Sunday, November 29, 2009

Thanksgiving in the Virgin Islands


Our third evening of turkey left-overs and the end is near. Despite a crowd of twelve - we really had enough food for a small army. It was a lovely evening here.

I am a little behind in blogging so will post more on the pictoral side than my regular diatribe.


We had a fun little break in Miami over Columbus Day weekend in October (there are a lot of holidays in this place...) where we visited the Miami Zoo, a huge water park and some other parts of this crazy city. Mark and I even managed to get together with our suppliers and went to the Broadcrown warehouse (our generator supplier) which was a worthwhile visit.

Max met a parrot named...Charlotte. Yes, hilarious.




















In late October, my parents visited for two weeks after their Panama Canal cruise. We had a great visit which included beach visits, dinner parties with friends, visits to school Halloween concerts and yacht club events. This was their second visit (Dad's third) since we have lived here so they have got to know a few of our friends and have discovered a few favourites such as Magen's Bay, Iggie's at Bolongo and Cafe Amalie downtown (which I think they visited at least three times for lunch!) As usual - most of the photos involve us eating.












Last week the boys were off school for "Thanksgiving Break" which was a week off school allowing those families who desire to celebrate the season with families elsewhere - the time to get away. Of course, these school breaks present some challenges for Mark and I when things are still pretty busy at our business. However - we still managed to squeeze in some fun!

The week before the Thanksgiving break, our friends Christian, Beverley and their daughter Helena were visiting the BVIs at Bitter End Yacht Club from Nova Scotia. While we had hoped to visit as a family - it was just a bit too busy to disappear from work that week. On the Friday, Mark rented a 26ft power cat with Julian and they powered over there in about two hours. After lunch, some sailing and a quick catch up - they said goodbye to our old friends from Vancouver and Victoria days and got the boat back to Red Hook before the 5:00 deadline.




Julian was invited to join a sailing clinic with a couple of the older children at STYC and he had two days of instructional Opti sailing. We followed up the clinic with his very first regatta in St. John where he raced with seven other boys and girls in Johnson Bay near Coral Bay. This little regatta was designed for the novice racer - "green fleet". Despite being the youngest in the group, Julian sailed nine races and did a great job figuring out starts and mark roundings. It was another proud parent moment.


Max accompanied me on the trip and managed to stay quite entertained launching fenders off the committee boat, chatting up a storm and eating his body weight in chips. Max was frequently heard yelling out "That's my "bwa-ther" Ju-ween" or "Tack!".


And I actually wonder how everyone on St. Thomas knows Max???







Import Supply is busy. We are keeping fingers crossed it stays like this over our "slower season" but so far we have a growing list of repairs and machines to maintain. What is also exciting is we are introducing renewable energy products to our customers in the hopes this sector will also take off and "shine" - so to speak.

And to add to our already hectic schedule of business, children, sailing and other activities we seem to be volunteering for - we are moving into a new house next weekend. This three bedroom place has a ideal location in Frenchman's Bay - about 2 minutes from Antilles School and 15 minutes closer to town. We'll be here until we make a decision on what to do regarding real estate which we have been monitoring - closely.

Other exciting upcoming events includes our trip to the west coast. We are looking forward to our first trip back to Victoria and Vancouver in almost two years. I may not recognize Vancouver. Mark and the boys arrive the 20th of December and I'll arrive shortly after on the 23rd. Max has literally not worn longer pants since he left Vancouver as he quite simply refuses. It will be a fun visit for all of us and we look forward to seeing our family and friends - even if we do freeze!

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