Posts from — February 2011

Well we finally made it to St Maarten. We are so fortunate to be able to come back to this warm and lovely location in the Caribbean. It’s not for everyone; but we love it.

The trip down to Vancouver on Sunday was sunny and clear, roads were perfect. The Travelodge near the airport was great and we have our car securely parked in their lot. The West Jet flight to Toronto on Monday was good and the Sheraton Gateway right at the airport was outstanding. On Tuesday the West Jet flight to St Maarten departed on time and with favorable winds we arrived almost half an hour early.

There to greet us at the airport were Donna & Bob. Donna had made up a “WELCOME” sign; however it is illegal to display personal welcome signs inside  the airport. However, once outside we took pictures for proof that they met us and had a sign…. Donna has the pictures.

We hopped on a Taxi and headed to the Turquoise Shell Inn. We were greeted by Carter and Polly and it was like we never left. A real surprise and treat was that Donna & Bob had stocked our fridge with a few essentials; beer, wine, water, cheese, grapes, etc. Thanks Donna & Bob.

So, after getting settled in we headed to Simpson Bay Beach, which is right out the back door, to watch the Sunset and have a nice Cool Beer……. what a great start to the vacation.

So this is your skill testing question of the day!

“Spark Plugs to St. Maarten” is it

a. The name of a Rock Band from the 80’s?

b. The newest Blackeyed Peas hit song written and performed at their New Years Eve concert in St. Barth’s?

c. a Humanitarian relief effort complete with telethon and lottery contest supported by Lordco Auto Parts?

d. A request from my sister and her husband to help fix the outboard motor for their dingy so they can get on with their Caribbean sailing adventure!

or………………. imagine this

“It’s Couples Travel week on Jeopardy”

Contestants Larry & Brenda – We’ll take “Caribbean Travel Oddities” for $200 Alex.

Alex Trebek – “Something unusual and odd that your sister asked you to bring all the way to the Caribbean from Kamloops B.C.”?

Contestants Larry & Brenda – What are“Spark Plugs to St. Maarten”!

Alex Trebek – “You’ve got to kidding”! “OMG it is the correct answer”!

So, honestly we  received an urgent e-mail from Donna that she and Bob are having trouble with the outboard motor for their dinghy. Bob has the carburetor apart and it’s recommended that they also change the spark plugs. Anyway, none are to be had in St. Maarten, however there are some at Lordco Auto Parts in Kamloops. Tricia, bless her heart, picked them up at Lordco and dropped them off this morning.

But here is the dilemma. Do I take them in my carry-on? Are they allowed? Well if you Google “Spark Plugs in your carry-on baggage” you get a variety of results. I then checked Canadian Transport Safety and they have nothing specific about spark plugs. So, rather than take a chance at having them confiscated by airport security I put them into my checked baggage.

However, if someone in St. Maarten reads this blog and has a couple spare NGK 2983 – CR6HSA Spark Plugs, would you mind stopping by the Boat Yard near the end of the runway at Princess Juliana Airport (it’s on your left heading towards Simpson Bay) and dropping them off….. Thanks!

On Friday we drove to Vernon to meet Zachary at the Vernon Lodge. Jeff and Lindsay were also there; apparently in Canada when you are 3 months old and you meet your grandparents in a strange city your parents are required to come along.

Anyway we met at the Vernon Lodge and it was great to come back to a place where we had many enjoyable winter get-aways as a family. Zachary is teething and so he was a tiny bit grumpy and drooling like crazy; but still a joy and delight to hold. Lunch was delicious and it was good to spend time with Zachary, Lindsay and Jeff before we head off to the Caribbean. Enjoy the pictures.

Well tomorrow (Sunday) Kevin and Tamara should be home from their honeymoon in Hawaii and we will be on our way back to Kamloops.

Before lunch Brenda had the kids make Valentines Cookies. It was a fun project that involved them rolling the cookies in colored sugar prior to baking. 

Of course there was some sugar left over which the kids got to eat as reward for all their hard work.

After lunch we headed outside to play in the snow; we hoped to wear the kids out so they sleep well on our last night with them. They both spent a lot of time making snowballs and building snow beds and snow chairs.

Just before going inside Sage did a photo shoot model pose for us….. isn’t she cute?

It was above zero today so it was a great day for having fun outside in the snow.

Wednesday afternoon we celebrated an Unbirthday – Birthday Party. Bet you are wondering what and why an Unbirthday – Birthday Party?

Well, we will be away on vacation and are going to miss Conrad’s 3rd Birthday on March 11, so we thought that this was a great chance to celebrate everybody’s birthday….. however, not on the actual day. It also was a great diversion from missing their Dad & Mom who are on vacation in Hawaii. So at the Unbirthday – Birthday Party we started by having the kids blow up a bunch of balloons and then we wrote everyone’s name on their favorite color balloon and the number of days left until their birthday.

After dinner we celebrated the Unbirthday with Chocolate Pudding with a candle in it, since we couldn’t have cake since it wasn’t really anybody’s birthday.

The Chocolate Pudding was Yummy!!!!!

After dinner we had a Treasure Hunt. Sage is a Treasure Hunt professional, as once we explained what the after dinner activity was she instantly recognized the game as the same one we have done at Sun Peaks on other family vacations. She was the leader and was so good taking Conrad from picture clue to picture clue until they finally found the surprise present hidden at the end of the hunt. Conrad got a set of Home Depot Tools and Sage got a Barbie Music Box and Picture Frame that she immediately wanted me to print out a picture of Justin Bieber so we could put Justin’s picture it into the new frame.

It started snowing sometime on Saturday evening and when we woke up on Sunday morning there was about 5″ on the ground. We waited until about 10 a.m. when it had appeared to stop snowing so we went outside to shovel. By that time there was about 7″-8″. It was great for the grand-kids and the “bum slide” they have in the hill of the zig-zag trail. Of course right after we had everything shoveled out it started to snow some more so we went inside to have lunch. About 3 o’clock or so we went back to shovel some more and have some fun in the snow.

Anyway, you have probably wondered what happens on a snowy weekend in Princeton.

Well first off you start a new rock band….. no official name yet!

Then you take two kids, put them in a wagon, fill it with snow and get them to have a nap……. just kidding!

Finally you have a fashion show…………. pretty cute EH!

Oh… and a few bonus pictures of Sage’s curly hair after Namma took the braids out and Conrad being crazy!

Even though it’s winter and pretty cool here (down to -16c) we still manage to get outside with Sage and Conrad. They really love playing in their yard and sliding down the “bum slide” on the Zig-Zag Trail that they helped build with their Dad and Mom!

Enjoy the pictures.

Part of the job of babysitting the grand-kids involves looking after the animals…… actually it’s a mini-farm and each of the animals is loved, cared for and has their own personality.

So, here’s a few.

Nova the dog also supplements as the door bell……. sometimes it’s a false alarm because he will woof and bark for no particular reason other than he thought he heard something; we think he has a real good imagination. Nova loves to snuggle in the evening on any available lap or anyone willing to scratch him and give affection.

Tuna is the older cat. His man task is sleeping in Conrad and Sage’s bed and eating. We’re not sure how heavy he is because we can’t pick him up, but trust us he is heavy. Tuna has become a real people person and he loves to visit if you are having a shower, but he especially loves to be scratched by Sage and Conrad in the morning.  He looks ferocious but actually is the softy of the whole group and he loves the kids. 

Mouse is the newest kitty. She is a little skiterish, so I have included two pictures. The first is how we normally see her which is flying by at about 100 miles per hour, the second picture is the best we could get when she stopped for a minute. We are not sure where she spends most of her day, but in the evening she really gets going and flies around the house tormenting Tuna and generally causing a bit of a raucous. Last evening she kept herself entertained for about an hour with a plastic wrist bangle that the kids left on the ground.

Rabbits, and boy do we have rabbits, at last count there are 11 in total. They really eat through the food, wooden sticks, plastic dishes and anything else that is chewable. They are nocturnal and get going later in the evening. Yes, they are separated….. no more babies while we are looking after them.. we hope.

Chickens – the “Girls” are pretty contented to spend the day outside their coop wandering around the yard finding whatever they can to peck at and eat, then at dusk they head inside the chicken house where it is warmer. You can be guaranteed 3 to 4 fresh eggs per day.

Grand-kid pictures in next post!