Finally, the pictures from Rum Point (Lu's birthday)

Thanks to Ruan's awesome camera, we got some pretty good pictures for the day!

Rum Point is on the other side of the island, we usually go across on the boats, but it is definitely worth the drive.  The water is beautiful and there is a great island vibe on the beach amongst the hammocks.

I forgot to mention it was also Ruan's birthday.  Good times with good friends.

Trying to light the candles and sing happy birthday

The rest of the pirates week photos

We walked into Georgetown early to make sure that we didn't miss out on any of the day's festivities.
Breezes was the perfect spot to view everything going on, but not before a few photos a walk down the food road to see what local delicacies were available.

A quick summary of what goes on below:  The acting Governer and his wife are escorted by their guards through town.  The meet up with the REAL governer who officially hands over responsibility to the acting Governer for Pirates week.  The acting Governer and his wife then go out onto the pier to welcome all guests for the festivities... what they think is a party boat turns out to be pirates who are planning to take over.  Luckily the guards are quick and capture the pirates leading them through the crowds onto the stage where the Governer asks the crowd to decide the fate of the Pirates...

BUT WAIT!  There are more Pirates rounding the rocks and firing canons...

And the pirates have won the battle, taking over the Cayman Islands for the week and so the parties begin...

Boat Day - the usual trip

Karen came to visit us for a few days, so of course a boat trip was in order!  This was also Lu's first boat trip and the two were extremely excited.  Photos are courtesy of Karen's camera and Etienne's artistic eye...

 On the boat on the way to Stingray City.

That is Stingray City just up ahead.

The girls were a little scared of the stingrays at first, but soon got the hang of it.

Karen gets a back massage

 
Lu gave a few stingrays a kiss - they say it gives you goodluck, or its a thank you kiss for the back massage.
The stingrays are used to people feeding them and scratching their bellies.  They only have one sting and will only use it they feel they are in extreme danger, which is definitely not at the sand bar.  The locals know most of the stingrays by name depending on their markings.

Off to starfish point...

The girls were definitely enjoying the photo opportunity and even convinced some of the boys to get in on the action.