On Easter Sunday, Alan and I left Evelyn & Amelia in the care of family & friends (to whom we now owe BIG favors!) and headed to the Caribbean to celebrate our upcoming 10th anniversary. It is like no place I've ever been. Alan is a GREAT trip planner, and it was absolutely LOVELY.
We stayed in a Bed & Breakfast run by a couple who've lived on and off the island since the 1970's. Leslie is a teacher and when Steve retired early from journalism he decided that since he loved to cook and their home had a gorgeous view of Magen's Bay, he'd start a B&B. They transformed their downstairs into a guest suite--a modern kitchenette, a bedroom, and a screened in porch to die for--you can see our view from it in the first picture! How wonderful it was to have no TV, no computer, and this quiet place in the rain forest in which to settle into "island time."
Our flights down there were pretty bumpy and delayed by weather, so what a treat it was to be welcomed by a surprise--Jon & Courtney and my parents had upgraded our "welcome dinner" to a "dinner on the deck," in which Steve pulled out all the stops. He & Leslie were not only our hosts, but sat & ate with us, sharing interesting stories of their lives. It was like a taste of Hamiltopia had followed us to the tropics!
The beach pictures are of Magen's Bay (pronounced like the girl's name.) That is Alan walking out into the sunset in the one picture. "Virgin Islands National Park" is on the Island of St. John, to which we ferried on our second day. We hiked to secluded beaches, snork
eled in the rain, and then hiked up, up, up into the jungle to find this platform with a nearly 360-degree spectacular view. It is one of our favorite memories.
Another favorite memory is the day we spent on the sailboat, "Liberty," which is home to Ryan, his wife Mumfy, and their 6-month old baby, Helena. Ryan is a drummer and knew Alan from the jazz scene in Baltimore. He & Mumfy (I think her mom calls her Theresa, but I decided to call her the name by which she introduced herself!) sold their house in Canton, bought a boat, sailed for WEEKS in stormy, open oceans to get to St. Thomas, and have not looked back. They love it, and I was FASCINATED. It took all my pioneer-woman urges to a whole new level, and if there is ever a movie or book about their lives, I'll be the first in line for it!
Ryan plays gigs on the islands and Mumfy, a former teacher, writes curriculum from the boat. They also charter people for day trips, and they sailed us back to St. John for more snorkeling, although I'm not sure which was more intriguing--watching a nurse shark eat a squid or watching life on a sailboat with a baby! We were grateful to have spent time with such nice folks who also hailed from B-more.
Everything down there is painted bright, tropical colors, and there is a much more laid-back sense of living. The only thing NOT laid back is the driving. While the steering wheel is normal, they drive on the left side of the road. This would be ok wer
e it not for the fact that there is no such thing as a flat or wide road. The whole island is a lumpy mountain, and everything is terraced precariously onto the hillsides, including the steep, windy roads.
We found out going through airport security that Alan's driver's license had expired, so that left me the designated driver. I was elated--I love this sort of adventure, but my elation was matched by Alan's disappointment, and we spent our time in the car rubbing one another's rough edges off as we practiced showing each other the Lord's mercy and grace. We had lots of practice! Ha!
The best part, by far, was just being together--in AND out of the car--and enjoying a few days in an other-worldly place with the person with whom we've chosen to spend life. We'd recently heard Bob Marley's Three Little Birds in a movie, and when that CD showed up in the stack of music in our B&B, it became our soundtrack. "Don't worry....'bout a thing....every little thing...gonna be alright..."
And every day we were surrounded by a beauty that we just don't experience every day. It was certainly hard to capture in pictures, even harder in words, but we at least know what the beauty was saying to us!
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech;night after night they display knowledge...Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world." (Psalm 19)
For Good Friday, our church partners with a few other churches to worship and remember the Lord Jesus together. The sermon was given by a wonderful teacher and pastor of an African American congregation. Many of his church were present and delightfully comfortable in their animated responses to his preaching. It was awesome to worship in oneness the Savior who desires that all of us know Him and experience His love.
It was Evelyn's first real church service with a sermon, as she's just outgrown the nursery and usually has Sunday School during that time on Sundays. She was pretty content to color, play with a few toys, and revel in the attentions of Aunt Shelley and Di's teenage son, Alex.
As the pastor's sermon got more lively, so did his congregation, and folks were responding with spirited calls of "Yes! Yes!" As they did, Evelyn looked up and--in the few seconds of actual silence following all those yesses--said in her clear, loud, three-year-old voice, "Yes!" After everyone stopped chuckling, the pastor came over to our side of the room, smiled warmly, pointed right at her and said, "YOU...are RIGHT!"
Well, you would have thought she'd been told she could eat chocolate for dinner for the rest of her life. Her face lit up, she put her hands to her heart, looked around at everyone she could see and said, "Did you hear that? He said I was RIGHT!"
Amen. I serve a risen Savior, He's in the world today. I know that He is living, whatever men may say. I see His hand of mercy, I hear His voice of cheer, and just the time I need Him, He's always near.
"He is risen!" (Matthew 28:6)
This is for Mindy, whose Grandmother lived near this uber-decorated street in Baltimore's Hampden neighborhood. I recently found the clip of our Dec. visit & it made me smile. Then, just today while Evelyn was eating lunch, she turned toward the door where I hang the Christmas cards & said in a shocked voice, "Mama--WHERE are the CARDS?!?" Though I love Christmas, the cards came down in January....I don't know what inspired her memory. But this inspires mine!
When Anna & Aidan were here, the three "big kids" and I headed out the door w/lollipops for neighborhood walk. While it was windy w/some dark clouds on the horizon, the skies above us were blue. We walked for two blocks, then a gust ripped through us & I had this sudden, primal surge of motherly instinct. I turned them all around & shouted, "RUN!" 30 seconds later, we were pelted w/b-b-sized hail & sleet as Anna (laughing her head off--girl after my own heart!) lead the charge home. I followed, dragging Evelyn and Aidan each by an arm through the freezing rain. Poor Aidan--he was sincerely terrified, and I tried to brush the whole thing off as an "adventure" once we were securely back in the house. The following clip is the after-the-hailstorm interview where I tried to put the positive spin on Aidan's horror, to no avail. And note that, through it all, none of them lost a grip on his or her lollipop.
A sleepover w/Anna & Aidan! We watched "The Lion King" & stayed up until 9:30 pm! For those insisting that our 4 degrees in music buy us prodigies, please see the clip below. However, I'm proud to say that our girls AND their cousins inherited my love of popcorn. As Courtney says, "it's a whole grain!"
We had lots of special events last week, starting in VA Beach with Grandma & Grandpa Blackman, cousin Casey & Aunt Becky. Casey even made cupcakes! (Evelyn wouldn't look at the camera, although eating the cupcake was no problem.) We made memories around the "ball rolling table" (pool table) & enjoyed one another's company--we just don't get enough of it. THANK YOU Grandma & Grandpa, Becky & Casey!
On Monday the girls had some exciting hours with our friend Carol at Karin's house w/Karin's kids, Kate & Jack. (For those of you who are "Lost" fans, Karin & her husband have never seen the show, and are tired of people like me asking them if they'd ever name their 3rd child--were they to have one--"Sawyer.")
Tuesday's warm weather inspired an afternoon at the zoo, where Evelyn went down the giant tree slide at least 20 times. (See video--don't worry, I only filmed ONE of the times.)Wednesday was Hamiltopia at the Walshes'--we lingered long over good conversation, a fire in the fireplace, & Maddie's brownies--so by the time Thursday rolled around the girls were asking the the question with which I titled this post. Such is the danger of doing so many wonderful things back to back! But I wouldn't change a one...Thursday just ended up being "wonderful thing de-tox day."
A puddle is definitely the best way to end a winter's day walk in the woods! Are Amelia's mittened hands not reminiscent of Pooh reaching into his honey pot? At one point I thought she would treat the puddle as she had treated the patches of snow in the previous post, but it was one of those "whew!" parenting moments when the child actually responded correctly to the frantic, vocalized command of the parent.
On Easter Sunday, Alan and I left Evelyn & Amelia in the care of family & friends (to whom we now owe BIG favors!) and headed to the Caribbean to celebrate our upcoming 10th anniversary. It is like no place I've ever been. Alan is a GREAT trip planner, and it was absolutely LOVELY.
eled in the rain, and then hiked up, up, up into the jungle to find this platform with a nearly 360-degree spectacular view. It is one of our favorite memories.
e it not for the fact that there is no such thing as a flat or wide road. The whole island is a lumpy mountain, and everything is terraced precariously onto the hillsides, including the steep, windy roads.
