we call them pirates out here

ode to sams from ann

2007-07-17T01:21:00.000-04:00

There once were 4 mothers called S.A.M.S
Whose hobbies did not involve Jams
They preferred to relax
Their brain not to tax
With ‘Hello!’ and cocktails and FAM’s

We bonded ‘neath skies painted blue
Stress free drink flowed, the sea was our loo
An ear tickle flirt
A poem from Bert
Shan, Dan and Ann, Justine too

Shannon so special and rare
Her big heart so willing to share
A mother supreme
(With interesting dreams..)
And beauty beyond compare

Justine so gorgeous and slim
Came to BVI on a whim
She brightened the lives
Of mothers and wives
That’s she’s leaving is oh such a sin

What can I say about Dan?
The picture of all that is glam
She hides it quite well
But SAM’s can all tell
She really ‘don’t give a damn’!

You may think I’ve forgotten about me
Well with Ann you get what you see
She’s busy it’s true
But without lots to do
She’d have 10 kids instead of three!

Farewell to my really good friends
We’ve laughed till we’ve cried on weekends
I’ll try not to cry
It’s not really goodbye
Lot’s of emails I promise to send (s!)

For SAMs it’s not the end of the road
For their bonds, well they’re made out of gold
Every two years they’ll meet
Their bodies mistreat
Of this legends are sure be told

shan, dan, ann and justine too

anegada

2007-07-17T01:17:00.000-04:00

the vaughan's 10th anniversary

2007-07-17T01:11:00.001-04:00

justine and simon celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary. they hosted a party at oscar's (matt had already left island for tucson) and simon wrote justine a song, and the pianist played it for them. it was one of the best nights i had on tortola!

danielle looks on wistfully, wishing that simon would write HER a song...

visar fun day

2007-07-17T00:58:00.000-04:00

virgin islands search and rescue (visar) holds its annual fundraiser on virgin gorda at leverick bay. arian drove us over in his BIG ORANGE RIB and we had a great time. the funny part was that the visar rescue boat is the same as his (arian is the island dealer of these boats) so even though we rode 45 minutes on one to virgin gorda, i still had to pay so the kids could ride on the visar boat.

jed and james get ready for the egg-in-spoon-race. clearly, by the look on james' face he posesses his mother's competitive streak!
a little game of tug-of-war
simon gets in on the action in the "frozen t shirt" competition. they hand out tshirts in the pool that have been wet and frozen into a bolck of ice. the contestants must bust apart the ice an melt it, and be the first ot get the tshirt on in order to win. simon was the winner due to his ingenious method of peeing on it! just kidding!

mothers day

2007-07-17T00:30:00.000-04:00

it just wouldn't be mothers day without SAMS.

pictures from tamarind club

2007-07-17T00:18:00.000-04:00

a fine place to bring the kids, kick back a few and float in the pool. hanging out one day after school with the kids, jacques and sebastian.

some random shots of island life

2007-07-17T00:10:00.000-04:00

Here is a great picture of the sun setting behind jost, overlooking brewers bay (opposite side of our house). I pulled over to get this picture because of the sea is glowing in between jost and the other island (is that little jost van dyke?)
Jed and james having a peaceful playtime together.
this was a supposed "wild parrot" that showed up to oscar's one day. he was so wild i got him to eat out of my hand! he eventually flew down and landed on my shoulder! the kids were particularly impressed exclaiming "mom!you look like a pirate!" I'm not a big fan of parrots, but this guy was so cool that i was almost converted...almost...then he took a big chunk out of my finger! niiiice birdie! he hung out at oscars a few days and then flew off...presumably home.
This is a picture of matt's last day at oscar's. he did a great job and we were ALL very proud of him.

bucks fizz dog club

2007-07-16T23:55:00.000-04:00

women and dogs go together like prosceco and orange juice...at least that was the idea behing the bucks fizz dog club! and we let the kids come, too. and judging from the photo sebastian...hey! who let the man in?

stormy day at long bay

2007-07-16T23:47:00.000-04:00

this was a trip to long bay after matt's last day at oscar's. it was a sad day, but we tried to lighten the mood with several bottles of veuve clicquot..i think it worked!

dolphin discovery

2007-07-16T23:35:00.000-04:00

for quincy's 8th birthday she wanted to go to dolphin discovery. we agreed, but it took months to finally redeem that promise! since jed REALLY wanted to do it too, we agreed that quincy could invite a friend along. when our good frind sebastian cought wind of the plan, he decided to come along with his son jacques, jacques' mom, jess and cousin jahde. quincy invited her friend and personal idol, ellie. at the last minute, matt decided to join in! unfortunately my camera ran out of batteries in the middle of it, but we bought the video...which of course is not downloadable (that i can figure out, at least. so here are a few pics...

best of all, sebastian used his connections to get some extra privilages...including doing the WHOLE program twice with another group of dolphins! then they got to do training exercises in the water with them! all in all it was a fun and special day for everyone!

A day at the spa

2007-07-16T23:25:00.000-04:00

Matt and i decided that after with our tense island life we needed to get away for a day of relaxation. so, drop the kids off at school and hop the ferry for peter island! the kids were a bit annoyed, protesting by saying "you're spending your day off withuout US!?!?!" the nerve!

I think matt looks like a playboy in this picture...he is just missing his pipe, ascot, and monacle..or do i mean dandy? either one.

i think we should have one of these put into the house...complete with the beach, palm trees and ocean

after his massage...i'm not sure ive ever seen him this relaxed!

as and afterthought, several weeks later we were on a friend's boat circling peter island, which is large-ish and the resort takes up a small portion of it. as we were driving around jed says "whoa whoa whoa, THIS is peter island?!?! WHERE'S THE SPA????" needless to say i got a few eyebrows raised on that one.

Matt skirfs (or is that skurfs?)

2007-07-16T23:17:00.000-04:00

Matt gave surfing/water skiing. Very fun!

when he was finished i think we decided he liked it....what do you think...

its not easy being X-TREME!

2007-07-16T23:00:00.000-04:00

...actually it is pretty to be extreme when richard drives the boat over to smuggs for a little, ummm, extremity?

Jess enjoys the sun and awesome weather...also the fact theat the children weren't allowed for the boat ride made it a touch easier to enjoy.
matt and richard
Jess wakeboards and shows 'em how its done.
matt decided to skurf (or is it skirf?) which is water skiing on a surfboard.

and finally richard show off his skills.

a day at smuggs

2007-07-16T22:53:00.000-04:00

Richard invited us over for one of his last days at the OL' Smugglers Cove House *sigh* The winds fo change are a blowin....

But here are some pictures of the day when we hit the beach.

The children look peaceful, but it is a ruse. they were all fighting over the wakeboard they are sitting on....ahhhhh...I love photography...no sound, just peaceful children.

This is a beautiful sunset

and another beautiful sunset...i think this day we saw the green flash

Would it be a day at the beach without the Wooster?

couples night!

2007-05-29T20:06:00.000-04:00

cedar school had an auction where excess and showing off was key ($3000 for a bottle of Moet???) but it did provide for some photos of the island's hottest couples!justine and simon looking like they are ready for the prom rather than a school fundraiser
the lady of the evening and her doting husband. Ann was the MC of the evening and also sang a song AND it was her birthday! now THAT is dedication!
and here is Ann again, this time with her doting SAM, dan....show the love baby!
Matt and Pete making a striking couple
dan with another cuddle for another person who is NOT her husband...was Chris even there?

james' birthday party

2007-05-29T19:43:00.000-04:00

james v. (Jed's best buddy) had a birthday party at frenchman's cay which included tug-o-war and relay races in the pool. a great time was had by all and James turned 6!!!

public service announcement

2007-03-19T01:43:00.000-04:00

home in sam hughes

2007-03-18T20:53:00.000-04:00

the house was built in the late 1920's-early 1930's

our mini orange orchard in the front yard. the property also has mature lemon, kumquat, and grapefruit plants. i would like to plant date palms.

an interesting mural in the bath.

bars on the window...going full circle? matt and i had bars on the window of our first apartment...a basement in chicago. thankfully these are more decorative!

home in sam hughes

2007-03-18T20:38:00.000-04:00

we are fortunate to have two large saguaros in the front yard...i wonder if they will grow arms?

oddly enough i didnt photograph the kitchen...it isn't great, but not too bad either. here is the window leading to look into the kitchen.

the back yard! completely fenced in for privacy! beyond the "water feature" is the casita. the casita is equipped with a bedroom, sitting room, bathroom and kitchenette....please book your reservations now!!!

the back of the house...pretty!

outdoor fireplace.

home in sam hughes

2007-03-18T20:24:00.000-04:00

welcome to the future home of the mcdonal horwedel house!

the family room...a fireplace!

dining room and side entryway

a colorful bathroom.

brandywine bay

2007-02-28T12:51:00.000-05:00

We organized a puppy playdate at brandywine bay, a beach we rarely go to. the dogs are no where to be seen (there were about 8!) as they were running around like crazies. but the bay lent itself to some interesting photos. the children were able to walk across to the island, and the pipes sticking out of the ground are baby mangroves, planted to help keep the manmade beach secure and as they get larger they will provie hurricane protection.

jed's sleepover

2007-02-28T12:33:00.000-05:00

Jame came over for a sleepover and the boys fell asleep watching superman.

back to ivan's

2007-02-28T12:27:00.000-05:00

pictures from oscar's

2007-02-28T11:58:00.000-05:00

disney: epcot

2007-02-28T11:28:00.000-05:00

epcot was by far our favorite bit of disney world. the kids loved sourin' and the finding nemo aquarium and "talk to crush" show(if you decide to do the latter, arm yourself with questions about sea turtles to ask him!) but we spent hours in japan. seeing as quincy loves all things japanese (sushi! pokemon! hello kitty! rice!) we knew she would enjoy it..and figured jed would like the hibachi restaurant. well, we watched drumming, candy sculpting, and hit the gift shop (no mickey mouse...finally!). Jed especially loved the onion volcano!

disney: seeds of change tour

2007-02-27T14:37:00.000-05:00

being the smarty-pants of the family, i insisted we attend the "seeds of change: behind the seeds" tour. we learned about hydroponics, alligator and fish farming, pest control, and the ever-important mouse-ears pumpkin. even though it was educational, we all enjoyed the tour imensely, and highly recommend it for anyone visiting epcot.

disney: mgm

2007-02-27T14:33:00.000-05:00

we spent a day at mgm studios...and were thrilled to see darth vader and "stormy" signing autographs..we were all very excited. then the WHOLE group went to the mom's kitchen restaurant (reservation for 14 please!). here i tried to order a gin and tonic and was carded! then the barkeep SCOLDED me ("you should know better!")....arrgh! but we still managed to have a good time, and matt was treated to several gluten-free goodies....cake! dinner rolls! gravy! mmmmmm

disney: downtown disney

2007-02-27T14:20:00.000-05:00

disney: magic kingdom

2007-02-27T14:02:00.000-05:00

christmas!

2007-02-27T09:34:00.000-05:00

christmas!

2007-02-26T12:35:00.000-05:00

more christmas!

2007-02-26T11:52:00.000-05:00

from rasta mom to socc-a mom

2007-02-21T19:39:00.000-05:00

the results of this morning's dreadlock removal and NEW hair color:

BEFORE

AFTER

so my hair is the color of my mother's (dark brown)....a bold move, yes, since i also have her haircut now as well. so i added some red and blond streaks to liven things up a bit (mom, those highlights are off limits to you!)

hey look! it's ivan's!

2007-02-15T15:15:00.000-05:00

I had heard that kenny chesney had filmed a music video at ivan's (see the post from my 30th birthday party) but seeing as i don't like or care about kenny chesney i never bothered with it. So for whatever reason today i DID look it up and IT IS IVAN'S! ivan himself is even in the video! so i guess it is cool. if you want to compare the pics from my 2006 bday to the video, i suggest muting the song...it's not very good.

day out with sams and fams

2007-02-12T12:38:00.000-05:00

the Vaughans took out the families on a 50ft monohull in november. thanksgiving leftovers for lunch! as you can see the children hsd the most fun in the cabin...it's like a doll's house!

quincy's haircut

2007-02-12T12:36:00.000-05:00

dolphins!

2007-02-12T12:25:00.000-05:00

we went out for a day on the rib with nancy, justin and theo. what's that in the distance? dolphins! we banged on the boat and they turned around to check us out...it was a pod of at least 6, they swam close enough to touch and hung out with us for about 5 minutes. for next time i would use video instead of trying to take still photos...they're fast swimmers!

oscar's: the beginning

2007-02-12T12:01:00.000-05:00

Oscar's had previewed it's menu and culinary style in early December. Rose Gray was here from London's River Cafe to help out. The night was a huge success and the Chief Minister ended the evening with a moving speech promising he "might come again."

oldies but goodies

2007-02-12T11:47:00.000-05:00

darth jed

quincy and jed practise snorkeling skills in the pool

walter swims

2006-11-06T09:48:00.000-05:00

he is concentrating very hard...you can tell by the look on his face

halloween

2006-11-04T17:00:00.000-05:00

halloween on the island is, well, challenged. decorations and tirck-or-treating are hard to come by, but we certainly made the best of it this year. we had a mini-halloween party on jost for the children over the weekend with trick-or0treating in the cabins, a spiderweb game and a rousing round of ghost in the graveyard. then on halloween, we founf a neighborhood (of six townhouses) that was doing t or t0ing...with about 75 children!!! then we walked up havers hill where a smaller invite-only group t or t-ed...we pretty muched crashed that group, but we were welcomed in the end!

quincy as a pokemon trainer!

matt and jerry play risk

2006-11-04T16:57:00.000-05:00

actually, the whole family (+ simon) played risk. but of course, no one could resist the darling jerry and he was invited into the game. stella's pups are just four weeks old now.

shannon's 30th birthday

2006-11-04T15:53:00.000-05:00

hooray! made it to 30! we celebrated with a weekend camping on jost. an intimate group for friday and saturday, and a larger crowd arrived for brunch on sunday...id say a great time was had by all!

matt plays the bass at Ivan's

enjoying dinner on friday night...what is justine looking for?

how can it be sarong when it feels sa-right?

late night munchies? well, we can help! for a small fee the best midnight snack around!

the party departs on sunday afternoon...

but we stay one more day...jed finds a HUGE hermit crab!

walter joined us for the festivities on jost van dyke, here he waves goodbye!

jed's superstar day!

2006-11-04T15:47:00.000-05:00

Jed had a superstar day and needed to bring some of his favorite or special things for a presentation at school. he brought many components to his many favorite costumes, monkey, gnome-y, starwars movie, stormtroopers, his they might be giants foam finger, and much more!

stella has puppies!

2006-10-06T10:28:00.000-04:00

time for a contest!

2006-10-03T23:15:00.000-04:00

so here is our chance! the chance to plug in dialog for the new transformer movie coming out in july...i was thinking of conjuring up the dick cheney classic with "go truck yourself" ...enter you best at www.transformersmovie.com/

matt's summer in london and wales

2006-10-03T12:04:00.000-04:00

here are some hightlights..hopefully he will come and add comments later...

the guys' playdate

2006-10-02T20:50:00.000-04:00

this is a playdate organized for the "gang" from the montessori school. all the boys went their separate ways, but we are making an effort to keep them all buddies. Levi (now homeschooled), Jed & James (new private school) and Duante (at a public school). if you look closely you can see max in the background playing golf...he is quite posh, after all!

weekend update

2006-10-01T16:21:00.000-04:00

the weekend kicked off by dropping our kids with a babysitter so matt and i could enjoy an evening with our friends on town.
lthough i appear to have someone pinching me, i was actually having a good time with justine. (please note dan's absence... opted for a quiet dinner with her husband...gosh!)

matt and richard enjoy a drink (or two) at the dove. if you look closely you can see that richard is recovering from a black eye. the black eye was the result of a party foul last weekend committed by my husband. in a hottub crowded with 8 grown people, matthew thought we would demonstrate one of his gifts by throwing is body headfirst into the tub in an attempt to perform a handstand. the outcome? one blackeye, bottles of wine and gin and tonics and rum punches in the tub and a de-pantsing. thankfully, no photos resulted.

saturday dad and the kids went windsurfing, and then a bbq at the hudds. much more civilized than the previous evening...but just as fun. an early evening, since the kids were with us....and the party seemed to be picking up as we left.

the girls

2006-09-28T21:00:00.000-04:00

todays photo features quincy with girlfriends freya, neive, alex and saskia

hollow men karaoke for the deaf...brilliant!

2006-09-28T20:38:00.000-04:00

be sure to turn off the background music (see the player at the top of the right column? yeah, press pause on that) BEFORE you watch this most outstanding video

kindergarten cooking show

2006-09-28T00:18:00.001-04:00

Okay, lets see if we can keep this newsletter up and running! to start off today's news Matt went to Jed's classroom for the career month. He made the children bananas foster, with the intention of pouring rum on it and lighting it on fire...few things impress kindergartners like alcohol and open flame. but, alas, in matthew's attempt to tone down the hard liquor consumption for the youngsters, the fire would not light. (and therefore the rum did not "burn off" hopefully the kids got a good nap that afternoon!)

surf camp video

2006-09-28T00:17:00.001-04:00

so this video is already a bit old...being from july, but i really wanted to share it...the image is't so great but that is quincy on the kayak (note she is facing the wrong way!) and then jed windsurfing...enjoy!