We had so much fun in Eleuthera and made memories that will last a lifetime. Here are some highlights:

The Bat Cave

I’ve visited Eleuthera many times and never had any problem with Hatchet Bay’s Bat Cave. Walking through with my children was a different matter. Jack and Maria loved it, but Danny did not, so I walked him back to Nana and Poppy, who were in the mouth of the cave. Once you get into the cave and away from the mouth, it is PITCH BLACK. We turned off all our flashlights; I put my hand a few inches in front of my face and literally couldn’t see it. And then mama bear instinct kicked in. What if our lights fail? What if someone got hurt and I had to carry them out of here? What if the ceiling collapses and we all die? Whoa… calm down. Breathe. Shoving all those thoughts aside, I tried to enjoy watching our children enjoy it and somewhat succeeded. We went fairly deep in, deep enough to need to climb down a ladder. The children negotiated who would go first, as no one was quite brave enough. (“I’m not going first! It’s dark down there!”) We climbed into a large cavern and found bats! Lots of shrieking… lots of hand holding… and then the nearly unanimous decision that we’d explored far enough :)

Pool Party

Nothing quite like coming home from a long, hard day at the beach and jumping in the pool!

The Queen’s Baths & Grottos

Climbing up to the Baths and Grottos feels like an adventure in itself. Walking up over the hill, you see the crystal clear ocean, and then you have to climb up, around and down the rocks. Some have been worn smooth over time and some are sharp as razors. Swimming in the Baths feels like nature’s hot tub, and it’s especially fun as the waves from the ocean crash over into your little pool. Everyone was having a great time, Poppy was taking lots of pictures, and then I touched something and my whole hand started feeling numb. That cut our trip short as we left to seek medical attention.

There is very, very limited medical care on the island. We stopped at the clinic, which wasn’t going to be open until Thursday, but a lady walking knew where the nurse lived. She told me where to find her, but instead we called the caretaker of our house, who called the nurse, who showed up at the clinic, opened it, and treated me with excellent care in her jeans, tank top and flip-flops. My hand was as good as new.

Beach Bonfire

We had the children collect driftwood early in the day and made a bonfire at dusk. There’s something special about a fire right on the ocean, although I don’t think the children appreciated that. They were too busy roasting and stuffing down marshmallows!

Hanging Out

Simply hanging out and being together was a lot of fun. Spending this time with grandparents and cousins is something none of us will forget, and it really was a trip of a lifetime. Because the children were young, never again will it be so exciting just to ride in a jeep, feed the wild cats, walk down the dirt street without a grown up, walk the beach alone, try to cut down a coconut, drink from a coconut, collect sea glass, swim in the rain, choose an ice cream flavor (oops, out of all flavors except vanilla)… just everything. Everything was magical. The mundane was magical, and the magical was spectacular!

Shut the door!

We visited in August, and it was HOT. Our house’s AC was probably kept at 75F, yet it felt like an icebox when came inside. With seven children running in and out of the house the adults said, “Shut the door!” approximately every two minutes, all day, every day, from sunrise until well after dark.