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.