Work up to another beautiful, crystal clear blue sky morning. We had a quick and easy breakfast at the house again - bagels and coffee for the hubby and myself, cereal for the kiddos.
Someone was ANXiouSLY awaiting her first snorkel! She was up and dressed faster than I've EVER seen her get ready.
And we are off to the car.
Max took his blankie with him EVERYWHERE. We convinced him to leave it in the car usually, but he wanted it with him. Not worth an argument so blankie came along.
We decided to hit Maho again since it really is the best, most calm entry for a newbie snorkel.
Daddy adjusts her mask
Can you see the huge smile behind the mask?
Ready to go
Beautiful Maho
Daddy is SO proud!
Like a fish to water.
Note the look on Daddy's face. So Happy and a little surprised. She can be a bit hesitant, especially with new things, so I think he was surprised she just kind of swam away from him. For me, watching her snorkel away elicited a similar emotion to the one I felt when she first rode off to kindergarten on the school bus. I almost got weepy, but I pulled it together.
A Scuba OK
While they were off snorkeling, Max tried to perfect rock skipping.
She did absolutely fantastically considering it was her first ever snorkel. Loved it. She was a bit nervous about some of the bigger fish she saw and often stood up to gather herself together, but soon after went right back at it. I think it helped a lot that we got her a very good mask and a dry snorkel. Worth every penny!
Of course, her brother couldn't be left out.
On this day the sky behind us kept threatening rain but out over Maho bay itself was gorgeous. We learned alter, from our neighbors, that if we'd chosen to go to Salt Pond or Lameshur this day we'd have been rained off the beach. Further proof if you are on a beach and you get a lot of rain, move to the other side of the island.
Toward the Bay
Behind us
NO longer satisfied with a simple pond, they had to add a trench
And he becomes one with the sand....
He's grown up a little bit since his last one on one with STJ sand
Moments frozen in time like this are priceless to me
working REALLY hard on his transformer
Daddy takes a little break from the sun and water
Soon enough, after a few hours of play and lunch on the beach, it was time to pack it in. I had made the decision the night before to have Max checked out today by a doc and to get a prescription for albuteral. Another thing I had forgotten at home. I am not going to be nominated for Mom of the year anytime soon! For those that don't know pulmicort is a maintenance med, it is not so helpful once you actually have wheezing and I was pretty darn sure we were having bouts of on and off wheezing. He was still coughing his head off at night and totally seemingly fine during the day. This was more for my peace of mind than any real sense of emergency, but it needed to be done. Mama needed to sleep through the night! So we cleaned up and headed to Myra Keating.(Apologies if my spelling is off).
We had driven past the entrance to the Health Clinic many times, but had never gone up to it so I was surprised by how large and seemingly modern it was. It is truly like a mini-hospital. We walked right in, signed in, filled out a little paperwork and waited to be seen. It only took about 1/2 an hour to be seen and the whole deal was done in a little over an hour. Hung and Ella relaxed in the waiting area while Max and I went back. We had a great nurse who made Max totally comfortable and he was thrilled to be seen by Dr. B. Of course, he relayed to her that B is like Bumblebee and Bumblebee is his favorite transformer. She laughed. She checked him out and put my mind at ease that it wasn't pneumonia or croup! Rationality is not my strong suit! She did note a touch of an ear infection in one ear and prescribed a zpack. I did have to ask for the albuteral, but she happily prescribed it as well. Mind at ease, we headed to town to fill the prescriptions and hit the store for dinner for the kids. We also found Chelsea drug to be very efficient and well stocked. We went to Starfish and by the time we were back, our things were all ready. Note: If you need to fill a prescription you will need to pay for the full cost up front. They will not file for you with your insurance, but they will give you receipts you can use to file yourself. Not an issue for us as I have an HSA account that I use for those things, but just an FYI for anyone who forgets or plans to fill a prescription there.
Huge exhale....we head home to give the little guy a treatment and prepare dinner for the kids. I had arranged a couple of date nights with Christy's Classics for the Mr. and myself. Barbara was our sitter and she was great! The kids LOVED her. In fact, when we returned they told us we came back toooooo soon. I don't think Chrisy's officially advertises this service but they have always been able to accommodate us. We have used Christy's for various things related to the kids since we first brought Ella when she was 3. We've rented pack-n-plays, an exersaucer, booster seat, high chair, car seats, a crib. It was almost surreal to not need anything like that! We've been to STJ with kids at the following ages: 10 months, 19 months, 2 1/2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8. We've ALWAYS needed something. This time just the sitter! Now, I will warn you. The sitters don't come cheap. For 2 kids its $25/hour with a 3 hour minimum. I plan this expense into the vacation budget because, frankly, I think we all need it. The kids get sick of being with us 24/7 and the parents need a break and a dinner where we get to eat all of our own food and not referee any disputes. Hung and I also enjoy having an adult conversation from time to time. When else am I going to talk to him about my plans to move to STJ :) Again, not cheap, but way the heck cheaper than therapy or divorce!
Barbara showed up right on time and the kids looked at us as if to say "GET OUT" they were a little kinder and just said "BYEEEEE!!!!" So we showed her where everything was and set off for Shipwreck.
Learning from the packed night earlier in the week we had stopped by on the way by the day before and gotten a reservation. We needed it. It was pretty packed by the time we left.
A pina colada for me and a BBC for Daddy (his new favorite drink)
We each ordered off the special board
Garlic Mahi for Hung
And Linguine with Seared Scallops for me (AMAZING)
We skipped dessert. A decision I regret to this day. That peanut butter pie is still calling my name a few weeks later. We headed down to Aqua Bistro for another post-dinner drink and planned on getting dessert but I was in the mood for chocolate and they only had cheesecake and key lime pie. Oh well, you live and you learn!
Soon, our three hour window was closing, so we headed back to the cottage to relieve Barbara and turn in for the night. We found the kids reluctant to let the babysitter leave. Max's breathing was much better and we all hit the sack early. Why is it that 9:30 pm on STJ feels like 12 midnight!?!?
Tomorrow: Hiked to the nameless beach, lunch at Tourist Trap, dinner at the Beach Bar.
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