Lindy and her Mom

 

Family Postcard

Here's the family postcard from St. John. Since we didn't venture into a gift shop (or check email or a paper al week!) this will have to serve. Also, since it's so easy to come away with a postcard quality shot here, why not put the family in it too!? 

Fantastic Hosts...

Nana and Papa served as our awesome hosts for the week in St. John. Nana's lap also served as a welcome home for Lindy on several occasions. Lindy has made it apparent that she misses Nana since we got home... the floor is not nearly as pleasant a place to be. 

Cousins!

Cousins are a huge part of the Martin family trips. Starting from the upper left... Felicia (2), Jocelyn (7), Kiana (3). A favorite phrase from the trip... "Can I go play with my cousins?!" 

Beach Girl III

Lindy's quite a beach girl herself. While she spent most of her time hanging out in Mommy or Nana's lap, she found her way to a towel in the shade on occasion as well.

One of the great things about St John is the countless beaches that have beautiful water and beautiful shade. What an amazing place. 

Pelicans at Maho Beach

The pelicans we found at Maho Bay were absolutely a highlight of the trip for everyone. They were flying and diving right on top of us. It was awesome. 

Lindy, too!

Not to be outdone, of course, Lindy made her way down to the water as well. 

This picture tells the story

Aspen, loving the waves rolling in by the shore... Oakley out past where she can really stand, diving right in. That's right, the younger was a bit more adventurous than the older, but they both absolutely adored it. 

Beach Girl

Do you think Aspen was having fun at the beach? 

Welcome Home!

We have returned! A trip that started at 4:30am on Saturday, February 18th has come to an end. We were fortunate enough to visit St. John, USVI for a week with my whole extended family. It was, without doubt, an excellent trip.

We're happy to be home now and will share more pictures after we get some rest. 

Day One Adventures...

Day one of our St. John trip was certainly an adventure. It actually started the night before. Nashville was under Heavy Winter Storm Warnings... a near impossibility in Nashville. We strongly considered renting a car to drive to Atlanta, but held off. Asleep at about 11:30, I woke up at 3am to check on the snowfall. To that point, everything looked just fine.

A final wakeup at 3:45am for Jenn got us underway. By 5am, we were at the Nashville airport, having treked through some Nashville snow. Fortunately, our plane was already here and waiting, so we were able to get off the ground a mere 30 minutes late due to de-icing. Who knew they were equipped for that here in Nashville.

We met up with the California Martin's and Keller's in Atlanta and hit the air for another 4 hours or so of flight. At about 3pm USVI time, we arrived in St. Thomas. We met up with Basille, our taxi driver. He was quite a talker and dubbed David "Handsome" and me "Lover Boy", austensibly due to the fact that I have three children. He kept talking about how the women were the boss (which we already knew) and how Handsome never smiled and how he better make the 4pm ferry at Redhook until... screech, bang, errrr...

The left rear tire fell right of the van in the midst of some seriously curvy hilly roads. Well, we pulled off a midroad transfer of 12 passengers to a new van and went off to Redhook. The 5pm ferry sufficed, and we made it clear over to St John by about 6pm. Dinner, bed, and we were ready for first beach the next day.

Birthday Picture

Every year we try to get a picture of Aspen blowing out her candles. Here's our effort for this year. 

Happy Birthday Aspen!

Today is Aspen's birthday, and we couldn't be more proud of her. 5 years ago today Aspen arrived at 8:58pm. Jenn was kind enough to push her out so that Aspen and I could share our birthday, something I enjoy very much each year.

We were just talking about when Aspen was born and Aspen said, "I heard a little story... about you going to Satco while I was being born." True indeed.

A meal of smoothies and muffins is concluding now, and Aspen gets to celebrate at school today with her friends, including Emily who shares her birthday as well!

Happy Birthday, Aspen. We love you!

The Office

That's right, I'm including a picture of the Rustici Software offices. But I hope you can understand why.

This is a table that I created to serve as both a conference room table and a, well, you can see the role it's filling here. 

Lindy's back!

That's right. Lindy's health is improving greatly. While she was never particularly ill mannered, she is definitely more like herself today. Smiles have returned and she's breathing like a human again. We are very thankful for her return to health. 

Happy Birthday Aspen!

 

Sign Making

Kevin Leonard was focused on his sign as well. 

All sizes

Hockey jerseys in all sizes were in effect (as was Oakley's over dress). Ryan is terrifying here. 

Charlene Ink

Predators tatoos were a big part of the evening. From upper left, Aspen's foot, Sean's huge bicep, Ryan's ripped abs, and Charlene, working her craft... 

A five year old celebration

Aspen's birthday celebrations began last night, and we're going to make a month out of it if we can. Last night was the part of her party where we invited her two best friends over for dinner (Sean and Ryan Leonard) and just had some fun getting ready for the next part of her part... a Predators' game on March 2.

The kids made some signs for the game and just had fun doing Predators' stuff in general. I'm certain that no one will believe it, but the entire idea was Aspen's. She absolutely loves the games.

I am, by the way, unendingly proud of Aspen and the person she is already. Aspen is old enough now that she has friends who have big birthday parties and she enjoys them. She understands that some of her friends get lots of toys and stuff for their birthdays. We've always chosen to keep birthdays a bit more low key. Last night, Sean and Ryan brought Aspen cards they made and some flowers. It was so sweet, and Aspen absolutely adored the gesture.

Later, when we were talking about how much fun the party had been, Aspen said something completely unsolicited. She said, "The party was so much fun. You don't need to get lots of presents and stuff... this was so much fun." And she really meant it. She'll want presents later, I'm sure, but right now, Aspen really seems to value fun with her friends so much more. I am just incredibly proud of Aspen. 

Illness strikes

We're very fortunate... we have really healthy kids. Prior to this week, we had taken one non-well visit to the doctor, period. 1 for Aspen, none for Oakley, none for Lindy. Well, that ended yesterday. Lindy's had a cold and was wheezing and barely able to cry well. So, off Jenn went, and rightfully so.

Lindy has acute bronchialitis and two nasty ear infections. I am SO sad for her. Antibiotics began last night and hopefully the return to health is already underway. Please think of Lindy the next few days!

Who is this?

And I ask you... who is this? Feel free to enter your guess in the comments section. 

Lindy Hair

Sweet post-bath Lindy hair...