Wednesday and Thursday

St. Croix
1/30/14

Wind blowing my wet hair dry, warm sun on my back- alone by the turquoise water, sitting on the white-ish sand.  About to watch Captain Louis give a snorkeling lesson to a lady, off the beach.

Yesterday:
*Amazing, waterside breakfast.  Pool with Logan and Cam while Mark and Elijah booked some excursions for our trip.  Then the boys jumped waves at the hotel ocean, and then we had a family 2pm snorkel lesson!

We met the owner's daughter's dog Fido, and saw three iguanas together at the hotel entrance- cool!  Then we got fitted for gear, tried the gear out at the pool, and then we walked down the beach a bit into the rough sea!  The water was not calm, so Captain Louis brought a life ring that he pulled the 3 boys on.  Came very close-inches-to many sea urchins!  Got to see and hold a live brittle star- awesome!  Funny thing was being pretty far from the shore, standing on a sandbar, and having a kite surfer dude come pause on the sandbar with us, to ask us what time it was.  So funny! For the pm we went to the Bombay Club for an amazing dinner.  The atmosphere, pub-style and cozy, reminded the boys of Biederman's Deli in Plymouth.

Pool Practice:

 Walking down to the snorkel spot:

Here is the old pier area where we snorkeled from- where the ocean waves that are breaking in the distance is about as far as we went.  There is a sandbar out there that we were able to pause/rest at.

 Some spots heading out were VERY shallow, and we had to navigate around sea urchins- could've been a big ouchie!

 The boys holding the ring:

 Cam's post snorkel ring:

 Look at my crazy post-snorkel hair!

A few more pics.  Some of these are from Louis- both he and I brought our underwater camera for pics.  One awesome thing this hotel does, on top of the complimentary snorkel trips, is that they take photos for the guests, put them on a CD, and give them to the guests at no charge! Amazing!

 My hair looked like a brittle star, afterward,  too! ha

Today:
*Breakfast in our room, and then to Christianstead for an 8:30/9ish boat trip to Buck Island.  WOW.  The colors of the water were just AMAZING! Would have paid the money just for the ride to the Island and back, because the views were so stunning.  Had a snorkel lesson on calm, clear Turtle Beach, for an hour, and then they brought us to the other side of the island where it was rough!  They dropped anchor and we climbed down a ladder into the ocean, at the National Monument Reef.

Waves were crashing like crazy out there, against the reefs, and we got bumped around a lot by them.  Schools of beautiful blue Tang fish, pretty coral and other fish, and even a barracuda swam under and around us! I could not take pictures there, because just staying safe among the sharp reefs were the main concern.  Cam panicked a little, as he (and the other boys) were smashed repeatedly into the boat and stairs, while hanging onto the life ring in the water, while waiting for our guide to come take our group out, so he climbed back on board and skipped that snorkel, which was a good choice- the current was strong!  One man decided not to even try that area, and a couple did try for a few minutes but came back on the boat as well, because it was so rough.  But we thought it was worth it~ we snorkeled there for about an hour, before the boat brought us back to Christianstead.  Amazing experience!! My legs are covered in huge bruises from smashing into the metal stairs as I tried to climb back into the boat- the waves and current were so strong! The bruises don't hurt, but the legs won't be pretty for the rest of this vacation.  :)  I

 Coming up to Turtle Beach:

The fins that fit Elijah best happened to be pink, so he and his brothers found that amusing during this vacation.  :)

 No pics from the crazy reef side of the snorkel, but here are some from the ride back from the island.  Just picturesque.

 Almost back:

PS: Elijah and Logan went with Chuck, the Palms owner, for a night snorkel!  Wetsuits and gloves, underwater flashlights, etc...eeek!  They saw: fish, an octopus, an eel, sting ray, sea cucumber, and held porcupine fish as they puffed up and swam away...said it was the coolest experience they've ever had!  Logan said it was "50 times better than Disney!"  I was so relieved that God answered my prayers and brought them all back safely.  :)  The 2 boys did not stop talking about it for an hour after they came back, around 9:30pm. While they were doing that, Cam and I hung out together by the ocean and pool, listening to live music and enjoying the amazing weather.  What a night to remember.