Day 5 & 6

On our last day, we drove over to Sapphire Beach. It's a really pretty beach (that's also free) and we had a good time there. By this point we were really not wanting this vacation to end. There was still so much we wanted to do and see but unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. We all agreed that if we had had another day, we would have for sure gone back to St. John. Guess we will just have to go back again one day!

The sunset at our hotel on our last night. So sad to be leaving!

The morning we left, there was a cruise ship docking at the port.

Overall, we had an amazing trip and we feel so blessed to have been able to go. I look forward to the next time we can get away!

Day 4

On Day 4, we spent most of the day shopping and driving the island. We went to some shops in Havensight and Charlotte Amalie. Jason found a really nice watch he has been wanting......and got it much cheaper and no tax. There were some pretty good finds!

For lunch, we ate at a neat sports bar type placed called the Green House. They had a huge projection screen and even played the UT game for us. We ate lunch, had a few drinks, and watched some of the game.

When people would find out that I was going to St. Thomas, lots of them would tell me to go to Megan's Bay. Here we are. I will say that Megan's Bay didn't impress me like I had expected. We had to pay to visit this beach. It was super crowded and not nearly as pretty as some of the others we went to. I'm glad we went ( I guess just to say that we did) but in the future I'd probably stick with some of the others instead.

For dinner we went to a really nice seafood restaurant called Mims. It was right on the water and had a really cool atmosphere.

There were no windows.....and literally on the other side of the wall was the ocean.

St. John- Day 3

On Friday, we took the car ferry over to St. John. If you ever have the opportunity to go there, I highly encourage you. It's breathtaking. Not to say that St. Thomas isn't. Oh my, it's gorgeous but St. John is smaller, a little more quaint, a large part of it is national forest so it's very lush, etc. It just has a little different feel.

Here is the Jeep we rented. Well, this is actually the second Jeep we rented considering the first Jeep they gave us died within the first 12 hours of us having it. Jason and Amy went for coffee one morning and on their way back to our hotel, the transmission went out. Completely. The boys had it towed back and they gave us another one. One thing we had to get used to was the fact that they drive on the left side of the road. It took some careful thought while driving since the natural instinct is to drive on the right side. The boys did great though and Amy and I were not too bad being the "backseat drivers."
Loading the cars up on the ferry.

It was about a 20 minute ride. Lots of beautiful views on the way.

Jason and I on the ferry ride.

Driving on St. John- so green and pretty!

Lots of winding roads.

Overlooking Trunk Bay.

Trunk Bay, St. John

Cinnamon Bay........aka THE. MOST. BEAUTIFUL. PLACE. ON .EARTH. Okay, so maybe I'm exaggerating a little but this seriously was one of the prettiest places I've ever been. Pictures do not even do this place justice. Looking at them myself, I am sad to see what a huge difference there is from the actual place. You just can't even describe it.

This beach was very remote. Not at all touristy......in fact you couldn't even buy a drink here. If you didn't bring it then you were not going to get it! We swam and walked the beach for quite some time.

Tons of coconuts. Jason tried to knock one down without any luck.

You could see all the way down to the bottom of the ocean- as far as your eye could see.

The island has lots of bays just like these. You could just pull off and head to the beach.

What a fantastic day!!!.........even though we didn't run into K*nny Chesney (who happens to live here) I kept my eyes out for him though! Maybe next time?

St.Thomas 2009.......Day 1 & 2

We just returned from an amazing vacation with some of our friends. In the spring, Amy and I started planning this trip and let me tell you......it was fabulous. And much needed. I can't think of the last time I took off my mommy hat for 6 straight days in a row. I need to give a HUGE shout-out to my mom. She stayed at our house with the boys, took them to school, packed lunches, made dinner, gave baths, did homework, kept my house clean, laundry maintained, and loved on my boys. So much so, that they hardly noticed we were gone. I wouldn't have it any other way!! Thanks mom for making this all possible.

At the airport in St. Thomas. We left our house at 3:40am (yes, you read that correct) to head out to the airport to head to Miami. Two airplane rides later.......we were in paradise. Once we landed, we went to pick up our rental Jeep and then headed to our hotel. After we got settled into our rooms we decided to walk around and get to know the area.

We stayed here while in St. Thomas. The villas are practically brand new and had everything we needed. While the customer service wasn't the best (hey, they all operate on "island time") the views and overall experiences made up for it.

The kitchen. We ate breakfast here every morning but ate lunch and dinner out each day. We really wanted to experience the local restaurants and I must say that every single meal I ate was wonderful. (thankfully since it all cost a small fortune!)

Our dining/living room.

The morning of our first full day. About to head downstairs- to become a huge beach bum for the day! Our first day was spent at our pool and at the beach. We swam, laid out in the lounge chairs, went to the beach and completely relaxed.

Our pool area

An iguana that took over a lady's chair. They are EVERYWHERE on this island. Seriously, we would be eating lunch somewhere and a random iguana would just walk by our table. Crazy!

The view from my chair. Ahhhhh.......

A whole clan of them.

Waterfall at the hotel next to ours.

Jason and Amy before dinner. You can't really tell but the entire mountainside behind us shows all the city lights. It was really pretty.

We ate dinner at The Fat Turtle in Havensight. It was a neat little restaurant right on the water. All of the restaurants were mostly open- meaning that they were not fully contained and most did not have air condition. This wasn't a problem since there always seems to be a breeze.

The four of us at dinner. It was so nice to have an adult conversation and not cut food into bite sized pieces!!

Painting Pumpkins

We planned to go to the Pumpkin Patch today but it was so rainy and yucky outside that we decided to wait for another time. The boys were pretty disappointed so we knew we had to find something else fun for them to do. We had not yet painted our pumpkins so we decided that it would be a perfect inside project for the day.

They each picked out a pumpkin (they actually wanted the small ones instead of the big ones)
Hard at work

Notice the paint on the tummy......hence the lack of sh*rts.

Our little pumpkin family. Once it gets closer to Halloween, we will turn one of the bigger pumpkins around and carve it into something the boys have decided on. The others will be cut and we will then have lots of pumpkins seeds to roast. I love October and all the fun activities for us to do as a family. Happy Fall Ya'll.