We're Back!

Last Fall I gave up blogging.  After a series of technological challenges (which included losing our internet connection) and a bad case of island fever, I was done.  Unfortunately, once we got the internet back, it was much slower and I was not ready to deal with trying to blog with it.  My island fever also lasted through the New Year.  Then in February, the boys and I went back to California. 

We had a much-needed 4 month break from island living.  I took the time to work on readjusting my attitude and catch up with family and friends.  Unfortunately, I could have used more time to see friends!  While at home, the boys took off the training wheels on their bikes and became expert riders.  (Well, as expert as one can be as a 5 year old!)  Reagan also became a much better swimmer thanks to all of the pool time we had. 

As we were packing up and getting ready to return to Tortola, my mom made one request.  Please bring back the blog.  For her, I hope I am able to keep up better this time around!

Since we have been back we have been busy catching up on things here.  We have spent a few afternoons playing at Nanny Cay and a few boogie boarding at our favorite beach, Long Bay Tortola.  We have been to lunch and celebrated the boys' 6th birthday at our favorite restaurant, Brandywine. The boys have learned to snorkel and Reilly is now swimming on his own!  We’ve had sushi at Origin and been introduced to a new restaurant that Chris likes called Fish ’N Lime Inn.  Overall, we seem to have picked up right where we left off, only with a better attitude this time around!

So, I hope to get at least one post up a week for my mom.  I will do a separate post about the boys' birthday, but for now, here are a few of my favorite shots from our first few weeks back:

Reagan back on his favorite mode of transport, a ferry!

Reilly limin at Watering Hole.

Sunset at West End.

Reagan is right at home at Long Bay Tortola.

Reilly is as well!

St. John - (not quite) a Bust!

On Sunday, Chris and I thought it would be fun to head to St. John again to explore a little more of the island.  Last time we stayed in Cruz Bay.  We were looking forward to heading to one of the beaches or to check out the Westin, which is supposed to be pretty cool.  Once again, we took the ferry from West End.

View of Soper’s Hole Marina from the platform:

Reagan enjoying the splashing waves on our ferry:

Reilly just posing for the camera:

We got to St. John just before 10:30 and thought brunch would be a great idea before heading out to explore.  On our earlier trip, we saw the menu for JJ’s Texas Coast Café and decided to give it a try this time.  While waiting for our food, this mama hen and the most chicks I’ve seen with one hen walked by (I did not get all of the chicks in the photo):

I was very excited to see huevos rancheros on the menu.  I had been craving Mexican food for a few days, so I was set.  The portion sizes for the pancakes that we ordered for the boys and the biscuits and gravy were a little lean.  I was happy though!  Though not “traditional” by any means this hit the spot:

Unfortunately, it started to pour during our lunch and we made the decision to head back to Tortola on the 11:30 ferry.  We just did not want to be stuck in the rain for up to 5 hours (the next ferry back is at 4:30 on Sunday.)  Despite walking to the ferry in the rain, these boys were very happy:

So St. John was a bit of a bust this time.  (With the exception of the huevos I had and confirmation from one of the cooks that the chimichunga is really good, so I have something to look forward to next time!)  And although it rained for pretty much the rest of the morning and early afternoon, we did make it over to Long Bay for some beach time late in the day.