Olivia only had a couple special requests for her birthday. Unfortunately she was sick on her actual birthday, so we had to postpone all but one until this week. We ended up stretching her birthday celebration out to four days and finally today we completed her list. ✅ #1: (and the
It was only a matter of time until one of us got whatever Emma had. Unfortunately it was Olivia... and just in time for her birthday. She didn't let it ruin her day though. Last year we were in Martinique for her birthday. The French may know how
After our vacation in the British Virgin Islands we headed back to the US Virgin Islands. St. John is still at the top of my list of favorite islands (so far). We spent a couple days snorkeling and shopping. There are so many fish here... 0:00 /0:03 1×
We have a couple things we're waiting on (mainly all the girls Christmas presents), so we have a little more time to kill before we can start moving north. After spending a couple days in St. John we decided why not go to the British Virgin Islands for
Thanksgiving did not go at all how I thought it would. It started on Saturday night with Emma getting a high fever. That fever would just not go away. She has always been pretty tough, but the constant fever took a lot out of her. She napped a lot. Every
Taking the boat out of the water is always so much work, but putting the boat back in the water is just as much work. Days and days un-vacuum sealing all our clothes/sheets/towels/pillows with fingers crossed nothing is moldy or smelly, cleaning, trying to remember where we
The girls and I took a detour on our way to Puerto Rico and stopped in Florida to visit my family while Braden headed to the boat a couple days before us to try to knock some projects out. The last time we were in Jacksonville was in March 2023.
Putting the boat back in the water is always a mountain to climb. I always underestimate my capacity - so I add time to my estimates and start with the intention to knock everything out in a shorter time frame that I estimated. Since I overestimated, it should be pretty
The leaves are changing. The weather is getting colder. That means our time in Minnesota is coming to an end and it is time to get back to the boat. I mean... just look at this weeks forecast. 80 on Tuesday to snow on Thursday. Before we can get back
A day and a half is nowhere near enough time to see DC, but we tried our best. On Saturday we took a break from the boat show and took the girls to the children's museum. On Monday we hit the ground running early to try to squeeze
Every year there is a huge boat show in Annapolis, MD. Braden has been talking about going for months, but Emma was the only other person that wanted to go. In the end we decided last minute to pair it with a trip to DC and a visit to see
When we left for the boat the first time Braden left three bee hives. After that winter only one of them survived. Last summer he didn't do very much with them and we didn't get any honey. This summer that one hive is still kicking. We
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The MN State Fair is one of my favorite summer activities. Last year we missed it because we were road tripping in the bus. This year our visit was cut short because of the rain. I really wanted to go back, but I was pretty sure no one else would
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Ten days of cousin time was not enough, so when the girls flew home their cousins came too! They all arrived with a list of all the things they wanted to do in Minnesota, and we wasted no time crossing off the list. We made our first stop the Mall
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We planned to take one big road trip in the RV this summer. We loved Utah last summer and didn't get to spend enough time there. We wanted to go back this summer and were going to meet Braden's sister and her family there. When it
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It has been a while since we've posted what we've been up to, so we'll have to rewind all the way back to June.... Last year we left our boat in Grenada for hurricane season. There is soooo much work that goes into leaving
Automation
There are very easy, simple solutions for automating an anchor light. Mostly, those solutions involve either a new anchor light housing or a new anchor light bulb with a photo cell. Both require going up the mast and can be decently pricey. I decided to pursue a path less traveled.
Automation
Although the boat is in the tropics and we don't have a/c - we still enjoy a hot/warmish shower at night for some reason. There are several ways to get hot water on Yoto: 1. Plug into shore power 2. Run the generator 3. Run the
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For the last I don't know how many years we've taken our bus to Duluth, MN with our friends for Memorial Day weekend. This year we changed it up and took a ferry from our boat in Culebra to mainland Puerto Rico with some friends and
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Our next stop in the Spanish Virgin Islands took us to the island of Culebra. One of the sites to see on my list - Hector El Protector. He was originally built in 2014 using old pallets from the junkyard, but had to be rebuilt in 2019 after Hurricane Maria
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After three months in the US Virgin Islands it was time to move on. Goodbye USVI... Hello Puerto Rico... On the way in two dolphins came to greet us. They came and went very quickly, but it was still exciting to see them. Our first stop was Culebrita which is
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Probably the most common question we get asked is what is your favorite place. It is a tough question to answer because they are all so different - some have great snorkeling, some have great beaches, some have great access to groceries/trash/restaurants, some have great food, etc. If
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St. Thomas USVI Carnival - food, drinks, rides, parades, music, fireworks, treasures and great friends. It's been a fun (and exhausting) week, and I have an impressive sunglass tan to prove it. 😎❤️🇻🇮
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We took a short trip back to the BVI for a couple days. We hit all our favorite spots with some friends and Braden's dad who came to stay with us for a week. We also added a new place to the list. We heard good things about