St. John 2015

We just got back from vacationing in St. John.  We had a lot of fun!  My parents took my sister and I to St. John many times when we were younger, but this was my third time going with Mike and our second time going with the boys.  Sam, Ella and Caleb were along this time and it made the trip even more fun!

The older kids spent more time in water, whether it was the pool or ocean, than they did out of water. 
Our resort had a big pool and hot tub.

We stayed at Grande Bay and the view from our condo was amazing.  I could sit on our front porch all day and watch boats.


 
Popsicle party on the porch.


To get from beach to beach you need to drive up VERY steep and windy hills.  Most people drive Jeeps on the island and the speed limit is never above 20 mph.  Most of the roads do not have guard rails and you need to watch for goats, donkeys, chickens, and cows that freely roam the island. 
 

Our resort was only a short walk from the Beach Bar.  We ate here a lot.  Since it's right on the beach, the kids could look for shells, climb trees, and play in the water while we watched them from the Beach Bar.

 

The Beach Bar had fun games to play too!

There were HUGE iguanas all over the place.  This was a picture from Paige. While they were eating lunch one came up to them and people were feeding it.

The beaches on St. John are incredible.  The island is becoming more popular as more people discover how amazing it is.  When I was little, our family would often be the only people on the beach. 

 Thankfully everyone seems to do a good job helping to keep the beaches clean.  They are gorgeous!

 I remember very little waves when we used to visit the island, but this time there was a strong current which made for some good sized waves.  The kids LOVED riding the waves and Mr. Adam has no fear of being tossed around by waves and doesn't mind being covered from head to toe in sand either.

We had a good time snorkeling.  We saw sea turtles, sting rays, and neat fish.  I'm pretty sure Paige and I saw a barracuda while we were snorkeling together. 

These 4 kiddos played so nicely the entire trip.  I was anticipating some arguing here and there, but there was none of that.  They all got along perfectly and it was so nice watching them play and explore together.

 They are such good buddies and my boys are really missing their cousins right now.

We have a tradition of doing hermit crab races when we visit Salt Pond.  There are hermit crabs EVERYWHERE!!!  We each picked our favorite, gave it a name, and had a race. 

 My mom's birthday was on Thanksgiving so we all went out to a nice restaurant for dinner.  Here's a picture of the entire crew. 

 And the next morning, we woke up to find our elf, Sam, and our cousins' elf, Doodle, both came to St. John!  We were shocked that they made the trip all the way there.

Speaking of the trip- Mike said on the way home that St. John really makes you work for the trip.  It took us a total of 14 hours to get there (including the layover) and 12 hours to get home.  It's a full day of travel... two taxi rides, two plane rides, and a ferry ride to the island.  But it's completely worth it.  We were talking to a couple that was staying at the same resort and they had taken a trip to Italy last spring and said that while they had a great time in Europe, they both agree that St. John is better.  I love this island.

He didn't even question why I wanted his picture under the sign:)

Openheimer Beach- sitting on the front porch of the Openheimer home.

And now I need to get out of island mode and back to reality.  School, work, basketball, homework, and busy schedules start tomorrow. 

Thankfully we decorated for Christmas before we left for our trip.  It was so nice coming home to a house all ready for Christmas!

Darn Gilmore Girls

Mike told me the other day that he thinks my lack of blogging is directly related to my binge watching of Gilmore Girls.  And I have to agree with him.  The past few months I have been watching WAY TOO MUCH Gilmore Girls.  Don't get me wrong, I would rarely just sit and watch an episode unless it was at night while I was in bed.  Usually I watched it while I folded laundry, cleaned up the kitchen, did dishes, etc.  Well a few nights ago I stayed up WAY PAST my 9:00 bedtime and watched the final episode.  Ahhhhhh, it was so good.  I am not going to allow myself to dive into another Netflix series until after Christmas.  I am excited to get my life back :)

Along with lots of Gilmore Girls watching (for me), the boys both completed their fall soccer season. 

 Mike did a wonderful job coaching.  They came so far in one season!

Both boys had a great season and I really enjoyed cheering them on at games.  Owen has already moved on to his next sport- basketball.  He's loving it and boy does he need it!  The early darkness means less time playing outside so basketball really helps to get out some of that extra energy :)

Apple Eating Pictures

 Just some random Adam eating an apple pictures.  I love the view from our big kitchen window, but I also love the pretty light it gives for taking pictures.  Adam's eyes looked especially blue and I even love his marker stained fingers and arms. 

 

The Most Wonderful Time

It's hard to believe we are already into October.  This is definitely my favorite time of year... the crisp cool weather, the pretty changing leaves, pumpkins, apples, the list goes on.

I need to back up a little bit...At the end of September we celebrated Mike's 38th birthday.

We got to have Teddy over to play for the entire day.  The boys loved every minute of it!

The boys had their Superhero Day at school. This was them getting into character before they left for school.  God bless their teachers :)

Speaking of school and teachers...  Adam is LOVING kindergarten.  He has made incredible growth and we are so proud of him.  We are very thankful for his amazing teachers.  On Fridays, his teacher has "Fun Friday" and usually it's centered around a theme.  I love seeing him get off the bus wearing a hat that he made at school.


A few weeks ago we went over to my aunt's house to make apple pies.  First, we picked the apples from her apple tree.

 

Then we peeled and sliced the apples and made apple pies!

 

It was a lot of fun!

We got the boys school pictures back.  Something about school pictures makes me laugh.  It looks like both boys have a hearing aid in their right ear. 

Owen looks so grown up.  In fact, he is acting more grown up too.  He's started going to sleepovers more often and really enjoying time with his friends. 

Only a few more weeks till our trip.  This is my happy place and we can't wait!!