For the past month or so, Andrea has been filled with excitement for her parents planned visit. She was really missing them, and was thrilled that they were coming, to the point that she was going in to work early (7am) in order to earn an extra day off to spend with them during their stay.
Her parents, Gladys and Andrew, arrived last Thursday, and we were both thrilled to see them. Everything is expensive down here in Cayman, so when a visitor comes down, you send a list of things you want them to bring. Gladys and Andrew did not disappoint. They brought us suitcases full of goodies that we had requested, and we are now well stocked! But beyond the gifts, it was still great to see them. We are having a good time down here, but it’s still nice to see familiar faces, especially those of loved ones.
Andrea and I were treated to another familiar face last Saturday night, too. We were planning to go to Taste of Cayman, a local event where you get to taste food from various restaurants, with Gladys and Andrew. They had stayed with us for two nights, and then on Saturday they moved into a condo that they were renting for the week. Andrea and I both had to work on Saturday, so after work we headed over to their condo to meet up and head for the event. As we opened the door, we were greeted with a fantastic surprise — Andrea’s sister Renata was there as well!
Renata lives in Hawaii, and Andrea always talks about how she misses her sister and how she feels bad that they never get to see each other (since Hawaii is so far away, and we’ve been spending our money and time on dive training and such). The last time we saw her was just about a year ago, at our wedding. Gladys and Andrew had kept this as a total surprise (including coming up with a great cover story as to why we needed an extra ticket for Taste of Cayman), and so we were shocked and thrilled to see Renata!
Unfortunately, the weather has been less than ideal during their visit. Strong winds from hurricane Noel have made the sea very choppy, and so conditions have not permitted much diving and snorkeling. Despite that, it’s been a great visit and we’ve had a lot of fun. We’ve gone out to some very nice restaurants (I’ve eaten so well during their visit!!!), and they made a trip to Stingray City (pictures of that will be in the next post), as well as some day trips to Rum Point (I was working and didn’t get to go), and just today they did an eco-tour. Here are some pictures of Andrea, Renata, Gladys and Andrew on their eco-tour:
And here are some pictures of us from dinner tonight:
Unfortunately, Andrea’s family leaves tomorrow. We are sad to see them go, but we are thrilled that they came down to visit us! It was great to have Andrea’s whole family together, and we look forward to the next time it happens (in Hawaii, perhaps?)!
Thanks to Andrew, Gladys and Renata for coming down to visit, for bringing us lots of goodies, for taking us out to eat, and for a great visit in general. We’ll miss you!!!