Christmas in St. John

One of the things I have discovered in this move is that I often feel suffocated by having too much "stuff". One of the most liberating moments on this adventure was when we had a yard sale right before the move and sold so much of our "stuff". I get stressed around Christmas because I feel that Christmas creates so much focus on the stuff rather than the memories. In Connecticut I tried to create memories like caroling and Christmas tree hunting, I had to think up new ways in St. John because *everything* is different. The good news on this island it is so hard to get "stuff" delivered (getting anything shipped here is hard), so we had a smaller Christmas with some pretty amazing memories!

Visiting Santa

The Santa experience on the island was different than what we are used to. There were

three opportunities to see Santa:

1. Santa came to the beach to help raise money for Animal Care of St John. You could get pics with your pup and donate money to this amazing shelter. Of course we did!

2. Santa came to the main square festival where there was singing and steel drums, as well as some stands selling local Christmas gifts. Each of the kids line up and get a present from Santa (all donated from local businesses). Our kiddos got a slingshot and play ponies. Some kids got board games. This is to ensure all kids get at least one present for Christmas

3. Santa came by boat on Christmas Eve (unfortunately this is the one we missed because we had one kiddo sick with the flu). In my hometown Santa always came on a firetruck, In Connecticut on boat, but of course it makes sense for Santa to come by boat in the Virgin Islands!

Island Celebrations

Miracle on Main Street & Lighted Boat Parade

We took the ferry over to St Thomas to go to a really fun festival. The streets of St. Thomas were lit up beautifully and there were local stands setup selling gifts, food and fun entertainment all around. Finn got to dance with a Moko Jumbie. Then we made our way down to Charlotte Amalie harbor and watched ~20 boats go by with fun lights and throwing candy to shore.

All Island Holiday Party (aka "The Prom")

The "Prom" has its roots in trying to rebuild the community after Hurricane Marilyn in 1995, and

through the years has become a social highlight for many full time St. Johnians and a homecoming for many seasonal residents. It’s an opportunity to dress up and celebrate the holidays in the gracious courtyards of Mongoose Junction, with friends new and old, amid holiday cheer and festive decorations. The party celebrates diversity and unity as it brings together St. Johnians of all distinctions, reminds us of the many of blessings we have, and of the special qualities of our community. (source)

The prom felt like going to a fancy office party outside with everyone you see around town, but dressed fancier. The music was tropical, people were relaxed and happy, drinks were plentiful. It was a lot of fun.

School Celebrations

One of my favorite things about the kids school is the creativity they foster. The music program is amazing and we got to watch theatrics, singing & music playing at a few concerts by the kids leading up to the holiday. My favorite video is below featuring our new favorite holiday song of the season is "How will Santa Get Here". My favorite lyric: "There are no reindeer in my country, he'll have to borrow me neighbor's donkey".

Christmas Tree & Decorating

We weren't sure what exactly to do about a Christmas tree. We could have hopped on the ferry and picked up a traditional one we are used on St. Thomas - but we weren't sure how that would fair in the warm weather with all the shipping time to get here. We could have bought a fake tree, but none of us were excited about that. We really wanted to get a traditional Caribbean tree (the century tree), but couldn't figure out where to get one..so we ended up with a Palm tree! The theme of this Christmas decorating season was crafty DIY. We didn't have many ornaments, so we made origami ones which were fun! We didn't have a pot for our plant, and were lucky to find one being thrown away, so we painted it Christmas-themed. All-in-all this was my favorite memory of this Christmas. We were all together making our island-house feel Christmas-ey!

Christmas Day

Christmas day proved that Santa can get to the Caribbean. We are unsure if he came by Donkey, though. The kids enjoyed getting their stockings with stuffed donkeys and Kaya enjoyed getting her toys. We enjoyed staying by the pool and relaxing in the nice weather enjoying our gifts.

My favorite was either the "Livin' the Dream" mug or a St. John hook bracelet that was made by a new friend here, Maya.

Highlights

I asked the kids separately what they said was their favorite part about being here during Christmas. They both said the weather. It was warm, they could go in the water and the Christmas winds brought in a nice breeze that made it enjoyable to be outside.

I didn't ask Oliver his highlight (I don't think I actually need to), but I bet he would have said sailing the days before Christmas, heading over to Foxy's and generally being in nice, warm weather.