68: st. maarten

2nd stop was the French/Dutch island of St. Maarten or St. Martin if you're on the French side. We decided to tour the island on our own. We love to get lost down streets and find our way to interesting places. We actually took a Taxi to the French side of the island because we had read about a beach which was named one of the top 10 beaches in the world by National Geographic. It didn't disappoint, however, it also was not exclusive..people dressed in as much or as little clothing as they'd like..if you catch my drift! 

 Beach right off the boat on the DUTCH side of the island.

I love older buildings that tell a history. This was one of the oldest churches on the island.

 While Jim frolicked in the water, I warded off the vendors!

{that's Jim right in front of me to the left}

The colors of the island were stunning!

Another beautiful sunset to end our day with!

67: happy 12th birthday skyler from St. John

Parents of the Year! 

Today is Skyler's 12th birthday! A pretty big birthday and we are off snorkeling in the Caribbean Ocean. I felt guilty for about 2 seconds and am over it! St. Thomas was our first stop! We went on a boat and snorkel excursion to St. John {which was about 30 minutes from St. Thomas}. I have never seen such powdery white sand and such amazingly clear water! It was indeed breathtaking!

 Honestly...does it get any better than this?? I think not!

Ready to snorkel!

Some of the fun stuff we saw while snorkeling! I'm loving my new underwater camera. Jim got it for me for my birthday {in July} and this is the first opportunity I've had to really use it! 

One of the fun, rustic alley ways in the shopping district of St. Thomas. Seriously, if I see another jewelry store it will be too soon.

Beautiful sunset to a beautiful day!

66: another day at sea!

Another day at sea meant more eating and more sun and more exploring! This ship is amazing! It has an ice skating rink, flow rider, miniature golf, rock climbing wall, several pools/spas, chapel, amazing gym, basketball court, arcade, shopping mall, theaters, casino, endless deck activities, the list goes on. We didn't realize it when we booked it, but it was also the Dreamworks cruise, complete with the cast from Madagascar and Shrek {for those crazy enough to take their kids}.

We found ourselves at the {ironically} highest point of the ship which was also the chapel! We explored every square inch of the ship.

65: day at sea/formal night

A glorious day at sea! I really didn't take the camera out at all {if you can believe that}. We ate a great breakfast, laid in the glorious sun, worked out in the gym, ate some more, then went to the first of 2 formal dinners, then went to a show. The beauty of a cruise: you can do as much as you'd like or as little!

64: caribbean getaway!

 I find it absolutely ridiculous how much the cruise ship charges you for 1 photo ($19.95) but Jim thought we should have at least one {even though I took several hundred myself} and this was the one we chose because it seemed like a great "title" page of our trip!

Blue Skies ahead!! Ready to set sail!

63: origami in the air

IPad ran out of battery so this is Jim trying to keep busy on the plane.

62: mary poppins and nanny mcphee

The babysitters are here!! Bon Voyage to us! Let's see if they're still smiling and looking so fresh after 10 days!

The boys are in heaven!!

61: rental fiasco

 Quick background..Someone hit Jim in my car last December. After dealing with their miserable insurance, we finally we able to get it fixed. I turned my car in 1 1/2 weeks ago and they gave me a Nissan Pathfinder as a rental. They told me it should only be a few days. It was the smallest dent on the bumper, you couldn't even see it unless I pointed it out. The week was coming to an end and I knew I had to go to Lancaster that weekend but my car wasn't finished. Great..I'll just put miles on the rental. Finally on Wednesday, I got a call that it was all done. I went to pick up my car and the battery was dead. They jumped it and got it started and I was on my way. I couldn't wait to start listening to the Satellite radio (the rental didn't have it and I forgot how terrible the regular radio is, spoiled, yes!). Turned it on and there was no sound. I quickly turned the car around. They told me they'd take a quick look. They couldn't figure it out and said they'd need it longer. So they had to put me into a new rental. Not any rental, but a pimp daddy caddy. I had to laugh at the whole situation. I felt like a grandpa cruising along in this. I had to put a bike in the backseat and transport the shave ice machine to church. Oh how I miss my big car!!

60: 270 cheeseburgers please!

Jim texted me this picture. One of his buildings went into survey so the administrator went to McDonalds and got the entire staff and surveyors cheeseburgers...270 to be exact! {he called ahead of time to place his order} That's a whole lot of beef!

59: whiteness

I know, I know...these things are bad for you! But I think frying my winter white skin on vacation would be worse.

58: snow much fun

Skyler had one last game today {they tied 1-1, which was enough to win the bracket and  advance us to the next round..dang it} then we drove home. It was a sunny day so we took hwy.138 home. There was so much snow everywhere so we pulled the car over so Skyler could go run and play for a minute. There he was in shorts and a short sleeve frolicking in the coldness. Simple joys!

57: come rain or snow

I was a bit shocked that Skyler's soccer state cup games were not postponed again. It was pouring in Temecula all night and I was sure we'd get the text that we didn't have to go. Instead, we got the text at 6:00 a.m. that the games were on. So off to Lancaster we drove. By the time we hit the 60fwy. the rain had stopped and it was beautiful. When we got to Lancaster it was partly cloudy. Then all of a sudden it began to snow pretty hard. I'll have to admit, snow would be easier to play in then rain. The snow stopped before Skyler's game and despite the black looming clouds along the mountains, it turned out to be a beautiful, but very COLD day!

side note:  Skyler's team won both their games today!

About 39 degrees!

56: new tires, again!

Jim decided to trade me cars today. It wasn't until I was driving that I understood why. The flat tire light came on so I drove it to the tire shop to have it checked out. I guess he had about 20 miles left of tire until it BLEW! They were worn down to the rubber cording. This shop is loving us! We get new tires about every 4-6 months and they're NOT CHEAP!! {not what I call an efficient commuter car!}

55: death star cake, sure!

The boys are asked to bake and decorate a cake {with their dad} for the cub scout blue & gold dinner. Jayden knew immediately that he wanted a death star cake from Star Wars. Never wanting to disappoint, I googled death star and got started. First of all I shouldn't have waited till the day of to start planning and preparing. Second, I shouldn't have decided to try to use fondant for my 1st time with such a limited amount of time. Frustration was felt, but Jim was the hero in the end. He made the heap of mass actually look like something! Jayden loved it and was so proud of the creation and that's all that mattered to us! 

My bakers!

54: treasure seekers

Young Women's Camp Kick-off

Treasure Seekers...I'm going to love the pirate theme.

{whipped this costume up in like 5 minutes...i love our costume box}