(5) The Crookstons

Andi and Tanner with their body boards

In the past week or so we’ve been able to get out a little more and enjoy St. Martin’s most beautiful and bounteous resource: it’s many beaches.

There are so many beaches on this island, and each of them are unique in their own way. We’ve only seen a few of them but we look forward to enjoying more now that we have a car. And in the mean time I’ll share some of the fun we’ve been having at the beaches we have been to.

Also, I’d like to let Andi do some of the talking. For a home school assignment she wrote up a short report on Guana Bay, and she agreed to let me post it on the blog. You’ll find it below. Read the rest of this entry »

12 Comments, Written on February 10th, 2012 , St. Maarten Beaches, St. Martin Activities Tags: Body Boarding, Boogie Boarding, Families at American University of the Caribbean, Guana Bay, Maho Beach, St. Maarten Beaches, St. Martin Beaches, Sunset Beach

The Newest Member of our Family: Moby Dick

The girls after church standing by Moby Dick.

We have a car!

It took a while to find a vehicle that is 1) big enough, 2) affordable, and 3) in good condition. But I think we managed to get all three. Our branch president, Rinaldo Kasanwidjojo, called us last weekend to tell us his neighbor was selling an Isuzu Trooper and if we want to see it we should call him fast because he’s asking a great price.

We called the owner, he brought it over, we test drove it and kicked the tires and looked under the hood… and then we bought it.

The thing is huge! Most of the cars on this island are little sub-compact smart cars, and the big ones are little mini SUV’s. This thing is a monstrously huge SUV.

We wanted to give it a name and it didn’t take long to come up with something. It’s a big white whale… so we named it after the fictional giant white sperm whale, Moby Dick. We’re grateful to have Moby in our family and we look forward to exploring the island with him. (Or her?)

An actual giant white sperm whale

Our giant white sperm whale

5 Comments, Written on February 5th, 2012 , Everything Else Tags: Cars, Families at American University of the Caribbean, Transportation

Tanner, Forts, Food & Fun

A panoramic view of Marigot and it's harbor from the hilltop next to Fort Louis.

This afternoon the girls had a play date / cooking date with another spouse, Katie Wightman, so Tanner and I decided to take off and have some boy type fun. First stop: Fort Louis just outside the french town of Marigot.

The ancient and dilapidated fort was built by the French Navy in 1776 and is perched on a hill top right next to the bay and the city. It commands a sweeping view of the area all around it, and the remains of the fort, the rocks and the grass around it, and the ocean below are an absolute treat to see and to photograph. Read the rest of this entry »

12 Comments, Written on February 4th, 2012 , St. Maarten Restaurants, St. Martin Activities Tags: Families at American University of the Caribbean, Fort St. Louis, St. Maarten Ativities, St. Maarten Restaurants, St. Martin Activities

Photographic Tour of Rainbow Beach

A panoramic view from the top of our building, facing the lagoon (click to enlarge then scroll from side to side for the full effect)

I thought it would be fun to share a few images of the complex where we live, Rainbow Beach Club.

My feelings about this place are mixed. In some ways it’s a great place to live, and in other ways it drives us nuts. (See post about not having water for three days.) It was intended to be an upscale resort, and while it falls short in some ways, in others it absolutely succeeds. Read the rest of this entry »

10 Comments, Written on February 4th, 2012 , Rainbow Beach

Daddy Daughter Date

Andi up near Pic Paradis

Last night as I was lying in bed trying to fall asleep my thoughts kept turning to my children, and I found myself thinking of ways I can do better as a dad while we’re going through this adventure. I started forming little mental tasks lists in my head. In particular, I kept thinking about Andi. I’m not sure why. But the impression that seemed to weigh on me was that in the four weeks since we’ve been on the island I have felt a certain distancing between the two of us.

It hasn’t been anything drastic or terrible, it’s just that for all of her life she and I have been friends and pals. This is the girl who, at the age of 13, still comes and plops herself down on my lap and tells me a joke she had made up or shares a funny story. We chat together, laugh together, and just spend time being friends together. Lately, however, it seems to me that there’s been less of that. And that thought made me a little sad.

All this was tumbling around in my head as I drifted off to sleep last night. Read the rest of this entry »

5 Comments, Written on January 29th, 2012 , St. Maarten Restaurants, St. Martin Activities

Celebrating First Block Exams

Michelle, Andi and Tanner at the Ocean Beach Club

Carina took her first round of block exams today, which means that when she was done, she had nothing to study until after classes tomorrow.

PARTY!!

We partied Mormon style of course. Dinner out (no booze), ice cream and a movie. We went to a little restaurant Cheyenne had told us about: Ocean Beach Club. It’s a cute, well groomed little place tucked out of the way which we never would have found on our own, and well within walking distance of where we live. The food was yummy and affordable, but sadly we were too early for the all you can eat BBQ chicken. And we’ll have to come back on Wednesday for the all-you-can-eat ribs. So fun! Read the rest of this entry »

15 Comments, Written on January 24th, 2012 , St. Maarten Restaurants

“Embrace the Suck”

Cari and Piper studying together

I’ve been reading posts on Facebook recently about the weather back in Minnesota. Apparently what started out as a warm and mild winter has now turned vengeful and brutal. Tami Seibert reported negative 25 degrees below zero (Fahrenheit) in Duluth, and that’s without the wind-chill. (The people renting our house just moved from Florida. I wonder what they think about all this.)

If weather is the only factor one considers, then we truly have moved to paradise. Right now I have our dual large patio doors wide open, I’m listening to the sounds of birds chirping, and a soothing trade-winds breeze is blowing in from the crystal blue ocean. It’s early in the morning and the kids are still asleep, but my guess is when they wake up they will eat breakfast and then head down for a swim in one of the three swimming pools.

But, of course, weather is not the only factor. Here are a few others we’re also dealing with: Read the rest of this entry »

18 Comments, Written on January 20th, 2012 , AUC: American University of the Caribbean

Iguanas, Beaches, Fruit Juices and Milk

Plum Bay - Most of the Gang

I thought I’d just share a fun and eclectic collection of photographs that represent some of the things we’ve been doing and discovering since we’ve come to St. Martin. I’ll let the pictures tell the story. I still have no way to charge the batteries on my camera, so I don’t have as many photos to share as I’d like. But this will get us started for now.

Plum Bay

On Friday afternoon we were picked up by Cecily Lew, Cheyenne McGlue, and Cheyenne’s two boys Dillon and Ronan. They took us to one of their favorite beaches, Plum Bay. Read the rest of this entry »

12 Comments, Written on January 14th, 2012 , St. Maarten Beaches

We Have a Blender! … And Other Tales of Dealing With Adversity

Sometimes it’s the little things that make life more enjoyable, and often times we don’t know to appreciate them until they aren’t available.

Fruit smoothies for breakfast, I admit, are a little thing. Yet we made them pretty much every morning in our previous life, and when we arrived on the island sans blender, we all agreed that we missed our smoothies. A lot.

Sometimes, however, it’s also the big things that make life more enjoyable. Or more challenging, depending on which side of that big thing you’re on. This has been a week of solving a few little things, while also tackling some big ones as well. Read the rest of this entry »

17 Comments, Written on January 14th, 2012 , Everything Else

View of Cupecoy Beach

Cupecoy Beach

This is the view of the beach we have when we walk to the back of our condo complex. From a technical point of view, I’m not that in love with this shot. It was an attempt at HDR that failed because my cameras battery died after two shots into a five shot sequence. And, as fate would have it, my camera battery charger is also dead. So I Photoshoped this one together the best I could, but a trained eye (Steve Martinez) will spot the problems. The lowlights are way under exposed.

Still, it’s a beautiful beach.

6 Comments, Written on January 7th, 2012 , Background Images

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