Friday we all woke up expecting some of the worst weather of the week, but to our surprise it was the most beautiful day we had seen yet! Since we had arrived the boys had been looking for the perfect day to go fishing, so they headed out early that morning. Mrs. Mary didn’t want us to waste any of they beautiful weather either, so we had breakfast and headed outside. We swam, laughed, read and enjoyed the amazing weather. In fact, we found out that while we were soaking up the sun the sun was soaking us up as well and all of our natural color was replaced with a nice sunburn.
We went inside to play some games and around 4:00 the boys came home with a bunch of awesome fish, around 40!
There were all sorts of fish, some that I hadn’t even heard of, but I ate them anyway. After we stuffed ourselves, Chase and I watched Napoleon Dynamite. I had never seen it before. Boy was it stupid. It made me realize so much about my father though. He loves it and now I know why.
Saturday the weather was just as wonderful as it was on Friday thankfully, but there were supposed to be storms that afternoon. Mrs. Mary was about to force Chase and I to stay home because we were so badly burned but she knew how badly we wanted to go on the day’s adventure so she made us promise we would wear one of Dr. Hunter’s shirts to protect us.
We quickly loaded into the vans and drove to the boat dock to start our amazing boat excursion. Our boat captain, Bob, was very nice and took the time to learn our names. We stopped in the middle of the ocean on our way to some sand bars and Bob dove into the water picking up conch shells. He gathered about 20. A little while later we stopped to swim while he fixed us a fresh conch salad. The salad was very spicy but delicious.
He also took us to see some the islands owned by celebrities. This one belongs to Faith Hill and Tim McGraw.
After sightseeing we headed to a boat dock where the “friendly” sharks live. We had the choice to either swim with them or stand on the dock. You could probably guess what I did.
I did pet a few though. They felt really weird, kind of like rubber and gravel. After hanging out there for a while we went to lunch at this dock where all of the people who own yachts come to hang out.
After some brief souvenir shopping we got back on the boat and headed to Thuderball grotto where one of the James Bond movies was shot. It was my first time snorkeling and I have no words to describe the beauty I saw while I was inside.
The water was warm and a beautiful blue. I saw all sorts of fish; angel, tiger, clown. It was the most fascinating thing I have ever seen in my life and something I will never forget.
After that we went to my favorite part, the swimming pigs!
They were massive pigs almost as tall as me when they stood on their hind legs and as fat as could be. Chase and I could barely work up the nerve a few days back to walk through the seaweed to touch the starfish, so we couldn’t imagine ourselves swimming with these pigs. But we did and it was really fun petting them and chasing them around until the fattest pig decided to ruin all of the fun and poop in the water. So that was the end of my swimming farm animal experience.
We then went to our last exhibit of the day, the iguana farm.
There were so many iguanas I couldn’t count them all. I fed some out of the palm of my hand and Trey got his first kiss. Actually one of the iguanas bit him on the lip, but it still counts. We played around with them for about 45 minutes then decided to head back to the dock.
While we were waiting on our captain a man walked up to us and asked if we wanted to see an octopus! He pulled this basket out of the water and sure enough, there was this octopus about as long as my arm and really creepy. The man kept asking me and Chase if we wanted to touch it’s tentacles, but I kept declining the offer. Then it dawned on me, when am I ever going to get another chance to touch an octopus? Probably not anytime soon. So I did, and it was gross.
We then boarded the boat once more and passed over starfish, stingrays, and sea turtles.
When we got to the dock we thanked Bob for all of his kindness and hard work then loaded up in the vans. When we got home we had dinner and Scott and Karla showed up with Chinese lanterns. We lit them, made a wish and let them go. Then it was off to bed to get ready for our last day.
On Sunday everybody was sad when we woke up. We had so much fun the past few days that we didn’t want to leave. So we seized the time we had left and made the most of it.
First, Mrs. Mary got pics of me and Chase on the beach in our dresses with the beautiful morning sun behind us.
Then we put on our suits and headed to the beach to take advantage of the great weather and our last few moments on the beautiful island. We went sea shell hunting and kayaking and I got to get really close to a yellow angel fish.
Then we had to start packing. Scott and Karla gave us their farewells and some very kind hugs, and we loaded up and headed to the airport.
It was a 3 hour flight home before we landed in our home sweet home Nashville. After saying our goodbyes to the Lodens and hugging my new little brother Reed, we loaded in the car and headed home.
So, we didn’t use the private driver or the private chef, and if you are wondering, reliable sources told us that Penelope Cruz was kind of a brat.
I walked away with some amazing memories of people and places I will never forget and I will always be grateful to the Lodens and the Hunters for letting me share this incredible experience with them.
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