Top 10 things to do in St. Croix

We've just returned from a wonderful vacation in St. Croix, one of the US Virgin Islands. The occasion: Papa Jon was turning 60!! We have too many pictures, and plenty of funny stories to share, but for now I've compiled a brief summary:

Top 10 things to do as a family in St. Croix

10. Just BEACH it! We went to a beach every day, and sometimes hit 2 beaches in a day. Caribbean beaches are awesome for kids because the water is so calm. The girls played in the gentle rollers all day. Our favorite beach: Rainbow Beach

9. Take a dip in the pool. It was great to have a pool at the house, to rinse off the sand, and for those evenings when the adults are exhausted, but the kids still want to play.

8. Ride the Jet-Skis out in the ocean. The girls had mixed feelings about this one. They loved it until we got too far from shore (Lydia), or went over 10 mph (Claire). So they got short rides, then mommy and daddy had some fun :)

7. Discover the Rainforest. We felt a little lost as we drove the winding roads through the rainforest, but saw waterfalls, hanging vines, brooks, and spooky trees.

6.  Just BEACH it - some more! Even babies love the beach. We liked collecting things, like sea snails, shells, shiny rocks and even hermit crabs. Scarlett mostly collected sand.

5. Enjoy the sunsets. Our house was on the west coast, and just about every night we'd sit on the pool deck and watch the sun set. Occasionally we'd see a massive cruise ship sailing right into the sun.

4. Snorkel and Sail. Just about every beach had access to a reef system for snorkeling, and St. Croix is also home to the world's only underwater national park. Josh & I sailed the Jolly Roger out to Buck Island, where we snorkeled along a reef system that actually has plaques along the sea floor detailing the different sorts of fish and coral.

3. Crab Races. We drove to the other side of the island for "Tito & Sue's Crab Races", where we paid $2 per crab, picked out our crab and named them, then cheered them on as they raced from the inner circle to the outside for a prize. Our crabs were Romo (Josh's), Roxy (Cassie's), Ellie (Lydia's), and Mr Krabs (Claire's).  Roxy won 4th place overall, and a free jeep safari (which we never redeemed). Romo won one of the drink races, and got a $25 bar tab at the restaurant - so we all enjoyed virgin pina coladas with dinner that night.

 The very next day we were at the Buccaneer beach, and go figure, the resort was hosting crab races for their guests. Because there were only 5 kids staying at the entire resort, Lydia and Claire were allowed to participate too. And they won! (of course, they had a good chance this time).

Claire held her winning crab for only a second, and when she saw his legs come out she dropped him and came crying to me! We were impressed that she even attempted to hold it!

The girls and their prizes

 2. Just BEACH it! Again and again! Enjoy the scenery, and playing in the sand.

Playing volleyball at the Buccaneer

1. Bring Papa. It was so nice to have Papa Jon around to help us with the girls. He went swimming with Lydia, played in the sand with Claire, and chased Scarlett up and down the beach and everywhere else. It seemed exhausting, but you never know with Jon, because he just smiles. All the time. We love him.

 

Hair

One Sunday morning I was straightening my hair, getting ready for church, and Lydia watches me and asks "Can you iron my hair like that?" At first I thought NO because her precious curls are too sacred to take a hot iron to, but because we had extra time for church that morning, I thought - what the heck - let's have some fun. So both girls got their hair straightened.

 Lydia loved her straight hair. She was always tossing it over her shoulders and brushing it out of her way. Her friends called her Rapunzel - which she loved. But as cute as it was, it made me realize that her hair is just too long, and we were about to spend a week at the beach. That's a lot of hair to get tangled in swimsuit straps. So finally, after 5-1/2 years, Lydia had her first hair cut. 

The three of us girls went to the hairdresser together - I got some highlights, Claire got a little bob, and Lydia lost about 4-5 inches of sweet little curls.  And here's the end results! A lot healthier, for sure.

Christmas memories

Yes, it is already 2012, but I am just now getting around to blogging about our wonderful Christmas season. We have thoroughly enjoyed our time together as a family, and have been busy making the most of the most wonderful time of the year. My favorite memory is of us planning out our "gifts to Jesus" and seeing my girls find joy in serving others, even complete strangers. It's been great seeing so many people do so many good things for one another, and celebrate together the spirit of Christ.

THE PARTIES
Our church congregation hosted a lovely Christmas party. It was beautiful, the food was awesome, the company was great, but the real highlight for us was the children's nativity play. Lydia and about 5 others had speaking parts, and Lydia memorized her lines and said them so well! It was one of those moments I was so proud I wanted to cry! Cheesy, I know, but she just seemed so young to do such a big thing.  There were about 40 children in the program...most of them angels or shepherds... and when they were lining up to go on stage, little Claire was desperate to follow her sister up there, even though she was too young for the program! But we let her go up anyway, so she sat amongst the angels and pretended to sing the songs, but mostly just smiled at me :)
Both of the girls' schools had Christmas parties, but I only took my camera to Claire's, as she participated in her preschool's nativity play. She was a sheep! She said her baa's as she crawled down the aisle with the shepherds to see baby Jesus, and then sing songs up on the stage.

Claire was very excited to see Scarlett at her class party, and to show her around

SCARLETT: MY WALKING DISASTER AREA
If she wasn't only a year old, I would think that she had some personal vendetta against Christmas. Neither of my older two were so destructive. Here's just a small list of her accomplishments:
* tear the garland off the bottom of the tree, on multiple occasions
* climb up onto the table to eat the candies off the gingerbread houses
* decapitate one of the wise men of my nativity scene by throwing it across the kitchen
* tear petals off the poinsetta
* grab the bulb ornaments off the tree, then bang them together and end up with two handfuls of broken glass (she used a stepstool for this one...sneaky little thing)
* pull down the stockings from the mantle
* ...and basically be the opposite of helpful anytime we were making treats or wrapping presents or putting up lights and decorations.

But I could never get mad at her. She is so innocent. So curious. So cute.


THE LIGHTS
One weekend we met up with some friends for a "hayride" through one of the neighborhoods to look at Christmas lights. It was actually an event for Stonegate Fellowship church members, but we met our fair share of Mormon tag-alongs there ;)

Claire, Ellie, Addy, Lydia, and Hannah

The house with the best display had over 65,000 lights, a Santa collecting canned goods, and a Grinch on a motorized scooter, who scared Claire and Ellie into their mom's arms, but they still claim they weren't scared.

 

 I found a clip of the house on YouTube here. The house was even given its own radio frequency, and the lights were synchronized with the music. I'd hate to see his electricity bill.

THE SNOW!!

We had a white Christmas!! On the 23rd the snow started, and it didn't stop until Christmas morning. It. Was. Awesome.

We had given away our sled when we left Scotland...because it never snows in west Texas, right? So all we had were our snowboards, which provided hours of fun for the 3 little girls, and 1 big boy.

Lydia pushing Daddy and Scarlett down the little slope in our backyard

Claire pulling Lydia down the hill

Faster, daddy, faster!!

CRASH!....then 2 minutes of giggles!

The girls are done for the morning, rosy cheeked and ready for more later! Never a tear shed, never a complaint of the cold. They love the snow!

 FAMILY

This year, my brother Darren had to work on Christmas day, and so with most of my siblings living in Utah, my parents made the drive and did Christmas in Utah this year. I must admit it was nice not to have any guests, or big meals to plan, but we did miss them and were happy that they all came home on Christmas night...with cousin Madison! These girls played together every day.

 

CHRISTMAS DAY

..was perfect. Snow outside, cinnamon rolls in the oven, and giddy little girls in Christmas pajamas. We opened our gifts from Mimi & Papa (the chairs) on Christmas Eve, and on Christmas day Santa had placed some special gifts on their chairs and a full stocking. Santa ate his cookie and milk, the reindeer made a mess of their food, and even our elf "Sookie" ate his cookie before leaving us for the North Pole. I already miss the magic of that day.

 

 Christmas was on a Sunday, and I wish it was always on a Sunday. We broke up the day with a  wonderful Christmas Cantata at the church that helped us refocus on our Savior. We got back and took our time opening presents, and didn't finish until around dinnertime.

It was indeed a very Merry Christmas. Can't wait till next year!