I seriously am not making this stuff up!!!

Today is my Scarlett's Birthday! I started the morning off by telling her about the day she was born...how I knew when I was in labor...how I pushed for what seemed like a life-time and then this gorgeous baby girl came into the world with lots of dark hair and red tips!! All the nurses said she looked like she had frosted hair and they all took pictures of her. Having a child with dark hair is a rare thing in my family...Scarlett is the first and only one so far...I loved her from the second she was born - she continues to amaze me - her inner and outer beauty - her loving heart and great attitude and albeit she is 12 years old today (going on 20) she is a complete joy to me!!!

We planned to go to the beach - Scarlett loves the ocean - so Pacific, here we come!! Our good friend Maria Jose and her daughter - Alejandra came with us!! We were planning on going to a resort called "Montelemar" but when we got there - the prices were so high we opted for a neighboring beach "Vistamar". The roads in Nicaragua are very different than in the states - and the roads to the beach are even more "different". We made it to the beach safe and sound and enjoyed a day of fun in the sun.

On the way home however, our travels were a little more eventful. I promise, I am not making this stuff up!! We were on the road for about 10 minutes - it's about an hour drive in total - we were passing a large herd of cattle on the road....again, this is pretty common. I think there were about 30 cows in total and they were moving in the same direction we were - our cab driver, Herman honked his horn - moved over into the other lane (2 lane road) and we continued down the road passing the cattle - we were going about 40 miles an hour - when we passed about half the cattle, one very large black cow darted into the our lane....the cow was so close to the passenger side (which is where I was sitting) I could reach out and touch him!!! Herman quickly swerved the wheel - and we were so close to hitting the cow, I am still shocked that we didn't!! I yelled out "Jesus"!!! Lucie, Martita and Alejandra were asleep but woke up suddenly to the screaming and the car movement.

I was just catching my breath when Herman AGAIN turned the wheel suddenly and this time, we hit something!! He slowly stopped the car and started to back up...we were all screaming "what happened, what did we hit?" Herman stopped the car a few feet back and jumped out - he was messing around with something and then saying a few choice words...when he stood up he was holding a very large iguana!!! It had some blood on it's face and Herman was holding him at the neck...it was alive and not happy!! He had scratched Herman's hand in a couple of places and he too, was bleeding! There were people walking down the road and Herman asked a lady if she wanted the iguana - she smiled, walked across the street and grabbed it!! Alejandra looked at me smiling - I was in total shock and she explained that iguana is a very good tasting meal for people here. I seriously, am not making this stuff up!!

I started to think if I ever ate anything here that looked like an iguana and will definitely be on the look out from this day forward!!

We got back on the road towards home and I got a little shaken up about how close we came to hitting that cow and what is would have done for the 5 of us sitting in the backseat - with no seat belts and little protection. What amazes me is how Maria Jose, Alejandra and Herman reacted...like it was no big deal. I too, was very calm considering all that had happened.

Nicaragua continues to surprise me - there are so many things that happen that make me stop and think about how different my life is like in the states. What I will say is that it is never boring here...that I continue to learn more about myself and about my children and think what an awesome experience this is for my family.

I told Herman - "no more surprises please" and hope that I have no more cow stories to tell you - I also don't want anymore Gecko, cockroach or bug stories either!! Been there and done that!!

So today was an exciting birthday for my girl - I told her tonight how exciting it is to celebrate your birthday in Nicaragua - I then realized that Lucie celebrated her Birthday here this year as well (April 8th) as did I (May 16) - our prayer is that we will NOT be here to celebrate my husbands' which is in November!!!

Love and Blessings to you all - buenos noches!!