For Cory's avian diseases course at Ross, he was given the opportunity for a great learning experience by hand-raising a baby bird. His name was put on a list with others from his class, and as the babies hatched in the aviary on campus, students began getting calls that their babies were ready to head home with them. We waited and waited, wondering if there weren't going to be enough babies born this semester for everyone to get one. But just as early November rolled around, we got the call. We were getting a cockatiel! (It could have been a budgie (parakeet) or a love bird instead)
We got our baby bird at 2 weeks old, and he looked like a little dinosaur or alien!
We decided to name him Joey, partially because cockatiels come from Australia, and partially because it reminded us of our parrot in San Diego, Zoe. Officially, his full name is Joey Zissou, but we just stick with Joey.
Now here is the deal with raising a baby bird. When you first get them at 2 weeks old, they have to be fed every 2 hours. By hand. You mix a nutrient-rich powder with water, warm it up, and feed it to him through a small syringe. Not only does this make you tired because you are getting up multiple times a night for feedings, but it is not always easy! He gets a little excited, and quite demanding when it comes time to eat, and tends to make a mess.
Cory gets props for doing the majority of these feedings, since we got him when I was gone in California, and then I left for London for a week!
After a good meal, Joey would stumble around a bit, unable to keep his balance with a full belly, and mostly because he didn't know how to walk yet!
Sometimes, when he would make too much of a mess and his food would become caked to his feathers, we would bring him in the shower for a nice warm rinsing. Afterwards, all tucked in a towel, he would sit in a little spot of sunshine coming in the window and stay warm as he dried off
As the weeks have gone by, he has changed so much! He literally changed from the little dinosaur in the first pics, to fully feathered in 18 days!! Each day he seemed to have more feathers, better balance, and more mobility. Until all of a sudden, he was a fully feathered bird that could fly around the house wherever he pleased! Cory immediately emailed me in London when he had his first flight. Oh, the good ol' days. Now he has the cutest little mohawk, and pretty much runs or flies around wherever he wants.....
But although he looks different......do not be fooled. His eating habits remain the same....
Check out a game he likes to play with Cory. Cory calls it "going down the slide". Joey calls it "distracting Dad from studying"
And finally, a video montage to show off his flying skills
Julia is in London, so you're going to have to deal with my posting skillz. Unfortunately, this may turn out to be the longest blog ever recorded since I can't pick from Julia's 400+ pictures taken in Virgin Gorda... bear with me....
Since Julia and I have opposite schedules for leaving St. Kitts, we decided to make some time to escape together,... Before we moved to the Caribbean, we saw a Travel Channel special on the top 10 hidden paradises. One of the features was 'The Baths' in Virgin Gorda,.. We immediately decided we would get there some day, and what better time than when we're only a 50 minute flight and 20 minute boat ride from there... Off to Tortola, the nearest airport.. Once there, we needed to catch a ferry to Virgin Gorda,... here I am waiting...
not so easy,.. we were distracted by a family of adorable kitties that live under a boat on the waters edge in the harbor,.. they liked our chicken, we liked the fact that they lived closer to the water than most cats will ever voluntarily go near....
ugh, is that our boat ride? leaving? yep... I ran and luckily caught an operator who was able to radio over to the boat and come back to pick up the silly tourists,... Well, we made it to Virgin Gorda with the sun still high in the sky,.. Immediate impression: Clean, friendly, and welcoming... three things St. Kitts is lacking.
Our home for the next four days is at the Guavaberry Spring Bay Resort. Again, thouroughly impressed. Our bungalow was built within the boulder field that creates the mystery and the beauty of the south end of Virgin Gorda,... and 'The Baths' were right in our backyard! Here's our new home...
that's 'Harriet' our pet rock in the background; She guards our place... the view from our porch, looking back at Tortola.... inside.... We could get very used to this... Since it was still light out, we immediately headed over to the Baths to scope it out...
We'll be back tomorrow, for further exploration and hidden treasures... Back home, sunset from our 'Rock of Love' (reference to a TV show) Julia named the rock next to our house 'Harriet'... Don't ask me.. I just smile and go along with it... Here I am checking the view from 'Harriet'
Tapas that night at 'Chez Bamboo' I would recommend eating there, there's a Spanish vibe, it's good.
November 10, 2007,.. it's a big day,.. off bright and early into the maze of caverns and grottos that make up the Baths...(here's where the picture madness begins...)
Into the cave,... It's nice being the first/only one's there, but it's hard to find the footsteps and know which way to go!
Here I am moving a boulder out of the way for my girl...
Devil's Bay at last! How beautiful...
Hiked to the southern tip of the island and explored a bit more....
After that, I couldn't take it any longer,.. something in the pocket of my boardshorts was starting to get really heavy,.. (no, not that sicko!) I had to offer her the ring I'd been hiding for months, 'my precioussss' it called out to me in dark nights,... the ring seemed to posess a mighty power that was phagocytosing my soul, I knew it was too powerful for me... Someone else must be able to take on this destiny,.. I knew I needed to place it on the finger of someone much stronger and more responsible than I,.. I knew that Julia Sara Nicole Risso is the only one that would be able to take on the ring and carry it forever. She was the chosen one to save the world.... uh, (Sorry, I went on a little 'Lord of the Rings' tangent there)...
anyway, so I coyly encouraged her to join me for some private time in a secret little cavern,..
I had a bunch of sweet things I was going to say to her, to try and persuade her into accepting my proposal.
Because the water was so nice, she kept wanting to sit down, ,... (it's called 'the Baths' for a reason), but I couldn't contain it any longer.
Was she willing to take 'the ring' and dedicate herself to protecting the jewel that symbolizes my passion and love for her?....
I knew I had to do the whole 'one knee' thing, and that doesn't work while she's sitting, so I had to awkwardly keep asking her to stand up.
Eventually she obliged, and that's when things went a little blurry for me. What was supposed to be sweet praises and promises, I only remember sounding like.. "uuh, drrr, mmm, pbbbt" but anyway, somehow I managed to make some sense and ask her...(gulp)... to marry me.....
...............
....Stay tuned for scenes from the second installment of...
'Engagement in Paradise'
...............
Part II:
Well,... she accepted!,...
Bling!
It was an incredible experience, I could've stayed in our little hideaway all day with her, but there were so many other things to see, and places to explore. We frolicked around a little bit longer in the water, before setting off to see the rest of the island.
Alright, enough of 'the baths,' (for now) there's lot's more to Virgin Gorda! Plus, I'm hungry after all that proposing n' stuff...
The Flying Iguana... a little grubbery next to the tiny airport,...
The welcoming crew.... sleeping...
Time for 4WD, we're going around Gorda Peak National Park 'the hard way'. It's more fun to get around to the north side of the island this way because look at the incredible views...
Moo Moo Buckaroo! A little riminder that we're not too far from St. Kitts....
But check out this cow's view,... California alway boasts that they have the 'happy cows' because of the weather,... hmmm, Bumblef*ck, Wisconsin? Vacaville, California? or Virgin Gorda? Yeah, I'll take what's behind door #3..
This next picture is of the 'North Sound' It is home to Leverick Bay, Saba Rock (the tiny island in the middle,only big enough for the restaurant/bar and boat dock)and also The Bitter End Yacht Club, basically, it's like a playground for a bunch of beautiful yachts...
Since we had no set schedule until class/work in three days, we figured we'd go hop on a free boat taxi and check out the islands!
Talk about livin' it up, check out the swanky Bitter End Yacht Club!
This was the nicest bar I've been to in a while! An English Pub at the BEYC, Newcastle on tap, nice pool table, flat screens with college football (The Badgers beat Michigan, yah boi!), incredible view,..
Another free boat ride, over to Saba Rock where we stayed until sunset...
The rest of our vacation is really just a bunch more of celebration because I'm the Skip-Bo champ, oh, and because we're engaged...
(champagne compliments of Marlin & Judi Greenfield, thanks guys!)
snorkeling,..
(Look, matching bikinis...)
sunbathing,...
eating,...
and playing in The Baths with my beautiful new fiancee.....
Our last morning, we woke up to this view from our porch,.. and I'll let Jack Johnson and G Love tell you about it,... (lyrics)
"Well I woke up this mornin', Rainbows filled the sky, Yes I woke up this mornin', Rainbows filled the sky,
And there was God, Tellin' me, "Everything's gonna be alright"
We headed back up to Leverick Bay to catch our boat-ride back to Tortola. There, we had a few more drinks, met some Floridians cruisin' the islands. (They called themselves 'Troll'er Trash') The one guy had some interesting stories about an exploding dolphin necropsy, hockey fights, and dating his teammate's mom.... It was fun,.. but, it's back to school because I have an exam coming up about a whole bunch o' necropsies, and Julia gets to prepare for her trip to London, oh pobrecita!....
Here we are waiting on the dock to head home...it's been fun.
Later y'all,... we're engaged!
ps: give Julia props for usually doing this blogging thing, it takes "for'frickin'ever!"
And we thought moving to the Caribbean was a life-changing event! We have a baby on the way, and we are so excited to share the journey with our family and friends!
