Top Shot Tuesday

As I mentioned in my last post, we are trying to scale back as we try to put our house on the market. Let’s see how well it went this past weekend.
Clockwise, it is Jarkko, Dusty, Stanley, Stella, Jaime, Fern, Cali, Dana, Shiloh, Jorja, Maggie, Brody, Dante, and Parker. Just missing  are Baxter and Murphy.

Catching Up

Haven’t posted anything about the kids in a while. Let’s see what I missed. Oh, Parker’s 13th birthday and Stanley’s 10th birthday. And before I forget, Stella’s birthday is this coming Thursday. For being a forgetful daddy, I tried to make it up to them by bribing them with pork heart.

I think it worked. I snagged a little piece for myself.

We’ve had a few boarders too. We are scaling back as we get ready to put our house on the market. This is Sabrina’s second home, and she makes herself comfortable by going straight for the couch and snuggling with Kevin.

We actually had a real foster for a few days. Seth is a return, who is a sweet boy, but probably best as an alone dog.

Jarkko and Brody think twice about the long stairs, and head over to the ramp.

Jaime was not phased by all the comings and goings.

We found a new style of bolster bed at Costco. Stella is always the first to break in any new bed.

Gracie is a toy hoarder.

In honor of the Olympics, Gracie and Stanley try their best at synchronized laying around.

Gracie tried her turn at the new bed.

Jaime showing her sad face.

Vegas shows what roaching is all about.

He does an impression of Trina’s Henry with his big ol’ ears.

When it was just our kids for a few days, Stella was happy to have her spot back on the couch with Kevin.

St. John Vacation

We recently went to St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands, for Jason’s 40th birthday. I tried not to duplicate pictures, so please check out Trina’s St. John post for the rest of the story. Especially for snorkeling pics, as I did not have an underwater camera. Next time.

As you can see, Trina and I always had our cameras handy.

After we got off the ferry from St. Thomas to St. John, we saw a St. John pirate with his booty.

On the twisty switchback roads to Coral Bay on the opposite side of the island, we were entertained by roadside goats doing their best to make sure the grass did not overtake the island. A little weird getting used to an American-style car with the steering wheel on the left, but driving on the left side of the road.

Funky cacti growing on the rocks outside our villa.

Turning around from there to see the main room.

A closer view shows three happy ladies in the pool with drink in hand.

A poolside lunch with a view.

Kris and I were always harassing the poor hermit crabs around the house. They’re so cute.

We spent quite a bit of time snorkeling. Next time, I will definitely have to get an underwater camera. I broke the cardinal rule of snorkeling. Don’t touch anything. I managed to get a splinter from accidentally rubbing against coral when a rogue wave hit me. I also got poked by a sea urchin with spikes over a foot long. And this is a shot of a bite on my index finger when I stuck my hand in the middle of feeding the fishes.

Trina in NatGeo mode.

A tree trunk on the beach.

So many colorful shells.

In between doing pushups, he paused long enough to give me some stinkeye.

Every afternoon, the feral donkeys would feed near our house. Trina couldn’t resist.

Kris was right behind her.

Egrets loved feeding in the calm cove next to the house.

A local fisherman catching some baitfish.

The chickens are very colorful and everywhere on the island.

An iguana casually chomping on a cactus in a parking lot.

Parking is at a premium in downtown Cruz Bay, as this sign in front of the church can attest to.

We had a great time, but were ready to see the kids by the end of the week.