Christmas in the Caribbean the final days

Merry Christmas! All the kids got their own set of goggles. What was so incredible is that they are actually all posing for the picture. Seriously cute kids if I do say so myself.

The end of our trip was filled with some wake boarding, snorkeling, beaching and just hanging out with cousins. The kids loved the little inflatable pool the crew set up on the back of the boat. They seemed to prefer that over the salt water. Then when we were done with whatever water excursion swimsuits would come off and Shane would hose them down, one by one they'd get a towel and Amy or I would dress them. Great teamwork and very efficient assembly line. On a particularly sandy day we put them all in the tub for a scrub.

Christmas Day in the Caribbean

Christmas eve I gave the chef a recipe for sugar cookies and frosting. We let the kids frost their own cookies and when I got on for myself I could see the consistency was not normal. Turns out they don't have plain old cream cheese so he substituted something that goes in meringue. I'll just say it was super sweet and not a favorite but I'm not much of a frosting person. The kids liked it.

We then had a Christmas caroling program put on by all the cousins. They stood on the back table of the boat and screamed...sang all their favorite chirstmas carols.

Christmas morning we woke to our first stormy weather. We had some rough seas and rain in the afternoon. The captain began moving the boat to Anguilla as we opened presents. I don't think the kids noticed we were moving at all, it was mostly the adults trying to pass out presents and the stewards bringing refreshments trying to maneuver around us. No one got sick so that was a bonus. Then as any normal christmas day the kids ran off with hoards of toys and the adults sat around and tried to decipher instruction manuals of misc. gadgets. Ah, Christmas.

The captain finally found us some calm waters (or the storm finally moved) just in time for Christmas dinner. It was still wet outside so the adults ate a table and the kids had a picnic on the floor, so as not to spill on the WHITE carpet. (I was nervous) The chef appeared to carve the turkey, which was delicious. We had all the standards, turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes & gravy, sweet potatoes & cranberry sauce. All with a little bit of a french twist. I think maybe the best part of the trip was that after the huge dinner I didn't have to do any dishes!!! I just got to veg out on the couch with everyone else.

Christmas in the Caribbean Day 4

We decided to go to port and find a beach on the back side of St. Martin. I believe it was called Elsa Rock. It was gorgeous! Our favorite thing to do with kids is sit on the beach. They are old enough now or in life jackets that you can actually lay out and occasionally tell someone to stop throwing sand. Beach days were my favorite part of the trip. This beach had a restaurants a little ways down and Shane went to get us lunch to go. Nothing like sitting in the warm sun eating a smoking hot panini. Literally it was burning my fingers but still delicious. He did bring a Caprese salad that helped cool me off.

At the end of the day we took a taxi back to meet the tender. There is a covered area with lots of magazines to read. Most of the magazines are covered with lots of skin so we tried to pull out some Dr. Suess type books for the kids to look at.

Christmas in the Caribbean Day 2,3

St. Barth's started out with testosterone building event. Shane decided to dive off the third level of the yacht and Robbie (owner) felt the need to prove his manhood and went next. The crew seemed a little nervous seeing someone flying off the boat but I think it was because no one was stationed at the back to have fresh towels when they climbed back on board.

The kids had fun watching the jest ski's cruise around. They were very good at waiting their turn and surprisingly they didn't push anyone off the boat. There was a huge inner tube with 3 seats in it. We pulled it behind on of the jet skis and they were having tons of fun until Shane submarined it on a corner and they freaked out a little.

Christmas in the Caribbean Day 1

This year for Christmas Shane's sister invited us onto her boat, which is currently in the Caribbean. That was a no brainer, not to mention it was -5 when she called. Most trips in Shane's family are last minute or some call it spontaneous and this was no different. We booked our tickets, got my sister Amy to agree to come along and 3 days later we were on a plane to St. Martin. So, let me translate what that really means. Day 1 booked tickets, arranged people to cover teaching, dog-feeding etc. Day 2 All of the Christmas shopping, shipping it and lots of laundry. That evening just as we got the kids to bed there was a huge blackout (really there couldn't have been a worse time). That meant packing and wrapping all Christmas presents were done by flashlight and lanterns. Day 3 load car, clean house, head to SLC to catch a flight.

The kids played and slept and then we woke them when we arrived in St. Martin. Ah, the humidity and heat hit as we got of the plane. What a change from the snow we had just come from. I think my body was in a little bit of shock. My hair definitley was, it was growing in thickness by the minute. (refer to the Friends episode when Monica travels to the bahamas and ends up looking like Diana Ross)

Gunnar and Livy are making sure the captian doesn't hit anything as we leave the port. We headed out to St. Bart's which is beautiful and has some great beaches. This is our host Robert and Shane's sister Heather. It's a nice way to travel when the weather is good.

Halloween 2009

Happy Halloween! My kids were so excited this year. I think they all grasp the concept of this holiday. CANDY, CANDY, CANDY! To start off, a week before Halloween, Gunnar had a school carnival were we saw a spook alley, took a hay ride, and played lots and lots of games. Izze doing the cake walk was pretty funny. The music would stop and she would keep walking and run into the person in front of her. She won a cupcake but then got mad because everyone else got a laffytaffy. Go figure!

Next was the Church Party. It was outside so Livy decided to be Mr. Incredible with a full sweat suit underneath. Izze decided she couldn't be Tinkerbell again and decided on a moonboot fairy. Lots of games and not so great food. Izze is learning though, during the cake walk she just walked right over to the cupcake table and took one for her and one for dad!

There were preschool parties, gym parties, a school Halloween parade, and our first snow fall. Shane let the girls out the door to taste the snow. Izze with no shoes. Way to go DAD!

Finally, time to trick or treat. Izze's alteration to the princess protection costume. She was the only one with warm hands at the end of the night.

I am kind of glad we are done with Halloween this year. I believe there were a total of 6 different costume parties in all. Livy and Izze did come up with some interesting costume variations.

Hope you all had fun. I sure did and now have a Halloween candy hangover. Good Times!

Gunnar's First Day of Kindergarten

So this post is a few weeks late but here is a re-cap of my first child going to school experience.

Gunnar was so excited to start "Big School" as he refers to it. He is in afternoon kindergarten. He gets to ride the bus (if we were still living in phoenix there is no way I would put him on a bus.) Luckily in little town, USA I feel totally comfortable. Gunnar had his shoes and backpack on 30 min before the bus was suppose to come. The bus stop is right in front of our house. I sent Gunnar outside 10 minutes before pick up time and went to grab the camera. As I walked outside the bus was in front of our house and Gunnar was already on it. So my picture turned out to be just the bus. Shane was outside in the garage and informed me that Gunnar saw the bus, turned to Shane and said "bye dad!" and then ran up the stairs of the bus without ever looking back. At least I got a picture of the bus. Then I decided to drive to the school and get a picture of Gunnar getting off the bus. They have all the kids line up and then walk into their class. Gunnar saw us in the car across the street and gave us his famous (I'm not trying to smile) - Smile -

2nd Day of School I was going to get my picture of Gunnar getting on the bus. I sent Gunnar out 20 minutes before pick up time and went to get the camera and wouldn't you know it. I walked out the door to see Shane waving good -bye to Gunnar on the bus already. Just my luck.

3rd Day of School I got the camera walked out side with Gunnar 30 min before pick up time and 10 minutes later the bus came and I got my picture. Turns out the school gave me the wrong bus stop time and I just got lucky Gunnar didn't miss his bus on the first day of school.

He loves School. Hates the weekend when he doesn't get to go and panics when he fell asleep on the couch after lunch and woke up thinking he missed the bus. I spent 10 min trying to explain what an in-service day was and that there was no school that day.