Day trip to Harbour Island

Mom and I went on a day trip to Harbour Island. This first pictures is at sunrise on our way to the ferry, or as they call it, the "Bo Hengy". Harbour Island is everything that I thought it would be: peaceful, serene and calm. The pace is so much slower than even Nassau! And the people were really friendly. I would highly recommend this as a vacation stop if you make your way to the Carribean.














this is just one of the many beach bars on the famous Pink Sands beach...don't you just want to grab a drink?

















waiting to leave...oh, got my hair braided too! Fun fun!












a fisherman cutting the conch out of the shell













got the blues?

Spanish Wells is another Island in the chain of 700 islands which make up the Archipeligo. The ferry window is contributing to the softness of this first portrait.














weekenders wheels


















sunset on the way home to Nassau













relections of Spanish Wells

palm tree row
all kinds of signs
an islanders modus operandi
Spanish Wells harbor

driftwood at the sand flats


porthole to paradise



this is at the famous Pink Sands beach...if you look carefully there is a slight tinge of pink. It is really pink!

a cozy corner

lazy days
view from a beach towel

Christmas Concert @ Tambearly

Our all school Christmas Concert theme was "Everywhere, Everywhere, Christmas Tonight!". Naturally, the Montessori classes represented the Bahamas with the Junkanoo costumes. They were beautiful, and some were so elaborate (professionally made). Aren't they cute?






Vanilla and Chocolate! This is Nicholas and Denning, they refer to one another as "buddy".

Junior Junkanoo

The cow bells are moving so fast you can hardly see them.
The horn section: can you see the conch shell on the far left?
Junkanoo bands typically sound the same because they're all using the same instruments. But a signature of the different groups that compete in Junkanoo are the different bress instruments that they use. Here they had a variety of brass.
The costumes were really something to admire!
This little one was super sweet. They sure know how to move that's for sure, even in these big ol' costumes! It felt very tribal at times.

Field Trip to Ardastra Gardens and Zoo

Dalton feeding a Lory Parrot
Felix (Family from Switzerland) feeding the Lory Parrots
Liam and Dalton
Class at the Flamingo March
Waiting for the Flamingos

Queen's Staircase and Water Tower

Inside the Water Tower
Outside view of water tower

Merchants take every opportunity to try and sell you something, even in this serene sanctuary. My friend Karen and I ended up with beach towels for $9 which is actually a steal!

These are pictures of the Queen's staircase. Apparently, the history is that for every year of her reign, there is a hand made step out of stone. It's beautiful...and if it were a little easier to get to I might actually run these steps for a little exercise. The water tower which was apparently to bring water to the islanders is right at the top of the stairs, so you'll see those as well.

I actually went to the Queen's Staircase a few weeks ago. I just realized that I hadn't uploaded any pictures yet. Hope i don't throw off anyone's sense of order, but then again, it's kind of the bahamian way of doing things!

How to Find Tambearly

In order to find Tambearly you have to go around the back of the Supervalue Food Store...and when you see the opening (Top Left) then you know you're in the right spot.

Or in Bahamian, just go the back of the store, and go straight straight down and it'll be right there. Believe it or not, they have the Salvation Army Bell Ringers outside of the stores...so out of place it seems, but it's the way it goes.



This is the driveway to the school that I walk most days that I don't have a ride, which isn't very often...:)

Junkanoo...

Here is a link to an interactive webpage to hear the music they play at Junkanoo, (pronounced just as it sounds Junk-a-new), they also play it on the radios all the time ( http://www.junkanoo.com/ ). Be sure and click on the "view Intro" for the interactive part...great thing for kids! No expression is more indigenously and genuinely unique to Bahamian culture than Junkanoo. I also cut and paste some history behind the celebration for all you history buffs! And in case you're wondering, I can't take credit for taking these pics...but I did do a little internet research to give you something visually appealing to look at.



Junkanoo is a music and dance form that originated in The Bahamas during the days of slavery. It is perhaps the closest link to its African heritage and remains remarkably unchanged over the years. Junkanoo is a festive Bahamian parade complete with colourful costumes, goatskin drums, clanging cowbells, whistles and horns. The parade progresses in a slow, rhythmic dance called "rushing". Traditionally, the festival is held in the early hours of Boxing Day (26 December) and on New Year’s Day, winding up at sunrise. Like Carnival, the paraders form themselves into groups of varying sizes and rush to the Junkanoo beat. The groups are judged on costume theme and performance in a keen competition which captures the spirit of the islanders at the very special time of the year. Just what the word Junkanoo means or where it comes from is a matter for debate.

There are many tales told and speculations about the origin of the festival. The most commonly accepted conjecture is that Junkanoo war derived from an African chief who was captured, brought to the Bahamas as a slave and given the name John Canoe. But despite his captivity he demanded the right to celebrate with his people in traditional African style. He was granted the right to do so twice a year, on the mornings of Christmas Eve and Boxing Day before the day’s work began. Another theory is that the name comes, by way of New Orleans, from the French word "inconnu" meaning unknown or strange since the participants wear masks. It is said that Junkanoo remains remarkably unchanged in form to this present day.

Lunchtime mania

This is one table of little rugrats! From L to R: Nicholas, Liam, Hudson, Denning, and Conor (although it's just his hair!) I have the children put their lunch boxes on the floor so that they can see thier neighbor and that there's enough room.

This is Emily and Ansonique (pronounced An-son-eek, i struggled with this one for awhile myself). They are the oldest girls, turned 4 a week apart in June. They are also the best of buds. Emily is the mother hen. This particular table is also the snack table during the duration of regular class. The bucket under the table has sponges that the children use to wipe their spot when they're done. Although i'm not exactly sure how sanitary this process is!

The water pitcher is also on the snack table to avoid them just leaving the classroom for water, which was the MO when I arrived. This helps avoid any escapees, which I had at the beginning and they're not doing that now.

Here is the other half of the room. From Left to right (clockwise around the table): Orissa (named after her dad, Oris), Sofia, Alecia (eyes closed), Felix, and Shadae.

Here is the next table, L to R: Dalton, Gemma (pronounced Jemma) and Patrick.

Dalton and Gemma are some of my youngest kiddos. Dalton's expression is pretty telling of wiley he is.