Monday – A Magical Boy = A Magical Day

The sun had hardly crept out of the ocean when I was up ready for today’s adventure.  My Momma had not seen a turtle so the plan of the day was to head out to Leinster Bay in search of turtles.  Poppa told me that I might even see a turtle pop his head up to get a breath of air.  (BTW - yes I know a turtle is not a puppy, puppies do not swim underwater)  I was pumped and ready to see the turtles!  Daddy loaded my carrier in the Explorer because we had a ¾-mile hike to the beach on Leinster. 

We headed up the North Shore Road so we could enjoy the overlooks along the way.  As Poppa climbed up the s-turn by the Peter Bay entrance, I think I may have heard a bad word.  The gas gauge was below a quarter tank, and Poppa was not comfortable driving all the way out to Annaberg and returning to Cruz Bay.  The big blue beast took a left turn into Cinnamon Bay and everybody jumped out.  Poppa and Aunt Bridget headed back to Cruz Bay to get gas.  The sand was so white and the water was so blue at Cinnamon that I just stood in awe.   Then I did something I had not done all week. 

I walked to the water on my own.  The water was cool and the sand became soft, and all I could do is just slowly watch my feet disappear and reappear with every wave. 

We killed time playing on the beach until Poppa returned.  When Poppa came, the family had a discussion on a change of plan.  It had become too late for a morning on Leinster Beach when the turtles come close to shore, so it was decided to head back to Maho.  Yippee – No hike!  Minutes later, I am back on the beach having fun after a very short ride.  YaYa and I played in the water splashing little fish.  Then I got a special treat. 

My first Oreo cookie!  It was some kind of good.  I got more on me than in me, but I immediately figured out how to unscrew the cookie and get the good white stuff out of the middle. 

Then it was back to the water to ride my raft. 

As usual, my eyelids started to get heavy.  A quick bed was made and I faded off to dream world on beautiful Maho Beach.
 

While I was asleep, the rents (aka parents) headed out looking for the elusive turtles.  It was not long before turtles were spotted by YaYa.  There were also some big rays with little fish hanging on their backs.   Daddy began snapping pictures right and left, and even got Momma in the picture with a turtle far below. 

Then he played with the settings on the camera and got some weird effects. 

Uncle Brandon had his GoPro running and Daddy was snapping lots of pictures.   Between the two of them, the bottom of Maho was thoroughly captured in still and moving pictures.  Momma and Daddy went out a couple times to explore the sea bottom and look for more sea life.  On their second expedition, they saw a small (very small) shark.  My momma is a runner not a swimmer, but she took off at pace that would have challenged Michael Phelps.  It was not the small shark that scared her, but the thought of where is that baby’s mother.  Anyway, she returned to her sleeping beach baby out of breath.
 

A young man stopped by our spot under the trees and said he and his fiancé had been sitting in this same spot earlier in the day.  He had been given the task of safeguarding his future bride’s engagement ring.  Well it was in his lap and when he stood up it was gone, and he did not even realize it.  Now two hours later they had returned to search for their symbol of love.   Everyone worked together and carefully searched the area to no avail.   There was only one place left to look.  

Poppa rubbed my head and said, “magic baby make the ring appear”.  He and YaYa carefully picked up the raft without disturbing my slumber and moved me further under the shade.  YaYa reached down and picked up the ring out of the sand to squeals of delight from the girl that would wear this ring forever.  Poppa even took pictures of the couple, the ring, and a sleeping baby - me.  Everyone was so happy and amazed the lost item had been found.   Thank you and congratulations were exchanged and the happy couple was off. 
 

We enjoyed the beach for a while after I awoke.  Poppa snapped this picture of Momma and Daddy.  It is an important picture not because my two parents look happy and relaxed, but there is a little blue bag in the background. 

As the day came to an end, we all worked together to gather our belongings.  When everything was collected one blue bag remained.   No one in our posse claimed the bag.  Inside was a book, some odds and ends, and the all important cell phone.  Aunt Bridget tried to identify whose phone it was so she called the last number dialed.  No answer so we left a message.  There was a text on the phone that said call this number if you find the phone.  Eventually we found the owner of the phone.  They were staying on the East End, but Poppa told them we are heading to Cruz Bay.  They would meet us there in 45 minutes.   They agreed to Starfish Market as the rendezvous point, which made Poppa happy.  Somehow, the villa ran out of Presidente and bottled water...again! 

Entering Cruz Bay everyone hopped out at Joe’s Rib Shack except Poppa who headed to the market.  Dinner was going to be ribs and chicken, rice and beans, slaw, corn, fruit and Joe was going to provide most of the fixings.

Poppa waited and waited at Starfish for the owner of the missing phone in the blue bag.  Finally, he got a text saying they were at Dolphin Market.  Oh well he was headed back to pick up us at Joe’s.  Well he was so slow that we had time to check out new place Long Boards.  Poppa went around the traffic circle in front of the market to return the blue bag.  Lo and behold, who was standing there?   Yep, the young man that lost the engagement ring.  I guess his sweetie was so excited to get her ring back that she left her bag on the beach.  Poppa wished them the best of luck and continued down the hill to get us. 

Everybody was enjoying a frozen libation when he finally arrived.  We loaded up the car and headed back to our Gifft Hill retreat.
 

Dinner was another feast and there was so much that I knew I would be seeing it for lunch tomorrow.   Another first also happened at our BBQ dinner.  Thomas (that's me) was allowed to come to the dinner table with no shirt.  That is NEVER allowed at YaYa's table!  Men and boys must have a shirt on before they enter the dinning area.  I think it was because I do not have many clean clothes left, and you know where BBQ is going to be on a little boy.   I am sure that being shirtless at YaYa's dinner table is a once in a lifetime experience.

Once again it seem like bedtime came early and everyone was ready for it.  Another magical day, in a magical place, and I was the genie that when Poppa rubbed my head a ring appeared.   

Poppa and I chilled on the deck watching a Fireman Sam adventure.  St Thomas was glittering in the background and it was not long before we called it a night.

 

Sunday - Mothers Day

Poppa has a standard rule - No matter where you are in the world, you must call your Momma on Sunday.  Every Sunday daddy always calls YaYa, but now when he calls we use “FaceTime” and YaYa can see me too!  This Sunday is the holiday for all Mothers and is extra special because we are in paradise together.  We called and wished Oma a happy Mother’s Day in Ohio, and then Momma got me all dressed up.  Where do you go early on a Sunday morning in St John? 

One thing for sure Poppa says, if you are in St John on a Sunday my YaYa is going to take you to church. She says, Father Anthony always seems to be talking right to you, and with the Caribbean sounds and voices filling the building with joy we spent 90 minutes singing and praying. Our Lady of Mount Carmel is one of YaYa’s favorite happy places!  BTW - It is also conveniently located across the street from the Beach Bar.  Hmmm… Good boy in church…

Maybe there will be a mango smoothie in my future???

Mass was exactly the way YaYa had described it with steel drums and Caribbean tempo songs.  For the most part, I was excellent.  I did get a little excited about one song and tore the page in the hymnal.  Poppa rescued me quick from Momma’s stare and all was good.  Then right in the middle of Father’s homily, somebody in the front row passed out.  Momma and Daddy jumped up to help.  Both have lots of medical background and Momma soon had the man sitting back up while he waited for the St John Rescue folks to help him.  I am proud of my Momma and Daddy for knowing how to help people.

After church we went out for a Sunday Brunch at Cruz Bay Landing.  Aunt Bridget and I posed for a couple picture next some pretty flower bushes as we walked.  I was so surprised when we arrived at the restaurant.  Right in the middle of the park, this restaurant which is tucked away in the corner serves some serious food.  We ate and ate!  Pancakes, omelets, hash browns, and fruit filled the table.  The big people grossed me out...again!  They had a couple rounds of blood of some lady named Mary – yuck! She was the same lady I was singing for at Charlotte Airport.  My Momma drank fancy coffee with ice, and that sounds a lot better to me.  We were all waddling when we walked out of Cruz Bay Landing.  Poppa loves breakfast there and I am sure when it comes to catch the ferry home, we will be there again.

YaYa and Momma decided they wanted to snorkel on their special afternoon. We loaded up the blue beast and headed over to the East End.  My oh my, what a ride.  By the time we got to Haulover Beach, I was sound asleep.  Once again, the snorkel raft became my bed. 

Haulover South has a small beach that is mostly rock and shade is not a plentiful as the North Shore beaches, but the snorkeling is really good.  Momma saw her first ray and there were some beautiful sights on both sides of the bay.  The sun hid behind the clouds so the sights were not as vibrant as usual, but still beautiful.  By the time I woke up, they were loading up the car to head back to Hummingbird Hill.
Now wide-awake, I saw everything I missed on the way over.  My favorite was when Poppa stopped the car and this big animal stuck his head in my window to say hello.  I call all animals puppies, even the iguanas, but this was one big damn puppy.  I have to learn some more words because I am positive that was not a puppy in the window. 

We stopped briefly at the new grocery store in Coral Bay to pick up a few items and finally headed home.

Since it was Mother’s Day, Daddy cooked some awesome Mahi on the grill.  Uncle Brandon took some time and gave me a lesson on the little guitar, but he holds it backwards for me.  The kitchen was a happening place as I strummed away on the strings.  Rice and beans, sweet potatoes chunked and cooked outside, with a salad of greens, mango, pistachios, raisins, and other good stuff finished off this feast.  Anyone who has not had Josephine’s Greens while on St John has missed some of the best.  Not sure how she does it on a volcanic island, but they are YaYa and Poppa’s favorite.

 

Another busy day ends and I am beat – Good Night All.

Saturday - Wow Wow Wow - What a day!

My Saturday started early, I was up with the roosters.  I saw Daddy getting my carrier ready so I knew we were in for an adventure.  I just did not know how many adventures we would have this day.  Let me start at the beginning.
 

With the car loaded we headed for Cruz Bay.  There everybody grabbed their stuff and we hiked on Lind Trail over the hill.  The walk was not bad, but that is pretty easy for me to say since I was on Daddy’s back.  It has not rained very much on island and everything is dry!  So there were no real pretty flowers along the way.  Just brown leaves.  There were short glimpses of blue water through the brush, but nothing like the sight of Honeymoon Beach when our destination had been reached.  Poppa was sneaky, and I never realized that he had driven to the next bay and sneaked in the back way.  Wasn’t sure why he did that until the walk back.  It was a very easy walk to Caneel Bay for everybody after a day on the beach.  Daddy was mad that Poppa paid $20 to park, but they had a little beach hut that sold chips and drinks.  If you bought $20 of their stuff parking was free.  Bam!  3 ½ beers later parking was free.

We set up camp under the trees.  The sand was so white and the water so blue, I had to run and play in it.  That is when Momma found a new friend.  It looked a little like the monsters at the wedding, but it was so tiny.  It was very scared and would not let go of her hand. Finally, Daddy nudged it along its way and I was off to man my raft. 

 

Poppa pulled me around making motor boat sounds as I looked through the peek hole to see the fish. It was so relaxing on that raft… you know what happened next?

 

 

Yep I was down for the count.  There is something about all this beach time that just puts me out.  So I would not get any sun on the back of legs while I checked out the back of my lids, YaYa covered me with Poppa’s shirt. 

 

 

So I slept for a couple hours advertising for Waffle House as people walked up and down the beach.

 

The adults took turns snorkeling out on the point while I snoozed.  Poppa saw a 4 foot barracuda that was swimming right along YaYa, but she never even saw the big fish. Probably just as well.  Momma told me she saw lots of pretty fish, but no turtles.  She just loves to snorkel, and Daddy took a picture of YaYa and Momma underwater. 

 

 

All in all, it was a great day on the beach, and as I said earlier it was an easy walk back to the car for our return to Cruz Bay.  The night was young and so am I was never as true as my Saturday rolled on.

Heading back into Cruz Bay, Poppa dropped us near the ferry dock.  He had to take the big blue Explorer to some place called the gravel lot to park.  The rest of us headed to the Beach Bar.  There was music playing and people were having a good time.

 

I ordered up a Mango Smoothie, and the big people got some crazy drinks!  I think the Cruz Bay beach may have been my favorite hangout because they had Cornhole Boards on the beach and lots of children to play with.  The water is calm in front of the Beach Bar, and there are boats everywhere!  A kid can really have some fun this beach! 

 

 

Just when I was getting my bags ready for another go at the board, it was time to move on… bummer!  We left the Beach Bar headed for Woody’s.

After our short walk, we stopped in the middle of the street, and Poppa said we are here – Woody’s! People and cars were everywhere.  There were new friends that we had met at the wedding also there.  They had scored the coveted corner table at Woody’s.  We all just gathered round the table and I danced on the brick wall while the adults chatted.   A nice woman, who wore real short pants, brought another round of Mango Smoothies and adult drinks.  I did not think it could get any better, but it sure did. 

Mr. Hollywood, who is a local street musician, introduced himself to me and let me strum his guitar.  Uncle Brandon made some chords as I plucked at the strings and voilà - I was making music!  Then Brandon started playing Mr. Hollywood’s instrument and everybody started singing.  I did not know the words so I clapped.  

The song was something about a woman not crying, and everyone knew the lyrics.  To me, it sounded a lot like my Ziggy Marley "Family Time" CD.  Dad told me later it was song by Bob, Ziggy's Daddy. Even the people across the street were singing and clapped after each song. 

Uncle Brandon played until he had blisters, and Hollywood needed something to eat.  We had so much fun sitting on the side of the road singing and meeting all sorts of nice people.  YaYa, Poppa, and I gave Woody’s a big potato salute because we had blown that place up.  It was time to start walking to the gravel lot.

As we headed up the hill there was all sorts of commotion happening in the school’s baseball field.  We have stumbled into Wagapalooza, the Animal Care Center’s yearly dog show.  There were little dogs, big dogs, ugly dogs, and dogs that looked like their owners.  They were everywhere.  Then out of the corner of my eye, I saw it!  A Bounce House.  I made a B-Line to this room of pleasure.  Albeit, I never have experienced a Bounce house it appeared the kids were having fun and I decide to just jump in. (excuse the pun)  

The added bonus was you got to slide down after your turn was over. 

WOW WOW WOW – What a day!  After dinner at our villa, I was ready to call it day.

Friday - Plunge Day!

Big day today - My daddy arrived right on time this morning and I went to my first wedding.  It was so good to see my daddy.  He had a very long night to arrive to make Josh and Lauren’s vows.  Richmond to Boston, Boston to San Juan, and finally San Juan to St Thomas with a 7:30 arrival.  

The wedding was a morning ceremony on the beach.  It was very nice, but the big iguana that was running around was much more fun to watch.  Afterwards there was an amazing brunch and a guy played steel drums in the background.  He even let me try.  So fun!   Everyone was raising glasses and saying nice things about Josh and Lauren.   She looked so beautiful in a big white dress.  There were tons of pictures taken so I know they will always remember the day they took the plunge.

So after a bunch of food, chasing iguanas, and meeting a bunch of new people, I was beat.  Back to the villa for an afternoon siesta and I crashed hard.  So hard that my aunt and uncle stayed with me while mom went on her first snorkel at Hawknest Beach.  It was mom’s first time seeing fish under the sea and she came home so excited.  It was just a short snorkel, but she caught the bug.  I can see much more underwater time in her future. 

I slept so long that when I woke up everybody was in the pool chillin’ and telling stories.  The cottage where we are staying is high on Giftt Hill and the winds just howl through the house.  My YaYa put out some sugar water on the deck, and little yellow birds came from all over to enjoy.  They are so much fun to watch as they line up to take their turn.

 

Just when I thought the plunge event was over it was back down the hill for a sunset boat ride.  Now we are talkin’ some serious fun.  We really did not sail very far.  We tacked back and forth between St Thomas, St James, Lovango, and Mingo as the sun kept getting lower and lower.  All of sudden the Captain announced that he was exhausted and could not drive the boat anymore.  He called for volunteers and I was the first to raise my hand.  Yep, Me!  I was behind wheel setting course for the party, with dad backing me up of course.  When it was all dark, Lauren and Josh let go a Chinese wish lantern that flew high into the sky.  We could see it sail away for a long long time.  Yes indeed it was a big day! 

My favorite thing about weddings is that all the pretty girls just love to pick up little boys. 

 

!!!!!SWEET!!!!

Thursday - Beach Time!

The morning came fast.  The time is the same as back home, but I am told we are now in Atlantic Standard Time.  Here in St John they do not roll the clocks for daylight savings, so the time is the same but it seems awful early when the sunrises.  So since dad has not arrived yet, I took the opportunity to climb up in mom’s bed and chill for a little while.  Nothing like a little Thomas the Train at sunrise.

While Poppa made breakfast, YaYa and I checked out the view from the living room.  She tried to explain to me about the Saharan Dust that blows across the ocean and ruins the great view, but it makes no sense to me. 

 

Just looks like city smog.   But hopefully as the day goes on the day will become better.

We loaded up our Explorer with chairs, snorkel stuff, towels, and the all important cooler and headed to Maho on the north shore.  What a crazy ride!  Up and down hills, round sharp corners, and a few speed bumps that rattle my teeth.  At last we arrived to a beautiful beach!  I must admit the water was alittle cold for me and the early wake up was wearing on me a little.  So my Poppa gave me a job. 

 

 

He said, Thomas, Guard the Cooler please!  And for the next 1and1/2 hours I made sure no one got close to it.  I awoke to birds playing and fish jumping.

 

 

We packed up at lunchtime and headed to Trunk Bay.  No cruise ships were in so the beach was very nice, but a little crowded.

Poppa and momma hung out and the rest of the group snorkeled out around the island.  I had a blast floating around on the raft in the blue water.

Tonight was the rehearsal dinner for Lauren and Josh.  Before we left Uncle Brandon and I had a dance party.  We shook the villa up... clapping and stompin' feet music.

 

We headed down the big hill to the dinner.  Whoa!  It was a new way that had even more curves!  Arriving safely the adults chatted and I just hung out.  Once again I blew the adults away by being on my best behavior.  The food was excellent and from my vantage point it sure appeared that everyone had a good time.

Poppa and I were very bad!  Don’t tell YaYa, but my Poppa and I laughed and laughed when a lizard climbed into YaYa’s PJs.   Let the screaming begin tonight at bedtime.

 

 

It is time for bed.  My daddy is flying all night to be here with us. Come quick dad we missed you! 

 

We heard today that Grandpa Sam is very sick so as I close my eyes I blow him a big kiss and a prayer.  Get well soon!  We love you.