The Millers Cayman Islands Blog

Leaving Cayman

2008-11-19T07:15:00.001-08:00

As the saying goes "All good thing must come to an end" and so has our time in Cayman. With an incredible new job in Washington DC it was time to move on to new challenges. Our leaving is bitter sweet as we made some amazing friends in Cayman and we really enjoyed our Caribbean adventures. So for now its swimsuits to snowsuits as we continue our journeys and make the move back to the "real world".

Emily Turns Five!

2008-11-09T05:35:00.000-08:00

Jen and I cant believe it but our little girl is now 5! Time passes by so quickly. Emily and her friends had a fantastic party at Margaritaville taking turns going down the water slide and swimming in the pool. Good fun, good food and good friends, who could ask for more?

CDE Visits Cayman

2008-11-09T04:45:00.000-08:00

When I was home over the summer a friend and former colleague from the California Department of Education informed me she was going to be visiting Cayman on a cruise ship. I am always thrilled to play tour guide and the group had a great time exploring Cayman. We went to stingray city, seven mile beach, and George Town.

Hanging out at the Reef Resort

2008-11-09T04:30:00.000-08:00

Jen and I decided to take a mini-vacation out to the eastern side of the island. We spent the night at the Reef Resort and invited all our friends to share in a BBQ and some family fun. We had a great time swimming in the pools and spending time in such an amazing place. R-

Goodbye Gustav, Hello Hanna?

2008-08-30T15:17:00.000-07:00

Well, the storm is over and we have come through it dry shod. The sister islands took the brunt of the storm with true hurricane force winds. On Grand Cayman we were treated to tropical storm force winds, a bit of flooding and suprisingly little rain. This was a small storm for us and I am not to sure I want too be around for a big one. Our thoughts and prayers go out to those still in Gustav's path. With the pasing of Gustav we still have Hanna blowing around and what seems to be several systems working thier way torwards us from the coast of Africa, perhaps the storm shutters will stay put for now! R-

Gustav Update

2008-08-28T20:23:00.000-07:00

Well, it looks like Gustav has decided to join us for dinner tomorrow night. No worries, we are all stocked up with food and water, plenty of batteries and candles, and Jen has baked cookies! Looks like power and water will be on as long as possible so we will be in contact while we have power. We will keep everyone updated as we can- cell phones may be the best way to keep in contact if the power fails. See everyone on the other side....should have some good pictures and video!

The Millers

Hurricane Gustav

2008-08-26T12:53:00.000-07:00

Well, no sooner are we back and all settled in and we have unwelcome visitor. Hurricane Gustav is bearing down on us and should be here in about a day or two. We are going to ride this one out in Cayman (get the full Caribbean experience), so we are in the process of battening down the hatches, storing up the drinking water and keeping our fingers crossed. Will repost when we know more or are floating out to sea! R-

Our Trip "Home"

2008-08-26T12:10:00.000-07:00

We had a great trip home to California to visit with friends and family. It was a bit surreal to slip back in to our former lives and pick up as if we had never really left. We had a chance to visit with loved ones from LA to Portland and everywhere in-between. A good time was had by all until it was time to once again say goodbye and see you soon. Enjoy the pictures.

H2O Adventures

2008-06-08T15:46:00.000-07:00

With our time on island slowly passing by Chris and I have made it a point to get out and do some more diving. Chris has invested in a new dive camera and housing so we finally have some good shots of our H2O adventures. Enjoy the photos! R-

Mothers Day

2008-05-14T17:34:00.000-07:00

Jen, Emily and I had a very nice Mother's Day. We took the Red Sail catamaran out to Stingray sandbar and then over to Rum Pointe for some fun, sun and of course a couple of drinks. Emily and I saw a big barracuda under the pier and enjoyed checking out all the sea life. Jen enjoyed some R&R and new jewelry from one her favorite stores in Cayman. As always, enjoy the pictures! R-

Batabano 2008

2008-05-04T17:04:00.000-07:00

Batabano is back again, Cayman's equivalent of Carnival. There was a big parade with really loud music, very colorful costumes and lots of people, at least for Cayman that is. Jen, Emily and I watched the festivities and had dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Breezes, which overlooked the festivities. R-

Emily is a Fish Part II

2008-04-30T14:00:00.000-07:00

Emily has discovered the joy of underwater vision! After many tries and a lot of encouragement Emily has successfully used her mask and fins. Every day she practices blowing her bubbles and is going to use her snorkel real soon. Jen and I told Emily when she is ready we will take her on the submarine and on a real snorkeling trip. The would of underwater discovery awaits the Miller family! Enjoy the pics R-

Missing Katie Dog

2008-03-24T06:05:00.001-07:00

Since coming to Cayman we decided to leave our dog Katie back home. Katie is in the loving care of Jen's parents Stan and Maria. They love Katie almost as much as we do and were kind enough to open their house and their hearts to our "little girl". It was a tough decision to keep Katie back home, but considering our situation, the reality of bringing her to the island, and possibilty of having to evacuate at a moment's notice we decided that a familiar place with a huge backyard and doting grandparents would be in Katie's best interest. We of course miss Katie every day! Jen's parents are visting and they brought us a gift of pictures and video of Katie at play. Enjoy the big lug! R-

Winter Storms

2008-03-16T06:02:00.001-07:00

When the winds kick up the seas around Cayman can get rough. When this happens the cruise ships have to move to the southern side of the island to an alternate terminal and all the boats in the George Town harbor move to South Sound to ride out the storm. When the waves start crashing we like to head down to the harbor and check out the show. Just hope this is as bad as it gets as we head into another hurricane season! R-

A Funny Little Island Continued

2008-02-08T16:40:00.000-08:00

As I have said before Cayman is a very unique place; an island of misfit toys perhaps best describes this funny little place! The ex-pat mantra, "only in cayman". Enjoy the pictures. R-

Cayman Ag. Expo

2008-02-08T16:03:00.001-08:00

With little else to do on Cayman the Agriculture Expo is a BIG event. We had a great time exploring all the exhibits and seeing all the animals. Emily's favorite was the little pigs, which was my favorite as well, seasoned with jerk spices and grilled over a wood fire. Rather ironically the livestock stalls were right next to the BBQ vendors; yes, I'd like stall number 22, medium rare! Only in Cayman... R-

Super Bowl Cayman Style

2008-02-08T15:50:00.000-08:00

God bless an American tradition! This year we did the Super Bowl cayman style. Our neighbors/landlords build a huge outdoor screen and put up an LCD projector. Nothing beats whatching the Super Bowl under the stars, cold beer in hand and tropical breezes blowing through your hair, well, not my hair, but you get the picture. We had more food than I have ever seen at a Super Bowl party and everyone had a great time! R-

Diving with the Joyces

2008-01-05T05:15:00.000-08:00

Chris and I took the Joyce kids for a dive/snorkel experience up at the Cobalt Resort in West Bay. The kids had a chance to breathe off of SCUBA in shallow water and we saw a huge barracuda.

Ce Ce Visits Cayman

2008-01-05T04:29:00.000-08:00

Jens sister Corrine is visting us this week. This is her first trip to Cayman and we are showing her all the sites. We all went to stingray city and Emily had her first encounter with our ocean friends. R-

Christmas in the Caribbean

2007-12-23T06:05:00.000-08:00

Christmas is here and we are doing it Cayman style. It is a bit surreal to be celebrating the holidays in shorts and a T-shirt. Jen and I were both surprised by the amount of Christmas spirit here in the islands. There are so many parties, fireworks, activities and decorations it can make your head spin! We spent Christmas day with our Aussie friends (the Joyces) and had a great trip to the beach An amazing experience for sure...Happy Holidays to all! R-

Time for a Vacation!

2007-12-23T05:12:00.000-08:00

After approximately 8 months on the rock, the Millers needed some time off island! We took a trip to Miami to take a short cruise on Royal Caribbean's Brilliance of the Seas for four days of sun and fun in Key West and the Bahamas. The ship was really nice; we had a great suite at the top of the ship and enjoyed watching the world go by from our balcony. Jen and Emily explored the aquarium in Key West while I did some light tackle fishing and together we played at the water park on Coco Cay in the Bahamas. R-

Saba and Savta Come to Cayman

2007-12-23T04:43:00.000-08:00

Emily's grandparents (my parents) came for a visit recently. We had a great time exploring the island and showing them our new home. We went to Em's school holiday concert, took a trip to Rum Pointe, Pedro Saint James Castle and went on a submarine ride into Cayman's clear blue waters! Emily enjoyed making cookies with my mom and spending some time playing at our house. R-

Time for a Visit!

2007-11-22T10:23:00.000-08:00

Well the dog days of summer are over and the hurricane season has passed. What does this mean? Its time for visitors! Dan my friend of 26 years was the first brave soul to make the journey to paradise. We had a great time exploring Cayman including two trips to stingray city. I "caught" my first conch and Dan got a chance to swim with our friendly stingrays. I think Dan has finally recovered from his experience :-0 R-

Pirates Week 2007

2007-11-20T04:18:00.000-08:00

We had a great time celebrating pirates week here in the Cayman Islands. We saw fireworks, played pirate games and saw lots and lots of pirates. The celebration has activities throughout the week including heritage days in each of the islands districts.

Happy Halloween

2007-11-02T05:05:00.001-07:00

Yes, Halloween is celebrated here in Cayman (we are so close to the US) and this year Emily was a rainbow fairy princess. She had a good time gathering treats at the local shopping center with her friends Laura and Lilly. R-

Emily's Birthday Continued

2007-10-29T17:49:00.000-07:00

We wrapped up birthdaypalooza with a small party of Emm's closest friends. Everyone had a great time swimming, making princess crowns and eating cake. R-

Putting on the Ritz

2007-10-29T17:30:00.000-07:00

Emily's Grandma is back in Cayman and she was generous enough to offer to take Emm for a day. Jen surprised me with a night at the Ritz Carlton here on Grand Cayman. We had a great time! The property is impressive and the time alone was heavenly. So sophisticated and adult; the perfect night out for a child weary couple. R-

Hanging out at the Royal Palms with the Joyces

2007-10-22T17:55:00.000-07:00

It must be Sunday, the Millers and the Joyces are at the beach! The weekend just doesn't feel the same at this point if we're not hanging at the beach with our good friends from Austrailia. Chris, Brooke, Laura and Lily have become "part of the family". R-

Emily at Gymnastics

2007-10-22T17:20:00.000-07:00

Emily has been having a great time with her gymnastics classes. She is running and jumping and tumbling about having all fun a four year old should. R-

Emily's Birthday!

2007-10-18T05:37:00.000-07:00

Emily is 4 years old today! She is very excited to be four and even more excited to open all her presents! Many thanks to Uncle Jeff for some cool new books and Saba and Savta for Barbie Fairytopia. Emily brought cupcakes to school today and her friends sang happy birthday. At home we had a birthday cake and Emily opened some more presents. She now has a vet kit and a new stuffed dog who she named Rags. Emily's birthday part will be next weekend so stay tuned for some more pictures and video. We will be having a swim party so join us via the webcam on 10/28 around 2:00 pm. Cheers-R

A Trip to East End

2007-10-14T14:40:00.000-07:00

The Millers and Joyces went on a trip to the reef resort out on the East End today. The girls had a great time swimming in the pools and making sand cakes on the beach. I had some time to do a little snorkeling and got some cool shots of the fish under the pier. There were lots of tarpon, snook, snappers and a spiny lobster. R-

A Funny Little Island

2007-10-10T07:48:00.000-07:00

The Cayman Islands are truly a unique place. Considering the small population (about 40,000) there is about .5 degree of separation here. At times the island seems like one big semi-dysfunctional family! The following pictures speak volumes about island life. The first picture is from the hospital waiting room. I was waiting for an appointment and thumbing through the reading material when I came across a Cosmo from 1986! Time warp back to the eighty's, a place where much of this islands seems stuck, lol! The second picture is from a local church. There seems to be about one church for every 3 people on islands. The Cayman Islands are a VERY religious place; fundamentalist would be a better description! The third picture was taken in George Town, poor guy must be looking for his family! This is certainly a interesting place to live! R-

Water Time

2007-09-04T17:14:00.000-07:00

There is of course one activity that dominates free time here in the Cayman Islands; water sports. Diving, fishing swimming, snokeling, boating, kyaking, and of course "just hanging out" in the water. That being the case we have been doing all of the above in one form or another during our stay. Enjoy the pictures...R-

We Are Back!

2007-08-25T17:01:00.000-07:00

The Miller family is back on Grand Cayman! We are slowly getting settled back in after our mad dash to Miami. All in all everything went fine. The flight out was crazy, Cayman Airways was compleatly overloaded and we stood in line for almost 8 hours for our outbound flight. Once we reached Miami all was well. We had a nice room in South Beach right on Biscane Bay. We went shopping (Taget never looked so good) and took Emily to the Children's museum. With the web cam we were able to watch the storm hit our house from our hotel room; surreal. Luckily, Dean decided to track south and missed the island by about 100 miles. Even so, there was some damage and many lessons learned (Jen will never again pack in an emergency!). Enjoy the pictures and keep your fingers crossed for clear skys over Cayman. R-

Here comes Dean!

2007-08-17T07:49:00.000-07:00

Looks like we are in for some weather! Hurricane Dean is bearing down on the Cayman Islands and could reach a Cat. 4 (Cat. 5 is the worst) by the time it reaches us. Yikes! As much fun as riding out our first storm may be, the Millers are catching a flight to Miami and avoiding the potential of a convertible house! Everyone keep your fingers crossed...and with a little luck we will be back in Cayman enjoying our island paradise once more!

Jen and I can still be reached on our cell phones and we will send updates as we can.

Trip to Cayman Brac

2007-07-28T08:18:00.000-07:00

The Early Chilhood Unit took a trip to see the child care center on Cayman Brac a sister island about 90 miles east of Grand Cayman. We took a 16 person twin otter airplane. It was pretty exciting to be on such a small plane bouncing around over the ocean. On Cayman Brac we visited the center and met the newest member of our team. After the meeting we explored the island including the bat caves, the resorts (all three of them) and took a drive around the island. Cayman Brac's population is about 2000 people; a small isalnd for sure! Little Cayman the other sister island only has about 200 people! R-

Our trip to Starfish Point

2007-07-09T17:05:00.000-07:00

We made it to starfish point this weekend with our friends from work. Emily was thrilled to see so many starfish and really enjoyed exploring the sand for shells. Jen and I were thrilled to enjoy a Caybrew (Caymans only local beer) while floating in the Caribbean sea! With the exceptions of some slightly sunburned shoulders everyone had a great time.

Grandma and Papa Visit Cayman

2007-06-29T16:57:00.001-07:00

Grandma and Papa (Jen's parents) came for visit. We had a great time going to the Turtle Farm, the beach at Rum Pointe and on a submarine in George Town. R-

Emily is a Fish

2007-06-29T16:40:00.000-07:00

Emily has finished her first round of swim lessons and has turned into a fish. We can't keep her out of the water and she can swim the entire length of the pool now. I swear she is growing flippers! R-

Some New Friends

2007-06-23T17:23:00.001-07:00

Emily, Jen and I have been busy making new friends here on the island. Chris and Brooke are from Austrailia and they both work for the local newspaper the CayCompass. They have two daughters, Laura (5) and Lilly (2). We have been exploring the island together and having a lot of fun!

Fathers Day 2007

2007-06-20T05:12:00.000-07:00

We had a great Father's Day! We went to the Cracked Conch for brunch and explored the beach for sea turtles. In the evening Jen and I shared a bucket of beers on the beach while Emily decided to go swimming in the ocean (in her clothes of course). A great day all around. R-

The Beach

2007-06-18T05:55:00.000-07:00

As you can probably guess, the beach and water activities are big here in the Cayman Islands. Jen, Emily and I have started to explore our surroundings armed with our snorkel gear, LOTS of sunscreen and a digital camera that can go underwater. So far we have been to about 5 or 6 of the major beaches. The water here is amazing! On a good day visibility is almost endless and every body of water (including the canal in our backyard) is teaming with life. With my dive gear finally here and Jen ready to become SCUBA certified, I am really looking forward to spending a lot of time under the water. Stay tuned for more on diving. R-

Getting Settled

2007-06-17T08:07:00.000-07:00

First things first, we found a nice three bedroom, two bath duplex in Red Bay. Luckily, the owners who live next door have a great 2-year-old yellow lab named Tequila and they can't wait for Katie to get here. The yard is fenced in, has a pool, and sits on a canal with access to North Sound. We are about 15 minutes from George Town almost in the middle of the island.

We also got the first of our two new cars. Feast your eyes on a 1998 Honda Logo LaChic: 0-60 in about two minutes, 98 ponies of pure unrestrained power. I particularly like the rainbow fabric interior! But hey, the price was right, it was in great condition and it gets about 40 miles to the gallon. I am still debating on adding some cool red flames on the sides. R- Update, we got our second car a 1998 Honda CRV, we are now the proud owners of three Hondas!

Our Journey Begins

2007-06-15T05:39:00.000-07:00

After selling our home, most of our earthly possessions and saying goodbye to friends and family we set off for the Cayman Islands. We were packed with 1000 + pounds of shipping and eight massive bags for the airplane. After a long flight leaving SFO (at an ungodly time in the morning) and a quick stop in Miami (Jen had one last trip to Starbucks) we arrived in Grand Cayman around 6:00pm to start our new life. R-

The Background

2007-06-14T17:54:00.000-07:00

We are the Miller family: Rich, Jen, Emily and Katie. We used to live in Sacramento, California until Rich was offered a job in the Cayman Islands. With a bit of wanderlust and a deep love of the sea, the Millers decided to sell everything and set off for the Cayman Islands in April, 2007. Rich is an Early Childhood Development Officer with the Early Childhood Unit. Jen is an Early Intervention Teacher with the Ministry of Education. Emily is a never stop moving, question everything preschooler, and Katie is a BIG lazy drooley Old English Mastiff. Together we are the Millers!

2007-06-14T17:42:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Miller's Cayman Islands Blog!

Rather than keep sending out mass emails we decided to start a blog. Now we have the opportunity to share our overseas experience with friends and family without clogging up everyone's email. So if you'd like, come on in and enjoy our adventure!

Cheers!

The Miller Family