The Boys' Birthday Week Recap - Part 1: Jost Van Dyke

Yesterday was the end of the boys’ birthday week.  We ended the week as it started, at Long Bay Beach.  In between, we had a few adventures and a few rainy days where we stayed home, played board games, card games and watched (a lot) of movies!

White Bay, Jost Van Dyke

 On Tuesday, we decided to head over to Jost Van Dyke.  On the ferry, children aged 4 and under are free and since it was the last day the boys were 4, it was a perfect option.  Once on Jost, we taxied over to White Bay, home of the Soggy Dollar Bar!  Our taxi driver, Greg from Perfect Pineapple Taxi, informed us that his mom was the owner of Gertrude’s, the restaurant and bar we spent the afternoon at on our last trip.  We saw this as a sign that we would make Gertrude’s our “home” base on this trip.  Chris especially likes the make-our-own painkillers at Gertrude’s!

Gertrude's, Jost Van Dyke

Once on the beach, it was too early for lunch so we decided to hike over to the other side of the beach.  Reilly, Chris and I had fun.  Reagan, decided that we should never ask him to do that again as he was tired and just did not like it. 

Back on the other side of the beach we ordered lunch at Gertrude’s.  We ate roti the last time we were there and the boys wanted it again.  Chris and I shared an order of conch fritters.  The food was good, however, there were a lot of flies.  We later learned that an issue with trash pick up on the island was the cause of a fly outbreak and a lot of the restaurants were experiencing the same thing. 

This did not dampen our spirits, right after lunch, the boys jumped into the water and started playing.  They met a lot of people and invited everyone they met to their beach party!  I would say there were at least 50 women invited before the day was done.  Many we met were on party boats and were staying in St. John.  It was fun to spend the day talking to people from the States.  The boys were a big hit with everyone. 

Once it was time to head back to the ferry, we walked over to Perfect Pineapple Guest Houses and Greg was there to drive us back.  Great customer service, next time, we may stay overnight at Perfect Pineapple!

When we got back to Tortola, we were all starving and decided that after we cleaned up we would head out to dinner.  We have been hearing about a Chinese restaurant next to one of the bodegas in Sea Cow’s Bay.  We decided we would check the menu and if there were items we liked, we would give it a try.  We were all tired and Chris and I were worried about going “out” with tired boys.  Luckily, they had good choices and we came home with three bags of Chinese.  Our first since leaving the Bay Area!  It was not the best we’ve eaten, but it hit the spot and was the perfect way to end the day.

5 Years!!

Today is the boys' 5th birthday.  Words cannot describe what the last 5 years has meant to us.  We love these boys more than words could ever express. 

July 18, 2012

Happy Birthday Reilly and Reagan!  We love you so much! 

July 18, 2007



July 18, 2007



1 Month Old

1 Year Old



1st Birthday

2 Years Old

2nd Birthday

3 Years Old

Reilly - 3rd Birthday

Reagan - 3rd Birthday

4 Years Old



4th Birthday



July 17, 2012 - Jost Van Dyke, BVI

Long Bay

Our favorite location on Tortola has to be Long Bay.  Situated on the northwestern shore of the island, Long Bay consists of a resort and mile long beach.  While on the beach, one has the perfect view of Jost Van Dyke.  Long Bay is also the home of Nature Boy, an authentic island beach bar!



View of Jost Van Dyke from Long Bay Beach



Nature Boy Beach Bar

Most weekends, and several evenings during the week, you can find us at Long Bay Beach.  There are several reasons we like Long Bay so much.  It is the closest “real” beach.  (We are closer to Nanny Cay, but the beach is man-made.)  It only takes us about 10 minutes to get there.  Most evenings, we are the only people on the beach and on the weekends it is rarely crowded.  It seems to be a different beach every time we are there.  The rocky areas change, the surf changes and the types of seashells we find on the beach change. 

Sunset at Long Bay Beach

Chris and Reagan spend a lot of time body surfing.  Reagan is just about swimming and just loves to play in the surf and “practice” swimming.  Reilly doesn’t like to get his face wet and is a bit shy about the water, but will also body surf.  He also loves to walk along the shore with me and collect seashells. 

Chris and Reagan "action" shot!



Reilly's style of "body surfing."



The resort itself also has a few nice amenities.  There are a couple of restaurants, tennis courts and a pool with a swim up bar.   A few weeks ago, the boys and I had the opportunity to have lunch at the bar and use the pool.  Lunch was just ok, but the boys loved the pool.  The pool’s biggest attraction is the slide.  The kids loved using it.  Even Reilly got into the action.  There are also basic pool floats that the boys decided to call their “boats!” 

Reilly on the Slide, Long Bay Resort

Reagan's "boat"

Reilly's "boat"

Singing the Internet Blues

We have been in our apartment here for 50 days and finally we have internet.  This was due to a series of mishaps as well as the philosophy that most things are done on “island time” here!  Suffices to say, we are finally connected!!

Our first months here were all about exploring and getting our bearings.  We have already found “our beach” and have favorite hangouts, bars and restaurants.  There are still a lot of things we are looking forward to doing, but have not gotten around to for one reason or another.  I will be writing about these in future posts, but really wanted to share some photos from our adventure so-far. 

I also want to thank our families, friends and colleagues that have supported this life-changing move.  It has not been easy and without your support, it would have been that much harder! 

Welcome sign at the Dolphin Discovery round-about:

“Toll” booth and Beef Island Bridge, (a long way from the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges and their toll plazas!):

Traffic Jam.  There was an accident about ½ mile in front of this shot.  One small accident will jam up traffic in and out of Road Town.  However, as far as traffic jams are concerned…….

A few beaches:

Long Bay (Tortola)

Long Bay (Beef Island)

Smugglers Cove

Brewer’s Bay

A few world famous bars:

Bomba’s Shack

Soggy Dollar Bar (Jost Van Dyke)

The view from our deck, Norman Island and Peter Island, Salt Island:

Hello from Reilly & Reagan: