yesterday was a long day

Yesterday was Emma's turn... she got to see her 4th grade class! She was so excited and couldn't stop talking about seeing her teacher and her class. One of the hardest things for the girls has been leaving their friends. I'm so, so happy that both their amazing teachers were able to have them talk to their class one last time before school was out for summer. It was so special to both of them. ❤

There is a beach in Grenada where leatherback turtles come to lay their eggs between March and July. Fun fact - leatherback turtles are endangered and are the largest species of sea turtle. Because of this the beach where they lay their eggs is restricted unless you sign up to go with a research tour. The beach is at the very northeast corner of Grenada, which is about a 1.5 hour drive from where we are. There is a very popular, local taxi driver who will arrange the tour and drive you there in his very old, beat up red minibus. It is quite the experience. One that I am not a fan of, but it made for some good stories to tell.

To break up the drive we made a quick stop to stretch our legs.

For dinner we stopped at a roadside BBQ stand. These stands are everywhere in Grenada and we always talk about stopping, but haven't until now.

Once we got to the welcome center we did a short orientation before heading to the beach to wait (a very long time) for a turtle sighting.

Timeline of events - got in the van at 4:30 PM, stopped for dinner at 7:00 PM, the official tour started at 7:30 PM, Olivia fell asleep at 10:40 PM, first (and only) turtle sighting at 11:30 PM. The tour ends at 12:00 AM, so we were cutting it very close!

Um... they tell you these turtles are 6+ feet, but you have no idea how huge they are until you see them in person. She was huge! We got to watch her lay her eggs, feel her shell and flippers, watch her bury her eggs and see her go back into the water.

It was a long night... it was 3 AM when we finally got back to our cottage, but the girls both said it was a really cool experience even though we were all totally exhausted.