrong and Michelle came through the bike leg in a reasonably strong position.
 |
| Vvvvrrrroooooommm! |
 |
| Transition to the run. |
Although it was still overcast at the start of the run, the sun soon burned through and things became very hot. Not really ideal when you are about to embark on a 10km run after having just finished a big swim and a bike!
Michelle stuck to her plan and had a pretty solid race finishing in a very respectable time of 2:36.08 which placed her 2nd overall in the women's race. Well done!
 |
| Still manages a smile! |
Spelling Bee
Jake was recently selected for his school team to contest the National Spelling Bee. This meant some additional study and training for the big event. There were certainly some interesting words in there. We had to look up a few to see what they meant!
The boys did pretty well with Jake coming top in his team, 4th overall in the regionals, and 13th in the country, just missing out on the finals by one place, as only 12 go into the finals. A pretty good effort though!
Pirate's Week
Pirate's week kicked off in style again with the usual Fireworks display down at the waterfront.
We had our good friends from the BVI Marianne, Simon and James come and stay with us. The Caribbean Rugby Sevens were also on in town, and Simon was the Manager for the BVI team. Marianne was here for work, and James, well, James was just here for the fun!
 |
| A quiet drink on the waterfront |
 |
| Michelle has two heads! |
 |
| James and Jake were Ball Boys for quite a bit of the tournament. Here they are...on a break! |
 |
| Dave catches up with Chappy from the BVI. |
 |
| Vic, Simon, Dave & Solo |
 |
| A couple of quicks with Vic! |
Pirates week also means swim meet time. The Stingray club always hold a major swim meet at this time each year. It starts on Thursday night and covers Friday Night, Saturday Morning and Sunday morning. So, for those kids entered in a number of events, it can be a long one!
Michelle entered in the Masters races on the opening night but pulled out as there were no other entrants this time, instead she entered in the 15 and over 50m Free and won that! They combined her race with the 13-14 year old girls and she came second in the race - not bad for an old girl! She will have to work a bit harder in training though as next year she'd be racing Sam!!!
 |
| Michelle lines up... |
Then Sam steps up for her 50m Free and breaks the National record! Woohoo!
(By the way, her time might have been a second or two quicker than her Mum...)
 |
| Start of the Back for Sam |
 |
| Jake chills with the gang between events |
 |
| Sam's 100m Free. And guess what? Another record! (Note Michelle now officiating in the background - everybody loves a clip board!) |
 |
| Michelle and some other accomplished swimmers join forces for the Medley relay. The guy next to Michelle won Bronze for UK in the Olympics not so long ago. |
 |
| Jake powers to another PB in the Breast |
 |
| Sam in action during the butterfly |
In the end both Sam and Jake did pretty well in the pool. Jake PB'd in most of his races. He also got plenty of placings, including a couple of firsts. Looks like his efforts at training have picked up and are paying off!
Sam broke a couple of CIASA records (50 and 100 Free) which is pretty cool and came 1st overall in her age group.
Beach
We couldn't go to print without including a few pics from a day at the beach. November was no different, except we had a brunch first on this particular Sunday. Marianne, Simon and James came along as well and enjoyed a nice day out. By the time we got to the beach (a little later than usual), everyone had a big full tummy, and a little glow on from the endless supply of bubbles.
 |
| Three Aussies and Kiwi... |
 |
| Must be time to head home... |
Anniversary Weekend
Twenty years ago this month, we got married in Rangiora, near Christchurch, NZ. If we had a picture with us we'd show you but it was so long ago there are no digital photos! Anyway, we decided to ditch the kids for the weekend and head out to the Reef Resort
at East End. It was also Michelle's birthday earlier in the week, so a festive week we have had!
Friday night was a quiet dinner at the Italian restaurant and then chilling on the beach.
Friday night was a quiet dinner at the Italian restaurant and then chilling on the beach.
Saturday was up (earlyish) and down to the Dive shop to catch the boat for a two tank dive. We'd never dived out that way before and were looking forward to it, even though the seas were a little bumpy. That didn't really matter, as it was only bumpy on the top. Once under water, it was fine, although getting back into the boat was a bit bouncy!
We had two good dives, the first down to 100 feet, and the second to about 50/60 feet.
Both dives were popular spots to see sharks, but unfortunately they were elsewhere this day, although someone said they saw a Nurse Shark in the distance and they were completing their safety stop.
We saw plenty of other cool things though.
 |
| This guy was really just seen by chance |
 |
| You can hardly notice him here! |
This is a tiny fish called a Blenny that ducks into his hole to hide
Elkhorn coral
 |
| A Fireworm |
On the way back in the dive boat a young Manta Ray was spotted cruising along the surface. We'd seen a big one once before while diving but it was still pretty cool to see this one cruising along. Unfortunately we didn't have the camera handy and didn't get any pics. Maybe next time!
After the dives we popped into the gym for a short session, then some lunch and relaxing on the beach.
That night we went out to the Aussie restaurant down the road, which was very nice.
Sunday was more relaxing in the morning (although Michelle decided to go for a bike ride around half the island) - and watching the All Blacks last gasp effort to beat Ireland - before setting up on the beach for a few friends (and the kids) who were coming up for the afternoon. On their arrival a few bottles of bubbly were cracked open and the celebrating continued in earnest!
 |
| Michelle is ready! |
MOvember
As you might well imagine, Michelle just loves MOvember. Both her and Sam love the feel of a bristly face - not to mention the sexy look!
This year was no exception.
After a month of grooming the big day was finally here. Dave donned his chain mail, fake boots and Jake's sword. But he needed something else. A Horse!
Horses aren't that easy to come by but Dave managed to get his hands on one that he could take to the party. See the video at the bottom to see Dave riding his horse!
Here's just a few of the Characters from the MOvember party.
 |
| Media icon, Ron Burgundy |
It was a good night and the collective group raised a little over $50,000 over the month, which is a pretty good effort for such a small place.
Dave made the finals of the Costume Mo section and ended up in second place.
Cayman Marathon
Very early the next morning, the Marathon started. At about 5 am to be exact. So, while Dave was snoozing, Michelle was out pounding the streets as part of their Marathon Relay team. This was the third year the girls had run it, and had been the first women's relay team each time, so the pressure was on! They ran just over 6 miles each, but this year Michelle wasn't happy with her run - she was feeling ok to begin but had a bit of a dodgy tummy and had to stop for a loo break during her leg - rather embarassing but thankfully there were plenty of portaloos along the way! Luckily the others did pretty well and although they thought they had been passed by female runners it turned out they were in mixed teams, and the girls took the women's relay title yet again! Whooop!
 |
| Sun is coming up! |
 |
| They win again! |
 |
| A familiar sight |
Jake also did the kids fun run, straight after a game of soccer. So he was warmed up and raring to go!
 |
| Jake sprints to the lead from the start. But can he hold it? |
 |
| Apparently not. But good effort anyway Jake! |
Jake Moves Out...
After 10 years of putting up with us, Jake has decided to go it alone.
So, he packed his teddy and XBox and headed out for his new life.
Bye, Jakey. We'll miss you....
OK, he didn't really move out. We were having a bit of a clean out at home and Jake was helping by taking some of the junk out to the road for the rubbish collection later in the week. We just thought it looked like a great photo opportunity that made it look like he was running away.
We couldn't do without Jake! x
Click on the video to see the horse that
Dave rode to the MOvember party.
Click here for more fun pics from November 2013
Nearly at the end of another year. December is upon us, and Christmas not too far away.
The kids are looking forward to seeing the special visitor we have coming over (as well as Santa!)
So, if we aren't in touch with you beforehand, have a safe and wonderful Christmas wherever you may be.
Next Month:
Jamaica Swim Meet
Christmas - and all of the craziness that comes with it.
Special visitor
and other bits and pieces of interest
