st. maarten II

did i fool you - that is the french spelling. "st. martin" is the dutch. the whole island is only 37 sq miles, but is divided in half between the two countries. (little bit of trivia knowledge for you)


journal entry from 1/16/81 (morning)


i realized as i thought about what date it was - today is my birthday. i do think, this is my first brithday ever wearing shorts and a sleevless shirt!


we have been to a few different beaches now. we snorkled and saw striped and spotted, checkered and neon fish. we saw round and flat, pink, green and pruple coral. the ocean wases gently rose and fell as we drifted through. it was so peaceful, the only sound you could hear was your own breath and occassional splashes (usually from your own or partner's fins)


nathan sitting safely on his blanket telling pappy which sand to use to burry himself:

we went to one beach that is located right behind the airport. i mean RIGHT behind it! the runway ends, then there is a chainlink fence, a two lane road, then the beach. that is seriously it! we had fun watching the planes come in for landing.

a small plane landing = kinda cool to seea large plane landing = WHOOOAAA

i didn't get the whole plane in b/c as it was coming, it looked so huge and coming right at us, that without even realizing it - i fell to my knees in the sand. it was as though my mind had no part in the discussion - my body said "DUCK" - it really seems even closer than you can see in the picture - think of how loud a huge plane is - and only yards above your head?!?! again i say WHOOOAAA

we have also had fun splashing around in our pool. (our pool, i like the sound of that) lol


"dada, if you don't tell anyone i am going to swim in just my swimmy diaper, i'll carry the boat" we walked up and down the main strip of little shops yesterday. clothes, shoes, purses, jewelry of all types hung in the windows. the morning was a little drizzley - the warm drops didn't bother us any. asthe rain dried up, more shoppers and beach walkers joined us. (on the backside of the shops was a beach.) people speaking French, Spanish, Island (which is definitely it's own language mon) and others that i couldn't recognize - german or czech or something maybe. i found the most unique dinner roll holder in one of the shops. it looks like a flower and one roll goes in each petal. it is really clever! (yes, i am fully aware of the nerdiness of that statement - yet i post it here for all of you to read) **i don't have a picture of it right now, but will be sure to get one so you can see it**


later today we are off to an open air market, whatever else the day may bring, then after dinner richard and i are going on a date!



here is a random picture of me on the balcony one evening:

trip report from st. martin part I

i have decided to do this over several posts - otherwise i am afraid it would be too long with too many pictures for one sitting. (for both you and i) :)

i was keeping a loose journal while we were on vacation - this is something i enjoy doing. i like to be able to record what i am thinking and feeling and experiencing while it is fresh in my mind. it is just relaxing to me to be able to reflect, and writing it down slows my thoughts enough that i may actually reflect, not just recall. i will start this post by copying from my journal, if i don't like the way it is going or reading, i will change formats from there on out, after i make that decision.
until that time (if it may come) here is what i wrote . . . (with pictures inserted of course!)


journal entry from 1/14/08 (by FAR the longest of the entries!)


we flew into st. martin arriving, after delays, at 11:30pm on saturday 1/12. it was so dark when we got here, we couldn't see a thing. on sunday morning, the sun peered in my window at 6am and woke me up. i was about to roll out of bed, until i saw the time - then i rolled back over. at 7am the sun came to call again and this time i sprang up and ran out to see what the dark had hidden the night before. BEAUTIFUL!! UNBELIEVABLE!! birds sang. wind gently rustled palm branches and made all kind s of lush bushes and flowers dance softly. a delicate rainbow graced the sky. the salty air was warm and comfortable. the further i stepped from out bedroom door, the more awe overtook me.

there are two bedrooms next to each other, each with patios to their opposite sides. their shared sides face a glistening pool. a wood and tile walkway surrounds the pool, adorned with inviting lounge chairs, a grill, and tables. on the opposite side of the pool, is the main part of the villa with 2 more bedrooms and a living room and kitchen - both with glass walls that open up to expose them entirely to open air. sitting where i am now, in the lounge chairs facing away from the pool, i am overlooking lush plants down the hillside that leads to the ocean below. sailboats and cruise ships decorate the horizon. the world seems to spin a little bit slower here - but i didn't notice at first. i was in a huge hurry to take it all in.

(you'll see the main part of the villa behind richard here. the ocean is to the left of the picture.)
(you will see the two bedrooms right behind dad - it is though he is running from them straight over to the main part of villa - except that there is a pool in the middle)

we all talked around the breakfast table then headed off to the beach. nathan hated the feel of the sand on his feet (or anywhere else for that matter). he froze, unable to move when we took him down to the sand. poor little guy was then overwhelmed by the crashing waves and used his two little fists to cover his eyes so he wouldn't have to look at it. he slowly warmed up to it and uncovered his eyes to see his silly mama and dada's antics.

nathan is smiling here for two reasons:

1- we finally took him out of the water to dry off

2- he has no diaper on last night as we were preparing for bed a HUGE cockr**ch (i can't even write it out - yuck!!) scittered up as i opened my bedroom door holding nathan's hand. thoughts whirled through my mind as two blood-curdling screams chased each other out of my mouth and broke the silence of the night.would it get into the bedroom and be hidden in our stuff only to come out later?!? would it get on nathan or i now?!? i was as frozen as nathan was in the sand. my eyes were like saucers. richard came near as it ran back under the fence where it came from. mom had pushed open the glass wall to the living room with one terrified shove - the sliding glass went all 20 feet the tracks would allow.

a few deep slow breaths (for us all), a couple of teary eyes (you know me), and a few moments later - we all relaxed back to paradise and had a good laugh at the display.

returned, but not yet posted

we have recently returned home from a beautiful vacation in the caribbean - i have lots of pictures and stories that i would like to share, but i really have been pretty exhausted these last couple days. i think it is just a combination of trying to get everything back in order for "everyday-life" and i may be a little under the weather. but either way - things are going very well for us. we are home. we had a great trip. i will post more when i am able.

thanks for looking!

scary event to wake you up

a terrifying thing happened today. on returning home from shopping with my toddler (nathan), we parked as normal. mommy carried the bags and gave him a small one to carry - as normal. then mommy pushed the button for the automatic sliding door on the minivan to close -as normal. as we walked toward the house i heard an awful crushing sound (not normal!) and turned to see the head of my toddler's stuffed shamu toy wedged in the rear of the door, jamming it from closing all the way. he screamed in terror, so i quickly hugged him and took him inside for lunch.

I WAS TOTALLY UNABLE TO MOVE THE DOOR - it would not open at all (nor would it close all the way).
our door has a safety feature that stops the door from closing if something applies pressure to the front of the door, this sensor appearantly DOES NOT WORK for objects at the rear of the door!

at first i was upset that it may result in a costly trip to the dealer - but now i am thanking God that this happened to make me aware, and to be able to warn others, of the possibility of what could have been an unspeakable tragedy. i know it sounds trite - but to graphic, so you really get it - what if that was a small child's HAND stuck in the door - smashed - and the parent is helpless unable to open the door!?! what would you do?!? what could anyone do??? wait for the fire dept or police to get there and take the door off???
ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE TO EVEN THINK ABOUT.

here is a picture of the minivan with a green circle around where the sensor works and a red one around where it does not. also is a picture of the toy and what had to be done to remove it from the door.

because i care,
ann

(i know some may read this and say "duh - maybe that is why you should watch your kid - you bad mom" but let us be serious here and just be aware of the danger)