Aruba 2014 Semana Santa

Aruba, Bahamas c'mon pretty mama, Key Largo,Montego baby why don't we go. Okay I will stop right there- when the beach boys sing it, it sounds kind of alright- but if you just say it as a sentence- sure loses the magic. I promise not to sing during this blog post- just show some pictures of our amazing trip to Aruba with Grandad Steve and Leslie. 

Aruba- one happy little island

This was the deck of the house we rented. At first we were a bit bummed with the refinery in the background, but after a few seconds of looking at that water... we got over it.

Steve surveying the scene. Best part of this picture? By the end of the trip those shorts were mine! Score.

Lisa and Wilder talking about life and doing toe yoga.

 On our first whole day there we met some other teachers from ECA and went on a pirate cruise. Snorkeling, rum, and the best part: jumping off the poop deck and swinging from the rope swing.

Leslie and 2 swashbucklers.

Leslie and Luca

Luca and Derek coming aboard.

Wilder and Danielle checking out the fish

Avast me hearties!

In my head I look so much more graceful than in the pictures

It appears that Lisa is giving herself the "thumbs up" while extending the "high five" - only a true athlete could pull that maneuver off. 

synchronized launching

 After watching all of the young whippersnappers try to look graceful- Steve had had enough- here he is showing us how its done.

We had an amazing birthday dinner (Thanks Grandma Eula) at the fishbone restaurant. Tables in the sand and water- very cool.

One day Lisa, Wilder, Luca, and I took a drive to the north of the island to hike around. Found caves, lunch, cliffs, beaches, windmills, and donkeys.

Many people think these are to generate power for the island- not the case. These run 24/7 and create what is known throughout the Carribean as the "trade winds". Little known fact that.

 It wasn't all fun and games...

Had a nice bbq to celebrate all of the ECA April birthdays. Of the 48 staff on the island 39 of them celebrated birthdays. (more or less)

Chevere

"Hello- hammock monthly calling, we would like to speak to our cover model please." 

 We also found time to visit a butterfly pavilion- amazing little creatures. If they land on you its good luck- said the lady who took our money- they only landed on Wilder though- the rest of us must not have looked trustworthy.

In this picture there are 17 species of butterflies.

the green speckled bandicoot

the azurian minkle nut

 the albert

That bandicoot just landed on her

The chrysalis cage was very cool.

the yellow one tasted of honeydew

milk worms (not easy to milk-fyi)

So another wonderful trip. This was relaxing at a time we needed relaxing. We could look out from our deck and see Venezuela (honest!) The problems it is experiencing were still there but it was nice to have some amazing blue waters in between us for a few days. and oh- do I love that color of water.