St. Thomas

What can I say, the whole trip was great! We sat at the airport and tried to play what was your favorite moment but there were too many to choose from. I have to say laying in the sun was simply the best. It made me miss Las Vegas. So here are a few pics with commentary...enjoy.
So we went sailing and we all agreed, we are NOT sailors. The whole time we were waiting for Captain Doug to "hit it" so to speak. Kate got sick, and Mom was creeped out because the Captain kept accidental touching her leg while steering, but I got a killer tan so that was a plus. I am grateful to have had the experience but don't feel the need to go again. We sailed to St John, but didn't dock. We had lunch on the ship and went for a snorkel. We saw two sea turtles, two sting rays and a really big star fish. The sting rays made me nervous...thanks a lot Croc Hunter. It was good but according to everyone else our reef at the house was a million times better. I didn't snorkel at the house...being the sun goddess I am, I don't care for the cold water and spent my time basking ashore. They say that in the summer the water is like 80 but it is hit and miss with hurricane season. I could snorkel in 80 degrees but that is what it would take to get me in more than once.

The beach was totally private. One would have to know where they were going to get there. Some even took the liberty to skinny dip :) We did have one visitor though. Mom, Kate and Blaine were exploring down the shore a bit and a HuGe Rottweiler came out of no where. Mom and Kate were pretty scared at first. Blaine had a rock in his hand but called to the dog and he came right over. He was a big Teddy bear. He stayed with us the whole afternoon.

There were lots of critters around the house big and small. Lizards, frogs and even hermit crabs. One morning my dad moved a cereal box and the hermit crab was right underneath. The owner told us to shut the doors to keep them out but they were everywhere. The frogs were so cute. And fast. There was one in our bathroom that was no bigger than a pea. Funny, I am bothered by spiders and crawling things. But a lizard on my window seal, no biggie.


The house was amazing. It had a main house and then a "cottage". It belongs to a dentist who raised his 3 daughters there. In the main house is a master bedroom, living room, kitchen and 1 1/2 bath. The master bed faces french doors which open to the ocean. Imagine waking up to the ocean every day of your life. Side note, all three of his daughters were born in that room. I bet that would make a great visual for labor. We are on the balcony in front of the master bedroom in this picture. The cottage was next to the house and a few stairs up. It had two levels. Originally the nanny's room was down stairs and up stairs are two rooms with a jack and jill bath. My parents stayed here. Each room was decked out with the nicest furniture and flat screen TVs. It was beautiful.

Another picture on our private beach. How do the models strike a pose and look so comfortable. Do I look comfortable? Yeah, no! maybe that's why I am a hair dresser not a model. But look at the definition in my leg muscle! Nice.

To get to the bottom level of the house you go out side and down some wooden stairs. This is where Jeff and I slept. The toilet and sink were inside and the shower...outside. Jeff showered out there first and said how great it was. Later that night I decided to shower. The wind was blowing and the curtain was everywhere and I was freezing. I ran upstairs and got into the indoor shower screaming, "Whoever thinks showering outside is great, is nuts". Apparently you had to shower during the day when the winds were calmer, which I did and yes, it was great.


Leave it to Jeff to find a coconut and crack it open. There was milk inside and everything! :)

When it came time to come home I was sad and happy. I wish there was a way to stay a week alone and then get the kids there. I am so blessed to have such a great friend to watch my kids! If anyone is looking for a great get away I would TOTALLY recommend this house. It is a bit of a crazy goat trail to get to, but once you are there you don't need to leave. When I looked at all my pictures the only one taken outside of our little heaven was of us sailing. Really we didn't need to leave at all. We had the beach, the ocean, snorkeling, good friends and family. Truly a dream vacation. Thanks for coming Kate and Blaine, Mom and Dad. Hope to do it again soon. Luv Luv

Chatching up

So we have been really busy lately and I can't believe I haven't posted since November, but I am not going to beat myself up about it. I do that enough with other things. November came and went! Thanksgiving was great. We send the holidays with the Childs, Jeff's Aunt and Uncle and their children. We went to a great restaurant that has been around since the mid 1700's. It is one of the oldest lodges still running. It was originally set up for travelers that needed a place to stop and stay. Dinner was great and the company better. I have been busy getting ready for Christmas and have presents for everyone except my husband of course. He is so freaking hard to shop for. If anyone has any suggestions please respond. We are currently in St. Thomas!!! We are taking a break from the kids and chilling with my parents and friends of ours, Kate and Blaine, Vegas. We are staying in a killer house right on the ocean!!! I will post pictures either as the week goes on or when I get home. Today we went to town and did some shopping. We have eaten at two really nice restaurants so far. It is amazing that it is snowing in VA right now and 80 here. Tomorrow we are sailing to St. Johns, its a private boat for just the six of us. I can't wait. Much more to come. Luv Luv...
A shout out to Amy Holly! She's best friend a girl could have. She has my kids and is the only person I am sure I could leave them with who loves them as much as I do, aside from G Ma and G Pa Burns and Mimi and Papa who are with us. Thanks for letting us get away. We owe you!!!

I am a Dog!

One of Nolan's current favorite things to do is get water from the fridge all by himself. The other day I found him pouring the water from his cup into a bowl and lapping it up like a dog. He is so funny!

Halloween!

We were a family of bumble bees this year with our trusty bee keeper keeping us all in line! When Jeff and I were first married we did this same theme with our dog Chica, and yes, Chica did have a costume. So we only had to do the kids costumes and we were set. I love dressing up with a theme. I will be sad when the kids want to do their own thing. We had a great ward trunk or treat with the traditional chili cook off, cup cake walk, spook alley, and of course trunk or treating. I am the activities chair and I think next year I am going to try to find some new twists for the trunk or treat. Any ideas throw them my way.




We had fun carving our pumpkins. For some reason the one on the left was like carving a rock. It was so tough. The other however was like cutting butter so Ainslee got to do most of the work.

We ditched our own neighborhood this year and went to our friends who live in a town house. We met up with five other families. It was really fun. Nolan was totally into it. Ainslee still didn't get it at age two, but when it comes to food and Nolan it is a no brainer. He was so cute going door to door. He would say, "Tic Teet" and hold his bag out proudly. When it got to heavy he handed it over to dad.

Ainlsee had fun running with her bff Kassidy.


It was a really warm night, we couldn't have asked for a better evening. It was so warm in fact that we decided to take the buggie over to meet our friends, as its only a few miles.(so we don't look so warm, but the night before it was freezing) On the way home however we broke down between the Bacon Race light and Wade. For those that don't know this is a dark narrow part of the road. We only had our little flashlight from trick or treating and I was waving it back and forth while we were pushing our buggie to Wade. Good thing we live mostly down hill. We pushed...coasted...pushed...and coasted. It would have been fine if Ainslee wasn't screaming she was scared. We never realized how dark our road was until this little expierience.

The kids made a haul and were very cute checking out their candy when we got home. Ainslee was so giving...she gave Jeff and I our own bowl with all the candy she didn't like in it. Lol. We have thrown much of the candy away.