With Taylour, still having fun

So, we decided to head up to Carriacou for the Regatta. Left Prickly to anchor off Grande Anse, take Taylour to the beach there, and explore downtown St. George's some more before we headed off. Had a good motorsail to Grande Anse. Taylour is amazing, a few days on the boat and she can tell when we get a good hook or not. Which we don't get in Grande Anse Beach. We've never had luck, it's like a parking lot! Taylour was a natural, she could actually tell that. Took the dinghy in, walked the beach and Taylour bought some jewellery.

A really rolly night (she had that experience for the first time, not the last), so we decided to head into Pt. Louis and pick up a mooring ball. Had read Wandering Dolphin's blog (they travel with 5 kis), and discovered that for around $12 US a night on a mooring, you get all the marina facilities. A fresh water pool and, most importantly for a teenage girl, SHOWERS!

Picked up the mooring ball bright and early, ran the motor to charge, picked up some more groceries before heading off to Carriacou, then into the marina for the pool, showers and a srawberry fruity drink for Taylour. An early night for us, since we wanted to be on the way by 7 by the latest to get to Tyrell Bay. Poor Taylour, not a good trip. Went down to go to the bathroom and got sick. Brought her up on deck, gave her liquids, covered her head with a cold cloth and then the rest of her with a cold pareo. She was okay as long as she had a cold cloth over her face and her IPOD in her ear! What a trooper. Once we got into Tyrell Bay and anchored, she was in the water and was fine. Stayed Friday night till Saturday morning, then over to Sandy Cay for 2 days. The first time we've stayed there in our 4 years down here. Absolutely amazing snorkelling. Plus, the boats from the Regatta were really close.

Taylour at Sandy Cay!

Tobago Cays, next stop. ~~~/_)~~~

Taylour in Grenada - the beginning

Okay, finally getting to our wonderful time with Taylour. Got my head out of the Twilight books, finished all 4 in 10 days (thanks, again, Kelly), spent an enjoyable night listening to the amazing Doc Adams Blues Band that were playing at the University Club (right in front of the boat), and I'm finally in the mood to get this down


Last night with Kelly, Charlie and the kids

Our time with Taylour was absolutely amazing, from start to finish. She is just such an amazing young woman. Sometimes so grown up and sometimes still our little girl! I picked her up at home on Tuesday night, July 14th, and we headed back to Kelly and Charlie's place. Fire on the patio, roasted marshmallows, glow sticks and a great last night. On Wednesday, Parker was with friends and Dennis watched Brooklyn while Kelly and I had a pedicure and Taylour got a manicure. A last girl thing! Kelly and the kids dropped us off at the Embassy Suites for our early flight out on Thursday. Thursday came bright and early, and Taylour had her first flight! Dennis and I had booked our flights and seats ahead of time. Couldn't get seats together, so Taylour got Dennis' seat and he got to sit and chat to other people. He was happy and we had fun. After having an early dinner, because our flight didn't get into Grenada till 8:30 at night, we found out that the flight was cancelled. They put us up in the on-site hotel room, but getting some of our luggage was quite the challenge. If they had just told us at first to forget it, we would have bought some things to sleep in and toiletries ... well, that's just too long of a story to go into! I got 10,000 American Airline points for all my complaining and ruined luggage ... enough said!

Got in, stuff stowed, new toilet installed by Dennis while Taylour and I went grocery shopping. She got spoiled and doesn't know it. I called up Sean to pick us up, drop us at the grocery store, and pick us up 2 hours later. Usually, for us, it's a walk and a bus ride! Since we were in the marina, with no place to swim off the boat, we took Taylour to Calvingny Island the first day and then to Le Phare Bleu and the pool after that.

Finally off the dock and motored over to Prickly. Taylour did not feel well. Brought out the ginger tablets and the wrist bands that Eileen and Rick and left and that seemed to work. Time to go into town and get things done. Ooooh, Taylour does not like to walk in the heat or shop in boat stores! I think that was the only complaining we had for the whole 3 weeks, was any walking that we had to do. Put her in a water situation and she was fine though! Went downtown and had to hit the cruise ship mall twice for the air conditioning so she could make it back. As soon as we got back to the boat and she got into the water, she was wonderful. Spent a fantastic 2 days in Prickly swimming off the boat and listening to Taylour's stories. This girl makes me laugh so much!! She went snorkelling for the first time and did real well. Grandpa helped her find the killer conch! Yes, we put him back!

Off to Grande Anse and beyond! ~~~_/)~~~

Just posting a few photos for each blog - check out our Picasa photos on our side bar to see all of our photos.

Where did the time go?

We've had a wonderful time back in Michigan and Canada, even though it's been the second coldest July on record. I can't believe where the time has gone. It's going to be hard to leave, but it will be nice to get back 'home'! Kelly and Charlie let us have our family get-together at their house, which was really great considering all the people coming and going. Rented a bouncy house with a slide, set up a couple of pools and both the kids and adults had a great time.

In the photo on the left - Charlie, Kelly holding Emmy, Allayne, Taylour and Cody, Dennis, Rich, Tania holding Madison - then Parker, Brooklyn, Avory, Shaun and Ryenn. On the right, our oldest granddaughter, Taylour, with Tania, Shaun, and our youngest, Emmy

Mady and Avory

Picked up Cody on the way back from Brockville and spent a week with him all together, but over 4 days of time without his sisters. His biggest thrill was Grandpa taking him to the shooting range where he got to shoot the 22 caliber gun. Went to see MA, Chris, Zach and Jake and stayed the night. Zachary is our oldest grandson, with Cody coming along 7 months later. Cody and Zach get along great (considering they only get together once a year when we come home.)

Cody after a silly string fight and us with Zach, Cody and Jake.

Cody spent an extra night at MA and Chris'. They live on a farm with all the things that go along with that, one of which was a four wheel drive vehicle called a Gator. Zach drives the thing amazingly well, but Cody had just learned and wanted to take me for a ride. I haven't been that scared since Shaun learned to drive!

Kelly, the big kid, with little ones

Emmy, with Taylour's shoes, Kelly, Parker and Brooklyn, Cody and Taylour having fun, the birthday girl Brooklyn and cute Ryenn

Dennis and I headed back to Kelly and Charlie's, all of us getting ready for our Saturday get-together. Which, in case I forgot to mention, was also Brooklyn's 2nd birthday. It rained first thing in the morning which meant, unfortunately, that Zach's baseball games were postponed till later in the day and they weren't able to join us. I really had hoped for a full family photo! Shaun arrived with Avory, Ryenn and Emmy, and Tania and Rich brought Taylour and Madison over to join Cody. Busy, busy weekend! Shaun and the girls spent the night and went home mid-afternoon Sunday. We got really lucky, and they didn't pick the bouncy house up until 1:00 on Sunday afternoon, so it was almost like 2 days for the price of 1! Avory cried big crocodile tears when they took it down! Taylour, Cody and Madison were still with us and we spent a great day swimming on Monday. Kelly's friends went on vacation and left the key to their house and pool. A great, free day. Well, except for the White Castle burgers which Dennis and Kelly love, and now we have converts in Taylour and Cody!

Winding down, last of the visiting and shopping .... ~~~~_/)~~~

For the rest of our photos, visit our Picasa web albums.

The Frozen North

Decided since we weren't going to Florida this summer we'd give the kids a break from us so headed northeast to Brockville, in the area of the Thousand Islands, to visit with John and Brigitte on Mystic. They've visited us in Antigua and Curacao, so it was time to visit their home and boat. As usual, horrendous traffic through Toronto (sorry Mark and Deb, maybe next time!), but we finally arrived just before 6 p.m. Time for a quick drink and then they whisked us off to a wonderful evening with Ozzie and Wilma (they were travelling aboard

Boomer in the Bahamas when we first met them) and John and Karen (spent time in Trinidad with them when John was there working for 2 years). Ozzie and Wilma have an absolutely amazing home!! Had a wonderful meal and lots of laughs.

Up the next morning for a walk around town, and then after the rain stopped we took our warm clothing and goodies down to Mystic for a couple of day trip in the St. Lawrence River. SOOOO cold! John was worried about the ice melting in the fridge, since the freezer was full. No fears there, it refroze overnight. Brigitte and I were chilly in the cockpit, and this photo of John was taken July 4th. Anyone who knows Dennis can sympathize with us and his complaining! He made some comment about me taking up too much of the berth, so he decided he'd sleep in the cockpit. That was the night the temp dropped to 47 and the ice re-froze.

This is an amazingly beautiful area and we can see why they call it home. Time was too short, but it's back to grandkid time. ~~~~_/)~~~~