Vacation pics- part 1

Friday afternoon we headed out to our attorney's office to sign our final paperwork to obtain Elisha's Ohio birth certificate. What fun Eli had!! Our attorney's 2nd daughter, also foreignly adopted, took Eli under her wing. She wanted to take him up to the room she had upstairs and show him her toys. She ended up happy to share her "flap-books" with him.

They were so precious sitting at the end of the table as we signed the paperwork. She was playing with his Barney lap top computer, he with her camera and flap books. She told us we should take a couple of flap books with us so Eli could play with them on the plane. Nothing like flap books!!

We got home and finished packing- here we have Tim and Eli- he all ready to go, wearing his goggles on his head....
We drove up to the Marriott next to the airport for our park n fly accommodations that evening. I had forgotten the wonder and magic of staying in a hotel for a child. After being in a hotel for a month last year, Tim and I have lost just about all luster for them. Not Eli!!

He ran all over the room- Mommy- look- Eli's toilet- Mommy look- Eli's bathtub- Papa look- Eli's bed- and on it went, him racing all over, out of breath from excitement. The only way I could get him to calm down for a moment, was to convince him to come get his swimming suit on so we could go to the pool. That brought about a whole new level of excitement.

The pool was great- Eli loved it- the hot tub was really nice- Mama and Papa loved it!! :0)

We all went to sleep and slept pretty well, and with our early morning wake up, got our trip started bright and early. Good thing, we were later to find out....

We got to the airport and got all checked in with our checked bags. We went through the line, since there weren't any places open yet for breakfast. They actually had a "family line" we were able to go through so we didn't have to stand in line as long. But when we got to the front, they told us there must have been a glitch in the computer, everyone on our flight came back for the additional screening.

So, all our stuff had to be opened and looked at first, then put on the scanner. While that was going through, we stood in the little glass pen, and when they called us we exited. Eli and Tim got checked by a man, me by a lady. It was quite a sight to see my 2 year old son with legs spread wide while the security guard frisked him. He was so good!! I was so proud of him.

Our travels went well, the back of the seat travel companion my sister-in-law gave Eli for his birthday was a great hit. It is a pocketed piece of fabric that hangs over the back of the seat in front of you with pockets and snaps so we can put snacks and games within easy reach of Eli as we are flying. It covers the tray- so no flipping the tray up and down :0) The stewardess was so impressed with it, she came back and took a pic of it and is ordering some from Paula for her little ambassador's program.

We arrived in St Croix around 5 and waited for over an hour for our car. Big turnover and several folks all there at the same time. But we got an upgrade :0) Very nice :0D

Stopping at the grocery store first gave us enough groceries to just settle in and relax when we got there- me getting dinner ready while Tim waited with the bell man to bring over our luggage.

We settled in well that night- the crib Eli had was a lot nicer than the one we had back in October. The next morning we headed down to the beach......Here Elisha is all greased up and ready to go.....
We had a great time at the beach, enjoying the warm weather and being back in one of our favorite vacation places.

We moved into a different bungalow the second day. The first had only one half of the screened in porch open- and since they had another unit available with the whole porch open- we moved. It is one of my favorite places to be!! The new unit was right on the water..... amazing!! I'll put pics in the next post.

We went to the pool, also. Here was a caterpillar we found while there. He was there every time we went- must be a poolbum bug..... :0D

This is the pool area- Tim and I never spent much time here before- the beach was just too inviting, but Eli really loved this area!!

I have to laugh- Eli spent a long time just climbing in and out of the pool. Reminds me of Christopher Robin's song "Halfway up the stairs." I took pics as fast as my camera would allow- you see him going in, coming out and then racing towards me.....





We did get some beach time in, yeah!!! Eli loved digging in the sand. The first day, Tim started a baby pool- he dug out a lot, when the surf came in and filled it- we had our own little pool. I was helping to dig it out and keep it about 6-10 inches deep as the waves kept coming in, keeping it full.

Eli and I went out, talking to Angela, a young woman we met. We were in water about to my waist, enjoying the beautiful day. I looked up and saw a wave coming that was going to crest at least 4 feet or more over my head. I was afraid Eli would be terrified if he saw it coming. I said, very calmly- Eli- look at Papa- who was behind us on the shore.

I debated if I should jump into the wave, or try to hold my ground. I ended up digging in, knowing I'd never make it without my arms to help me stay up- they were wrapped as tightly as they would go around Eli. The wave knocked us back about 10 feet or so and then was followed by another, almost as big.

That was enough serf for Eli. He was quite content to just stay on the shore and play in the sand after that. Amazing all the scenarios the brain can play out in a mere fraction of a second, isn't it?
We would go out a little ways to "wash" the sand off our bodies before we headed back in. I called it the "big washing machine" and we would go up and down and twirl around to rinse off- He liked the "little washing machine" the fresh water shower we could rinse off at over on the edge of the beach.

Here he is splashing in the "kiddy pool" we made for him close to the surf. He even got down and was kicking in the water (notice the sand all over the front of his shirt......)
He was adding sand almost as quickly as we could scoop it out- having a blast stomping on anything we tried to build. I can see how frustrating a 2 year old younger sibling would be to a slightly older child. We just enjoyed his antics.....
Then we made a car all around him in the sand. Here he is pointing out that we need headlights on the car.
Here he is out for a lovely Sunday drive- notice the great windshield.....
Someone with great talent left this on the beach from the night before!! Isn't it amazing? Look closely- it's a big beached sun bathing dinosaur!!

I see so much of why it is important for little boys to have a Papa or great man in their lives. They model how to be great men, for one, but they also push our little boys to be all they can, to push beyond the fear- suck it up and keep on going. This was greatly demonstrated and caught on film as we had Eli at the pool. I wanted him to jump to me. He wanted me to hold him as he jumped.

Mommy hold me......

I was practicing holding lightly..... :0D

And then he kicked and swam and had a blast. We did this all morning one day when Tim went diving with some friends we had just met here. The pool lounger foamies were great flotation devices- he'd hold onto the end and kick all around the pool with us next to him- making it "rain" on us as he practiced kicking- and blowing bubbles. Basically having a blast!!!

Here is Tim, enjoying the bottom of the sea... he met some great folks, got lots of great pics and had a great time there, too!!

So, back to my point about the Men making men of our boys..... We went swimming with Papa the next day. He was jumping off the steps- yes, the same ones he had been playing on for so long the other day. He thought it was great fun to make as big a splash as possible as he was jumping to us- from only one or two steps into the water- not a very big jump....

Notice the big splash preceding him to Papa....
So, Papa takes him over to the side and tells him to jump. I'm being totally the mother hen and saying- he likes you to hold him when he jumps in...... Tim just says- Elisha, jump- I'll catch you. And, after counting to 3 several times..... You see him jumping into Tim's arms in the pool. I was so proud of them both!!

The next set of pics I call the lesson. Tim was showing Eli how to put on his mask and snorkel.

Here they are rinsing off their gear in the water.


Draining the water- Eli is getting ahead of the teacher- already trying out the snorkel.

Our budding saxophone player..... He got some pretty cool tunes out of it.... hehe

He had Elisha's complete attention as he demonstrated how everything works...


I love this pic!!



Here goes the mask...

I think it is totally unnatural for children to breath through their mouth- must be why most kids get the plain swimming glasses- with the nose open.


He got tired of the lesson pretty quickly- but I was so glad he listened well and showed an interest. Soon enough he'll be wanting to go out and snorkel on his own. I'm treasuring and pondering so much already in my heart- I'm loving watching as he is learning so much.

The hammocks sprinkled all around the resort are great. Eli and I rested a few times in them- he called it Kittycat naps.....
He loved to push the glasses back onto his face by pushing the lenses. We had a hard time keeping them so you could see through them..

They offer Rum punch every afternoon at the front desk. Now before any think I'd give Eli alcohol- NOT- the punch was very good though- lots of different fruits in it, and he loved the little straws :0)

On the 12th, we celebrated our 9th anniversary- the start of our first 10 years together. WOW- a decade. How the love grows. We all went for a walk around the resort, taking pictures and enjoying the sun and warmth since we were heading back on Valentine's Day.

Tim captured us as we stood near the edge of the road, overlooking our secluded resort area. It was sooo beautiful that day. Well, just about every day is like that....

Here we are walking just in front of Tim as we traveled up the road....

Hand in hand, looking out over the ocean, the beach and the buildings we were temporarily calling home.

Eli loved everyone and was loved by everyone. He would say, "Hi!!" and wave to all the other resort people, give the workers a thumbs up and tell them, "Good job!!" They all would light up as they would see him coming.


Such a great time!!