Leaving St.John

Today we leave St.John to move back to Atlanta. We are still loading up our container this morning. We had our friends over last night for pizza. We are sad to leave but we know we will be back.

WOW

It has been a wild week since last Friday! Last Friday I had the staff of GHS here for our Holiday party. The Majettes and Jones's all stayed for the evening. Jay had been out boating all day with Gary, who was here for a few days. On Saturday we had breakfast with Santa and then the Murril's Christmas party. Sunday was spent on the water. We headed over to Josiahs on Tortola where some surfing was done. We hit Taboo on the way back for a late lunch. The kids were in bed at 6:30. Jay and I were not too far behind. On Monday the kids had a show at the Westin for school. Tuesday was a nice quiet evening. Wednesday was spent packing and then off to the Majette's for a nice wine dinner, which lasted until 1:30am!

Today is Christmas eve. We will be making Gingerbread houses, flying kites and heading to the Stair's for their annual Christmas party.

The Perfecta

What a great weekend so far! It started off with baking with 5 kids on Wednesday and then their parents joining us for dinner. Thursday was a blast at the Majette's for Thanksgiving. Friday was evening in the courtyard at Mongoose Junction. There was a silent auction and raffle with the proceeds benefiting Gifft Hill. From there we went to La Tapa to celebrate Pretlow's birthday. Today it is Addison's birthday party at Hawksnest. What a weekend!

Sail Outlaw

We went out sailing today with Paul and Vicki on Outlaw (www.sailoutlaw.com). Outlaw is a 55 ft sailing yacht. We went with the Majettes and Sam. It was a very relaxing day.

Random

The Goat that was at school last week. He wandered around the ELC and took a trip into First Grade. By the end of the day he was tied up across the street with a police officer on the phone looking at him. We have not seen him since.

A special friend (alligator lizard) that I found in my sink when I came home today.

Jay took the kids fishing off of the point yesterday.

A view from the beach at the Sugar Mill Hotel, aka the puke fest.

Ugh!

Jay and I went to Tortola and the Sugar Mill Hotel on Friday for what was suppose to be a nice romantic weekend away without the kids. All was well on Friday when we left. We had a wonderful time relaxing at the beach on Friday afternoon and a delicious dinner at the hotel's restaurant. Saturday was a whole different story. I dont know if it was something I ate or a 24hr bug but I spent most of Saturday on the couch. We rented a car on Saturday to drive around the island. We started off and I figuired my stomach pains would all go away. No such luck. We stopped at Lamberet Bay on the North Shore of Tortola. That area will always have special memories for me. I spent most of the time there throwing up. We drove around a bit more then headed back to the hotel so I could lay on the couch all day. We left on the 915 ferry this moring. I am feeling better but not 100% yet. No need to stick around there, I can lay on the couch at home. What a fun weekend that was! At least the kids had fun with Heather!

Why?

Sunday afternoon after they had snuck in the house to retrieve shoes and then snuck downstairs and up the outside stairs, Quinn comes in the house asking for a pair of scissors. "What do you need the scissors for" I ask. "To cut the christmas bush out of the way" he replies. "NO WAY!" I told him. " You and your sister are not suppose to be anywhere near the christmas bush"

A few minutes later Walker is dangling her arm in the pool and Quinn is jumping in. "I might have gotten it on my hand" she says "And I might have gotten on me, but I dont think so" says Quinn.

Guess what...Walker does not have it anywhere and Quinn has it on his...ears, under his nose, on his cheeks, chin, neck, waist line (both sides) and his foot. He bathed in Tecnu today so lets hope that helps. I am already starting to scratch.

Roosie and her new friends

We recently rescued two guinea pigs (that is putting it nicely but I wont go into it, too long and complicated of a story). Their names are Darwin and Snowflake. They usually reside at school but they have gone into the witness protection program due to the fact we think they might get abducted. Yes we are talking about guinea pigs. Anyway, Roosie does not know what to do about them. Most of the time she paces around the cage whinning and wagging her tail, the other times she just sits in front of the cage whimpering. One of the funny things about the gp's is that last week we had one of them neutered. The last thing I want is tons of baby gp's running around. Snowflake had already had one litter and I would not be surprised if she was preggers before we had Darwin fixed.

How to Catch a Ray by Jay

M "What was that noise"
J "Nothing Just the soap scrubber thing falling" M closes window
M "I am going downstairs" Goes to turn off fans
M "Jay there is a rat on the counter" M stands on couch for a better look.
J goes to untensil crock and pulls out M's favorite spatula and begins the hunt for the rat. Turns on lights. Looks in sink. Turns on water. Lifts up pot in sink. Oh look there is the rat sitting on the bowl. "Oh crap"
M "I really like that spatula, its one of may favorites"
J "Do you have one that is not a favorite"
M "Not really, I only have 2"
Rat runs behind coffee maker. J uses coffe maker to crush rat.
J "What can I pick this thing up with that you dont like"
M"Here use this tong spatula thing"
J scoops up rat and puts in bag
J "Now what do I do with it" "Do you have any tuperware you dont like?"

Rat is in a plastic bag in an upside down tupperware container on my dining room table.

J" I will take it when I leave in the morning"

Life Back to Normal

My fun ended last Sunday around 11:30pm. The kids, all 3 of them, gave up their seats in Atlanta for 3 vouchers on Delta. Instead of landing at 3 they landed at 9 but they did get to fly first class, Walkers dream. That made for a few sleepy days but we made it through. We did our normal stuff this week, dinner with friends, Ronnies pizza, and playdates with friends.

Today we are heading to the beach and then dinner with friends. Before all of that and in between it is the usual, laundry. We do have to start packing for our tip to Oregon on Thursday. It will be a long, long. long day for us on Thursday but it will all be worth it.

Quiet

It has been a very quiet week here with everyone gone. Jay left for Orlando on Wednesday and is headed home with the kids today. That's right I have been without children or husband since Wednesday. It has been wonderful, and quiet! I did not do much, just go to work and then come home to the quiet. I went out to dinner with Heather on Friday then some friends came over last night. The quiet has been a nice way to get ready for the rest of the summer.

In a week and a half we head to Oregon for Janie's wedding then we are off to Indy for a week. We have never been that far northwest so we are really excited to see somewhere different. The kids are excited because they get to fly on Delta and sometimes Delta has the screens on the back of the seats in front of them. Aahh the little things. The funny part about the whole trip is that Jay is flying seperatley from us. He is flying ALONe on American while the kids and I fly together on Delta. Must be nice to be him!

Boat update: The boat is out of the water and Jay got the motors running. It still needs a lot of electrical work so we will see what happens.

Kiddies

The kids are off to Mary and John's for the next week. They are flying up with Jane and flying back with Jay next Sunday. They are both going to camp at Suntree for the week. They are both very excited to go.

Walker went to VIERS Monday-Wed. VIERS is the Virgin Islands Environmental Research Station. They have a 3 day sleepover summer camp which is similar to camps in the states except here they are on the water and learn all about the island, plants, trees, etc. Walker came home on Wednesday exhausted! Quinn enjoyed being an only child for a bit but he did miss his sister.

Camp is moving right along. We are half way done. We have had a lot of fun the past 3 weeks. The next 3 should be just as fun!

A gazillion and one

It seems like ages since I have posted. It actually was sometime while the fam was here for vacation. I will start there. Susie was not really out of commission, it was just for that one day. She watched the kids with Uncle Uldis on Thursday while the "young kids" went out to dinner at La Tapa. Susie then rallied even more and spent the day with us on the boat as we did the tour, Sandy Spit and Jost. Matt, Jen and Anna left early on Saturday morning for Boston. Susie, Mitch and Lanie left on Saturday afternoon. They were the lucky recipients of a ride to the airport. Once I dropped them off it was up to the stores for a quick replenishment before I picked up Jane at the airport. Jane is here for 3 weeks to help me at Summer Camp up at School.

So Camp started Monday and it was carnival week on St. John! We went to Carnival Village a few nights for food and fun. The kids went to Kids Carnival and the bouncy village a few nights and enjoyed seeing their friends. Jay and I went to Carnival Village on Thursday night, late to pick up Mary and John as they came in for the 4th. That was fun! Val and her electric lemonade are the best even though I did discover the Guava Love the next night!

The Carnival Parade on the 4th was awesome!!! I don't normally write about the kids at school but they all did awesome. Emily, Walker, Quinn, Ananda, Nadia, Maya, Lily, Oliver, Harrison, Winn, Katha, Arjuna, Allegra, Margo, Michael, Charlie, Bonishia, Lyric, Sammy, Jolie, and Vivica. They rocked the whole parade route never stopping even after starting a hour plus late! Those kids danced and shimmied I do have to thank Liz and Rosemary for all the hard work and dedication they put in to the float and the dance. Another thanks goes to all the parents for helping, especially Joe, Lori and Lori! The final and biggest thanks goes to Jane! I could not have done this without you!

SO after an exhausting day at the parade we headed home for naps before going to the Battery for the Governors party and to watch the fireworks. Beautiful as always.

Today we just sat around the house. It was cloudy and raining on and off. It was nice to have nothing to do! Tomorrow, camp starts again!

Tired

I am too tired to blog. The family left, Jane got here, camp started and it's Carnivale week here on S.John. I will get an update up this weekend after the parade and fireworks.

Saturday Softball

Both kids had another great day playing softball. I remembered my camera this time (thanks Suz). The Barracudas beat the sharks in extra innings, 7-6.

After a great day at the ball field it was off to St. Thomas for a wedding.

Sunday was a beautiful day. We finally made it to the beach. We are planning on taking our boat out next weekend. It is getting serviced on Tuesday so it should be good to go.

Update...I am having trouble uploading the picts from the weekend. It is time for bed so I will try tomorrow.

Gold Mine

On Sunday we were picking up the kids from Sunday School and as we drove past the dumpster I saw this bag outside of it. Jay had to stop at the gas station so I ran across the street to see what it was. I scored a whole bag of christmas decorations, lights, ribbons, gift tags and two floats! Sunday night, at a different dumpster I scored 2 plastic storage containers for school. I hit the dumpster jackpot on Sunday!

For those of you who might not know about this tradition...people put things outside of the dumpster that someone else might find use out of, like our old couches!

Memorial day

Happy Memorial Day everyone! We are spending the day boating, surprise surprise! Greetings from Sidney's in Little Harbor, Jost Van Dyke. Gotta go, the lobster is ready! More pictures soon come.

Wagapalooza and Music in the Moonlight

Last night was the Animal Care Centers Wagapalooza. It is a festival for dogs with a whole bunch of different contests the dogs can enter. We did not take Roosie with us, she did not enjoy it last year. Heather let Walker and Quinn enter her dog Oliver into the best tail contest. They came in 3rd! Both kids had their faces painted and ran around like all wild children do. Jay and I stood around and talked with our friends.

Music in the Moonlight was at Moongoose Junction. It was a bunch of local artists playing 4-5 songs each. There were tons of people there. The kids ran around like wild kids and Jay and I enjoyed the music. Next year we are going to get a babysitter.

Our Saturday

8:30 Leave to take Walker to Coral Bay for KATS
9:20 Return from Coral Bay
10:00 Leave for Tball - have to get sand and ice on the way
11:00 Tball game-Quinn does great!
12:45 Walker arrives from Coral Bay for her softball game
1:00 Walker and Quinn softball game
3:20 Softball game over
4:00 arrive home and proceed to get thrown in the pool, all of us a different times
4:10 shower, fold laundry, Jay takes quick nap on couch
5:45 leave for Wagapalooza
8:45 Wagapalooza is over, head over to Mongoose Junction for Music in the Moonlight
10:47 Leave Music in the Moonlight and head home
11:10 in bed and exhausted!

Rain

I dont know if it will ever stop raining. There does not look like an end. Most days have been overcast with some passing showers. I have actually worn pants and a sweat shirt to school. Here is a photo from one of the rainy days.