St. Thomas

We recently took a family vacation to St. Thomas.  I was so eager to sqeeze in a vacation before Kindergarten started (more on that later) and looking back I'm so glad we did.  We all loved St. Thomas!  You will see from the photos it was a boy paradise from all the snorkeling, sea life, sailboats, hobie cats, skim boards, paddle boards, boogie boards, and sea kayaks.  Ethan and David kept each other on the move, while Bennett and I took a more relaxed approach.  I was starting my third trimester and found myself a little more cautious since the island did not have a hospital.  Bennett didn't mind!  We have the more relaxed beach approach where as David and Ethan were all about conquoring the water!

In the photos above we found an 80 year old Wooden Sailboat, The Catania, and chartered it for a day.  The Captain was born on the boat and the closet thing to Jack Sparrow I'd ever seen.  He had sailed around the world on this boat with his parents and brother.  He now owns the boat and takes it out on private charters.  We had quite the day when the wind riped the sail right in half as our morning started.  No worries a good sailor always has a back up sail.  We snorkled off of two islands and had lunch on the boat.  The first mate(the guy with the dreads) kept us quite entertained with his islander stories.  

Ethan and David took these Hobie Cats out every day.  They loved sailing!  I enjoyed watching everyone else flip theirs over and getting rescued:)  Beach entertainment people!

Puffer fish caught by Dad

sea urchin caught a little too close to shore!

pool and ocean view 

Ethan made friends with two older boys who gave him a quick skim board lesson.  

Ethan was determined to learn to paddle board!  He did a great job.   

Dinner View

My beach boys!  

Bennett's first time on a sea kayak

hammock on the beach...yes please

We took an afternoon sail on this catamaran the Ritz owns.  Ethan showed everyone his snorkle skills as he decided to jump off the boat verses walking down the steps to snorkel in the middle of ocean.  He can snorkle and handle his fins better than most grown men we've learned!  Hopefully my gopro video will upload later!  

Last night!  

beach please...

we are headed out today for an island vacation where I can't wait see my boys hair lighten in the sun, read beach side, and snorkle off a sail boat that's over 100 years old.  we've been seaching all summer for a place to vacation and I can hardly wait now that we finally planned one.  This will be our last family vacation as a family of four:)  

fourteen!

A New Year has just begun and while i keep thinking back to 2013 I can't help but wonder how we can top 2013.  Call me a little sentimental!  Our little  family had awesome vacations in 2013.  We kicked off the year at Disney World,  had a relaxing time at Amelia Island, celebrated a bachelorette in Vegas, were part of gorgeous wedding in Rosemary Beach, unplugged on a camping trip in Canada,  celebrated the fall in mountains with family, and David went hunting for week with his Dad and Brother.  David's company Dogwood Homes built some pretty amazing homes and I had a several families leave an impression on my heart at work that will always impact me and my nursing career.  Our boys have grown bigger and remain joyful and healthy.  
As I look forward to 2014 I can expect that a dear friend will move faraway in early spring to London.  This bittersweet move will hopefully lead to new adventures for my own family in land of the Royal Family.  I hope to slow down and learn to sit and read a good book with a cup of tea way more often than I do currently.  We  only made one resolution as a family:  to use kind words towards each other.  I'm  hoping this will help the boys {and us} learn to find better words to express their anger and frustration when playing together. 
So cheers to a 2014!

rewind to rosemary...

Back in June we took a family vacation to Rosemary to watch my sister {in law} get 

married.  We had a lovely week at the beach with family and friends.  

The wedding would have Martha Stewart's approval. The bride was simply 

stunning.  And we had a fabulous time.  

Here are a few photos from our week before the wedding festivities started...

Nana swinging Bennett

our lovely little cottage

"mom made we wear this ridiculous hat"

the boys in their swim wear

ready to go!

"She made me wear the ridiculous hat too!"

LOTS more wedding photos to come...

oh Canada!

We just returned home from Canada where David's family has been camping for four generations now. We had lovely weather... warm enough to swim during the day but cool at night to snuggle down in your sleeping bag.  David drove to Canada towing our boat and I flew up two days later with the boys.  

I had been raining when we arrived at camp.  

The first thing Bennett did was go stomp through a few puddles.  

Ethan all smiles one morning when we woke up to a chilly day and needed our warm clothes.  

I was super excited to see Bennett sport his flannel:)

We found a Canadian ball for Bennett and he couldn't have been a happier camper.  

The boy loves balls!

After a super chilly night, David started a fire for us to warm up. 

One of my favorite things was Ethan picking me "flowers" every day.  Don't worry, he would get the root and all!  I wore my flowers in my hair all week.  

This year the mosquitoes and the deer flies were terrible!!!  I kept myself and the boys covered in deet and I am fairly certain I will smell like deet for the remainder of the summer.  But hey...it worked.

Fishing was pretty good this year!  David caught the largest perch he has ever caught.  We someone 

managed to not get a picture of it:(  Ethan and I got new fishing poles...mine was pretty awesome.  

We picnicked on Big Island.  Bennett read Brown Bear to ward away the bears!

David and I snuck away one night to have a date night on our boat.  The sky and clouds gorgeous in Canada.  I found myself always looking up.

Things weren't too rough...I'm pretty sure David didn't get to watch his favorite show at night when he was a little boy.  One of Ethan's favorite memories this year was waking up to be surprised to see his cousins in his bed.  Cousin sleepovers while camping is kinda a big deal to a 4 year old!

Poor Baby Bennett had to sport his life jacket a lot last week!  He did great though.  We had to make sure to take the key out of the boat so he wouldn't drive it away!

We ate at Wheelers which has pancakes, french toast, and maple sausage on the menu.  My sugar loving baby loved his pancakes and was all smiles.  His momma was all smiles after a treat of hot coffee!!!

Babies first s'more!

One borrowed snorkel from a kind cousin and who knew Ethan could snorkel? 

 Guess we need to buy one...

Someone was so sad to leave and misses his cousins!  We all drove home and I was amazed at how well the boys did during our 20 hour car trip.  We split it up into two days and I came prepared with new toys from a local toystore.  I guess they were also worn out from a week of outdoor life!