Events
Vacation: “Catamaran Adventure” on Philipsburg, St. Maarten
Beautiful butterflies & flowers at Philipsburg, St. Maarten. This butterfly fluttered around us for several minutes before landing on this flower. During our recent trip we were able to stop by Philipsburg, St. Maarten! Philipsburg is the capital of St. Maarten and on the Dutch side of the island. the island is well known for it’s most popular “must-have” ingredient….SALT! In the 17th century the Dutch settlers started harvesting the salt from Great Salt Pond and sending it by the ship load back to Europe. The natives nicknamed the island “Soualiga” or “Land of Salt”. Today the island is split with France owning the Saint Martin side and the Netherlands Antilles owning St. Maarten.
The first wildlife to greet us upon arriving at the island was a beautiful little butterfly, it must have been one from the Butterfly Farm on St. Maarten sent to welcome us to their island. St. Maarten has great “beach taxis” that will take you back and forth from the boat to the beach all day for $6. If you are looking to spend the day at the beach this was a great deal plus you could come back to the boat for lunch then head back out to the beach for free as long as you still had on your wrist band. St. Maarten is also a great place to shop and pick up some neat souvenirs for those back home. Some of our group went to the beach that morning to swim, collect seashells and relax while others went strolling down through the town and shops. It was a fun and relaxing morning at St. Maarten.
That afternoon we all went on the “St Maarten Reef Express” which took us to two snorkeling locations. On the way to our excursion we walked past a huge private boat, it was said to be Steven Spielberg’s private boat! They had a lot of wind and storms that week so the water was a little cloudy but the weather was beautiful. We were able to see some fish but didn’t get to go to the ship wrecks due to the cloudy water. The food, drinks and ride along the beach were amazing. We even got to see a plane almost land on the beach. St. Maarten’s airport is located very close to the beach and when planes land they look like they are landing on the beach while people are enjoying their time sun tanning or swimming in the ocean. Along our catamaran adventure we saw amazing boats, pastel homes, and were able to swim in its turquoise blue water.
Here are a few fun facts about St. Maarten AKA St. Martin (depending on which side of the island you were on at the time!):
- Official Name(s): St. Martin – dependency of French overseas AND St Maarten – part of the Netherlands Antilles
- Population of St. Maarten – 40,100
- Capital of St Maarten – Philipsburg
- Language of St Maarten – Dutch and English
- Currency – Netherlands Antilles Florin (although US Currency is widely accepted)
- Religions – Catholic, Protestant and Others
- Land Mass – 13 square miles
- Landforms – The island is known for its white sandy beaches and coves. They have a lot of greenery in the hills and valleys of the island, the highest point of the island is 1,200 feet. They do not have any significant rivers on the island.
- Climate – warm throughout the year, the high temperatures vary just slightly between the seasons.
Information taken from World Atlas
In an later post we will share some of the pictures we took during our adventure on St Maarten. If you ever have a chance to go to St Maarten we trust you will enjoy it as much as we did. Maybe we will have the opportunity to visit and explore their beautiful island again in the future, you never know!
A Vacation To Remember series is a reflection on our recent trip and ways we relaxed. Life is short and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to build memories with family and explore of of the most amazing places during our time away. Go with a good attitude and looking for fun and it will be an awesome trip jammed packed with positive memories. It is refreshing having some time away from the regular routine. Make it a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet new people and learn. You just might see or try something new that takes your breath away!
Happy Valentine’s Day!!!
Celebrate love and cherish the memories on this special day!
Wishing you a sweet day full of fun with the ones you love!
Happy Valentine’s Day!!!!
Photo by Ellie
Celebrating Valentine’s Day!
We love Holidays at our house! It is a wonderful time to celebrate with those you love and making more wonderful memories together! We started our weekend of fun on Friday. Jake and I had the opportunity, through swapping babysitting with friends, to go out for our Valentine’s celebration on Friday, February 11th. I will be sharing a little more about our adventure throughout the week. It was amazing time with my man and many great new memories were made. On Sunday we made blueberry heart pancakes with strawberry sauce and had the left overs this morning for breakfast!
Making pancakes with the family! Batter’s ready on for the pancakes, love turning everyday food into a fun celebration for special occasions! If you are excited the whole family will have a blast too!
Brina got a cup full of frozen blueberries all by herself to add to the pancake batter, so exciting! Brina helped get the blueberries out for the batter. She got them out of the freezer, measured the blueberries, and mixed them into the batter before cooking the pancakes. Even better is we talked about the memories behind the blueberries we were using. We picked the blueberries fresh from a friends yard during a fun evening together. Thankful for friends, fellowship, memories, and the opportunity to enjoy such amazing fruit during the winter season.
Frozen blueberries now in the pancake batter! The blueberries are so delicious! The girls always love it when we add them to their pancakes and I like that they are getting extra fruit!
Baking the blueberry pancakes on the griddle! We purchased the heart shaped pancake form at Dollar Tree several years ago and still use them regularly (it came with a star and bear shape as well). The girls enjoy getting super special shaped blueberry pancakes.
The heart shaped blueberry pancakes are ready! The pancakes were delicious with the big juicy blueberries in the shape of a heart!
Flash frozen whole strawberries! We pulled our flash frozen whole strawberries out. The girls and I had a great time picking them at a local farm and froze the ones we didn’t eat right away. One of our favorite ways to eat pancakes is with frozen pureed strawberries instead of syrup, healthier and delicious!
Pureed strawberry sauce for the pancakes! Once the strawberries had thawed for awhile I pureed the strawberries to use as sauce to dip the pancakes into. The family loves it and tastes amazing. We typically just puree the strawberries, if you want it a little sweeter you can add a little bit of sugar or honey.
Fresh strawberry sauce for dipping the pancakes into! Everyone got their own strawberry dipping sauce dish for their blueberry pancakes. Yummy!
Ready to eat our pancakes with sprinkles and strawberry sauce! The fresh blueberry pancakes are ready to eat. For an extra bonus we have hugs and kisses sprinkles as well as strawberry sauce for dipping! Delicious! What a fun way to start off the Valentine’s Day celebrations as a family!
Vacation: “Nature’s Little Secrets” – Tortola, British Virgin Islands (Part 2)
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, here are ones that highlight our adventures at Tortola, British Virgin Islands.
A beautiful place to visit!
View from Tortola, B.V.I. looking out over some of the other islands. A BEAUTIFUL view from Tortola overlooking the surrounding islands!
Tortola painting along the road showing their history! They had a wall of history depicted through many paintings, very neat!
"Serenade of the Seas" our cruise ship looks so small from the top of Tortola! We got to see a lot of neat views from the top of Tortola, including our ship, which looks small from the top of the mountain!
Range free cows on the edge of the road! The animals (cows, chickens, horses, goats, etc…) were not fenced in so you would see them on the roads or standing next to vehicles grazing. They had no one where to go since they were living on the island.
Beautiful coves and beaches on the island of Tortola! The water was beautiful! Tortola had gorgeous beaches on various parts of the island!
Tortola had beautiful flowers throughout the island and along the side of the road! Tortola had a lot of amazing flowers that we seen along our excursion!
Yachts at the beach on Tortola! A lot people come to Tortola to sail in yachts. Another popular activity and site at these islands!
Police to the Rescue - traffic was stopped due to an accident! Tortola’s roads were steep and curvy. Thankfully, we weren’t in an accident but were held up for a few minutes by one. The police finally came and outlined the cars in the accident so traffic could once again flow!
Party place on the island in the evening, the seaside Bomba Shack! The Bomba Shack by the ocean is said to be the party place for the islanders in the evening. It was an interesting sight!
"Shack for Love" the Bomba Shack Couples that get married in the Bomba Shack can sign their names inside. No pictures were allowed inside the “shack”.
Pink house with a purple roof! We took a picture of this “princess” house to show our little princess! It was a pretty pink house with a purple roof view an amazing view of the island!
Vacation: “Nature’s Little Secrets” – Tortola, British Virgin Islands
Our first view of Tortola, British Virgin Islands, beautiful islands! During our recent trip we were able to stop by Tortola, British Virgin Islands where the licenses plates read “Nature’s Little Secrets”. Tortola is the largest and the capital of the 60 islands. We took a shore excursion called “Tortola Highlights”! The excursion started out in an open-air safari bus (aka a large open taxi). We took a scenic drive through the beautiful island of Tortola. The driver told us pieces of the history and culture as the bus climbed up the narrow curvy roads. We passed many local villages including Trench and Fahie Hill.
Tortola wasn’t always a peaceful island, it is said to be the spot where many pirates such as Bluebeard and Sir Francis Drake used to hide in the coves to pounce on the treasure ships as they sailed past. The old pirate dens are now used for snorkeling, exploring, or relaxing on the beach. British Virgin Islands includes Norman’s Isle which is believed to be the source of inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Treasure Island”. Pirate Jost Van Dyke’s island is well known for it’s beaches. Virgin Gorda is the place where Rockefeller first promoted the island as an ideal tourist destination.
The island has “range” free livestock – cows, chickens, horses, goats everywhere, there was no place for them to go unless they wanted to take a long swim in the ocean. Tortola’s main source of revenue was sugar cane, however, their primary source is now tourism. You can find plenty of rum distilleries, old sugar mills, and colonial landmarks while exploring the island.
At the top of the island we stopped at the “Sky Top” Restaurant which was the highest point on all the islands. We were able to get a panoramic view of the British Virgin Islands, it was beautiful! The biggest hit for the “Sky Top” restaurant was the view, if you wanted to use the restroom you had to buy a drink (a can of Coke was $4.50), buy an expensive souvenir, or pay a $1 cash to use their facilities. The restroom had a working toilet but soap and paper towels were not available.
Tortola is also known for their white sand beaches and mountains full of fruit trees. We stopped for a swim at the Cane Garden Bay. We traveled around the entire island over Zion Hill for the scenic drive along the Sir Francis Drake Highway and back to Road Town where we browsed through some local shops. The driving was a little bumpy in areas as they recently had a storm that dropped over 4 feet of rain. We got stuck in a traffic jam due to a car accident but we all managed to make it back to the ship on time. It was interesting hearing the highlights from the drivers’ point of view, he was very proud of their schools, churches, and a new hospital they recently built.
If you go to Tortola make sure to bring cash for tips and to use the restroom as well as hand sanitizer! Tortola is a beautiful place with breathtaking views of the other islands. It is worth exploring if you are in the area! We hope to one day go back for another visit! I will be sharing in a future post some of the pictures we took while on the island of Tortola!
Below are some more facts regarding Tortola and the surrounding British Virgin Islands:
- Monarch – Queen Elizabeth II
- Governor – His Excellency Boyd McCleary
- National Anthem – “God Save the Queen”
- Flag – “Union Jack”
- Territory Status – Non-Sovereign, overseas territory of the United Kingdom, internal self-governing
- Legal System – English Law
- Largest Island – Tortola
- Language – English (official), Spanish
- Population – 28,882
- Religion – Christianity (major), Hinduism, Islamic
- Monetary Unit – US Dollar
- Economy – One of the most prosperous in the Caribbean. Highest Income Generators – Tourism & Financial Services
- Sales Tax – None
- Life Expectancy – 70 to 78
- National Flower – Oleander
- National Bird – Turtle Dove
- National Tree – White Cedar
Life’s a CIRCUS!!!
Sometimes every day life begins to feel like one circus act after another. As a family of four there is always plenty of fun happening around our house. Even though life has a way of getting busy it is important to take some time to relax and just have fun! Go to the circus and let yourself laugh!
I had the privilege of chaperoning my girls kindergarten class to the Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus. It had been years since I have been to the circus and the girls had never gone. We had a blast! It was a challenge keeping all the kids together especially since a bunch of other schools were attending the same day but we managed to keep track of our troops and everyone made it home safely. Here are a few pictures from our adventures.
Karlie and Brina at the Circus! I could NOT pry their eyes away from the circus long enough to take a picture, it was that much fun! 
The clowns were a big hit for both of the girls! 
So much visual stimulation! Always a lot of fun stuff to watch! 
The beautiful horses captivated the girls attention! 
The kids were impressed with the strong men and swings! 
A couple of the kids had their eyes covered because they didn't want to see the lady fall! 
The "Donut Wheel" bike was a big hit with the kids! 
The girls were glad to see the Tigers caged at the circus & loved their "tricks"! 
The elephants were a huge hit with all the kids! Rice Krispy Super Bowl Footballs
In celebration of the Super Bowl event tomorrow our family has put together Football Rice Krispy treats to share with our family and friends.
Football Rice Krispy Treats with Chocolate Frosting! We used an oval football cookie cutter to make footballs in celebration of the Super Bowl weekend. The chocolate frosting turned out pretty well. The girls had fun helping us decorate and eating the extra rice krispy corners that were not made into footballs.
Rainbow Football Rice Krispy Treats for the Super Bowl! The girls loved the rainbow colored footballs in celebration of the Super Bowl weekend. I recommend staying away from the yellow frosting because it doesn’t show up as well.
Are you doing any special recipes for the Super Bowl festivities?
Be My Valentine: Cookie Surprise!
Window Pane Heart Cookies made with love by the girls and their friends! We made these fun window pane Valentine Cookie Surprises this week. The girls had a blast cutting out the cookie shapes and adding the hard candy to make window panes! They taste pretty yummy too with the variety of flavors and textures. The cookie dough is your basic sugar cookie mix. We added the hard candies in the middle to make the cookies extra special. It was a wonderful baking adventure with our girls and their friends who were spending time over at our house. After having 5 young girls cooking in the kitchen it was a mess but they were so proud of their creations and goodies that it was worth the extra clean up time!
Sugar Cookies
- 1/3 cup Butter or Margarine
- 1/3 cup Shortening
- 3/4 cup Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1 Egg
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla
- 2 cups All Purpose Flour
- 20 to 40 Hard Candies (We used a variety of Lifesavers, Root Beer Float Hard Candies & Candy Canes*)
1. Beat butter and shortening on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, baking powder, and a dash of salt. Beat till combined, scraping the bowl so everything is well blended. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually add the flour into the mixture.
2. Cover and chill dough for 1 to 3 hours to make it easier to handle when making cookies or cutouts.
3. Lay down wax paper and lightly flour. Roll the dough to 1/8 inch thickness. Use a variety of cookie cutters to make the shapes you want. Place on lightly greased cookie sheet.
4. Cut out a heart shape in the middle of the cookies. Fill the hole with a crushed hard candy. The candy will melt during baking creating the glass window pane hearts in the middle of the cookies. *We tried using up extra candy canes but they didn’t melt well (they tasted good) but I would stick to the one color hard candies like life savers!
5. Bake at 375° for 7 to 9 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are firm and light brown. Cool until the middle window are set then transfer to a platter.
Surprise Valentine's Cookie - this one had three different flavors! Be My Valentine: Scrapbook Highlights
Do you like to scrapbook? You don’t need to be current with your scrapbooking to do this Valentine’s Day gift (I am way behind on my scrapbooking too). Show your spouse and family you love them on Valentine’s Day by doing a Scrapbook highlighting the big events over the past year. You can do scrapbook at home with your materials or one online at Snapfish or any other great photo place. Think back over this past year and pick one or two big events for each month or two. Here is some ideas of what to include to get you started, even if you do the Holidays you’ll have plenty of special memories.- January – Happy New Year
- February – Happy Valentine’s Day
- March – Springing into Spring
- April – Easter
- May – Mother’s Day
- June – Father’s Day
- July – Independence Day
- August – Back to School
- September – First Day of Fall
- October – Halloween
- November – Thanksgiving
- December – Christmas
- Birthdays
- Fresh Start
- Weddings
- Anniversaries
- Special Trips
- Vacations
- And so much more!!!
Create you book of highlights with the scrapbook material you have or do it online. It will be a fun gift as you reflect back on the memories you made together!
Photo by shimelle
Be My Valentine: Romantic Dinner for Two!
You have the babysitter lined up for the kids now it is time to figure out what fun excursion to do with your spouse. Going out to eat at a restaurant is a great option, however, going on Valentine’s Day can mean a lot of waiting in lines. If you have your heart set on going to a restaurant go to a place where you can make a reservation in advanced or pick a different evening near Valentine’s Day. As a side note, the point of Valentine’s Day is to spend time together and celebrate with your love ones. If you do it a day earlier or later it can be an even more relaxing and romantic date to remember. Since Valentine’s Day is on a Monday this year, try going on Friday or Saturday before Valentine’s Day. Going near the Holiday but not on the Holiday allows you to get into the restaurant easier and dinner will be more relaxing with better service because you’re not rushed. It will be less expensive for the babysitter that night since you don’t have to be out as long waiting for a table.My recommendation if you want to go out on Valentine’s Days (or any other Date Night) for less go on a picnic with your spouse. Why is going a picnic a better option:
- It’s Less Expensive – you can pick up food on sale at the grocery store and make it at home.
- No Waiting in Line
- Relaxing Meal Together
- One-on-One Conversation without interruptions
Since it is winter time you may ask, how do we do a picnic in the snow? The last cold picnic we went on together Jake and I found a great spot to park. We took all the seats out of the van except the front two then put a air mattress in the back part of the van. We brought a picnic basket full of goodies and a movie. We had a quiet relaxing meal together, talked, and enjoyed a movie. It was a great evening full of fun and relaxation.
“Be My Valentine” is a series of creative ways you can celebrate Valentine’s Day with those you love. You can make it a special Holiday without spending a lot. Spread a little extra cheer to those around you this Valentine’s Day! Surprise your loved ones with a fun and thoughtful gift from the heart. It is a great time to reflect on sweet memories as well as create new ones with whole family. May this Valentine’s season be bursting with love for you!
