Adventures in Cayman Brac

Anna and I spent a week scuba diving and cliff climbing on the island of Cayman Brac, 90 miles off Grand Cayman.  Cayman Brac Beach Resort, with 44 rooms, is the only hotel on the island.  For those who are interested, "brac" in Gaelic means bluff. The bluff is 140 feet high.

The guests we met were all very friendly and interesting.  Many have been scuba diving all over the world for many years. The staff at the resort were all happy and helpful; the meals at the resort were very good.

We have captured some of the spirit of our adventures in photos and videos:

Anna's under-sea videos:

https://youtu.be/W_vLY56AVKs

Anna's Under-sea photos:

https://1drv.ms/f/s!AlAa5dUOzaIOgXMu5KRlwQ6v0hs9

GoPro videos of 140 foot multi-pitch climb over the water:

https://youtu.be/yX-NQKIugZ8

Because we were the oldest people to do this multi-pitch climb, our guide, Angel, arranged for a friend to use a drone to photo-capture our adventure:

http://www.smilebox.com/playBlog/4e4459784d7a63304d54493d0d0a&blogview=true

Oma's 90th Birthday Celebration

Very special weekend.  The far-flung family flew in to the Triangle to celebrate Anna's mom's birthday. A dinner at a wonderful restaurant in Raleigh had been organized. But then Liz and Sean surprised us all by getting married here! The eldest brother Paul was the officiant. Then cousin Chris and Prem announced the sudden arrival (at UNC in Chapel Hill) of their first child.

Oma and Gideon

Rock Climbing Adventure in Salt Lake City

Anna and I visited the family in SLC.  The weather was warm and sunny so we went out to Big Cottonwood Canyon and did some climbing. The we went to the Saloweys for a fabulous dinner.

Click on the link to see the adventure.

http://play.smilebox.com/SpreadMoreHappy/4e4455334f5467784d5442384d5441314e5455314f5467780d0a?title=SMILEBOX%20-%20CLIMBING&image=4e4455334f5467784d5442384d5441314e5455314f5467780d0a.jpg

Weekend at OBX

Anna and I spent three days at our beach house in South Nags head, NC.  We managed to re-stain our deck.  But the rest of the time we just "unlaxed".

Who else went in?

https://youtu.be/7Q4VC8t_kJw

Short video of Anna's beach art:

https://youtu.be/We_A8r6k5EA

Sky Diving in Manteo, NC

Jim and Yulia had never gone skydiving.  Anna and I had done it once before.  So it was decided that the four of us would jump together.  It was a perfect day: warm, sunny and light breeze.

Short video of Anna and Myron skydiving:

https://youtu.be/ax2r4bbAlNg

Anna on a 100 Foot Wall (Top Rope)

She's getting better every day!

https://youtu.be/r4QtNiw2GBY

Post-Tokyo OBX

We went to our Nags Head beach house with Lynne and Jim.  Weather was sunny, hot and perfect ocean temperature.


https://youtu.be/wefVocfwelE

https://youtu.be/heckqfdyemk

We had to buy a new (large) bottle of Patròn tequilla (and we got a free cold bag to keep our margaritas at the correct temp)!

Anna and I ate Dungeness crabs at Dirty Dick’s Crab House and then went to the top viewing platform at Kitty Hawk Kites to watch the sun set over Jockey’s Ridge.

https://youtu.be/tDGXF9V61vw

Visit to Our Tokyo Family

We flew to Tokyo to spend two weeks with the Kurodas: Hiroko and Ren and the four children - Chikage (daughter, 10), Riku (son, 8) and the new twin boys, Naoya and Masaki.

Chikage, Riku, Anna, and Ren with the twins:

We went to a local street fair, and ate some great food; and Riku won a prize:

You need small fire engines to get down very narrow streets!

Just walkin' around town:

Yukata de Gin-bura Festival in Ginza:

To get at prizes frozen in ice and buried in snow, Riku had to work:

https://youtu.be/JS20ip_ON1o

https://youtu.be/dCHOU6Fb-d4

Anna with twins in a baby changing room:

At the mall in Roppongi Hills with Hiroko's parents, Masami and Kazuko.

Riku loves cars.  He took Masami into the driving simulator:

Refreshment time!

Oh, and did I mention Ren took Anna and me to train with the Spartans in Tokyo?