2013 is Going to Be LEGEND... wait for it.....

DARY....that's right! Why? Because I get the spend the entire year on an island in the Caribbean and I DON'T have to pack the family up to move anywhere. That alone would make it a good year, but I plan on enjoying every minute of the fun here. I mean, a whole year in paradise, how did I get so lucky?!?

So here we are back to grind. My absence has been due to the fact that Josh has been home with us for an entire month. How nice! Now he is back to school starting his 2nd term and I'm back to you my friends. Here's what's been going on....

At the end of November, Josh and I had the opportunity to go on a catamaran boat to Gouyave on the northwest coast of the island. Gouyave is the home to Fish Friday, where locals cook up tasty fish treats, fried foods, and fresh homemade ice cream and sell it on the street every Friday night. The fish is very fresh, the prices are very reasonable, and you enjoy it all to the sounds of music and people on the streets.

Grand Anse beach at night

the catamaran - it took 2 hours to sail to Gouyave

ready to go!

fish kababs - some have fish and some have lobster or shrimp

Ok, so it's a little hard to tell from the picture just how narrow these streets are, but from the back of the tent to the light post on the right is how narrow the street actually is. It's not like the states where you have Taste of ________ (insert city name here) and there are big wide open streets. I found it to be quite cozy in fact.

lobster!! yes, even in Grenada they sell lobsta'

 The pictures did not do it justice. Next time we go I'll get some better ones. I wish I took a picture of the food. At first I thought, yeah it might be okay, but wow....the food is so so good! We had the fish kabobs first and we should have just shared one. It was big hunks of fish and really good. We also had the fish bake which is made up of a flat bread, cut open, and filled with a flat fish fritter of sorts. So good and only $4 EC or less than $2 US. Then there were the spring rolls...my favorite. It is a spring roll filled with  noodles and it was the size of a small burrito. I can't wait to go back again!

The ice cream was to die for!! You could tell it was fresh and homemade, yum!

Then in December,  we were lucky to have our 1st visitors: Josh's mom and stepdad! It gave us an excuse to go and do some touristy things on the island we hadn't done before. First stop: Prickly Bay Marina and Restaurant.

boats at the marina

Looking at the bar and restaurant. Oh yeah, all restaurants in Grenada are outside by the way. 

Little feet love going for a walk. 

Do you see the guy up there? I didn't when I took the picture...ha ha. 

The sun setting on Prickly Bay.

Checking out the boats at the marina. 

The sunsets here are amazing aren't they?

Next stop: Belmont for the chocolate plantation on the northeast side of the island. This was a long and bumpy trip. It took an hour to get there and we probably drove less than 20 miles.

That is a very old tamarind tree...around 300 years old. 

There were turtles....

.....and goats to feed. Don't worry, even though it says it's electrified, the fence was not obviously. 

Where they dry the cocoa pods. 

Analeigh was demonstrating how the ladies used to turn the cocoa pods to dry them. 

Of all the animals and things to see, the kids liked the spiral staircase the best. 

A raw cocoa pod. The fruit is very sweet and fruity...not what you'd expect. 

Ethan with the parrots. We saw monkeys too. 

The lunch there was very very good. I highly recommend it. 

Ethan was trying to pick up the cannon ball. The workers there were digging up a field to plant and found this cannon. 

The view from the restaurant...once again, open to the outside breezes. 

So then it was Christmas. Christmas this year was just not the same. When it's 85 degrees and you're sweating all the time, it's so hard to get into the Christmas spirit. I put up stockings, lights, and a little tree and we tried to make it as special and "normal" as possible for the kids. I think they enjoyed it and we had fun with Josh's parents there too. Our plan was to hit the beach that day, just because we could, but it rained all day long. For the dry season, we sure are getting a lot of rain.

We must have been good this year. Santa was nice to us. 

Eating the traditional Christmas Stollen that I make every year. It was outstanding this year!

The Christmas Stollen

ah....pure bliss

I don't know what we're going to do when the kids grow up and they don't let us put bows on their heads anymore. 

mmmmm....cookies!!

There you have it. A lovely break for all of us. Ethan had 3 weeks off from school and Josh was off for 4 weeks. He spoiled me by making dinner almost every night and we also switched off getting up with Noelle. She wakes up at 6:30, so Josh and I took turns sleeping in. Of course, sleeping in around here means 8:00, but still, it was nice to have Daddy home and big brother too. We were very excited to have Mary and Don here with us for 2 weeks and the kids had fun with their grandparents. Josh and I even got to go out...alone!

After they left, we had a few sightseeing trips of our own...but that will have to wait for another day. Until then, I hope you are having a lovely 2013. I know my friends back in Texas have been enjoying snow and even thunder snow (ahh Texas, how I miss the odd weather), but hopefully you are finding some way to keep warm. How about if I leave you with this:

Happy New Year!!

Tarryn