Monday, April 29, 2013

Hands....

How many times in this man's life will he hold his daughter's hand?  A million or more!  But none can be more precious than the first time!!
Or the first time her big sister holds her in her lap!!
 

Friday, April 26, 2013

She's Here!!!!!!

Born at 7:55 am this morning, ms. kathleen jane arrived with all the glory she deserves!!  8.5 lbs and 20.25 inches long......she is (of course, no bias here!!) so very beautiful!  and ms. Lilli loves every inch of her!!  Her mom is a trouper and I'm very proud to call her MY daughter in law....she is such a good mom to my granddaughters and loves my son so very much.  That's all a mom ever really wants, ya know?  To have her children find someone in life who will love them just as much as she does.  I've been so blessed with the choices my boys have made!!  So without further adou....may I introduce ms. Kathleen Jane to you!!

The Circle of Life ... my boy with his girls!!
 

Thursday, April 25, 2013

How do you know when Spring has Sprung?

When your 3 yr old granddaughter brings you flowers...that's when!!!
Ms. Lilli stayed with me and we played outside all day long!  We walked thru every pasture we have and she pulled every weed.....er, um...flower that is growing right now!  She even told me, "YaYa...you sure are doing a good job of taking care of me!!!"  hahahahaha....and that was said over a bowl of vanilla ice cream with ALL the chocolate syrup she wanted on it!!!
Tomorrow will be Kathleen Jane's BIRTH day so I'm sure there will be many days in the weeks ahead that Ms. Lilli and I get to play more!



Remember these??  the clover chain crowns!!
 
 

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

A Party for Case!!

Well.........make that a Bebe Shower for Case's mom!!  So many of Hailey's family & friends honored her with the most beautiful shower last Saturday.  She received so many things that I doubt there is one thing left that they may need.  Such fun.  Such laughter.  Such love.  Let me just show you some of the awesomeness that made the party so neat!
A very pretty welcome at the front door on such a gorgeous, sunny day!

and once inside the door, I was in awe at the gifts that just went on and on and on....

the little details that made this such a fun party!


Scrumptious food for a morning brunch!!


and because I had just gotten into town the night before, I had yet to see my grandbabies....it had been almost 6 weeks, so I was ecstatic to be able to see both of them and hold them and hug them and hug them some more!
Lilli with her 2nd cousin, Ella!
and here are the sister wives!!  hahaha...the oldest one, there on the right, texted us that morning saying she couldn't wait to see her "knocked up sister wives"!! Omg....a hoot, she is!!
and speaking of bumping bellies!!! Amy on the left is having Kathleen Jane this Friday! and Hailey is having Case on July 3rd!  Are they adorable or what??!!
Such a fun day clocked into my memory....my daughter in laws AND my grandbabies all together always makes for a super day!
 
 

Friday, April 19, 2013

And......we're off!

(courtesy of free clipart)
And believe me....the Cape Air flight from Beef Island to San Juan looks just about like this one!!  Seriously?  Sophie and I will be glad to have this part behind us!  We leave at noon today, hoping to be back in good ol' Loosiana/Texas by 8:30 tonight.  We'll see..........starting with my PMA...positive mental attitude about making all flights and on time.
Get ready grandbabies.........YaYa is on her way home!!!!

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Continuation of the week.....too many photos in last post!

Thursday, April 11:  We left Spanish Town in morning on a research trip!  Wanted to see all the little bays and places from the water that we'd seen from land yesterday.  To Bitter End past Saba Rock to Eustacia Island, Necker Island and Oil Nut bay resort.  The day was golden and it was a glorious ride.

We then went back to Biras Creek resort and Marina to spend the night.  They have a private beach at Deep Bay and we spent the afternoon there.  Then back to the resort for dinner!  Man, oh man.....what a beautiful dinner that was!!  Ambiance, Landscape, Sunset and Food that was delicious!
 
(yes, dear children....he had a pair of long pants on the boat!!!!)
 
Dinner:  amus busch of coconut shrimp
Appetizer - lobster spring roll with mango and pineapple chutney
Palate Cleanser - raspberry sorbet
Entree - cap'n: peppered strip loin over chard
me: grilled mahi mahi over julienned veggies with a Greek olive/caper butter sauce.
Cheese bar after dinner with port wine
Dessert - chocolate fondant cake with vanilla bean ice cream
blueberry crumble with the vanilla bean ice cream.
MAY I SAY YUM AND FUN WITH CAPITAL Y's and F's!!!!!
 

FRIDAY, APRIL 12:  Started off our day with grits on the boat....one of our fave breakfasts!  Then we took off to find a beach.  Wanted a new one so we went to Eustatia Sound, which was vera cool, only to find out it was private. So, back to the south end of Bitter End where we hit the jackpot. A secluded lil beach with one palapa and 5 chairs...and no one there! We found our spot for the next two days!
along with a friend!
But by late afternoon, we hightailed it over to Leverick Bay because they were haviing a Jumbie Festival!!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yo8FHcqfXrc  Also had a big barbeque buffet and we were down with that!
 
 But, alas, the band packed up their stuff and quit about 8pm and there was talk that the jumbies wouldn't come out.....so we went home.  Home being Blew Bayou!!
But by 9pm, I heard commotion. Got the trusty binoculars out and lo and behold, the jumbies were dancin' all over the place. And as soon as I saw that, a fireworks show began from another beach.  So, I just sat "at home" and listened to the jumbie music and watched an awesome fireworks show!  Don't get much better than that, jack!
SATURDAY, APRIL 13:  This morning I got up hurting all over. Just sore ol' bones is what I call it. So, guess what the cap'n suggested?  (my daughter in laws will love this!) A ME DAY!!  He delivered me in the dinghy to shore for a 3 hr spa session!! I am not kidding you....best spa ever!  Just listen to what my menu was.....
Honey Sugar Scrub
Seaweed Wrap
1 hr hot stone deep tissue massage
Facial
Now come on...........did I feel like royalty or what?  Came outa there...it was in a sort of treehouse area....feeling like a new person with oil from head to toe on this dry skin!!!  Loved it.  Best cap'n ever!!
Spent the rest of the day at our private beach area...well, it seemed like that...and dinghyed over to The Fat Virgin for dinner.  Yummy fried grouper sandwiches!
SUNDAY, APRIL 14:  Slept late this morning and once we were up and moving, we decided to go to shore for breakfast.  BACON! SAUSAGE! OMELETS! BELGIUM WAFFLES!!!!
You know the kind....good ol' greasy American breakfast...and it was divine!  Also spent some time there in their hotspot, finally having a good internet connection.  And back to the beach we went!
We are really lazy by now...as if you couldn't tell!
MONDAY, APRIL 15:  We decided to sail back to Soggy Dollar Bar for the afternoon.  And what a perfect sail it was.....crisp winds putting us at 6-8 knots (nautical miles per hour) which made for a very comfortable ride.  The winds are truly marvelous here...just cool enough to keep you from getting hot but warm enough to make you smile.  Big Time.  After some time spent there, we went over to Little Harbor for the night.  Went ashore to Sydney's Peace and Love restaurant but ended up eating at Harris' Place for just one more piece of that tasty lobster!
and watching Sydney's son's brother clean a big ol' red snapper that he brought in with the lobster that he caught!
 It was also here that we first heard of the trajedy in Boston.  The real world put a bit of a damper on our fantasy world for a while.
TUESDAY, APRIL 16:  which is today and we are back at the marina where Blew Bayou will sit out Hurricane season.  We are flyiing home on Friday, so Wednesday and Thursday will be spent cleaning and locking the ol' gal up.
But who could be sad??  We've had the best adventure in the Caribbean!!  AND on Saturday, my baby daughter in law is having her bebe shower AND on the 26th, I will get to hold my brand new granddaughter, middle son and wife's baby, very soon after she is born!!!
 
I AM VERY BLESSED.  AND TRULY APPRECIATIVE OF EVERY MOMENT!


 
 
 
 

 

The week in review... April 8 - April 15

May I begin this post with reverence and prayers for the people of Boston...and for our world.  Have not seen a news channel for a month and last night when we walked into a restaurant, the news was on clear as day.  So weird that it was on and so sad what the news was.  May our nation recover ... once again.


Our friends had to leave us on Monday morning, the 8th, to make their connections home. We were back at Nanny Cay marina and just decided to hang by the pool all day long. Literally all day long...until late in afternoon when we knew we needed to do laundry.......no fun but work that had to be done.
Tuesday we were out in a cab by 9:30 for more dirty work. Extending our visas since they only let you stay for 30 days on first passage thru. Also had to find the Veterinarians office to get a health certificate filled out by BVI official for trip back home. (Pets take much more paperwork than humans to go from country to country....worth it? Um.......whaddayathink??!) Let me just put it like this.....the immigration office is exactly like the DMV offices at home. Ain't no fun. It took us from 9:30 am till about 4 pm to get it done. With lots of head shakin' and "I can't believe this" statements along the way. So, what should one do after a frustrating day? Why, head to the pool, of course! So we did. Soup and salad on boat for dinner and off to bed.

Wednesday, the 10th, we took off for Spanish Town...in Virgin Gorda.

Spanish Town on southern Virgin Gorda is the second largest town (after Road Town) on the British Virgin Islands. Also known as The Valley, Spanish Town offers numerous shopping possibilities. The heart of the town is its Yacht Harbor marina, with many bareboat sailing activities everyday. It has its own airport and a ferry service is in operation from here to Road Town or Tortola. Overall, though, Spanish Town is small, with few bars and a relaxed atmosphere. The national park "The Baths" is located south of Spanish Town.
Spanish Town was originally settled by Cornish miners, and ruins of the chimney, boiler house, cistern, and mine shafts can be seen. This is now part of the Copper Mine National Park. It served as capital of the territory until 1714, when the government moved their offices to Road Town. [1]

~~ Took a couple hours to make the trip but we had not been here so there were new sights to see. We went into Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbor to get a slip. Hung around here for awhile, checking out all the marina had to offer. Cap'n still trying to decide where he wants to keep the boat for hurricane season. Mid afternoon, we decided to rent a car and check out the island by land. Always fun to see a place first from the sea and then by land! We had a blast. Saw so many places that we stopped to check out ......First stop was a popular resort that was right inside of Spanish Town.
then we drove to ..
an old ruin of a copper mine where, in the 1800's, tons of copper was mined and hauled off the island.
This point lies on the southeast area of Virgin Gorda.
 
We found several bays suitable for anchoring.  This one was Savannah Bay.
Along the road, we often ran into this!
and he was just a leetle bit stuck!
Hog Heaven was THE best!
Hog Heaven Bar B Q. Enjoy one of the best views in the British Virgin Islands along with great Bar B Q pork, chicken and much more.
 
It was an ah-ha moment when I saw the views!!
This is the view from Hog Heaven of Saba Rock at Virgin Gorda....
this is Saba Rock from the water!
this is Necker Island.  The island that Richard Branson owns and recently burned. Hard to see in pic but his old house still stands and a new one is being built right next to it.http://www.neckerisland.virgin.com/
this is Biras Creek resort and marina, where we stayed one night.
an overview of the islands from Hog Heaven, the anchorage in forefront being Leverick Bay, which we then drove to!
But before we left the Hog, we checked out the map and I had the BEST mojito ever...basil and mint so fresh that it had to have just been picked!
Our next stop was Leverick Bay where we found Michael Bean!!  We first heard him many yrs ago here in the BVI's and loved his music. We bought his cd back then and it is a regular at the lakehouse. So, we were thrilled to see him again doing the same thing and in the same places!
 
  Then is was time to get back to the boat and we stopped at Mermaids for a delicious meal with a delightful sunset!




Whew!!  a very full day....and fun!

 
 
 

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