Beth & Eric's Wedding

We got back last evening from our trip to St. John in the US Virgin Islands.  We had a great time and I took so many pictures.  It's good to be home, but I miss the island already.  It's definitely my favorite place on Earth and while having our boys with us may not have always been the most relaxing thing, I am so glad they got to come along.  The memories we made and experiences we had were priceless.

This was Adam's first time flying.  He did pretty well.  He had his moments, but we made it.  The DVD player was a huge help!

We  ate a lot of meals at the Beach Bar.  It was close to where we stayed- Battery Hill, and had good food.  The first night there we sat there for quite a while.  Kids are allowed to sit at the bar and they sat for such a long time taking in the sights and sounds.  We would have gotten a table, but there are only three tables in the restaurant and they were taken.

This is the view from my parent's balcony.  Doesn't it look like a framed picture?

The little cottage next to the pool is where the honeymooners stayed :)  I'm a little jealous that they get to stay there until Friday!!

Our pool- we shared it with everyone else staying at the condo complex.  There are 9 units all together.

Owen was doing some homework and Adam was standing around naked while watching a movie.  I think he was naked about 75% of our trip. When I told him he should put underwear on he replied with, "Why?"

It's kind of sad how built up the island has become.  I've been going to St. John since I was little and it's changed a lot.  That big ol' roof wasn't there the last time we were there in 2006.  Thankfully most of the island is a protected national park so nothing can be built on that part.

We stayed on the other side of the pool- Rainbow's End.

Our little kitchen.  I didn't clean one dish the entire trip, thanks to my wonderful husband :)

This was probably my favorite meal of the trip.  Steak.  Delicious!

Driving on the island is crazy.  Almost everyone drives a 4 wheel drive jeep and you drive on the opposite side of the road.  The roads are windy and extremely steep.  There are not many guardrails either.  That's Beth & Eric's jeep in front of us.

Oh that water!  There's nothing quite like it.

If you look closely at Adam's belly he has marker all over it.  He told me he was doing his homework.

One of the beaches we visited (Salt Pond) had hermit crabs everywhere.  Each of us picked one for our big hermit crab race.  We stored them in the cooler until we were ready for the race.  

Paige snorkeling

My mom and Owen playing Ninjago

Watching our hermit crabs race.  It took a while for some of them to wake up.

Paige gave her hermit crab a pep talk before the race... Pocahontas beat everyone.  She was very fast!

These huge iguanas crawled all over the bushes outside our condo.

Thursday was Thanksgiving and also the day before Beth and Eric's wedding.  Eric's aunt and uncle  were so nice to invite all of us over to their place for Thanksgiving dinner.  They made a huge feast which is no small feat on a little island with a small grocery store! 

This cat was always around our condo.  It was so sickly looking and we all tried to stay far away from it.  Paige named her Cleopatra.  She thought giving her a pretty name would make her feel better about herself.  Poor thing.  I think she's on her last life!

 Now onto the wedding...

It was perfect.  Beth's dress was so pretty! 

 The ceremony.

Beth's photographer, Sage, was awesome.  She lives on St. Thomas, but does the majority of her wedding photography on St. John.  Beth got married in Trunk Bay.  The weather and lighting was perfect.

Beth and Eric (my brother-in-law)

Adam and Payton (Eric & Beth's nephew)

 The reception. Simple, cozy, fun, and just what Beth and Eric wanted.

Beth's wedding favor was a print from the local artist-Elaine Estern.  I love her paintings.

The reception was at Spyglass.  It overlooked the harbor.

Adam was a dancing machine.  He danced all night long and had some crazy moves!!

Eric's 85 year old grandma made the trip.  She just got out of a rehab nursing home because of a broken arm and back problems.  She was such a trooper and cute as can be!

Beth had a great guitar player. 

It was definitely a wedding to remember.  Having all our extended family there made it even more special.

Owen loved having a pool to swim in whenever he wanted.  I think this particular day he swam for over 4 hours.

The infamous Ninjago pose.  He's centering himself before his big jump.

 One of my biggest fears before going on this trip was that one of the boys would get sick or hurt and need a doctor.  There is a hospital on the island, but it is only open from 8-5 everyday and has one doctor.  I had to visit it when I was in St. John in 1998.  Well, we had to visit it again with Owen.  Wednesday he got a bug bite on his temple.  The mosquitoes were so bad.  Adam was completely covered in bites.  We had to give the boys Benadryl before bed each night because they kept itching.  Thursday morning Owen woke up with his eye half way swollen shut.  I assumed it was from the bite and didn't get overly concerned except for the fact that he'd look funny in pictures.  The following morning he woke up with ear pain and swelling down the side of his face and neck.  It scared me because it was so close to throat and he said it was itchy.  I was scared he was having an allergic reaction to a bite.  We woke Aunt Beth up (thank goodness she's a nurse) and she went to the clinic with us.  He was given an antibiotic, steroid, and epi pen.  After that he started to feel better and the swelling went down. 

Poor Aunt Beth... this is how she spent the morning of her wedding.

Eric fell asleep and didn't know Cleo was this close to him!

The last night in St. John we went up to visit Boo, Judy, Maddie, and Below.  This is the view from where they stayed.

 Then it was time to say "good-bye".

A scene from the Miami airport waiting for our next flight. 

It was a trip of a lifetime and I just know we'll be going back a few more times.  Maybe Mike and I will have to take a trip there, just us, for our 10 year anniversary:)

I'm sure I'll have many more photos to post.  So stay tuned!!  I had to upgrade my google account.  It said I maxed out my free usage space.  Imagine that!