Sledding with the Drapers

We've had some great snow days this season. Which has meant some great sledding days. On February 2nd we met the Drapers out at a school by there house. Ivy went down the hill once and that was enough for her. The rest of the time she was content to eat snow and watch.

Jade, on the other hand, had so much fun, the smile never left her face. She always has a great time with the Drapers. And she always has a great time outside doing anything.

Saying Goodbye to St Lucia

Saturday we spent the morning enjoying the sun. Here are a few pictures of the resort.






























The worst part of leaving was the 3 1/2 extra hours we got to spend at the airport while we waited for our flight

The best part of the trip was coming home seeing the sign that Jade and Ivy made for us. It was so exciting to see them and hear their love for mom and dad. The girls had such a wonderful time with Grandpa and Grandma but the girls were still glad to see us.

The Underwater Video

Here is a fun video of us underwater. You get to hear bubbles and Scott breathing. It's really fun. Hope it works :)

Superman's Flight

On Friday we did a second dive that was called Superman's Flight. It was a shallow dive and very gorgeous. I need to get some of the pictures from some of our friends that were on the dive as well. We saw a lot of beautiful sealife and corals. The most impressive thing that we saw was a frog fish. They told us that divers can dive for 20 years and look for a frog fish an never be as lucky as we were. So, I'll add that picture once I get it.

First picture is a Morray eel- yes another one and the others are just pretty things that we saw under the water.

Diving under the Pitons

Friday morning Scott and I went on a fantastic dive 70 feet below the Pitons. We woke to a rain storm and heavy winds. Honestly, I wasn't sure we were going to get to go but we geared up and went down to the dive shop. We bundled up with towels and sat under the cover of the boat while the rain continued. It was a really long boat ride- almost an hour. It was definitely worth the cold ride.


The first picture is of a Morray eel. It is difficult to see it but it is the black and white creature under the rock on the right.

The second picture is of another type of eel, but I can't remember what it is called. Someone said it was a sea serpent but according to the Caribbean sea life book, it is an eel.

The third picture shows the difference of using a flash. The colors were really amazing.

The last picture is just a seascape of Pitons.

This dive was a deep dive so we had to wait for awhile before we could dive again. Scott really did a nice job with the pictures. We're not sure though if him taking pictures made him use his air faster. This first dive, Scott and I had to come up early because Scott got very low on his air. I couldn't stay down either. My wetsuit affected my buoyancy a lot. Once I got to about 1200 psi left in my tent, I had to fight to stay down. It was absolutely amazing down there.

Swan Lake on the top of Fort Rodney

Having never been part of a ballet, it was very fun getting to learn a little bit of a ballet number and get the guys laughing at us.

The best part of the hike (and the dance) was getting to spend time with Tiffany Clinger and Sandy Tarwater. I've known both of their husbands for several years now, but had never had the chance to meet Sandy and have only spent a little time Tiffany.

The hike up to Fort Rodney

On Valentine's Day we went on a great little hike up Fort Rodney. Fort Rodney was a US fort built in the 1700's. IT was absolutely gorgeous. The first picture is us by the lime kiln. The second shows us and the resort for the first level of the fort. Then the third is Scott coming down from the fort. The last picture shows the beach on the back side of the resort.

It was such a beautiful location, even though the resort wasn't amazing and the food was less than ideal. We had some nice alone time and some time getting to know some people that we worked with, a little better.

The boys and their toys

Scott and Steve went sailing several times during our few days on the beach. I went with them twice. The first time was great and we did one trip the three of us and the second trip Tiffany joined us. Now the second time we went, didn't go quite so smoothly. The winds were blowing and the water was rough. Apparently a little too rough. The two of them were team steering- which turned out to be a bad idea. The side went up and the three of us went in. We couldn't get it up so the resort water sports group sent a boat out to help us. I let the guys head back on their own and I rode the boat.

Here you have Scott and Steve watching the boats in the bay.














Here you see the race between Scott and Doug against Steve and Don. Steve and Don kicked Scott and Doug's fannies.

Some of the beautiful boats on the bay

I would love to have a sail boat. This blue one was my absolute favorite.
















This isn't a boat that I want, but I love the photo.
















This is the kind of boat that Scott likes the best.
















This last picture is of a boat that was used in the Pirates of the Carribbean movies. Or so they say :)

Shallow Dive in St Lucia

Before they would let us do a deep dive, the resort required we do a shallow dive. We did it in the afternoon on Wednesday. It was a beautiful dive, and we got to see some fun sealife. Scott did well with his first real dive. He ended up really liking it. Somehow I don't think I'll go 8 1/2 years between dives again. He was the photographer for all of the dives that we went on. He did a great job and captured some great images. We still need to figure out some underwater techniques- maybe get a bright light so that we can get the colors to show up better. You'll see a difference in the pictures from this dive versus the pictures from the second and third dives.

What the girls did while Mom and Dad were in St Lucia

The girls had so much fun while we were soaking up the sun. They laughed and played harder than they do on a normal week. Fortunately, Ivy avoided a fever episode until after we got home. Here are some pictures of their activities while we were gone.

Jade and the 'puter and My little cows.

Ivy sleeping and Jade playing Ratatoulli.

Crashed for the night and showing off her handmade Valentine for Mom.

Triumphantly climbing up the slide and making a sign to welcome home Mom and Dad. Jade did all of the lettering all by herself. She also painted herself without any help!

It's so good to be home, and we are really lucky that Grandma and Grandpa were able and willing to watch the girls. We are really lucky to have such a great family.

There was only one thing that went wrong while we were gone. Grandma E suffered a heart attack on Tuesday. Fortunately, she was able to get to the hospital on time and she had an angiogram that cleared it all up. She's still really tired and suffering from a couple of other ailments. She is such a strong woman who keeps on winning the battles.

Leaving for St Lucia

Scott and I have not taken a trip together for quite some time. I kept thinking that we hadn't done anything alone since we went to Jamaica. I'm wrong on that. We went out to Kentucky while I was pregnant with Ivy. We went to Nascar and the horse races with Josh and Lisa. So it's been 2 1/2 years. It's been awhile, but not as long as I thought. :)

As we were leaving, the girls were anxious to get on their trip as well. We had to ask Jade to come back in the house several times. Ivy was in such a great mood because Grandpa and Grandma were there to get her.

So off we were to St Lucia on Sunday the 10th of February.