It’s so good to have our friends.  Our boat is turned upside down and we love it.  Before they arrived, I moved most of Tessa’s clothes and some of her toys from her room to our room to give Karon and Alan more space to sleep and store their clothes in Tessa’s room.  Collin would be sleeping with them and I wanted to give them as much space as possible.   Tristan and Alec shared a bed, so Tristan brought some of his clothes to our room to make space for Alec’s clothes.  Tessa brought blankets and sleeping bags  to make her bed on the floor.  The result was our room was  overflowing with chaos.  There was so much stuff stored in our bonus room (the space in the front hulls) that I was sure the boat would flip over.

So what have we been doing?

  Bingo

  Playing in the pool

  Eating

  Sleeping   

Aren’t vacations fun?

Back in Aruba, and deciding what to do.   Our friends Karon and Alan want to come for their yearly visit in July.  We gave them the option of coming to the San Blas islands, but trying to get 4 people, two of which are children, to the remote San Blas Islands became too much of an ordeal.  We agreed to stay in Aruba, and they agreed to come earlier in July.  After their visit, for sure we will be leaving Aruba.     Right.

The flight back to Aruba was uneventful.  Alegria was waiting patiently for us, bobbing gently in her slip.  Sanders and XJ at Renaissance Marina had taken great care of her.  Being back on the boat was easy, getting used to the heat was not.  For the next few days we moved slowly, still wrapped in the blanket of memories of soaring condors, mysterious valleys, the colors of a desert at twilight and the beauty of the Peruvian people. 

To say we had a fabulous time would be a huge understatement.  I am still amazed we were able to go on such  a big excursion, planning it along the way, living out of backpacks and putting the whole thing together at on a moments notice.  I’m extremely proud of Tristan and Tessa, how they never complained about anything, including lugging a heavy backpack around.  They were always extremely organized, a side of them I’m not sure I saw before, and there wasn’t anything they weren’t excited about doing.  I’m also proud of us as a family, acting on a gut feeling, and just trusting in the goodness of people.  While we were a little sad to get back, I think we all know there are many more of these trips ahead of us.