To Seattle for the New Year

We didn't have any plans for the New Year, except maybe to go to bed at 10pm on New Year's Eve. That's pretty much our New Year's tradition every year.

After dinner, we opened crackers with paper crowns and little toys inside. Then we banged pots and pans outside our apartment. That was the extent of our New Year's Eve celebrating but it was just perfect. 

On New Year's Day we awoke and packed up the car to head to Seattle. Ben's brother Sam recently married a girl named Bonnie from Issaquah. We went to Seattle for the wedding and met her family who are all very nice. Sam and Bonnie live in Utah, but they were spending the holidays in Seattle and invited us to go up for a few days. We couldn't pass up the opportunity to see them, as well as get to know Bonnie's family better.

We arrived at Bonnie's brother's house and were immediately treated like one of their own. It was so fun to talk to Bonnie's parents and brothers and sisters. We spent most of the afternoon chatting, then Bonnie and Sam drove us out to Snoqualmie Falls. They are beautiful, gigantic falls outside Seattle and although it was really busy, we loved seeing them as well as the lodge nearby. We then returned to be with Bonnie's family and after dinner we played a rousing game of keep away. I haven't played such an intense game with adults and it was hilarious.

That night we stayed at Bonnie's parents house. It was fun to see her childhood home and we played "Cover Your Assets" with Dave and Terry. The next day was Saturday so we decided to go on a hike. We headed to Rattlesnake mountain to try and summit Rattlesnake Ridge.

Sam and Ben carrying the kids

The trail ended up being too icy, but our consolation was Bonnie's dad treating all of us to shakes at the local mom and pop burger joint, which were delicious. 

Before we headed to get shakes we let the kids throw rocks into Rattlesnake Lake. It was really cold though and they didn't last long.

Saturday night Bonnie's sisters and mom invited me to go get manicures and pedicures together. We had a great time. Later that night we sat up late talking with Sam and Bonnie and Dave and Terri since it was our last night there.

The next morning we packed up early to make it to our church at 1pm. We said goodbye to everyone, then began to drive south. As fate would have it, a big snowstorm was moving through the area and we hit it full on. Multiple cars had slid off the roadways and there were many accidents. It made us nervous but we took it slow and arrived home safely. Our church had been canceled for the day due to ice so we had our own little church services at home and enjoyed the tiny bit of snow that had fallen in our yard.

It was a great trip and a great way to start 2016. Happy New Year!

Our Vacation to the Virgin Islands- Part 3

Day 6: Peter Island to Marina Cay

We started the day by heading back to Deadman's beach. Ben made a valiant effort to teach Nayeli how to snorkel, but when he finally got her to put her face into the water, she released her mouthpiece and came up sputtering salt water and screaming. Baby steps I guess.

Snorkeling buddies

Teddy crashed on my chest and we decided to take a nap together in the shade. I love how you can see his face just covered in sand.

 I love this lobster-chest man of mine. Really. He's the best.

We then sailed to the island Virgin Gorda to see a famous attraction called the Baths. It's an area with massive granite boulders piled one on top of another, and the hike to the beach is reminiscent of southern Utah. We had to swim the kids and all our equipment to shore and poor Sam offered to carry Teddy, who proceeded to scream in his ear the whole time.

My fashionista girl

 Hiking through the Baths

There were some steep and hairy areas, but everyone helped with the kids and we took it slow

 What a good looking group, huh?

Right after the above picture was taken, I began to hike down the rock but slipped on some moss and fell backward.  I was holding Teddy, who thankfully landed on my chest, but my head hit the rock with a loud crack. Everyone rushed over to inspect the damage. They helped me up, but I was so worried about Teddy that I didn't care about my own head.  Teddy was shaken, but perfectly fine. As for me, there weren't any injuries and we concluded that my bun was in the perfect spot to have taken most of the impact. It's funny because I had thought to put my bun up higher before we left the boat, but ultimately decided against it. I think my injury could have been much worse had my bun been in a different spot.

What made the loud cracking sound? It seemed to have been my head hitting the rock, since we couldn't attribute the loud sound to anything else. But if it was my head, it was incredible that I later had no headache or neck pain. Nothing. Could that be called a lucky coincidence that my bun was in just the right spot or that my head didn't seem to hurt the way it should have after a fall like that? Maybe, but I don't think so. I sincerely feel that angels were watching over me and Teddy as well, who could have also fallen. I think angels protects us more often than we realize. Heavenly Father is so good.

Ben, Bonnie, Sam and Chelsea all climbed onto this rock and jumped off. 

It was great that Ben had a GoPro to capture the action.

After the Baths we sailed to Marina Cay, a small island north of Tortola. We enjoyed dinner together, then had an impromptu dance party. Ben had put a playlist of fun songs on his phone, including a few songs for Nayeli. She was in heaven singing and dancing to "Let It Go" with everyone.

This group had some serious moves!

Day 7: Marina Cay to Road Town Harbor, Tortola

This morning was the most memorable one, thanks to little Teddy. He woke early but since Ben and I were both tired, I put him next to me on the bed and gave him my cell phone to play with. I dozed, and when I woke up I was horrified to find that Teddy had had a blowout of his diaper, discovered it, and taken artistic liberty to "paint" around himself. I awoke Ben frantically and put him in charge of getting Teddy cleaned off while I cleaned up the cabin. It was a huge job since Teddy had gotten it on the walls, bed and my phone, and it took quite awhile to clean up. With limited resources I used soap, water and the rags we use to give the kids baths. Once everything was clean, I threw the dirty rags into the sink of our bathroom and we went about our day.

Later that night Ben showered the kids while I began packing (we were leaving the next day). After they were bathed and I went to pack up the bathroom, I looked down to see that the rags I had used in the morning, the poopy ones, had been moved. When I asked Ben what rags he had used to bathe the kids, he confirmed my worst suspicions. Both kids had been sponge bathed with the poopy rags! I was horrified and only now is it funny. In fact, the only consolation at the time was that Ben didn't use the rags to clean their faces. Oh the things you experience when you have kids!

Anyway, on to our adventures for the day. We visited a few small, uninhabited islands. The first was Sandy Island, another donation of the Rockefeller family. It was only thirteen square miles but had a lot of fun ashore. We did a small hike there and found it to be crawling, literally, with hermit crabs. There were thousands of all shapes, sizes and colors and Nayeli was loving it. Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures because we had left the camera on the boat, but I did get a picture of the island from the boat. The water and sand were just stunningly beautiful.

Sandy Island

The next island was Green Cay and it was even smaller than Sandy Island. In fact Chelsea calls it the "4 Minute Island" because it only took four minutes to walk all the way around it. We swam to shore for this one so the camera didn't go with us this time either, however we did find some great shells. These are the shells I brought home. I plan to arrange them in a shadow box, hopefully soon.

After Green Cay we went to Jost Van Dyke Island (shout out to my Dutch ancestors). We did a hike to a place called Bubbly Pond- it's like a natural hot tub as the waves crash and bubble in a small cove. Unfortunately we arrived at low tide when there wasn't any bubbling, but we still had fun climbing on the rocks above. Teddy is absent from the photos because he was asleep on the boat with Jane.

Bubbly Pond

There was some interesting vegetation on this island, including poisonous trees. They are black in color and can give you rashes and welts from just brushing up again them. Even if you are sitting under them during a rain storm you can get welts, so we avoided them at all costs. I was familiar with them from my mission, although in Belize they call them "el cheche negro", or something like that. When I was the nurse, one of the Elders helped a member haul some wood that had been recently cut. Unfortunately the wood had come from a poison tree and the poor elder got welts all over his arms. Isn't that crazy? I'm just happy they don't grow here in the states.

We also saw beautiful mangrove trees. They filter the salt water to drink fresh water. 

The last stop on Jost Van Dyke Island was a famous bar called Foxy's, but by then Nayeli and I were beat so we took a nap while everyone else went ashore. Don't worry, no one went to drink- they have a fun apparel store attached. Ben ended up getting a cool shirt which he was pleased about.

The next day we were all flying home so it was time to return to the marina. It was a fascinating place- there were so many boats and they were owned by people from all over the world.

Cannes, France. Gary told me that some people do sail these catamarans across the Atlantic.

We went out to dinner for the first time of our trip in the marina restaurant. On our way there we got caught in a downpour and arrived at dinner pretty wet.

Rainstorm in the marina

We had a delicious dinner. I ordered a coconut conch curry to be daring and it was really good. I wish we had gotten a picture but dinner was actually pretty crazy. The kids were really tired and throwing food and by the end of it I was frazzled. So no pictures. But it was really fun to be together with everyone and enjoy a yummy meal.

The rest of the night was spent packing. We didn't even stay up late talking because we were all so exhausted. We had to start early the next day so we crashed in bed hoping to get a little sleep before our big day home.

Day 8: Road Town Harbor, Tortola to Wilsonville, Oregon- 4,078 miles in 24 hours

We had to take a taxi at 6am to catch the 7am ferry to St. Thomas so we woke at 5:15 EST. We got ready, woke the kids, and after bidding goodbye to everyone we boarded our taxi. He took us to the harbor of ferries where we waited for the boat that would take us to the other island.

The boat ride was about an hour. We were leaving the British Virgin Islands and entering the US Virgin Islands so we had to go through customs and immigration. After we exited that we were able to explore Charlotte Amalie.

6:45am: The kids playing at the ferry harbor

We had some time before we had to catch our flight so we decided to walk around the city a little. There is a lot of shopping in Charlotte Amalie, but since we were there early we grabbed some breakfast and waited for the shops to open.

Ben and I both noticed that the style of buildings in Charlotte Amalie was very similar to the style seen in New Orleans. We guessed that the Creole influence that ties the two areas together may have something to do with it. Honestly, you could walk down a few of the streets in St. Thomas and think you were in the French Quarter. It was very interesting.

Fun colored buildings with amazing doors.

St. Thomas. Carrying the kids around like we do.

We walked around until our feet and backs ached but we didn't even end up buying anything. I think we were both just so tired and ready to go home that nothing appealed to us. Everything was pretty expensive as well. After a few hours we took a taxi to the airport to wait for our flight.

Think they'd fit in the overhead? ;) Waiting for our flight to New York

The flight to New York actually went really well. We all fell asleep and got good naps. I wish I had a picture of our whole family crashed on the plane- we were exhausted! We had run ourselves ragged for eight days and it had finally caught up to us.

Once we arrived at JFK things got a little hairy. What was supposed to be a 90 minute layover had turned into a four hour layover. We grabbed dinner, bought treats, turned on a movie, and walked the terminal a dozen times to keep the kids busy. By the time we boarded the plane the kids were so exhausted and grouchy. 

When flying I throw a few rules out the door- primarily the ones that have to with sweets and screen time. Whatever it takes to keep my kids from having a meltdown. I fed the kids candy after candy to keep them happy. It reached the point however that Teddy wouldn't even take another M&M from me. That's when I knew we were in trouble, but luckily that was when we were nearly home.

Our plane landed in Portland at 12:30am PST/3:30am EST. After getting to our car and driving home, our heads hit the pillow at 2:15am PST/5:15am EST, exactly 24 hours from when we left. Isn't it a modern marvel that we could travel over 4,000 miles in a day? I am always astounded by how airplanes have revolutionized travel.

The next week was an adjustment of getting off eastern standard time (both kids woke up at 5:30am consistently for a few days) and trying to stay steady on our sea legs. We had landsickness so bad- I felt like the world around me was rocking for weeks after. Teddy walked like a drunkard for days. Luckily it is finally starting to settle and the world seems to be much more stable.

The bottom line is that the trip was incredible. We saw and experienced things that few people get to see in a lifetime.  I can hardly describe how grateful we feel to Gary and Jane for inviting us on such an amazing getaway. It didn't matter how bad the going or coming was- it was worth any inconvenience we had to encounter to go on that trip. We will never forget it and I know will reflect on it fondly for years to come.

Our Vacation to the Virgin Islands- Part 2

Day 3- Leinster Bay, St. John to Benures Bay, Norman Island

We awoke early on day 3 (we awoke early every day thanks to little Teddy) and got an early start to see some more ruins. Since Nayeli was still asleep, Jane was kind enough to stay with the kids while Gary took us ashore in the dinghy.

We visited the Annaberg Sugar Plantation Ruins, which is part of the national park in St. John.  They are from the late 1700's and were run by slaves brought from Africa. It was a very interesting place, but sobering as well to think of the labor those slaves had to endure there. The history buff in me loved it and lamented it at the same time.

 Ben shooting pictures of me, like he does

By the windmill structure, which would crush the sugar cane

Here the sugar was boiled down to make molasses and rum

After returning to the boat, we sailed into the British Virgin Islands. Our first stop was the main island of Tortola, in a little harbor called Soper's Hole. It was a quaint place with fun shops.

On our way! Teddy's face here is the best.

 Soper's Hole

Our first stop was to look in the shops at souvenirs. Jane was kind enough to buy Nayeli a stuffed turtle, and Nayeli even spent money she had earned herself on a pencil with a fish and windmill on the top of it. I bought a cute shirt with "Tortola" on the front. We then headed to the grocery store to get ice cream.

 Oh this boy has my heart...

 So does she. In heaven with her pencil and turtle

Actually they were both in heaven. Just look at those faces. 

We then stopped at a restaurant to enjoy conch fritters, courtesy of Gary. They were delicious, but I believe Ben and I got more fritter than conch in ours. It was fried though, so how could I complain?

After our Soper's Hole stop, we were on the move again headed for Norman Island.

On the bow

Sam and Bonnie, who got engaged just a week or so after returning from the trip. We love Bonnie and are really excited for them. 

Teddy getting to help sail the boat with Grandma Jane and Grandpa Gary

Once we reached Norman Island we put on our snorkels and swam into some caves. They are rumored to be places that actual pirates hid their treasure and plunder years ago, but nothing is left now. It's just fun to swim in and imagine them filled with gold coins and treasure chests. I'm sure that's not how it actually was, but it's fun to imagine it anyway.

We didn't get any pictures here so I borrowed one from another source. Just imagine that's us snorkeling into the caves, okay?

Something really cool that we did here was that we fed softened rice to the fish as we snorkeled. We'd release it and they'd come in swarms. We saw a barracuda and large spotted eagle ray (like a huge spotted sting ray) while snorkeling as well. When we returned to the boat after exploring the caves, Nayeli was so disappointed that she didn't get to go into a "real" pirate cave. That's when Grandma Jane stepped in, and being the amazing swimmer that she is, she swam Nayeli into each cave so that she could see it all. She's a wonderful grandmother.

Ben, Sam, Gary and Jane also did a famous scuba dive here called "The Indians". Ben took a GoPro down with him and got some cool pictures.

 Ben. What a hunk in all that scuba gear, huh?

Sammy

After we were done diving and snorkeling, we went to moor in Benures Bay. There Ben and I took the kids to shore to beach comb and find some fun shells. We found some cool conch (which we didn't bring home because it is illegal), as well as other amazing coral and shells. Many were really big and fragile, and unfortunately they didn't survive our kids. Oh well. I keep telling myself that there are things more important in life than seashells.

That night, and a few other nights on the trip, we played board games after dinner. Ben's family loves board games, especially Settler's of Cataan. We had a great time playing together. Then after games, we often moved out onto the bow to lay on the area we affectionately termed "the trampoline", a large plastic net stretched over the front of the boat. Sam, Bonnie, Ben and myself were usually the last ones awake and we chatted until our eyelids dropped low. It was great fun, and we got to know Bonnie much better during those conversations. Those are great memories.

Day 4: Benures Bay, Norman Island to Peter Island

This day was Sunday, so we awoke early to get into our harbor in Road Town, Tortola and make it to 10am church. It was only a short walk from the harbor, and we enjoying seeing some of the city on foot. It reminded me so much of Belize, except that it was much cleaner, there were less stray animals (we saw a "small animal control" vehicle driving around), and they drive on the opposite side of the road. The branch we attended had about 30 active members- we met in a cement office building on the top floor. The members were wonderful and it was a great experience to be there with them. Plus I love that the church is the same everywhere. It is so refreshing to me.

We also may have stolen Bonnie's camera and had a little fun...

After church we sailed toward Peter Island. Honestly, I was so tired and grouchy this day I just wanted to sleep. The kids got naps, then Ben, Jane and Gary took them to the beach so that I could get some rest. I got a nice, long nap and it was wonderful.

Teddy asleep in our cabin. The dark square in the photo is the cubby where he slept. 

Nayeli would curl up with her stuffed animals and sleep nearly anywhere.  And it was so hot I often just let her run around in her underwear.

My cute cougar

Playing with Aunt Chelsea

By that night I felt like a new woman and it was so refreshing. It was the perfect way to spend a Sunday in the Caribbean.

Day 5: Sprat Bay, Peter Island and back to Sprat Bay, Peter Island

On this particular morning I had some dirty clothes that I needed to clean, so I went to the stern of the boat and started my washing. As I went to rinse the clothes in the water, I looked down to see a three foot barracuda staring up at me, watching me wash. He didn't startle as I splashed and moved- he stuck around for quite awhile. Gary said that barracuda aren't likely to attack humans (a barracuda is the kind of fish that killed Nemo's mom), however I sure didn't like how looked at me, and I steered clear of the water in that area.

Peter Island is known for it's luxurious and expensive beach resort- Gary said that a room there is a minimum of $1,000 a night. They also had a "high class" private beach, tennis courts, a private swimming pool, and spa. We found a spa pamphlet and an hour couple's massage was only $400- I told Ben if we weren't so time strapped we could do it... maybe next time? ;)

The beach was called Deadman's beach and we got to go to the "middle class" area since we had paid for a mooring the night before. I must say that all of Peter Island was stunning- the most beautiful sand and surf I had ever seen in my life. We arrived early enough that we had the beach to ourselves nearly the whole morning. The kids were in heaven in the sand and we played coop and beach volleyball together. Ben and Sam also had fun throwing a frisbee and football. And of course we went swimming. Of course.

 Sprat Bay. It's interesting to see all the flags flying- England, US, British Virgin Islands, and the resort flag (I think)

Deadman's beach. That's the resort over in the distance.

 

It was such a fun morning to just relax on the beach, but soon we had to get back to the boat for lunch and more adventures. Teddy crashed in Ben's arms on the way back- he was so tired and worn out. In all honesty, we sort of ran our kids ragged, but there is no time for two naps a day when you are on the trip of a lifetime in the Carribean. Besides, our next destination was one of the coolest yet. 

In 1867 the RMS Rhone, a 300 foot iron ship transporting goods from England, hit a hurricane and split in two as it crashed into the rocks off Salt Island. 123 people were killed and the wreck still lies where it sunk nearly 150 years ago. The stern lies at only 30 feet depth and can be seen while snorkeling, however the bow is down at 80 feet and requires scuba gear. Ben, Jane, Gary and Sam all dove to see the wreck, then came back and I was able to go snorkle and explore a bit. It was incredible; eerie almost. Ben said it was the best dive he had ever done since it combined the Rhone with all the coral and fish that had made the ship their habitat. Here are a few pictures he got with his GoPro:

The stern, with the propeller seen at the left.

 Portholes

A mast

After our visit to the Rhone, we did a detour to the area we were going to visit the next day. Although we found it to be full, and we had to back track to Peter Island, Gary took advantage of the travel and showed Ben how to sail. 

 Ben has always had a dream of sailing. Dream fulfilled.

Gary explained to us the basics of sailing- the wind, the sails, tacking, etc. It was fascinating. I had no idea sailing was such an art until our trip.

Grandma Jane and Teddy

We arrived back at Sprat Bay exhausted from a very fun day, but looking forward to more beach time on Peter Island the next morning.