A Day at the Beach - Cormier Plage

Half way through our two weeks in Haiti, Bud and Jane took our family to the beach for a day.  It is just over a mountain on the other side of Cap Haitien.  It's a bumpy ride - Ida, who was sitting in the back of the van in the sun, lost his breakfast half way there. 

Ida quickly recovered from losing his pineapple once we got out of the van; he was eager to check out the snorkeling gear that Bud and Jane brought along.

Ida and the Drama Queen enjoy the surf.

Dats was looking contemplative.

Plenty of interesting coral and shells wash up on shore.

Lunch at the hotel restaurant with Bud and Jane.  Bud works maintenance for the mission and Jane is hostess to visiting groups and works with the Starfish Schools program.  To our kids, they quickly became Uncle Bud and Aunt Jane.

Is there a limit on how many times a sail can be patched??

Dats and I went snorkeling and had a great time checking out the coral and a wide variety of colorful fish.  The sea urchins made us nervous, though!

Jane joined Melissa and the kids in the water.

Snorkeling with Ida ...

Ida could play by himself in the sand for hours.  For all he knows, the rest of the family left after lunch...

There was a street market out front of the hotel where various artists were selling their wares.  These were some of the nicest crafts I had seen in Haiti.  Beautiful work!

These pieces were carved from soapstone by an artist from Port au Prince.  Melissa bought several of his pieces to bring back as gifts.

Jane climbs back into the mission van at the end of the day.

View over Cap Haitien on the trip back down to town.

Uncle Bud and Aunt Jane invited us to their house that evening for homemade pizza and some "Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader" on the Wii.  It was a fantastic end to a fantastic day.