Two weeks with Ben!!!

Sadly, Ben's 2 week break has come to an end. He starts classes again tomorrow. We were among the few families and students to stay on the island. As you can see Holdyn was very excited to spend some extra time with her daddy.

So our break began with some serious relax time. We did a lot of hanging out around the house...which was very nice! One morning we went for a walk around AUC's campus and we saw coconuts up in the trees. We saw a local man who was working on the landscape with his machete. (If I haven't pointed this fact out before, machete's are used for everything...mowing lawns...YES, I said mowing lawns, trimming trees and bushes, cutting coconuts, cleaning fish....and more. Needless to say, it is not unusual to see locals walking around with their machete at their side....I guess you could say they are the Leatherman's of St. Maarten!) We asked the man how to know when coconuts are ready. He went over to a tree, grabbed his pole/tool for knocking them down, and got us a couple. He said these were only good for milk, so he showed us how to whack them open to get the milk and we took the coconut home and tried it for ourselves.

We also got together with friends. Here is a great picture of Cute Hillary and the kiddo's in our living room. It was great for Holdyn to be around other kids!

We also did a bit of snorkeling! Soo FUN!!! Here is Hillary and I with our snorkel gear! We should have been supermodels!!

There was a group of us who also got together and went to the island of Pinel. It is part of St. Maarten and is just a very small island that you catch a ferry to. Speaking of the Ferry, it is just a small boat....that they pack you on like sardines. Here is a photo of the ferry loaded to come back. We were on the back row so it is just the backs of heads....but notice how packed the thing is! You can't even see the boat...the best way for me to explain it is a big canoe with benches....it is about as rickety as a canoe too. Good times on St. Maarten!! Pinel has a very nice beach and some great snorkeling! Even with sunblock caked on, Poor Ben got pretty toasted! He hasn't seen much sun since we came down here so his body was in a bit of shock!

Last night Justin and Hillary had a big group over to their landlords place (who was nice enough to let us crash his pool/patio). We had a great dinner and it was fun to get together for one last hoorah before the husbands start up their next semester! The pools here are often on the second level...so Justin and Hillary live below the pool....strange I know...they have some leaks in their walls and ceiling from the pool above. It would sort of freak me out, having all that water right above your head!

Here is Holdyn rocking out in a little bouncer.

She LOVED it! Well, I guess that sums it up in a nutshell! Oh, one thing that I accomplished was....Hillary and I ran from her house to ours...it is about 5 miles. That was the best jog I've done in a LONG time! We are going to try to do it on Saturday mornings when our Husbands are home to watch the kiddo's.

We Loved having Ben be able to spend the days with us!!