St Lucia, West Indies Winners Trip

We got delayed in Miami, we will catch a ride home tomorrow morning.  We slept in the airport, not the brightest idea for someone with a bad back. We got home this morning around 1000.
My hubby, after being laid off two years ago and re hired, came in top 14 in sales and won this amazing trip.  We were off to St Lucia, just me and the hubbs. We stayed at the Sugar Beach resort that rests between two volcanos called the Pitons.  We had the most amazing time and I was pampered in ways I could not have begun to imagine.  We resided in a true paradise for a few days and experienced breathtaking views at every turn. We were immersed in the West Indies culture.  This is an experience I will treasure forever.
The hubbs company truly went all out for their top sales people. We received gifts daily, whether it was new Ray Bans or new flip flops or gift cards, there was always something.  We enjoyed excursions:  deep sea fishing, snorkeling,  or the spa.  We had lavish dinner receptions and all day cocktails provided beach and pool side.
On one of our boat tours around the island we got a little history lesson from two local fisherman. They shared the history of the island and some salacious tells of some Hollywood stories. Mat Damon reserved the entire resort for his family one time and even bought out the local fisherman for a week to keep the beach private.  They showed us the resort where several episodes of The Bachelor were filmed.  They also showed us a bat cave where thousands of fruit bats lived. According to our guides they use bat guano (poo) to make mascara. Our guides said, "you have to get shitty to get pretty."  Mick Jagger, Oprah Winfrey,  and George Forman also have homes in St Lucia.  That is all for the Hollywood news.
It is going to be very hard to go back to my regular life.  The hustle and bustle of taking care of two growing boys and holding down the house hold.  I will hold this last week in my mind forever.

Our morning view from our Villa

The Hubbs and I with a little smooch and the two Pitons in the background after our boat tour 

This is the Great House where we had breakfast 

Our dinner view from the beach bar. 

Photos from the Beach. . .

Beach Week. . .

Feeling blessed to be at the beach with my three fellas and the sweet B.  Yes, we brought the B along for the trip.   The boys are throwing lacrosse on the beach, and the B is chasing sand pipers and pelicans (flying, not on the ground). 
We have a simply stunning view this week and lots of beach to enjoy.   I brought Big T ' s camera along for our trip but have taken some really good pictures with my phone. 

One night Big T and I watched the turtles hatch and make their way to the ocean.  That was one of the coolest things I have ever seen, so glad Big T and I had such a wonderful opportunity.  We have also enjoyed some of the best seafood ever.  Love the beach.

The Weeks Ahead. . .

Crazy week with work and the boys, Sprat is spending the week in Washington DC with our Church for Youth Convo.  He has had his eyes opened on a few things.  They are going to be very busy these next few days seeing the sights and having Bible study.  They are staying at a local University, so he is getting a taste of dorm life.  Four or more boys sharing a bathroom and bad mattresses.  I do request prayers for their group while they are there.  All of the craziness going on in the world today and people trying to hurt or kill innocent people.
On a lighter note, Big T and the hubbs went fishing yesterday and had a good time.  They caught seven.  I was working.  Big T and the hubbs have a few other plans this week while Sprat is out of town.
We are also getting ready for a much needed trip to the beach in a few weeks.  I cannot wait and we are taking Basil with  us.  That should make for a very interesting trip, with the boys and the B.  Lots of things planned around that trip too.  I have found a few ghost tours and a light house or two to see.  We have not been to the beach in at least two years partly due to the hubbs getting laid off.
For all of my Dave Ramsey followers out there we are going fully paid in cash, no credit cards on this trip at all.  Loving being debt free, especially since we are going to be sending one to college next year.  Sprat will be applying to college and lots and lots of scholarships in these next few weeks too.
Sprat is finishing up his psychology class, his first college course.
Stay tuned lots of changes and adventures to come. . .

Last Day at the Beach

Dear hubby was going to be heading back to the house to pick up sweet Basil yesterday,  so we all went for breakfast.   I decided after my hubby headed home the boys and I would go shelling for our final adventure.  I met a nice lady on the beach the day before and she told me where she had found some unique shells. 
The tide was going to be low at 10:30 so after breakfast we packed a cooler and headed to Fort Macon.  The beach in front of the Fort has great shells.  It also has a very strong rip current, so we only went in the water shin deep.   We had a good walk around the dunes to get to the water but it was worth it.  We walked and looked for shells and for sharks teeth.  Sprat has quite a collection of teeth from our vacations.  Big T is starting his collection of shells.  We had such a great time walking, talking, and looking for those little treasures. 

Crazy at the Beach

We have enjoyed the beach this week.  Today we spent an overcast day playing mini golf and driving gocarts.   We also visited the Aquarium.   Always love the Aquarium and seeing all the exhibits.  We did come back to the beach and play  in the waves.  The boys rode waves and played in the ocean the rest of the evening.
It has been nice and relaxing time but we all miss the Sweet B.  We must find a place here so next time she can go with us.  I think she would love the beach.  

Ferry ride to Cape Lookout. . .

Dear hubby and I decided we would make this vacation fun and educational.   We planned a trip to Cape Lookout.  We drove out to Harkers Island and caught the Calico Jack ferry.  They took us by Shackleford Island, where the wild horses live.  We got a little glimpse of them, our guide said they had done DNA studies on these horses and they are not related to any horse in North America.  It is believed that they were on some of the ships from Spain that Black Beard sank.  The ships sank and the horses swam ashore.  They do send the vet out to check on them and make sure they are healthy, they don't get much more human contact.
They docked at Cape Lookout and let us out, we stayed for about two hours, we packed water and lunch for a picnic on the beach.  We looked for shells and sharks teeth, dear hubby found many sharks teeth but only one conch.  The weather was great, it was a little overcast with a good breeze.   The ocean side of the Island was quite rough, we did not get out more than ankle deep.  The inlet side was much more calm we could walk out forever with the water only coming up to our waist and only a ripple in the water.

Sandy shores here we come. . .

We went to Atlantic Beach, we have never been there before.  We usually go to Oak Island or somewhere close to that.  We chose Atlantic because it is near Beaufort.  Our trip centered around a ghost tour we wanted to do with Big T.  He has been studying NC history and ghosts and lighthouses. The tour we wanted to take was a walking tour through historic Beaufort that would take us right by Black Beards' house.  We ended up not taking that tour because they took Black Beards' house off the tour.  It has been purchased as a private residence.  That was a big let down for us all, we were all looking forward to that.  The tour we did was great though, it was centered around the Webb Public Library building.  It is one of the most haunted buildings in eastern North Carolina.  There have been many paranormal investigations done by professionals, some have been on the Discovery channel.  This building is the only one with an intact basement in the county.  I don't think I got any paranormal pictures but I will have to check once I get them loaded on the computer.  We learned to sword fight, how to load and fire a cannon, and what medical treatments the pirates received on board ship.  This was quite fun and educational too.  We learned about Agnes, the original owner of the property this building was on.  She is one of the spirits that haunts this building.  She is an angry spirit too, she has left marks on several people, including the lady that was our guide. We went into one room "highly" active according to our guide, there she told us the stories of those that had died there and those that had seen Agnes.  Right when we got to a very intense part of the story our guide yelled for emphasis and a very pretty young girl grabbed Sprat.  We all jumped but Sprat was the only one with a close encounter.  I wanted to get a picture of them together but, you know that did not happen.  It was a great tour, we all had fun.

The Beach continuted . . .

Mark played in the water with the kids just about everyday.   We had some good waves a couple of days.  The kids played on their boogy boards that their aunt Robbie had gotten for them.  They loved to play on them and pretend they were surfing.   Mark had fun riding those waves too.
 I always got up before anyone else in the house.  That was good because I could go out on the beach for a walk before it got too terribly hot. It also gave me a good hour of quiet time in the house to read.  I enjoyed my walks in the quiet morning,  it was so peaceful.  One day when I came back from my walk Mark was up and said he wanted to go for a walk too.  So off we went.  It was really nice for us to be together for a quiet walk on the beach.  I felt like a teenager again on a first date.  I wanted to hold his hand and play in the water.   I don't know if he felt that way or not it is still hard to read him even after 17 years.   In my version of course he does feel the same.   HA  HA!!   We also took walks after supper a couple of nights.   On the after supper walks the kids usually would go with us, at least Jack would.  Thomas is so stubborn sometimes he does not know what he is missing.  Jack was of course on the shark tooth hunt.   They played cards or trippley most every night.  I don't think anyone went to bed before 10 or 11 most nights except maybe me.   I think I went to bed before everyone every night, but  of course I was also the one up at 6:30 most mornings too.  It was a great trip and we relaxed for most of it.

The Beach

Yeah, we are home from the beach.  We had not been in three years so it was nice to get away.  We rented a house on the beach for the whole family.  It was great!  I think a week may be too long for my kids though.  Thomas was ready to go home after a couple of days.  He said, "Mommy is it time to go home?  I have been in the water, I have played in the sand, we played put put, and we have eaten out.  Isn't it time to go?"  I told him no, that we still had several days left to play in the sand and the ocean.  That child has his check list and once he has done everything on his list he is done.   Any suggestions on how to get over that?
The kids went to the Aquarium and I got to go shopping.   That is a definite advantage to staying with family you have to do what they want to do.  Since they insisted on going shopping I had to go.  Ho hummm.  Poor me all the outlets in the world and I had to go through them all.  HA HA!!  Shhhhhhh, don't tell Mark. 
The men got to go deep sea fishing though so don't feel sorry for them at all.   They went out on a head boat for most of the day deep sea fishing the day before we hit all the outlets.   
Mark and the kids have started a family tradition of collecting sharks teeth.  Mark and his dad collected them over the years and Mark has a jar full of them.  So he started that tradition with our kids.  They now have a good start to their own jar of sharks teeth.  Mark and Jack walked the beach looking for these tiny treasures and they both were very excited each time they found one.  Maybe that will be something Jack and Thomas will pass to their kids as well.