Family Day at Friar's Bay 3/5/16

Well Block III week is here which means Jordan is studying even harder then he has the past 3 weeks. This means we see him for lunch and dinner only. On a usual week he will help me with giving the boys a bath one night, or even staying home to put Bradley to bed one night, etc, but not block week. So thankfully we took a family day on Saturday for a little mental health day :)
I googled "best beaches in St. Maarten for kids" and Friar's Bay kept popping up. The Spouses Organization had a beach day there earlier last month, but we were unable to go due to a lack of car. Now that we were renting a car I knew I wanted to check it out. We drove to the French side because the Heineken Regatta was going on and there were going to be bridge closures that I wanted to avoid. First we had lunch at the McDonald's. Sometimes you just need a taste of "home." The French Mcdonalds takes 3 different currencies! There was a playplace that Bradley wanted to play in. The kids were speaking french and Bradley came up to me very concerned that he couldn't understand them. I told him that even though he spoke english and the other kids spoke french they still wanted to play with him! Then he went about running and going down the slide like there wasn't a language barrier at all. That's the great thing about kids..they are innocent and unbiased. I personally love that we have this opportunity on the island to learn different cultures.
Anyway, afterwards we headed to Friar's Bay which was close nearby. But first we were stopped by 3 cows crossing the road!! Yes! It was a sight to see. 

The thing I liked about Friar's Bay immediately was that it was not tourist-y at all. You are not bombarded by people offering massages, drinks, selling jewelry, etc. You just pick your spot and enjoy the beach. The water was CALM. So beautiful. But it was one of the rockier beaches we've been to. When you first go into the water you have to walk over about 5 steps worth of seashells and rock..once you're past those there wasn't an issue. The water is pretty clea toor..people were practice snorkeling. 
Afterwards we hung out on our sheet we brought for about an hour while we dried off and Bradley collected a pile of rocks. Ian had a mild reaction to some new sunscreen, but thankfully it cleared up. It didn't bother him, but his eyes were red and puffy and he had red splotches on his face and neck. He has very sensitive skin like I do. Poor baby! 

When we were finished at the beach we did our bi-weekly grocery trip. It takes about 2.5 hours to grocery shop! We do bulk shopping at a Cost-u-less then go across the street at the Grande Marche for produce and canned goods. To put into perspective grocery trips prices- $270 at cost u less and $80 at Grande Marche. Groceries are quite a bit more expensive here than in the midwest for a family. I meal plan for 2 weeks- lunches and dinners, and it's been working out well. In addition to our groceries we also shopped for 3 other students. I don't mind doing it..I know they are busy and don't have cars to get to the store. Plus they chip in for the rental car so it's a win-win. See? I'm an entrepreneur in St. Maarten too! 

It was a great day, enjoying the sun, scenery and quality time with Jordan. He's the best.