Three Kings Day Parade

We went with some other families to the beach on Sat Jan 5, and then to the parade in Fredericksted on the day before Three Kings Day.  It turns out these parades last all day long, and we found out why: these floats move about 1 mile an hour when they actually move, so they go very very slowly past.

Warning: this video is very loud.

So we walked up the side and saw all the rest in about 30 minutes.

This space-themed group is called Gentlemen of Jones who does service, started about 50 years ago by some friends of a guy named Jones.

This is Tonya, who lives in the apartment below us.

And, finally, you can watch some mocko-jumbies waiting for things to start.

Termites

Termites here make little tunnels up the outside of trees so that they have a safe way to climb up and down.  Tolman broke part of this tunnel and we saw them come out.  Crazy.

Sand Castles

How long has it been since I posted a good beach picture?

Trimming

This leaf is falling, but it's still clinging onto the tree... and it's in our driveway, so we need to get it down.... but it proved too much for little Thomas.

Oncoming Car Headlights

So it turns out that US car headlights are adjusted to point just a bit to the right of center so that they don't point too much light at the oncoming traffic.  Now, take those cars, ship them all to a place where we drive on the left-hand side of the road, and get ready for blinding lights pointed almost directly at you.

When I first moved here, I thought that my eyes had quickly got much worse, since I just had the intense eye exams from the U of U just before getting here.  I thought I was already getting night blindness! 

Fun with the fan

It's fascinating what little ways you can find to have fun around here.  (Can you guess before watching the video?)

Outdoor Movies

Some organizations hold outdoor movies from time to time.  At my kids' school this day, they saw Arthur's Christmas. (The second picture is where they were selling food... about as makeshift as you can get it.  :-)

The Courtyard

In between some of our buildings is a courtyard, and someone has put in bar and made it into a restaurant... complete with this roofed area for diners.  What an environment, eh?

O Christmas Tree

This is my final Christmas-oriented post... all about the kind of Utah Christmas tree your family gets when you rush off-island to spend the short, short holiday somewhere else.

Church Christmas Party

So we had a pretty good church Christmas party... lots of good food, lots of talking and laughing. 
Santa was definitely adapted to the island!  (You know: dark skin and all.)  He was definitely his fabulous jolly old self.

Christmas Boat Parade - Fireworks

Here is the finale to the Boat Parade.  It's pretty cool to see it over water... and the video shows the very end of the grand finale.

Christmas Boat Parade (Part 2)

I had to include the two biggest boats.  The first two pictures are the first boat, which ended up being the runner-up.  The final boat (owned by my boss) ended up winning.  I'm sure you can see why!  (I hear that they tripped the breakers and lost power three times that night.)  It was pretty amazing to see.

Christmas Boat Parade (Part 1)

This is a very cool event, where boat owners decorate them and then drive by the boardwalk.  The last one had a singer on front (and I work with him and the boat owner)... and they all get judged and that last one won.