Makenzie, Ella and Gavin came down to the boat. Gavin only came down for a week.

Makenzie, Ella and Gavin got to see Renaissance Island which we call, Flamingo Island.

There are flamingos that live on the island, but they are not native to Aruba. Some flamingos are pink. They are really good at hunting for food like algae, plankton and shrimp. There are also some white flamingos. One of the reasons I think the flamingos are different colors is that the pink flamingos bully the white flamingos. The white flamingos eat less.

We went on a tour of the Island.

We went to the natural bridge, which was really fun, the lighthouse which was really cool to climb and the natural pool which was amazing.  We went to a cave the Native Americans used to hide in. They were hiding from the Spanish who came to take over the island. The Spanish would grab the slaves and shipped them to Venezuela. We also went to a pond and got a fish pedicure where the fish eat the dead skin off your feet. I tried it and it tickled when the fish touched my feet.

Our last stop was baby beach, where we got to snorkel, have a drink at the bar and chill. The tour was fun. I liked the stories Big G and Tony told us about each place.

Visited the Aruba Aloe Factory and learned about how all kinds of stuff is made with aloe. It was pretty cool.

The Butterfly Farm was so much fun, we went back a second time so Makenzie, Ella and Dad could see it.

Stay tuned to see where the new year takes us.

While in Bonaire, I made new friends and saw a few that I met in Grenada last year. I had some of my girlfriends over on Aventis to see the new Cinderella on amazon prime with Camilla Cabelo. I have been talking about this for a long time. I was excited to finally be able to do it. The girls I had over are Celeste(Bliss), Eden(Bliss), Grace(Matriarch), Aidan(Matriarch), Aliona(Song of the Sea) and Anesthesia(Song of the Sea), Cadence(Otoka), Talya(Otoka), Layla (Mala) and Eva(Bubble Moon). We had our own group chat that was only girls. One of my friends, Ivy didn’t come because she had the second vaccination and didn’t feel good. One of our boat neighbors told Mom she heard us laugh and giggle. We had snacks before the movie, while everyone was arriving. I had a good time having everyone on the boat and it was great to see everyone. I hope I get to do it again.

We said goodbye to Bonaire and moved the boat to Aruba.

On Saturday October 16th, we celebrated Dad’s Birthday. We decorated the boat with black and gold decorations. Dad turned 50, which is an over the hill age. We had french toast casserole and bacon for Dad’s birthday brunch. Dad opened his presents, a toucan swimsuit from me and message oil from Mom. We then got to watch a video that Kent and Kathy made for his birthday. We then got to watch another video made for Dad’s Birthday by Mom and Makenzie where everyone in our family and friends made a video saying happy birthday. I really liked Joffry’s video when he said “Happy 60th Birthday” and then his wife Diana corrected him telling him it’s his 50th birthday. Dad was on the phone with a lot of people after the video. For Dad’s birthday dinner we went to LG’s Steakhouse at the Renaissance Casino across the street from the marina we are staying.

We had Don and Mel visit on the boat for a few days in Aruba for Dad’s Birthday. We picked them up from the airport and ate at West Deck for lunch. The food was pretty good then we went to the pool. We then went to Zucchini to eat, which was Amazing. The next day we went exploring around the island and ate lunch at Lola’s. The food was pretty delicious.

We then went to the Renaissance Island in the afternoon to hangout at the beach and see/feed the flamingos. The flamingos ate dog food out of my hand.  Their long black beak tickled my hand. Some of the flamingos were white like vanilla ice cream and some flamingos were pink like ice cream with strawberries in it. 

I ran into my new friend Stella who I met at the pool on Sunday and I also made a new friend on the island Melody. What’s cool is that Melody is my age 16. I haven’t had many friends in the Caribbean who were my age before.

We had brunch on the boat the next day before Don and Mel had to leave when Don and Mel had to leave Mom and Dad took them to the airport. I stayed on the boat with the dogs and did school work. It was fun having Don and Mel on the boat and showing them Aruba. It’s too bad they could only stay for two days. At least we’ll be seeing them soon when we come up to North Carolina for Thanksgiving.

Mom and I went to the states while Dad was in the hospital. We flew into Atlanta and cleared customs. The customs  line was crazy and overwhelming.  We stood in line for two hours.

The next day we drove to Boone, North Carolina. We got to see Makenzie and Ella. We stayed at the Towne Place Suites with Ella and her cat Lily. 

I got to see my friend Kelsey and my new friend Sarah. I was excited to see Kelsey and Sarah because I had not seen them in a long time.  We had them over at the hotel for swimming.

Brendan and I went swimming at Elk River Falls. The water was very chilly, but we had a great time swimming and floating around. Brendan even jumped off one of the rocks into the water.

We left Boone and went to Sunset Beach to see Mom’s family and spent a couple of days with them.  It was mind blowing to see everyone, but also exciting. We got to see our second cousins from England who we haven’t seen in 5 years. I played a word game with Lauren to compare English words to British words.

We went back to Boone to drop Makenzie and Ella off, then we went to Nebo to see Don and Mel. Don left for work and Mel, Mom and I had a girls day on the boat. It was exciting because I missed our boat, Aventis. Dad and Don kept teasing Mel about wrecking the boat, but she did a good job driving it.

Another day, Don grilled hotdogs on the boat and pulled me around in the tube. It was fun, luckily he went easy on me. Don surprised us when he told us he wanted to knee-board, so Mel pulled him. I am going to ask Dad for a unicorn float like this for Christmas.

We saw Grandad and Nana in Charlotte with Makenzie and Ella. We got lunch from Makenzie, Ella and my favorite restaurant, Cowfish. It was delicious! What was even better was the dessert they had us try called, Butta Pie. We then went shopping. It was a fun day.

I got to spend sometime with Mel by myself while Mom went to Boone for doctors appointments and then to Charlotte to get Dad.  I got to experience being in Tropical Storm Fred. It was weird. We lost power, so we had to go to town and get coffee and tea. Later that same day I had lunch at an Asian Fusion Restaurant and I had Bubble Tea. I haven’t had it in a long time. It was delicious! I recommend it to anyone who hasn’t tried it before. It’s a tea that tastes like soda with tapioca pearls that sit at the bottom to make it taste like your eating bubbles.

The day before Mel and I were at the hair salon getting haircuts and there was a little bit of an earthquake. It was my first time being in an earthquake. Luckily the earthquake was short so it wasn’t really scary. The ground shook a little bit, but nothing fell and broke. We had a movie night and made popcorn and candy bowls. This is where each person fills their bowl with whatever combination of sweet and salty treats that we have in the house.

Dad Arrived Yay! He got to spend some time with Grandad and Nana then he and Mom came to Nebo to see me. I was glad to see him. We joked that he was like Captain Hook.

We went to Virginia to see Grandma. It was hard because she is not what she used to be. We saw Shawn, Miki, Lucas and Theo. It was fun and nice to see them.

We went back to Boone to drop Makenzie and Ella off then we went back to Nebo and saw Don and Mel and went “Brewery Hopping”.

I got to see Kelsey and go swimming with her again.  We swam at the Blowing Rock Pool, which is an outdoor pool near to where Blowing Rock School is.

I also got to see my English teacher, Mrs Carter.  It was nice to see her and spend time with her. She still helps me with my literature assignments. We went to Charlotte one more time to see Grandad and Nana and have dinner with them at this Italian place called, Little Mama’s. It was amazing! It felt different seeing them without Makenzie and Ella, but in a good way. We went to Atlanta and had dinner at Fogo de Chao. It was a unique place because it had a salad bar with plenty of choices both warm and cold. It also had good rolls and dessert. The one thing I wasn’t really happy about was that they came around with meat on a stick to your table and cut it and put it on your plate. It was a memorable last meal in the states. We flew to Aruba and stayed a couple of days there. The doctors wanted to see Dad again. The hotel that we stayed at is called Playa Linda. It had a nice pool and beach. I stayed there while Mom and Dad went to meet with the doctors.

We flew back to Bonaire. That flight was scary because it was a small plane with 20 passengers and it was a shaky flight, but we made it to Bonaire. I was happy to see my dogs and my friends.

We took off from the Virgin Islands and were on our way to Bonaire.

It was great the first night. The next day mom and I felt fine at first, but later on we both started to feel seasick. We think we might have overdosed on Bonine trying to make sure we did not get seasick. The next day we took less Bonine and felt better. We arrived in Bonaire when I woke up the third morning. It was an easy passage overall no big waves or rain. I mostly sleep, listen to music and watch downloaded stuff on my IPad during the passage. I sleep outside by the dining table and Mom and Dad took turns sleeping on the bench seat across from me. We zip all the enclosures up at night, so the dogs can not sneak out and so we do not get wet if it rains. We had a full moon all three nights which was cool because we never had a full moon on any of our passages before. We also saw lots of flying fish, but luckily none landed on the boat.

We made it to Bonaire. We explored the island by car. We went to the flamingo sanctuary and saw pink flamingos.

We also went to the distillery called Cadushy Distillery. They make their drinks out of cactus that they find on the Island. We had gelato three times the first week. I also met up with some friends of mine from Grenada,and some new friends as well. Tanner on the catamaran, Dorothy Rose, Celeste and her sister Eden on the mono-hull, Bliss and Liam, Grace and Aiden on the mono-hull, Matriarch.  I had them over a couple times on the boat. We played games and watched movies. It’s nice to see old friends and make some new friends. Hopefully, I can continue to make some other new friends as well.

We also went snorkeling/diving at night to see Ostracods. They are like underwater fireflies. Technically they are Bio-luminescence. They glow underwater when you make a movement. They move as well. The male ostracods light up to attract a lady ostracod.

We also saw slave huts and slave camps from when the slaves were here on the island, working to collect salt. It was fun being able to explore a new country that’s an island. Somethings surprised me about Bonaire when I got here. I thought they would use Eastern Caribbean money like they did in Grenada.  It turns out they use American money. It also turns out that they primarily speak English not Dutch. But they do have a local language they speak to each other, Papiamento. It was really fun to hangout with friends. Hopefully, I can continue to explore the Island and hangout with old friends and new ones.

 Homemade blueberry soda from Sugar Thief Brewery. My friend Brendan would have loved it!!

Marshmallow Crepe! Yummy!

One afternoon we hung out with Darlyn, Celeste and Eden (Bliss) while Dad, Harry (Bliss) John (Gypsy Blue) and Kent went diving with Martijn (new friend we met who lives in Bonaire) to complete their nitrox certification.  Dad forgot his mask which is funny because he is usually so organized. Everyone of the guys gave him a hard time about it. Us girls drove a truck around the island to see things. We went to the Donkey Sanctuary to feed donkeys. There are 750 donkeys at the sanctuary.

There are park rangers who rescue and take care of the donkeys. It was neat for a while, but then it got annoying and startling when the donkeys kept surrounding us. When we wouldn’t feed them, they got pushy. We only had so much food and we wanted to feed as many as we could.  It was kinda funny when a donkey came in and all of a sudden grabbed my shirt. It was captivating feeding the donkeys. We couldn’t exactly sit down because the donkeys were so close to the truck and tried to get their heads in. They kept us on our toes. We also got to see pregnant donkeys and baby donkeys. In addition, we saw flamingos and turtles. The donkeys were pretty, friendly, so it was actually really enjoyable over all.

Next we went to Sorobon Beach. We were gonna swim, then it turned out we couldn’t really swim because it was more of a wind surfing beach. It was still cool to look around. We checked out Jibe City Beach Bar which was a nice place. We smelled the food that the chefs were cooking and realized we were starving so we headed to Foodies to eat. It was “Phenomenal”(as Mom would say).  Bonaire makes salt from the sea. We got to see the salt fields and how they get the salt on to the ships to send it other places. We also saw the slave huts which are where the people who worked in the salt fields would stay. I don’t know how I would feel working as a slave and having to live in a slave hut; luckily I don’t have to see what that’s like. I feel pretty lucky about that.

We saw the lighthouse, which is what the ships used to guide them home, and hopefully keep them from bumping into land. We ended the day with a sunset dinner at Ocean Oasis. It was a Fantastic day. I hope we get to do it again.

Mom, Kathy and I were sitting at a gelato shop called Gio’s. We were having gelato and looking for our friends that we were gonna hangout with…

All of a sudden Mom gets a call from Darlyn (Bliss). I get excited at first because I thought we were going over to meet them. It turns out it was about my dad. Kent, Harry(Bliss), Martijn and Dad were driving ATVs around the islands. Dad and Harry were riding together. Dad was driving the ATV because they just switched drivers and then they got a flat tire. The ATV rolled! Harry was ok. Dad on the other hand, wasn’t. He wrecked his wrist and had to be taken to the hospital. When Mom, Kathy and I arrived at the the hospital, Mom was the only one allowed to see him. We then got a ride back to the boat from our friend Cat. I stayed on the boat with Kathy and the dogs. Dad and Mom had to fly to Aruba for surgery. I spent the night on Kent and Kathy’s boat, while Martijn and Cat watched the dogs at their house. Kent, Kathy and I went over to swim and walk the dogs.

I also hung out with my friends while Mom and Dad were in Aruba. We had a karaoke night and we went to Eden Beach for some pool time. When everything first happened I was confused and not sure what was going on. Everything was moving at such a fast pace. But it ended up ok because I was well taken care of by Kent and Kathy and had a good time spending time with them on their boat. I did not have a lot of time to think about what had happened because I was very busy seeing the dogs and hanging out with my friends.

We took the boat to Long Bay to be able to pick Makenzie, her roommate Anna, boyfriend Gavin and Gavin’s frat brother Alex. When they arrived we were happy to see them and meet Gavin and Alex. We went to eat at Tap’n Still: it was good. We took them to Caneel Bay and let them have day at the beach bar while me, mom and dad stayed on the boat. We went to Maho Bay the next morning and swam and snorkeled and checked out the beach bar. We went to Coral Bay and did Limeout. I went to Skinny legs but stayed on the boat while everyone else did Limeout. We hung-out swam with Caper and stayed the night. We stayed the night at Hanson Bay.  We went to Secret Harbour and lunch there it was delicious we hung-out at the beach which was nice. We anchored at Ditlyff and stayed the night. We went to Saltpond and hiked body beach and then I stayed on the boat while everyone else hiked Ram’s head. We snorkeled to the beach. We went to Ditlyff and had a beach day with Caper and Chance. We anchored the boat at Long Bay. We went to town to go shopping and also went to Taphus to get something to drink, I had root beer. We then went to Stonehouse to eat: it was good. We then had a bonus day because their flight got messed up and spent the day at Dinghy’s. It was a fun day. We then said goodbye to Anna, Gavin and Alex. Makenzie stayed on the boat. While they were here we played Fibbage which is where you come up with a lie to answer a question and if you by any chance say the truth then they don’t let you put in your answer. You then have to find out what the truth is. It’s a really fun game to play if you have more than one person over so basically a party.  It can be any size party. You have to play it to really understand it.  It’s on Jackbox TV.  It’s a really funny and cool game.We also watched New Girl. It is a show about this woman who is living with three guys and she is a teacher. She is trying to figure out her life. She broke up with her boyfriend. It is a really good and funny show. 

Paddle board ride at Maho

Coral Bay day

Lunch at Skinny Legs. Capt. Shannon is buying.

Makenzie and Ella on boat for the week to send sometime with just me, mom, dad and the dogs.

Ella’s new bean bag chair, Caper photo bombing wishing he could get in the chair.

Chairlift ride to a bar called Tasty, in St Thomas.

Breakfast at juice bar before a fun day.

Hanging at Frenchman’s Bay, dogs on paddle board.

Lenny and Lisa came to visit. We had fun hanging out on the boat.

We went to the Spanish Virgin Islands and checked those Islands out before we left for Bonaire. First we went to Culebrita but because it was too rolly and the weather was bad so we decided to go to Culebra and spend the rest of the day there. The next day we went to the Culebra and explored. Unfortunately, there weren’t very many restaurants and shops opened or many activities to do. We went to the beach to wait until 2 o’clock when the restaurant would open. We went to Flamenco Beach. It was a turtle nesting beach. Fun Fact, there is very little crime in Culebra because it is the second home of the Puerto Rican Mob, so it is a mob run island. They do not want to have any need to have police on that island. There is much more crime over on Vieques. We ate at MamaCita’s. The food I ate was good. I had coconut shrimp and fries. Mom and Dad had something different. They did not like it. We didn’t bring a water bottle. The only drinks that me, Mom and Dad had were at the restaurant. Mom and Dad had beer and I had Diet Coke. The Diet Coke was expired. It was awful!!  It was still a fun day. Then we found an anchorage on the north side of Culebra and spent a week. There was a private beach that we took the dogs to each morning. We also spent one morning with our friends Kent, Kathy, Kathy’s sister Susan and her husband Robert. We met Susan and Robert on Kent and Kathy’s boat when they had us over for dinner. We went back to Culebrita and hiked to the Tidal Pools. We were going to get in but then there was a bunch of sargassum which is basically seaweed that has come from Africa. We were not happy. We hiked up to the lighthouse the next day. The lighthouse was pretty cool. Here are some fun facts about the lighthouse: The construction began in 1882 and ended in 1886. The lantern room housed a four order lens in1901 and by 1908 a three and a half order lens had been installed. At the end of the Spanish-American War, it fell under control of the United States.  It is a t-shaped stone structure with a thirty-seven foot tall tower being centered in the vertical portion of a T. In the oil and the storeroom at the bottom of the T there were pairs of identical living quarters. One to the left and one to the right, that each had three apartments that people stayed in. The rooms measured 10 x 12ft and the kitchen/dining room measured 13 x 15ft.  We had a great time in the Spanish VIs and were glad we got to see them before we headed back to St. Thomas. We had to head back to St. Thomas because we needed to take the dogs to the vet, so that they can get checked out and be cleared to enter Bonaire.

Rainy day at Culebrita

MammaCita’s

Morning beach day

Beach day with WE, Kathy’s sister Susan and brother-in-law Robert. Caper and Chance photo bombing.

Lighthouse on Culebrita

Bonaire here we come.

We had Don and Mel stay on the boat.  Mom and Dad picked them up from Havensight and took them to No Passports, which sells adult slushies (I stayed on the boat with the dogs). When Mom, Dad, Don and Mel arrived on the boat the dogs and I were so happy to see them, especially the dogs. The dogs were all over them when they arrived. After Don and Mel got settled in we went out to eat (we ate at Tap’n Still). We then decided to go back to the boat and chill for a bit. After some chilling and relaxing Mom, Dad, Don, Mel and I went to the Leatherback Brewery. We got pizza from a place that’s right by the brewery. The next morning we got up and motored over to Frenchman’s Bay. Once we got settled in, we decided to have a beach day. Dad and Don paddle boarded, while Mom, Mel and I swam to the beach. The dogs swam with us. It was great because Don and Mel got to throw the ball for Chance and watch Caper swim and play defense.  When we were at the beach, Caper tried to grab the ball from Chance. He was aggressively fighting Chance for the ball. Like two men/pirates play tug of war over treasure. We had a great dinner at Lanai.

Celebrating at Lanai

We left Frenchman’s and motored over to Lovango to celebrate Mel’s birthday. Before we left Mel got to open her birthday presents. It was exciting watching her enjoy them.

When Mom and Dad brought me home a Crab Cake from Lovango, I was so happy. On Easter Day, we went to Cinnamon Bay and hung out and sat on the sun chill. It was a great day.

The next day, we went to Coral Bay and ate at Salty Mongoose. It was fun. At some point we found out that Don used to be called, Little Donnie because his Dad’s name is Don also. Dad called him Mr. Lightweight because he hardly drinks beer. I came up with a nickname called, Little Donnie Lightweight and with the help of dad another nickname came to be, Little Donnie Lightweight Fu Fu. He was also nicknamed, The Butter King because he really likes butter. It was a silly and fun day. In the morning, we went over to Lameshur and got on a mooring ball there. We had to get up really early to make sure we would get one. Dad and Don went hiking over at Ram’s Head while Mel, Mom and I had a girl’s day, that was so much fun. On the next day, we went over to Drunk Bay, but we call it Body Beach. It was so cool that Don and Mel got to see all the bodies and make one out of coral. It was also nice to cool off at the beach at Salt Pond. We motored over to Reef Bay. We could only stay on the mooring ball for an hour, we unfortunately could not anchor. We had to do the hike and then leave, so that others could do it too. It was fun to do the hike with them though.

Saw this on hike at Lameshur.

We got to stay at Ditlyff that night and let the dogs play on the beach, so that was good and fun. We got up in the morning and motored over to Secret Harbour, which was a lot of fun. It was so nice and the restaurant was really cool and had a nice atmosphere, good food and good service. It reminded me of a restaurant in Grenada called, Aquarium.

Fun day at Sunset Grille.

In the morning, we motored over to Long Bay to anchor the boat. Mom, Dad, Don and Mel went to town to get tattoos. I had to stay on the boat with the dogs. It was a great day though because we got to get off the boat and go into town and play tourist.

A quick stop at Duffy’s

It was also great because Don and Mel decided to stay an extra day. To celebrate Mom, Mel and I had a girl’s night. We watched a movie called, Pitch Perfect and had our own snack bowls full of popcorn, chips and lots of different kinds of candy. It was so fun. We took Don and Mel to Brewer’s Bay which was fun because they were exploring it for the first time. Unfortunately, it also had a lot of noise going on because of the planes going in and out. On Don and Mel’s last day we took them to Salt and Vinegar, which is this restaurant we really like. The food there was really good and it was a fun day except for Don and Mel leaving. It was sad to see them go but hopefully this won’t be the last time we see them. On their last day we talked about what everyone’s favorite meals and activities were:

Dad’s favorite meal was Agave tacos and his favorite activity was going to Red Hook.

Mom’s favorite meal was Dad’s flank steak and her favorite activity was snorkeling the point from the dingy at Reef Bay.

Mel’s favorite meal was Agave her favorite activity was going to Red Hook.

Don’s favorite meal was sausage gravy on Mom’s sausage and cheese biscuits and his favorite activity was hiking Ram’s Head.

My favorite meals, I don’t just have one favorite meal. I liked Agave’s queso, salsa, guacamole,  Lovango’s crab cakes, Salty Mongoose’s pizza and whatever Dad cooked on the boat.  

We motored over to St Croix, there was no wind. The trip was 37 nautical miles. It took us 6 and a half hours to get there.  When we got to Frederiksted, we had dinner with Kent and Kathy. It was great to see them again.  One day we went to this hotel called, The Fred, which was for adults only. I had to pretend to be 18. It was good though and we had lied about my age before, so I was used to it. It was fun because we got to go in their really nice pools.  We live on the water, but it’s not the same as a pool.  We ate at the restaurant there which was really good. The next day we drove around the island and went to Christiansted.  Before we got the car we ate at Polly’s at the Pier which was just ok. I couldn’t enjoy the food because I didn’t feel very well at the restaurant. I felt better for the rest of the day though.  We went to Gallows Bay Marina which was amazing because it has snacks and drinks. Mom and Dad were disappointed because there was no bar this time. We also went to Nate’s Boathouse. The food was fine, but the service was terrible. We tried to go to the Tidal pools but we didn’t have the right vehicle for the dirt roads. We had a van and we needed a jeep. It was exciting exploring St. Croix, it’s a wonderful place.  I was glad to be on land again.

The pier, very calm on our first day

Beautiful art at pier

Art by pier 2

Cannon at Fort Frederiksted

Sea glass display at the Fort

Sea glass art

The Fred

So many lovely things to see and explore in St. Croix.

We got to babysit Parker because Stephanie from Dreamcatcher hurt her back and Jake was on a trip visiting his sons  and their nephew. We took Caper, Chance, Rosco, Daisy and Parker to the beach and let them run around and play to  get their energies out.  We took Rosco and Daisy( Parker’s brother and sister) back to Dreamcatcher and Parker back to Aventis. Chance was extremely jealous because we gave Parker a lot of attention.  It was fun watching Parker though it was also kind of a distraction. It was hard to get schoolwork done with him on the boat, because he kept getting up on my lap and messing with the computer; he kept asking me to play with him. We were doing a favor and helping out a friend, so it was worth it. Parker is a Portuguese Water Dog like Caper and Chance. He is just a puppy who is 11 weeks old. It was also fun taking all five dogs to the beach because they all got to play and swim and we got to play with them. I called it Aventis Doggy Day Care, a private free business. 

Me, Mom and Dad got the Covid-19 Vaccine here in the US Virgin Islands.  There was a community vaccination center at the USVI University. We got the Pfizer Vaccine. There are three companies that make the vaccines, Pfizer, Modernara and Johnson~Johnson. The  Pfizer is 95% effective. Here is some information on the messenger RNA Vaccine, it is a new vaccine that is meant to protect against infectious diseases. Most vaccines like The flu vaccine puts in weakened germs in our body’s. This Vaccine teaches our body how to make a protein that triggers an immune response to our bodies. The protein is called the Spike Protein, it is found on the surface of the virus that causes Covid 19. The cell gets rid of the instructions once the protein is made. It is given in the upper arm muscle. The vaccine never enters the nucleus of the cell where our DNA is. The vaccine does not use  the live virus. When you have the vaccine you can still get the corona virus, but it should help you fight it off faster (spoiler alert, we find this out first hand). You should not get sick. Your immunity does not begin until 12 days after you get the shot. It was fun getting the vaccine I felt good. I did not have any reactions or get sick. I did have a sore arm and was very tired. Dad also had a sore arm. Mom didn’t have a sore arm but she was tired, we were all tired. Kent and Kathy, our friends from Wind Ensemble also got the vaccine they got right after us. It was a fun and memorable day.

We went on a hike at Lameshur Bay with Kent and Kathy, Caper and Chance got to come on the hike with us. It was their lucky day. We passed little Lameshur which had a beach. Our friends Kent and Kathy wanted us to check out Lameshur Bay. We hiked up  a big hill and saw ruins of an old mansion that belonged to a plantation owner. It kinda looked like what I thought it would. It was built in the mid 1700s. We then hiked down another trail and saw more ruins. We think these were slave quarters. We then got to the Petroglyphs. They were beautiful and there were sacred  drawings on the rocks. The trail was 5.3 kilometers. The petroglyphs are a lost culture from the Islands past. It is located at the base of the valley’s highest waterfall. There wasn’t any water there not sure if it was because it is all dried up or because it’s the dry season. A spring fed pool reflects a 20-foot wide panorama of carvings year round with others nearby. When we headed back to the boat we were all tired and thirsty. We drank all our water on the walk. Caper and Chance were so tired they kept stopping in the shade, so Dad had to drag them to get them to keep going. It was a long walk. It was an excellent hike and we all had a lot of fun.

We got our second Covid shot. We made an appointment and walked to the University of the US Virgin Islands to be able to get it. We got it at the community center there, like last time. Our friends Kent and Kathy came with us and got their second shot as well. Mom, Dad and I were in separate stations for the shot.  I asked for the shot on my right arm because I’m left handed. I bled a little bit, but that’s all good. We felt fine afterwards and even went swimming. Later that day, we all had sore arms.  During the night we all had chills.  Mom and I had chills in the morning too. We were  all tired the day after. It’s great that we all got the vaccine.  On April 6th the vaccine will be fully effective.  I was able to get it as well even though I’m 16 and most places are not vaccinating people my age. This was a big deal for us to get vaccinated because we can travel easier into new countries, Caribbean Islands and hopefully I’ll even get to visit my grandma.

We went to this place called, Chicken’n Bowling. It’s the Virgin Island’s version of Bo’s in Lenoir, NC. Our friends, Kent and Kathy really wanted us to try this place, so we finally tried it. It was a lot of fun. We haven’t bowled in a while, so we kept trying different strategies. Mom ended up winning the games because she got a turkey and didn’t roll between her legs or use bumpers. Kent never let her forget it.  He nicknamed her, Turkey. He was not happy. He was a good sport about it though. We ended the day with a slushie from a place called, No Passports. We saw Jake and Stephanie and said “hi”,  but then they had to go because their charter guests were coming. We were Celebrating Mom’s big win.