Beach day!!!!

So many great memories were made today that I am afraid I will have a hard time even writing all of them.  After getting some vague directions towards some of the beaches here in Haiti, we set out this morning on an adventure.  We loaded up the truck with the four of us adults, four kids, towels, extra clothes, and snacks.  Less than two hours later after my always improving Haitian driving/navigating skills, we found a beach!

When I made the turn off and announced to the kids, "We're here!"  They were SO EXCITED.  In fact, they were so excited that they started yelling anything nice that they could think of.  They started off with, "Bon travay!  Good job, Miss Katie!  Good job, Miss Katie!  I love you I love you I love you!!  Thank you, Miss Katie!  Happy Birthday!  Happy Birthday, Miss Katie."  Then, they actually started singing me "Happy Birthday"!  For those of you who don't know, my birthday is in October.  Apparently they thought that singing me "Happy Birthday" would show their appreciation of the special outing.

Our (the adults') joke of the day was, "Man, you would think these kids are Haitian orphans or something!"  because from the moment we walked into the hotel/resort, their eyes were so wide with excitement and wonder.  We found out upon talking to the receptionist that the fee to use the pool and beach also included a buffet meal and drinks.  So, before hitting the beach, we ate a big lunch.  Richardson was so excited to swim that he ate his food in about .3 seconds.  Mich on the other hand was in heaven with his plate full of food.  Mark helped him load up his plate.  When they got to the fish, Mich said, "A big piece.  Another big piece please.  Ok, one more big piece, please."  The entire time he was eating, he kept saying, "I love this fish!  This fish is good!"  Chacha kept insisting that the fish they were eating from the fish pond by the reception area.
Mich ended up eating all his own food, Rosa's extra food, seconds from the buffet, then some extra food off of Mark's plate.  When we told him that we were all waiting for him to finish eating so we could swim, he stuffed his cheeks full like a little chipmunk before he finally let us drag him off to the beach.

The boys waiting for their food.

Dad tickling Claudine so she'll smile for the camera

Mich and his fish

Cheeks filled with food, hahaha!

The boys were excited about getting in the beautiful ocean water.  The girls were excited, but also a little nervous.  It was all just so overwhelming for all of them.  They had never been in such a nice hotel or even the ocean until today.  The boys were clinging to my dad the entire time screaming in joy.  We all joked that they were actually pretty embarrassing, hahaha.  We had the attention of everyone on the entire beach by the way that the boys were screaming and carrying on.  They kept yelling (to my dad), "Dad! Hold me!  Dad catch me!  Dad, daddy, daddy, dad!!!"  The girls like to stay pretty close to my side.  They really liked being in the water, but they didn't get as brave as the boys.  By the time we decided to head up to the pool, the boys were climbing on top of a large rock and leaping off into my dad's arms.

Despite the fact that it was over 90 degrees out and the pool felt like warm bath water, the kids were all shivering.  There is no hiding the fact that they are 100% Haitian!  The kids loved the pool even more than the ocean.  The funniest part of the day was when Mich was getting into the pool.  Before I explain, please keep in mind that the pool at its deepest was still shallow enough for the kids to stand.  Mich was walking down the steps into the pool.  On the top step he slipped a little and was flopping and flailing around screaming, "Daddy, help me!!!!!!! Save me! Save me, Dad!" Everyone at the pool was starring at us and a woman sitting on the step actually tried to lift him up.  Mark was just cracking up saying, "Oh my word he is so embarrassing!"  Dad just calmly said, "Mich, just stand up.  The water is 6 inches deep!"  The boys continued to be the loudest people in the entire establishment for the rest of the afternoon.  I think they made friends with everyone in the pool.  At one point another little Haitian boy swam past Chacha and said, "Can you speak English?"  Chacha whipped around and said, "Yes! Can you?"  All day, both boys were calling my Dad and Mark "Dad/Daddy/Papa".  I joked that everyone there probably thought that they were a gay couple with two sons.  Actually, so many people noticed the boys (it wasn't hard to do) calling them "Dad" that three people approached my Dad and thanked him for adopting, ha!  The kids are just too funny for words to describe...you just have to meet them in person.

Today was probably the most fun that the kids have had all year.  It was an AWESOME day.  It is so hard to believe that just a short drive outside of the city is such a paradise!

haha life was so rough today