Cruising really is fixing boats in exotic places....

Hello Everyone,

We are sitting in the downtown marina here in Papeete.  It is a new marina that really isn't officially open yet but they are letting boats come in and use the docks anyway.  It is in a great location next to the Roulotte trucks for all your dining needs, the Market in downtown for all the fresh produce, Baguette sandwiches filled with chowmein, steak frites, or orange chicken and frites... according the the kids and chris these sandwiches are to die for.  Alina is addicted to the corn dogs and Mykaela loves the pork buns.  So many choices and surprisingly cheap to eat... $2.50 plus you get a drink.  We of course had to visit the mcdonalds... we are not going back.. I will never again pay $11 for one big mac meal.  Not the meal deal down here like in the states... but the kids really wanted to go..

We have a check list of boat fixes, repairs, and upkeep that is a mile long and we are getting through it.  There are quite a few people that offer services and at least some decently stocked chandleries for our supplies.  It is also nice to be in a french country, since our boat was built in France most of the parts that the sell here actually fit.  One of our issues that came up that wasn't on our list was our water heater for our main bathroom... it broke and flooded the boat so now there truly are no more hot showers... at least until Fiji or New Zealand.  Like I told Chris... I really was only able to get one hot shower out of that bathroom since we left mexico anyway... so it is old news...

Our lovely friends from Shine are here and Chris was able to borrow the "Mercedes" to dinghy up to the other marina and get us checked in and also make a run to the grocery store.  It is really nice having the kids back together again and there is a really great skate park down the road that the kids have been playing in.  The Shine boat is sponsored by a skate shop out of Mallorca so they are a boat filled with skateboards... with all the kids they have it is nice for Tristan and Lexi to go cruise around town with them.

We were able to see a dance performance here in the local venue.  French Polynesian islands are having "Heiva" which is a dance competition among all the local schools. It was really sweet to see all the little Keikis out there that are from age 3 and up shaking their little hula skirts..

We are planning on renting a car and at least touring the island for a day.  We need to see more of Tahiti than downtown.  There are a few spots that are recommended, a waterfall, a black sand beach (for my Sand Collection) and of course Teahutoo (a famous surf spot).  Otherwise we are just hanging out, and getting caught up on school work and playing in town.  I was able to order the school books for next year for Alexia and Amaia... and they arrived with no issues.  This was a definite concern for me to make sure we had these.  I have decided to just work with Alina with Amaia's 3rd grade text books for science and social studies, continue reading and journaling a ton with her and I did purchase a 2nd grade math program for her.  Now the only problem to solve is for Tristan... Calvert only offers a highschool program that is based online... they are trying to work a program for us but with the limited amount of Wifi that we have I am concerned that it won't be good enough.  I really need to dive down and get this sorted out but I just don't know where to start.  They have also given us a bunch of names of schools that I need to look into to see if their programs would be better suited for our adventure... There has to be one out there for us... I really would like to make sure he gets the credits he needs in order to reenter high school at Campolindo with his friends... they are such an amazing group of boys!

We are excited to get grammie and grandpa carl here in a few days and then hopefully we will be able to head up to Moorea to go and play in the water and on beaches again.

Hope all is well with everyone at home... Hugs and love to all.

Heather