Then There Were Four (Dec. 18-24) part 3 of 5

On Dec 24th at five in the morning, we said goodbye to mother number 2. For better or worse we were now alone. In the past month we have come to realize how much my mom helped out around here but we have also returned to nuclear family life we have known these past ten plus years.

In the week before her departure we learned through the neighbors that there is a river here in town. It is tucked away ssnd accessible only if you know where it is, one wouldn't stumble upon it accidentally on a morning walk. We know this because we took that morning walk and after descending the long hill in the hot sun, we turned around probably just 200 meters shy of the river. When we asked our Cuban friends why they have been keeping the place a secret from us, they told us that after four years they didn't know anything about this river.

Since then we have have been there 3-4 times per week. There is a little pool that has five or six varieties of fish which we enjoy watching and trying to catch but they are much too quick and smart for us. There were monkeys over head one evening and we also found a nest of some sort of eggs (lizard most likely) dug into an uncovered hole. The best part is that the water is cold, refreshing and clean which is not always the case at the pool we are members of (but that is what you get for only five dollars per month of membership fees). Wish we could have found it a bit earlier but unfortunately for my mom she only got to visit it once or twice before she headed out.

The day before she left we headed into town to spend the day and night in a little oasis in the city. We ate lunch in a little mall and spent time swimming in the hotel pool's cool water. Laurie, Sid and my mom went back to the mall to watch New Moon at the theater and brought back pizza. Karoy and Isue with kids in tow came along as they had some business in town to take care of. Since the the hotel doesn't allow more than four people per room and there were five of us, we asked if their three kids would like to stay with us; which they did. For the three to four hours the others were at the movie it was just me with four crazy, wild and eventually very hungry monsters. I was never so happy to see a box of Pizza Hut in my life.

After dropping my mom off at the airport in the morning and getting in a quick nap, the kids getting in a quick swim, we had a great breakfast then spent the day shopping and heading home for the holidays. We started as six but were now down to four, ready or not to tackle the second half of our adventure.