The White House: 2019

Middle School!

Today was the first day of 6th Grade and Middle School for Quinn.

This is the year that parents drop off and don't walk kids to their classrooms. We had prearranged to meet up with some friends so that the kids could go in together.

These kids are in Intermediate Band this year which is only offered as an additional class in the morning and they start 50 minutes earlier than the general population. Quinn starts at 8:05 am and gets out at 3:10 pm. It's a long day but the only way for Quinn to continue with band. The sun was so bright!

Quinn and Principal Klinger. I have been pretty impressed with Mr. Klinger thus far.

And off they go. Quinn was not nervous and was ready to go (although not ready for the end of summer break). I watched him for as long as I could.

We had several opportunities to go into the school before the first day. Quinn picked up his books, got his locker ready, and also got his ID.

Putting his lock on his locker. We got one with letters so he could spell out a "word". The word he chose is not a word but that's our boy.

Moorea: Day 9

Our last day in Moorea. Our flight doesn't leave until almost midnight so we checked out of the room at 11 am and spent our day on the beach.

More kayaking and paddle boarding. The GoPro was disappointing and will have to stay home on our next vacation.

Poisson Cru (Raw Fish) is probably the national dish of Tahiti. I finally ordered it on the last day and it was pretty yummy. It's raw fish and cucumbers in a coconut milk sauce.

And then we fed the koi fish some pringles. What happened to us in Moorea?

One last look towards the pool and the beach beyond.

After lunch we got showered in the hotel gym facilities and ready for a 3:30 pm pickup so we could catch the last ferry around 5 pm out of Moorea. What an amazing adventure this has been. We are already looking at VRBO's to come back again!

Moorea: Day 8

Our last full day in Moorea. We started the same way every day with a big breakfast with a beautiful view.

Quinn liked to snorkel to and from the beach every day. He thought it was easier than having to carry beach gear.

Another day, another paddleboard and kayak.

And our lunch view.

Quinn snorkeling back to our hut at the end of the day.

I never get tired of this view.

Or this view. You can see the big cruise ship in the harbor on the left side.

A look down the walkway towards the beach.

The crepe restaurant has the large, coned shaped roof.

Our home away from home.

The cruise ship at night.

Moorea: Day 7

Another beautiful morning in Moorea.

The lounge chairs on our upper deck became our drying racks and bathing suit storage.

A morning look towards the beach and hotel.

We hung around the hotel again today. But hanging around means hours of snorkeling, paddleboarding, and kayaking.

These yellow fish always hung around our feet when we were hanging out in the water.

Quinn thought the jet skis looked pretty cool but the cost was a little much for all of us to do go as you pay per jet ski. So I suggested that Don surprise Quinn with a father-son jet ski ride. A guide lead them out of the lagoon and around a couple of coves for an hour tour. Quinn thought it was the coolest!

We had some Cornetfish that like to hang around our dock. We called them BigBoi! On the left side of the dock you can see an empty clam shell that Don found in the water. One night he filled it with bacon to see what would happen. We didn't see who ate the bacon but it was gone in the morning.

Tonight we had pizza delivered to the hotel. You can see the options are different than what you mind find in the states.

And another beautiful sunset.

And a look down through our glass pane in the floor to see quite a few fish swimming around the coral head.

Moorea: Day 6

Our breakfast was included in our room and the breakfast buffet was pretty amazing. Don usually had the grilled fish and rice. Yes, grilled fish and rice for breakfast. Quinn has some sort of pastry or pancakes with some bacon. And I had something different every day. We would let Quinn sleep and then hit the buffet around 9:30 before it closed at 10 am. Sorry, no pics.

We decided to hang out around the hotel today.

Quinn wanted to SUP and as soon as we got in the water I saw these two rays swimming around.

The coral garden under our hut. You can see all the different sizes of the black and white striped fish which are damselfish.

And all the fish swimming around the ladder.

We saw lots of these maximus clam. They are a really bright colored clams until you get close and they close up.

I pulled a photo off the internet to show what they look like open. Crazy!

A coral garden being planted under the crepe restaurant.

Kisses from my love.

For lunch we walked across the street where a lady has a food truck in her yard. It was quite lovely and a nice change of pace. Quinn got the kids chicken sandwich and it was huge!