Aruba, Part 1

I was going to wait to post until I had sorted through all 700+ pictures... but that might be awhile! So here's the first batch. :)
Peter & I spent 5 nights last week in Aruba with some good friends, Ken & Liesl. They've been a HUGE help on our house & so it was nice to get away together and relax! Our short vacation FLEW by, but we still enjoyed it!
*Liesl in Paradise*
K&L had brought along these collapsible papasan chairs, which worked great for catching the wind and "sailing" around the beautiful ocean!
K&L at our resort :-)
The resort had an awesome water slide!! What a perfect way to wash off the salt water after a day in the ocean!
Cute one of Liesl!
Peter & I goofing around... nothing new! :)
Big guns!
NO guns! :-(
K&L
P&I - we're on the far North side of the island.
We took LOTS and LOTS of underwater photos, so forgive me if these bore you! The snorkeling & sea life was SO much better in Aruba than what we saw in Mexico on previous vacations! We even snorkeled around an old abandoned ship at one point... however those pictures will be in a separate post. :)
Our first snorkeling trip out we were surrounded by HUGE schools of these little feeder fish... Neat for awhile, until they started getting in the way of photos of the pretty fish!
Isn't this beautiful?!
Organ pipe coral, purple sea urchins and feeder fish.
Can you see the crab in this photo? He blends in quite well!
Another photo I love!
On the East side of the island - these beaches you don't swim on! The surf is quite strong!
Vacated crab shell
We decided to "off-road" in our little Hyundai, from the North side of the island to the South on day - Peter and the guys he went with in 2005 had done this too... but they had a JEEP! :) About a mile into it, we got a flat tire. :-) I decided to document it so 5 years later we would have pictures to remember and laugh about!
Darn rock tore out the side-wall!
This was some pretty serious off-roading for this little car! We all would jump out except for Peter so the car would have more clearance when navigating over the rocks. Ken was a huge help to Peter in guiding him safely through some tricky areas. Thanks Ken!
This one makes me laugh... :)
Meanwhile, Liesl and I busied ourselves taking pictures of scenery and ourselves!
The first of two natural bridges that we came accross...They're quite amazing to see, but not the prettiest to photograph up close as all the trash/debris collects underneath them.
Looking down the coast we just drove along. Beautiful!
An old gold mine along the "road"
We finally made it to our destination, the actual "official" natural bridge... which collapsed in 2005! It's not quite so incredible any more!
However, this new "baby" has formed right next to it - all was not lost!
The man I married! :-)
Wes, this is for you - there was a little cafe/drink stop at the Natural Bridge tourist attraction and this was one of their rules. :-D
Inside the cafe - enjoying COLD smoothies!
More snorkeling pics:







More to come... I've sorted through about 200 photos... 500 more to go! :-) Adios friends!

Unsuspecting visitor

Tonight Peter transformed our landscaping... in about 2 hours! It sure doesn't take long to make a BIG change!
BEFORE:
Yesterday he finished putting up the diamond mesh on the front of the garage!
"Landscaping" BEFORE, front of house
BEFORE, West side of house
AFTER: Front of house in process
AFTER: Front of house, done!
AFTER: West side of house
He spared this little hydrangea that was in the corner. :)
This cherry tree got a bit of a hair cut tonight... 4 limbs off, but it will soon be completely buzzed down to the stump! It's encroaching it's roots on our foundation, and we decided it's not worth the risk of finding a crack down the road, so out it will go.
Peter found this little critter hiding under the bushes he pulled up! Isn't he ADORABLE?! I love how he's just barely peeking out of his shell.
Isn't his shell pretty? He's an Eastern Box Turtle.
We gave him some dinner, and Peter just released him back into some fresh bushes outside. :-) Happy trails little fella!
I'm working on sorting through 700+ photos of Aruba... Hoping to get them up sooner than later!

Progress!

We have some really awesome friends! Ken, Liesl & Mark have been a HUGE help in tearing our house apart (and putting it back together)!
Ken & Mark tearing the siding off...
Siding off & some of the sheathing down.
We worked while it was about 90 degrees out and POURING rain!!! Welcome to hot, humid Washington, DC!
After a long, wet day... (I think the heat got to K*L)
Regardless, we got lots of work done! Partial house-wrap up.
New OSB mounted!
Liesl and I pulled up lots and lots and LOTS of brick. 25 years worth of ant tunnels inhabited the earth beneath the bricks... ugh! Oh, and we blew two wheel-barrow tires... (whoops) - Actually the blow-outs were not from overloading it, but from the roofing nails that are covering our lawn from when we had the roof replaced! Grrr.
Our first load of Hardie siding is delivered!!! :-)
Dark-chocolate brown wall is painted in the 1/2 bathroom. However, I need to finish the second coat of trim... I'm betting it can wait for another rainy day. :-)
The half-moon shaped window will be squared off - this particular window is in the master bedroom. Once the new window is in (it's on order), we can finish off the OSB sheathing & then the siding can go up!
Peter finishes up the house-wrap late one evening... He's 2 1/2 stories high! My legs were quite shaky just 2 stories up...! I found out I don't have a huge love for ladders. :-)
Peter finished trimming out the squares for the new lights... I'm so excited for these to go up!
Late tonight Peter finished up the trim on the garage... it looks AMAZING!
All trimmed out & now the diamond mesh is being mounted. Rock comes next!!!
:-)
Whew! We also just finished up 2 weekends of wonderful conventions & now we're off to Aruba in 2 days!!!!!!!