Thursday, September 10, 2015

Just What Grenada Needs...Some More Strongs

Billy’s family came to visit us in June and it was a blast! It was his parents’ second trip (they’re averaging once per term) and they brought along Billy’s brother and his 2 kids and fiancĂ© as of last month (who also happens to be my best friend. Matchmaking done right, people). Since our apartment is TINY, they all stayed at the Radisson. His parents’ had already experienced being crammed into our apartment, and I think our 1977 TV model and the fact that we only run the AC at night is what made the decision to actually get a room next time. Plus, none of them pay for their flights EVER, so they could splurge on a room. Don’t feel bad for them.

Visitors are always fun because it forces us to do a bunch of things that we probably wouldn’t have the motivation/money to do if it were just us. And because they smuggle in all my packages I’ve been racking up for the past 2 months. So, it’s like Christmas—family, vacation activities, and packages galore!

One time, the summer before 9th grade, my best friend and I dated best friends (don’t tell my Dad). It was glorious. We had kind of planned it out and we had so much fun together. Then, one of us broke up the next week, and I’ve been looking for ways to make that situation work out ever since, to no avail. And then we move to Grenada and my best friend starts dating Billy’s brother! Leave it to fate to give me what I’ve always dreamed/schemed, but then I can’t even enjoy it because we live in separate countries. We FaceTime a lot and we hung out over Christmas, of course, but it was crazy fun to have them be here in Grenada and show them our stomping grounds.

Having Mac and Jet here was so fun, but it really made us aware of how hard the island would be with kids. I’d say that when going out to eat in Grenada, the average dinner is about 3 hours long. Everything takes forever. We had gotten used to it, but add a 7 and 4-year old (or a 62, 60, 32, 29, 25, and 23-year old, for that matter) who are all super hangry, and the dinners seem like 6 hours. We’ve learned to go to dinner before we’re even hungry because we’ll be starving by the time we get our food. Which is maybe why we’ve gained so much weight this summer. And now we’re hoping the stress of 4th term will burn it all off.

I’ve learned that when I pick up visitors from the airport, I must wear sunglasses, no matter the time of day so that my tears will be hidden. For some reason, airports make me super emotional. I love seeing or experiencing reunions and hate the goodbyes. That first scene of Love Actually gets me every time. Or maybe I just have PTSD from all the delayed flights in my life. Whatever the reason, I’m always a wreck. My most recent flight chose to play a Nicholas Sparks movie—whoever at American Airlines had that idea, should be fired. Nobody wants to cry in a plane full of strangers. And I was seated near the bathroom, so I had a long line of people wondering why I was bawling my eyes out. I considered telling them I’d had a death in the family—I was sobbing that hard. So, as soon as that 6-some stepped out the airport doors in their Avenger’s shirts and luggage full of my packages, the tears were flowing. Oh and then Mac jumped right into my arms, death-gripped me, and I melted completely. Too bad sunglasses can’t disguise the gross crying noises and snot running into my mouth.

The rest of the week, I was able to hold myself together a little better. I didn’t have as much time to play with my bestie as I would have liked since she was wrangling two kiddos around. But, let’s face it, she could move down here and live with us and I still wouldn’t be able to see her enough. But, seeing how good she is with Mac and Jet was so much fun for me. You couldn’t ask for a better step-mom.

When people come to visit, I always start planning all these fun excursions, and forget that the best part about this place is the beautiful beaches. They can’t be beat. We are all beach people, so we just spent a lot of time relaxing and playing at the beach and pool.  The ocean in Grenada is really like a big infinity pool because there are never really any waves—especially on the Caribbean side. Which is perfect for little kiddos.

We were so excited to take the boys snorkeling for their first time. Billy had shown Mac how to put the snorkel mask on in the pool the day before we went. Then, we all took a catamaran to the best spot to snorkel—Flamingo Bay. The water was crystal clear that day, and I just knew they would fall in love with it like Billy and I have.  I could snorkel all day long and never get tired. That’s nothing about my physical abilities—but I just have so much adrenaline when I see a cool fish/creature and get to watch life under the sea. Billy and I are both Aquarius—the water sign (don’t worry about it, I explained it all HERE). And we are just drawn to the ocean, lakes, rivers, and waterfalls. I may have been a whale in another life. Well, I’m also a whale in this life, but that’s beside the point. Anyway, we had such high hopes for this snorkel trip to instill (brainwash) our love of the sea to these young minds. 

Mac jumps in the water first, and starts heading towards the reef. Then, we hear these blood-curdling screams. I immediately think of sharks or rocks. He starts swimming back to the boat with tears in his eyes, and when he gets out, there’s no sign of blood. So, I of course think he’s being a baby and he just got scared of the deep water. I have plans to go throw him back in and to suck it up, when Jet starts screaming too. They both just say “It hurts, it hurts!” They have no idea what it was though. That’s when I knew—jellyfish. There were so many tiny jellyfish—you can’t even see them, they just look like a wad of spit. Poor Jet had little red marks all over his chest. So, after seeing their reactions, none of the adults wanted to go snorkeling anymore. And Mac and Jet probably won’t snorkel again until they’re 50. Luckily, Billy made us all feel like wimps and so we got in and snorkeled anyway. He’s always good for positive peer pressure. But, I’m so glad we did, because the water was so clear, and we saw a turtle! So, those jellyfish did come in handy (that’s what turtles eat). And we saw so many beautiful fish. We each got stung about a thousand times, but most of them were just little stings that didn’t leave a mark. And we’re really tough and brave.

This was the first time we had used our red lens for our GoPro. The red lens makes underwater images so much clearer because it makes the green seem more blue somehow. I don’t really understand it, but the before and after pictures on Amazon sold me. Anyway, we went to look at the pictures and videos of the day, and were so disappointed to see that they were all red! The water was so clear that day that it didn’t even need a filter! We are such rookies. So, does anyone know how to un-filter or cancel out the red on videos and pictures? Since I always need more pictures of fish and turtles in my iPhoto library. I bet I have 100 GB dedicated to snorkeling pictures that I’ll never look at again.

            You know how kids usually collect seashells at the beach? Well, in Grenada, there aren’t too many seashells, but we sure have a lot of bottlecaps! The litterbug mentality of Grenadians actually benefited us. So, Mac and Jet adapted to the culture and collected “bobblecaps” as Jet calls them. I’ve never seen someone so excited about picking up trash. Plus, we were helping the environment—win, win! Jet would stop everything to get more bobblecaps for his collection. 4-year olds and their beer.

            We “hiked” or rather,“twenty-minute walked” to Mt. Carmel falls and Mac even went down a rockslide. Grandpa Bill’s spoiling reached a new level when he promised Mac they could bring his bamboo walking stick (more like a tree trunk) home on the airplane with him. “But, Ms. Customs Agent, I promised the 7-year old he could keep it” isn’t likely to bode well. Then, we made our way to La Sagesse beach to kayak and play in the waves. We blocked off the whole beach with our beach chairs. Oh, and we found the best banana splits on the whole island. We may or may not be making the 30 minute drive back later just for the ice cream.

            The boys got their first taste of gambling at the hermit crab races. Quite the adrenaline rush, let me tell ya. We also went up to the rainforest to try to see one of the elusive Mona monkeys, but no such luck. I have been up there on ten separate occasions and have tried every trick in the book, and I’m starting to think they don’t exist. I even have the best monkey call of anyone I know. And if anyone tells me that they saw a monkey on their first time up there, I might punch them in the face. So, we ended up going to Annandale waterfall where a local has a monkey on a chain. The guy had already left for the day, but since I had lured the boys to the rainforest with the promise of monkeys, I paid extra for the monkey man to come back. I don’t know how I feel about supporting this man who has captured this poor monkey, but it sure made for some cute pictures. And that’s what life is all about, right?

            We were able to go see Jurassic World with Sky and Steph one night while Bill and Stacy watched the boys. One night before it came out in the U.S., I might add. Living internationally can sure have its perks. I don’t know if it was cause I love dinosaurs so much, or because I love Steph and Sky so much, or even because I love Chris Pratt so much, but the movie was AMAZING. I could watch it every day I think. But that might be because we actually do watch Jurassic Park every night before falling asleep, and I need some new material. Billy loves to fall asleep to JP for some reason. But hanging out with our little foursome made me actually miss being in Utah, which never really happens. I always miss the people of course, but it made me miss the stuff that we are missing out on while out here. Living internationally can also have its downfalls, especially in regards to my FOMO.

            On their last night, we went to dinner at Savvy’s on the beach and had some really good local food. Then, we followed it up with music and dancing around a beach bonfire. Oh, and can’t forget the s’mores. Then we ended the night by trying to get a lizard out of Bill and Stacy’s hotel room. By far, the most hilarious thing I’ve ever watched. For all their bravado, Billy and Skyler are kind of wusses. They kept trying to give up but Stacy wouldn’t let anyone leave until that lizard was as far away from their room as possible. Which was pretty funny to me since we have at least two lizards who climb in through our AC unit every night. We have a symbiotic relationship—they eat all the bugs for us, and we clean up their poop and try not to step on them.
            It was such a memorable week filled with some of our favorite people. And now we know who really loves us the most.

  Here are a million pictures of the trip for those that know how good looking we all are:
I'm a sailor! I sail!
That damn red filter. Lookin' good Sky!
Doritos + catamarans = He's really happy
Ready for the jelly's! 
Rockslides at Mt. Carmel
The Lovebirds 
The Lovebirds plus one 
Love my Stephy
He's cringing away from my braids 
Make some babies. Now. 
My Jetterbug fightin' the love
Studs 
These boys just LOVE having their picture taken. 
This picture has it all. Rainbow. Ballet. Sky's finger. Notice the beach chairs lined up across the whole beach. We know how to mark our territory. 
Dreamboat in the rain
Lunch at La Luna. No kids allowed. Oops. 
Love these brothers
SKILLZ 
We were supposed to be airborne
Steph wins
I don't understand how he can jump so high 
Cliff jumpers at Annandale
Sky guy 
Bilbo at Annandale 
Mac takes the gold medal 
Just some brotherly urine action
I feel so uncomfortable looking at this
Bill and Stacy at Annandale
Kodak moment 
Monkey on a chain
I think he liked him better than he likes Jet 
Jet knows how to fake enjoyment
We failed 
Best in-laws award! Your prize is a monkey.
Almost left him at the Forts 
Bonfire at Savvy's 



These boys have got some rhythm 
Oh, you're supposed to be ladylike in this dance? Weird.
Of course Steph makes it look so graceful. It's the Brazilian in her.