No beach today

I decided to forego the beach today since we'd gotten a bit too much sun the last couple of days, especially since it's impossible to find zinc oxide in CT in the winter. I started off the day with a run, this time leaving a half hour earlier than yesterday, which made a big difference. I ran the same route, which basically amounts to a trail run what with dodging holes, rocks & horse manure, but at this point I'm quite happy to have an excuse for my sluggish pace. The meadow is on a slope so half the run is uphill, which makes it a tough workout. But since it was a good 5 degrees cooler, my heart and my cookies stayed in their proper places.

When I got home, the kids were watching TV as Bill finished up getting ready for work. That will be the last time they do so. The fact we even have TV here is a big disadvantage in my book, and I'm seriously considering telling the kids that the construction work broke the TV reception. They've only watched it while I'm out running, but when I tell them to switch it off it's not a welcome request (order) and I rather not start the day off that way.

They begged to go into town to La Viequense. When we were here on vacation last year, we'd go there for Mallorcas for breakfast (pastries). Since I wanted to get a few more staples, I figured we could go there and then I'd build on the goodwill I had created and they'd be happy to hit yet another grocery store. Turns out that at 9:30am we were too late for Mallorcas, so they had to eat their 2nd choice (donut), and then the fact that we had to park a block away from the grocery store (horror!) brought out The Grumbles so I said, "Consider this part of your PE class - you have to actually walk ONE WHOLE BLOCK to the store, and then you get to help me carry the bags back to the car." Sometimes I wonder how I ended up with such lazy kids, but I do realize it's all a matter of motivation. If we were walking toward a Ben & Jerry's store they'd be happy to walk 10 blocks.

We went back home with our groceries and then I set them to work. I'd gathered some shells at the beach yesterday, so Willo went to work on math using his native "manipulatives" (fancy word for objects you use to visualize math problems) and Jackie did some math in her workbook, then wrote out an update for her blog. We broke for lunch, then did art (photography and Kidz Pics, a creative software program).

At around 3pm, we headed out to our first official field trip: the Historical Conservation Society, which is a little center in Esperanza (other side of island) that has all kinds of Taino artifacts and marine life. We spent at least an hour there, Jackie taking Field Notes in her notebook, Willo taking pictures of pretty much everything. We were the only ones there most of the time, so the kid working there was more than happy to give us a guided tour. He took out all kinds of animals (live) - a sea urchin, jellyfish, sea cucumber... He also told us all about light contamination. He showed us a map of the world at night, and certain areas, especially in the NY/NJ/CT area, are terrible offenders with all the light; in the Caribbean, Puerto Rico is by far the worst offender. When we think of pollution we tend to think of plastic bags and smog, but light is also extremely detrimental to the ecosystem. We saw a before-and-after picture of a city in Chile that had exchanged its streetlights for lights that pointed downward and the difference was remarkable - and relatively inexpensive.

As of tonight, we are dogsitting Juana, as her owner, Jorge, has gone back to the main island of Puerto Rico. Before she was in our custody, she ran away and there were a few nervous hours there but finally she was spotted, terrorizing cats (one of her only faults; she loves to bug cats and eat iguanas; in fact, I call her Juana la Come Iguanas - Juana the Iguana-Eater; btw it's not a good thing, it makes her puke). Anyway, Juana is ours until Monday. She is very calm in spite of her youth and isn't crated; she has her own yoga mat she sleeps on. Maybe that's why she's so calm.

So far, I've concluded that the kids need some more structure to their schedule (otherwise they get on each other's - AND MY - nerves), they need zero TV, Willo is obsessed with photography, and tomorrow I will go to the local surf shop to see if they have zinc, so we can hit the beach again since we all missed it.

Alright, American Idol is about to start. I do hope Victoria Beckham isn't on, the poor soul must be living in a concentration camp; I find it very disturbing to watch her.