Florida Family Time

Finally after getting back home to the island and catching up on school work I can catch up the blog with all our Florida adventures that the boys and I had while we were hanging with the family for 2 weeks.  The first week we were there we just hung out with family and relaxed.  The boys and I were both happy to just spend time catching up with everyone.

Sophia loving the sunshine and the beach

the crew - cousins Dillon, Ronan, Anna and Sophia

sea snail - we think - slimy

pretty shells

the dock

Oh Dillon

Uncle Carlos

Taa Daa

Ronan sharing the jellyfish he found

sisters

Oma and Papa

many many shells and treasures

there were also lots of jellyfish on the beach and in the water

cousins

boys in action

family

uncle and neice

to good to pass up

as I am sure most of you have heard - Ronan caught a shark on our trip - he was thrilled - the little fockers hats were courtesy of my dad who was thoroughly entertained by all his grandkids running around with little fockers hats on - the kids loved them

brothers

anna

mom and daughter

one of the awesome rays we saw

there were so many fun things to see in the water and out - everyday was full of activities - there will be many more posts and photos to come

Port St.Joe

The boys and I went Florida to meet up with family and spend time relaxing on the beach.  We had an awesome beach house that was right on the beach.  Perfect for watching sunsets, watching the waves and the changing clouds.  The kids had the freedom to run in and out and we did not have to worry about where they were.  There was also the constant finding of treasures on the beach.

the beginning of the long dock the kids loved for fishing

more playing with some lenses

drift wood

pretty shells

This is just a hint of all the fun treasures that we have been finding while here -

Rough and Tumble

While Pascal was visiting we were at Mullet on a regular basis and one day was a little more rough on the boys then others.  There had been some funky weather - stormy clouds, rain showers, blustery winds and the ocean was changing things up a bit to.  As many of you know the conditions at the local beaches change constantly - you can plan to go snorkeling and you should have brought a boogy board or vice versa.  Basically we end up bringing almost everything everywhere - just in case.  On this day we headed to Mullet for some fun play in the waves and Mike was able to join us for a bit of time.  When we arrived the waves were big but did not seem to out of the ordinary - the boys all jumped right in.

as you can see this almost looks like a mellow Mullet wave

and this is where the ocean began to change it up - the waves breaking into the beach very high - they were hitting the actual sand and not the white water (which breaks your fall or crash a little more) - the waves were also coming in very powerful sets - they were pretty mellow and then a really strong set would come in - not just big but powerful (alot of undertow was building into the waves).  Also different then usual the waves were bigger in the direction of the tourist end - usually they get bigger towards the quiet end.  Dillon and Ronan both ended up getting tumbled pretty hard that day - they eased it up a bit and headed for some fun white water and mellow waves.

I love watching the dark clouds in the sky over the beach - it brings excitement to the air

although roughed up a little the day was not lost and it was a beautiful afternoon

I think these two could wallow around on the waters edge for hours

Tanya just had to join the fun

take'n a little break

as the afternoon progressed the ocean began to settle down

silly boys

later in the afternoon our neighbors caden and cammy came down to the beach to

so another adventurous day at Mullet, the ocean is a very strong and powerful force.  It is always changing and must be respected.  It can be very fascinating to watch and extremely fun to play in but always with caution.  A great book to read is The Wave, it discusses how little we know about the ocean, rogue waves and how the big wave riders pull it off.

Tanya, thank you so much for the fun time on the beach, by the pool and sharing evening cocktails.  I look forward to our families sharing some adventures in the future.  The boys had a great time with Pascal and look forward to his return to the island soon.  We miss you guys!!!

Family Time

We had a little bit of time on the weekend to spend with Mike and Ronan has been wanting to go explore an area by Oyster Pond for awhile.  This is an area I mentioned in previous posts and now believe the area is called Bai De L'Embouchure. So off on an adventure we went.

we always choose to go the way of the French side of the island, it is an enjoyable drive (rather then dealing with the bridge traffic).  we first came to Marigot

then Grand Cas

the cows we always like to look at right before Orient Bay

there are two islands off the point and the boys chose to go to the little one first

the plaque with the name of the area on the island

A tower of rocks that we added our own rock to

mike and the boys watching the waves crashing in to the little island

the view of the mainland and Le Galion

we all made our way back so we could head to the next island

Mike and the boys chose to go the way where you do a quick little swim - I on the other hand had the picnic lunch so I had to make my way through the shallow water that had many many of these

there were also lots of the white ones that blended into the sad to - I had to stop everytime a little wave came so I would not step on one.  it was a slow process but I made it

Ronan had to celebrate making it across

this island had sooooo many beach treasures that I told the boys there was no way we could bring them all home - so we took photos to remember some of them by

you can tell this island is a catch all for all sorts of ocean stuff

when we went around the back side of the island we found a couple of suprises - there were two hidden surf breaks and we watched the surfers catch some waves while we ate our picnic.  we noticed the surf boat was out and the conditions were very much improved so the boys will be starting their surfing when we get back from Florida

there was piles of old coral all over the island

the boys climbed the hill and back down to the other side of the island

when we made it back to the car we could see these sailboats - there are alot of them as we get closer to Regatta time

I had to take a photo of these wild goats that love to stand on the rocks as we headed towards Oyster Pond - there maybe some bouldering potential in this area - if we are willing to share with the goats.

we had never been by dawn beach or that area so we continued on to explore - we ended up driving by the Westin, then up an exremely steep hill.  on the way up the hill if you look down and to the right you will see guana bay and as you wind back down towards philipsburg you can peek through the hills back to the Westin.

once we made it to philipsburg Mike wanted to drive down to the port where the ships come in - we had never been down in philipsburg either.  we found our way to point blanche (and we found green fingers the nursery) where you could see these amazing cliffs.

we slowly headed home through one of the streets in philipsburg

after stopping for a snack and some boat watching at the Sint.Maarten Yacht Club the boys flipped their hats upside down in the car to catch the rain coming through the sun roof.  they are always coming up with something fun.  we had a wonderful day with dad exploring the island and spending time together.  thank you for taking a break from your books mike - we love you.