A Busy Day !!!

Unfortunately when Uncle Carlos came to visit Dillon and I got a cold.  After a day of rest we were ready to explore the island with Carlos and his girlfriend Nicole.  We thought we would go to some places that we had not been to yet.  The plan was to go to Marigot and hike up to Fort Louis.  Possibly stop at Sarafina's a famous Pastry shop, then make our way to Friar's Bay - a beach we have not been to.  When we were at Friar's Bay we could do a short hike over to Happy Bay.  There was supposed to be good snorkeling so we made sure to bring our gear.  It was a great day and we managed to go to all the places we planned on.  Although the water was to murky at Happy Bay for good snorkeling we all had fun playing in the water.  We made it back home in time for dinner and early bedtime - we were going on a Catamaran island hopping trip the next morning.  Enjoy the photos courtesy of Carlos - I forgot my camera on this day.

We just had to include this photo from our snorkeling day - if you know Carlos - well - this is Carlos.

An Iguana Carlos spotted in a cemetary

The boys checking out the cannon at Fort Louis and Marigot in the background

The breeze felt amazing!!

Having fun

Boys on a bench

A perfect view

The storage room for all the weapons

The whole crew

An old cemetary on the way down from Fort Louis

Happy Bay

Happy Bay is a very nice quiet little beach.

The short hike back to Friar's Bay

The coast between Happy Bay and Friar's - that is Friar's Bay beach in the background

The chicken that sat by us when we at the Friar's Bay Cafe - I nice little place on the beach. The chicken kept clucking at a rooster sitting on the other side of the Cafe - this was great amusement for the boys. They have a menu full of seafood specialties.

Balance is very important - the drinks were nice and strong

Cheeseburgers are the best at the end of a long day on the island

I would call the day a great success - thank you Carlos and Nicole for sharing the adventure with us

Pomegranate Treats

I had to put this post up ASAP.  I mentioned to a friend of mine on the island that the boys and I had made these yummy treats and that I would post on our blog how to make them and well time got away from me. So Karla this post is special for you and the boys.  They will love these, although you may want to make them early in the day so they can burn the sugar off.

These really simple treats only require 2 ingrediants.  Pomegranates and Chocolate.

Dillon and Ronan preparing the pomegrantes.  Take all the yummy stuff out and put it in a bowl - make sure to get all the white parts off.  That part is really bitter.  Depending on how many treats you want is how many pomegranates you need.  We bought 3 medium sized ones.

A great project that keeps them busy

Ronan working hard

Our bowl of pomegranates and stack of chocolate.  We chose a swiss milk chocolate for this batch.  We used 6 bars with our 3 pomegranates.  You could also use dark chocolate or a bakers semi-sweet chocolate. We wanted to take advantage of the amazing chocolate on the island.  Before you melt your chocolate you need to prepare cookie trays or plates with wax paper or butter so the treats don't stick.  You are going to place the treats on the trays with a spoon just like drop cookies and place them in the fridge to cool and harden.

Break up the chocolate so it is easier to melt.  We melted ours in a double boiler system - we had to make one out of the pots we had.  I should have taken a photo.  A medium sized pot with about a third full of water.  Bring the water to just before boiling - you don't want it boiling.  Set a sauce pan - I used a deep frying pan on top - this allows the steam to heat up the pan.  Start adding your chocolate - you want it to melt slowly and avoid burning - thus the reason for the double boiler. Make sure you slowly stir the whole time. Some baking chocolate has instructions to melt the chocolate in the microwave.

Yummy melting chocolate

Once the chocolate is completely melted mix the pomegranates and the chocolate in a bowl.  This needs to be done fairly quickly as the chocolate can begin to harden.

The two ingrediants mixed together in a bowl.

"Dropping" the treats on the cookie trays.  This all happens quickly before the mix cools and begins to harden.

A tray of treats ready for the fridge

Pomegranate treats ready to eat.  I think after these treats chocolate covered cherries and strawberries will not even compare.  Enjoy!!!!!

Uncle Carlos is here !!!!

The boys have been waiting in much anticipation the last week for their Uncle Carlos to arrive - the day finally came.  We watched his plane land while standing on Maho beach.  We took Carlos snorkeling right away on Saturday - Bai Rouge and then again on Monday at Mullet Bay.  The boys have been on a hunt for an Octopus so they have alot of motivation.

Can you see the plane really tiny in the middle of the picture?

Then it flew right over top of us

The boys jumping off the rocks at Bai Rouge

The crab Ronan found

The arch we snorkeled to and through

One of the many lizards that wanted to hang out with us.

We got some great photos and video of the fish we saw - I will post them later when I can figure out how to add them to the post. They are on our flip video and I have not worked all the details out yet. Below are pictures from our snorkel adventure at Mullet Bay.

Making our way around the point and along the cliffs

A very eerie looking fish - what is he up to?

There is the puffer fish we saw on the left

A mix of fish hanging out on the reef

Ro hanging out on the bottom

The puffer fish hiding

An unknown white polka dotted fish on the left and a blue tang on the right

Ronan checking out the bottom

Smiley fish - see the big smiles on their faces?

A school of fish hiding under the rocks

Dillon on the way to the surface.  Look for video coming soon.  The boys are really enjoying Carlos's visit and showing him the island.