Jost Van Dyke: Days 1 and 2

We woke up Sunday morning, Father's Day, ready to give Daddy his presents.  Before we left on the trip, the kids picked out a few things at Walmart for Brett and we brought them along to surprise him.  Luke picked a Bud Light hat that had a bottle opener on it that he thought was funny (we aren't big drinkers but Brett likes bottled Dr Pepper), Lily picked a travel size AXE deodorant (she liked the smell), and they both picked out t-shirts for him.  They were so excited to give everything to him and we all got a few good laughs out of what they picked.  Then Lily gave Poppa some oreos and took Uncle David a Diet Coke and oreos, a few of his favorites.  We had a relaxing morning celebrating the father's on our trip.

Then we were ready to head out for our first day on the boat Poppa rented for the week. We packed up, realized the back seats just needed to be pushed back up on their support beams (thank you Lord) and headed to town to check in with our SCUBA instructor/boat captain, David.  We had 6 snorkelers (me, the kids, Grammy, Deana, and David) and 4 people SCUBA diving (Brett, Poppa, Trent and Carrie).

While we were waiting for David to get everything ready, our waiter from the night before drove by in his Customs car.  Turns out he works for customs AND works at the restaurant too.  He said hi and asked how we were doing.  We ended up seeing him almost every day and got a good laugh out of it as he asked every day if we were having a good time and spending lots of money.  :)

The kids started searching for shells on the beach while they waited.

Our first stop was Sandy Cay.  It is a small island that used to be owned by a Rockefeller.  He donated it to the BVI as a natural habitat with the promise that it would stay that way and no one would ever build on it.

We arrived at Sandy Cay and were told to jump off the boat and swim to the island.  The kids brought their snorkels and masks but David said there wasn't much to see around the island.  There was a fun little path through it though that would take us about 15 mins to walk.  We headed out and the boat went out to anchor for the SCUBA divers.  

The kids thought the path through the island was a great adventure!

Walking the beach with Uncle David

We found little bird eggs everywhere

On an adventure

It was a good little hike

We found a small cliff

Aunt Deana and Uncle David

The kids with Grammy

Love these 2 little adventurers

We had so much fun exploring the island

We took our time walking through the island because we knew the SCUBA divers would be gone for at least an hour and a half.  Then we just relaxed in the water while the kids attempted to snorkel.

When the SCUBA divers got back, it was about lunch time so we headed to Foxy's Taboo again because it was close to where we were spending the day.  We ordered 4 pizzas to share.  Island time is a little different from city time so about an hour later we got our pizzas.  :)  There is no rush on the island but it was nice to relax, watch the kids collect shells, and get to know our boat captain, David.

Our next stop was Sandy Spit, a tiny little island where they film commercials and advertisements for Corona, Victoria's Secret, and Sport Illustrated to name a few.  You can walk around the island in about 5 mins.  Once again, we jumped ship and snorkeled while the SCUBA crew went out.

Uncle David is ready for his Corona commercial debut.  :)

Lily was totally over snorkeling because she was having a hard time with her mask so just wanted to search for shells.  Thankfully Grammy, Uncle David and Aunt Deana were able to take Luke with them because he was all about the snorkeling.

There were a million tiny hermit crabs on the island and these 2 enjoyed letting them crawl around on their hands.

By the end of the day I was super sunburned on my shoulders, chest and back.  I put on sunscreen several times but I had not planned on having to jump off the boat into the water (washing off the sunscreen) and then be out in the sun for 2 hours while they SCUBA'd.  I was hurting and a little upset.  We headed home to make spaghetti at the villa and relax.

Not a bad dinner view!

Around 2 am, Monday morning, we lost power.  Brett and I woke up hot and wondering why the fan wasn't on, then we heard the thunder.  A big storm blew through and knocked out the power to the island.  We opened our door and closed the screen to keep the bugs out and enjoyed the breeze and the sound of the ocean while we slept.

I decided to stay home with the kids Monday because I was burned and they were a little burned out. I was told everyone would be back for lunch.  We still didn't have power so we opened all the windows and played some board games and read books.  Lily really wanted to swim in the pool but I didn't want to be out in sun.  Thankfully there was a cover where Luke and I sat and played checkers while we could watch her swim.

I hated to be inside when we had this beautiful view and beautiful weather but I wanted to make sure I gave my burn some time to heal and it was hurting.

We decided to go ahead and eat sandwiches for lunch and then went down to take naps and rest in our room.  When we went back up to the kitchen around 2:30, I started to get a little worried that we hadn't heard from the group and they weren't back yet.  I tried to call Brett but there was no answer.  We just had to wait, hope that nothing was wrong.  The power came back but we were busy enjoying being outside playing games and swimming so we didn't notice.

Everyone got back around 5 and I was pretty upset.  They said there were issues with the boat, and someone lost something that they had to go find but I felt pretty left out and not cared about.  I would have appreciated a call to say they were going to stay out all day.  Then I was told we were having sandwiches for dinner because they ate lunch out which made me really mad because that's what we had for lunch with the assumption that everyone would be back and we would all go to dinner together.  The kids and I ended up having leftovers from Saturday night.  While we were making dinner, everyone else left to go have drinks at the Soggy Dollar.  We watched Teen Beach Movie while eating and then Brett and Lily got some father/daughter time swimming in the pool.

Some of this might sound a little harsh and negative but I want to make sure I am completely honest with how I was feeling.  I think so often we document the good and want to forget the bad but we learn from the bad and the bad is part of the trip too.  That being said, we are the only ones with kids right now so we eat earlier and we aren't big on drinking so our lifestyle is pretty different.  I didn't get SCUBA certified because I have 2 small children that I have to take care of and I want Brett to be able to do the things he loves, like SCUBA dive, but often on these big family trips I feel left behind and like we don't get much family time the 4 of us.  That time doesn't have to be just the 4 of us, but as a stay-at-home mom I am with my kids 24/7.  Don't get me wrong, I love it and wouldn't trade it for anything, but I like to be with other people too.  When we take big family trips, often that is the only trip we get to take in the year because Brett doesn't get a whole lot of time off.  Our kids will only be small for so long and while I want to enjoy them being little, I sometimes feel like others just want them to grow up.  I had a great day with the kids but we missed having Brett with us and it was hard to stay out of the sun with the 2 kids wanting to be in the sun.  I would have appreciated a little help for part of the day.  My love language is quality time so time together is important to me.  At this point, I wasn't looking forward to the rest of the week in the sun and I was in pain and hurt.  I was trying not to let my burn and being upset about today ruin the trip for me or my attitude but I went to bed a little defeated.