Family Fun 2!!

What a fun and eventful week we had with our parents! It had been a long time since we saw their smiling faces and it was wonderful to have them here to get a taste of the island life. Bear with me- with so much action, this is a long post! Actually, I will split this up into two posts, as I am sure your attention span might waver a bit...

Upon picking my parents up at the airport, I took them to get settled in at their hotel and enjoyed some appetizers and a drink before heading out to Casa de Edwards to show my parents where we live. After a very early morning flight and a long day, we decided to go to dinner nearby at Mim’s (very yummy!) and get those two home for some much needed sleep.

The next day, while Chris had to slave away at the desk, I met up with my parents around 11am to take them snorkeling and beaching at the most recommended beach for snorkeling, Coki beach. They very much enjoyed having the early morning for some breakfast and pool time and this became the norm for the rest of their stay. This was lovely for them and great for me to have the morning for my own errands. The snorkeling was amazing!!! Since this beach is right next to the aquarium, there is an overflow of fish who get fed regularly with snuba and snorkeling offered by the aquarium. My dad was handed some bread to feed the fish by a generous bystander and we were quite entertained (and, admittedly, a little skittish) by the vast numbers of fish willing to swarm around you to get to the food. The beach, itself, was action packed and kind of busy- not recommended for relaxing, but great for people watching.

We then headed back to the Marriott for some pool time and to introduce my parents to a “BBC” (Baily’s, Banana Colada). It was a hit and a regular indulgence for the rest of the trip. Yum! After that and showering up, it was back to Casa de Edwards for some home BBQing and watching the sunset (never gets old).

Day 3 saw Chris playing hooky from work and joining us on the golf course. It was girls (Team Pink) vs. boys (Team Stripe) on a highly competitive, show-no-mercy 18 holes. Okay, well, maybe that’s an exaggeration. With Chris and I being very novice golf players, we were giving a lot of patience and encouragement. With the teams also splitting up Betty and Dave as teammates, the Bickersons did not join us for the day. :P

The game was fun and we thankfully switched to Best Ball by the 9th hole, to go a bit easy on the amateurs and to get the rather overbearing team behind us off our backs, even though we were keeping up with the people in front of us). We determined over dinner that evening that Team Pink may have won, but we may not have been terribly diligent in counting our scores. So, really, we determined a rematch was needed when we’re back home for the summer.

Okay, kiddos, that’s it for now. For the exciting conclusion of the parental visits, check in with me again tomorrow. :)


Action shot of dad after he had enough of those crazy fish


The happy couple on the golf course


Mother and daughter enjoying the sunset

Happy Easter and Happy Birthday Boo!

We are back again and thinking of our friends and family on this Easter day. We love you all very much and wish we could share the holiday with you. Also, it is my good friend, Isabella Maffa’s, first birthday. Happy Birthday Boo! In honor of her birthday, I will start this blog a few weeks back and tell you all about our trip with her parents, Monique and Jimmy. To make up for my lull in blogging, expect this week to be quite active!

M&J were only here for a few short days, so we had to make the most of it! On day 1, we took them to, surprise, surprise…Iggie’s! It’s not only easy, it’s a guest must see. Chris was very excited to see that they had all you could eat king crab legs that night and set out to break the record. He didn’t, but he made a valiant effort! We retired fairly early that night (after a bit of the celebrity name game that Mike and Greg had taught us- Monique and I won) since the next day was a big day with a chartered boat and Jost Van Dyke.

Bright and early the next day we found our boat and met “Captain Chris”. No, it was not my husband, no matter how much he wished to captain the boat. We celebrated our maiden voyage to Jost with mimosas and beers first thing, since the spirit of that island is fun and partying and us four do like to get in the spirit!

Captain Chris took us to see some sights on the way to Jost so that we had some beauty to photograph before getting our groove on. The day was quite fun and we made sure to visit the Soggy Dollar and Foxy’s- two of the more widely known bars on the island.

At the end of our voyage, Captain Chris dropped off his slightly tire and extremely well behaved crew and we set on our way to go home and bbq and an early night to bed. We were all tuckered out!

The next day, I took M&J to Magan’s bay and then off to some shopping downtown. After we were done soaking up the sun, fighting the crowds and picking up some gifts, we came back for some downtime. That night, we decided to have a Celebrity name game rematch. Chris and Jimmy won. They also cheated. :P

The last day came too soon, although we covered a lot of ground in the couple of days that the Maffa’s were here. Their last morning here the weather disagreed with us and decided to rain. With little to do when it’s raining in St. Thomas, we went to an early lunch at the Fat Turtle and then got J & M to the airport with only a few minutes to spare. We had a lot of fun together and were sorry to see them go. But, we can’t wait to be reconnected again in Newburyport in just a few weeks. Yay!

Well, I think that’s enough for now. I will update y’all on our parent visits and our retiling of the place in the next few days. We are just starting to put our house back together after the tiling and then I am off to cook my hubby an Easter dinner.

Miss you, Love you, and Thinking of you this Easter Sunday!


Happy Birthday Isabella!

Monique and Jimmy- Limin' it up at Iggies


Chris and second favorite KC- King Crab!


Love Jost!


We could get used to this private boating!


Scenic stop in the BVIs

Happy Hump Day!

I hope everyone is having a lovely week. I first want to wish my brother (whose chances of actually reading this post is slim) a very happy birthday on Friday. Contrary to what he may have told some people, he is older than me and will be turning 33. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Also, I want to wish little Ms. Kate Larkin a very, very happy 1st birthday. Woo-hoo!

We had a mostly enjoyable weekend here that started on Friday with us trying dinner at a new found Mexican place called Margarita Phils. It has been recently re-opened and I think Chris was in a bit of heaven finding a Mexican restaurant up to his standards on the island. So that was a fruitful evening!

Saturday, we spent a very relaxing day close to home at the pool. I, as usual, put on my regular sunscreen and set out to lay in the sun for a few hours. Chris joined me for a quick hour, also lathering up his regular sunscreen. Later on that day, as we got ready for our next excursion to the Blues Fest over in St. John, Chris noticed that I was a bit red and chided me for not applying sunscreen and refused to believe me when I insisted I was quite responsible. But don't fear for my integrity, I was proven to be telling the truth when, later on that evening, Chris' skin had that unmistakeable red glow of a sunburn. Moral of this story- that Caribbean sun can get you anytime! It's tricky and even when you think you have got it figured out, it throws you a curveball. Visitors beware!

Since our sunburns were more bark than bite, we did not feel any pain as we enjoyed the rest of the day over in St. John. Chris took me to the world famous happy hour over at Woody's and then we headed to one of our favorites, the Beach Bar, for a quick dinner. Onto the the Blues Festival over at Coral Bay in St. John. It was a very well put together show and we enjoyed a few different blues bands, our favorite being "Trampled Underfoot". As it got a bit later, we opted for the 2nd to last ferry home so as not to deal with the crowds, and we were on our way.

Sunday was originally deemed a day to find Stumpy's beach (yes, we were going to try again) and another widely endorsed beach called Lindquist, but our plans were foiled due to a residual sunburn on Chris' part. I dared the pool again, since my burn had turned to tan, but found I, too, was a bit gun shy by the scorching sun and retired to the house to do some chores.

We'll be facing the sun again with stronger sunscreen and smiles this next weekend when Jimmy and Monique come to visit the island- yay!!!!! And, as we send them off, my parents will be coming next day and followed by Chris' parents just a few days later. You may not hear from me for a while, but I am sure I will have blog enough for everyone after that stint!

On the work note, I have to say I am so happy to have something consistant to fill my days and give me a bit extra cash. I truly, truly enjoyed last weekend since my free time felt earned, and not a given.

Bye for now and hugs for everyone!

Chris' face when he realized he had a sunburn...

Bathroom photos, as promised!

Okay, y'all, here are the pictures from when Chris first went to look at the condo.






And here are the afters! Yay!!! :)

Happy St. Paddy’s day!

Hey there everyone! I am very sorry about my delinquency in blogging. We’ve had a busy couple of weeks in completely finishing the bathroom, work picking up (I’ve got another job!) and just trying to catch our breath and smell the roses.

Where we last left off, it was the day before my birthday. I don’t think I mentioned that, but probably because Chris always makes fun of me for milking it. Just kidding- it really just snuck up on me. I had a lovely birthday. I worked, but it consisted of sitting on the beach for a few hours in St. John, so no complaints here. When I got home, Chris finished up work a little early and we enjoyed watching the sunset while sipping wine and eating cheese and crackers. Something I’ve wanted to do for a while, but poor Chris usually finishes after the sun goes down. For dinner, we ended up going over to a restaurant I’d been itching to try, called Oceana. It overlooks the harbor and has a gorgeous view. I’ve been there for work, but never got to eat. Since I heard the food was great (and it was!), I just had to go. We enjoyed the night and the food was delicious. And I got my birthday candles, as well. Thank you Chris!

As I mentioned previously, we have got the bathroom 99.99% done. Chris just has to hang the towel rack and I will publish photos. He’s been juggling a lot of work and deadlines, though, so I figured I’d give him some time on that. But, we love how it turned out and it’s amazing to think that we had a completely different bathroom just a few weeks ago.

On the work front, as I mentioned, I have taken on a job taking reservations for Havana Blue restaurant on the Marriott property. If you remember, this is a restaurant we love here on the island. I managed to snag this job by running into a friendly Havana Blue worker at the gas station who had lived in Medford. We got to talking and he let me know they were looking for someone. The description is exactly what I do, take reservations. Not exactly brain surgery, but it’s fairly consistent hours a couple of days a week and I hope to get to know more people at the Marriott and the restaurant for something next year. Plus, I get to socialize with people regularly- yay! My bosses there are great and I think it might prove entertaining- especially getting to know more people on the island…

As for work at the destination management company, they were involved with a unique community day last week where a pharmaceutical company encourages their employees to give back to communities. You can read about it at http://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/index.pl/article?id=17633988. I was assigned to work at Lockhart Elementary school to provide snacks and water and some general logistical coordination to the volunteers. There were some great volunteers, some that couldn’t get out fast enough, and some that didn’t show up, but the overall act was greatly appreciated by the school and the principal was very grateful and arranged a lovely “thank you” during lunch for the volunteers, this consisted of the kids doing a couple of dance routines, as well as goodie bags with thank you cards. I also was given a small gift for my role there- an adorable “Karibbean Kids” doll that is made at the school to represent the beautiful and diverse children of the Caribbean. Since one particular doll existed in my image and likeness, it was determined that she had to go home with me. I was very touched by the gift and told them I would put the info on my blog in case anyone is as enamored by them as I am. If you are, check out www.karibbeankidsvi.com.

Well, I think I’ve run on long enough. As promised, I will post ASAP the pics for the bathrooms. Have a great week and I will touch base again soon.

XOXO and Happy St. Paddy’s day!!!!



The lovely sunset that we enjoyed on my birthday



Chris and I at Oceana on the birthday evening



Can you see the resemblance?
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Fun with Family!

Jay in the Sugar mill ruins

Shark at Coral World

Sister-in-laws. Yay!

Iggie's Carnival night. We ROCKED those hats!

Crazy Lorikeets!!!! One licked Jay's ear. Eek! Who knew birds have tongues?

As Michael and Greg were flying out, Jenny and Jay Beauchesne (Chris’ sister and brother-in-law) were flying on in for a few days of fun in the sun. Susan and Bruce were extremely instrumental in them being able to visit, as they took care of Jack and Emma while Jenny and Jay were here.

It had been a while since we had seen J&J, so we spent the night catching up on our balcony and making some burgers. Chris got the thumbs up in his grilling technique and the Beauchesne’s may have adopted onion-infused Bubba burgers as a new family favorite.

The next day, we went on one of our favorite day trips to St. John and got to show the J’s the island. We went to see some sugar mill ruins first and then on to gorgeous Cinnamon Bay.

That night, we went on over to Iggy’s to check out the Carnival night they do every Wednesday. On the agenda was live music, fire-throwing, glass-walking, and stylish straw hats. We had a fun time!

On the second day, I was excited to direct them towards Coral World, the island aquarium. We enjoyed getting up-close and personal with sharks, turtles, iquanas, sea-lions, crazy nectar eating lorikeets, and many more creatures. After that, we went down-town to the market in order to peruse hand-made jewelry for souvenirs and personal purchase. ;)

That evening was more BBQing, as well as playing the new charade-like game that Michael and Greg taught us. J&J knocked our previously undefeated (1 game out of 1) egos down a notch and kicked our butts 2 out of 2 games. I challenge you to a rematch!

With only a morning to go, we tried to get a bit more touring done. After a visit to the French Heritage museum (not recommended for future guest tours), lunch at Yacht Haven Grande and then a couple of more scenic vistas, it came time to say goodbye.

We had such a great time with our visitors and cannot wait to see our parents next month!

Photo addendum...

Hi all! Just wanted to post some photos from when Paula and Joe were here. They took some great ones! They were quite the photogenic crew. :)

Also, since I can't put too many photos on this blog, I started a page on Shutterfly and have uploaded all our photos since we got here. Thank you Jenny Larkin for the idea! There are quite a bit of photos and they are not too exciting, but if you want to see more, feel free to visit us at:
http://islands0809.shutterfly.com/

XOXO!