honey

When we left for the boat the first time Braden left three bee hives. After that winter only one of them survived. Last summer he didn't do very much with them and we didn't get any honey. This summer that one hive is still kicking. We

we heart duluth

Duluth is probably my all time favorite city in Minnesota. We've visited at least once a year since the girls were really little, and most of those trips were over Memorial Day weekend in the bus. Since we've been on the boat we haven't

do over

The MN State Fair is one of my favorite summer activities. Last year we missed it because we were road tripping in the bus. This year our visit was cut short because of the rain. I really wanted to go back, but I was pretty sure no one else would

cousin-palooza

Ten days of cousin time was not enough, so when the girls flew home their cousins came too! They all arrived with a list of all the things they wanted to do in Minnesota, and we wasted no time crossing off the list. We made our first stop the Mall

flying solo

We planned to take one big road trip in the RV this summer. We loved Utah last summer and didn't get to spend enough time there. We wanted to go back this summer and were going to meet Braden's sister and her family there. When it

catch up

It has been a while since we've posted what we've been up to, so we'll have to rewind all the way back to June.... Last year we left our boat in Grenada for hurricane season. There is soooo much work that goes into leaving

Anchor Light Automation

There are very easy, simple solutions for automating an anchor light. Mostly, those solutions involve either a new anchor light housing or a new anchor light bulb with a photo cell. Both require going up the mast and can be decently pricey. I decided to pursue a path less traveled.

Hot Water Heater on Battery Power?

Although the boat is in the tropics and we don't have a/c - we still enjoy a hot/warmish shower at night for some reason. There are several ways to get hot water on Yoto: 1. Plug into shore power 2. Run the generator 3. Run the

san juan

For the last I don't know how many years we've taken our bus to Duluth, MN with our friends for Memorial Day weekend. This year we changed it up and took a ferry from our boat in Culebra to mainland Puerto Rico with some friends and

culebra

Our next stop in the Spanish Virgin Islands took us to the island of Culebra. One of the sites to see on my list - Hector El Protector. He was originally built in 2014 using old pallets from the junkyard, but had to be rebuilt in 2019 after Hurricane Maria

culebrita

After three months in the US Virgin Islands it was time to move on. Goodbye USVI... Hello Puerto Rico... On the way in two dolphins came to greet us. They came and went very quickly, but it was still exciting to see them. Our first stop was Culebrita which is

goodbye for now st. john

Probably the most common question we get asked is what is your favorite place. It is a tough question to answer because they are all so different - some have great snorkeling, some have great beaches, some have great access to groceries/trash/restaurants, some have great food, etc. If

family

carnival

St. Thomas USVI Carnival - food, drinks, rides, parades, music, fireworks, treasures and great friends. It's been a fun (and exhausting) week, and I have an impressive sunglass tan to prove it. 😎❤️🇻🇮

family

back in the bvi

We took a short trip back to the BVI for a couple days. We hit all our favorite spots with some friends and Braden's dad who came to stay with us for a week. We also added a new place to the list. We heard good things about

family

one year

It is pretty crazy that it has already been one year since we pulled the girls out of school and moved onto our boat in the Caribbean. In the last 12 months we've been to 9 countries and 15 states. We've lived in a house, a

family

back in the usvi

It has been a very busy two weeks for us - long flights, the eclipse, a quick overnight stop at a waterpark, lots of time with friends, date nights, dinners and reading glasses for Emma. Whew! Today we flew back to a very rainy USVI to start planning for the

family

solar eclipse

On Easter we traded in our swim suits for sweatshirts and pants and flew back to Minnesota. Crazy... I know. A bit of backstory - in 2017 we took our bus to Casper, WY. It was the first big trip on our bus and we were going to a rally

kids

happy easter

family

st. john (again)

We're not done with the USVI just yet- this time it was back to St. John. We had quite the group of friend boats along for this trip around the island. I love when the girls can jump off the back of the boat and swim over to

family

back to st. thomas

We have mixed feelings about St. Thomas. The anchorage isn't always the most comfortable, it gets noisy being close to the city and you can't swim in the water... but then there are the almost nightly get togethers at the outdoor bar where the adults have

family

st. croix

We went back and forth at least 100 times - should we stay or should we go? St. Croix is the largest of the three main islands in the USVI. Not many people we talked to had been there, but the snorkeling was supposed to be pretty cool. In the

family

st. thomas (again)

Our island hopping through the USVI continues. It was back to St. Thomas for laundry, beach time, hiking, a birthday celebration, date night and lots and lots of friend time (for both kids and adults).

family

st. john

While we enjoyed being in St. Thomas with easy access to trash, groceries, mail and restaurants it wasn't a place where we could just jump off the boat and swim. We were all looking forward to getting back to somewhere a little more remote where we could spend

family

st. thomas

We've spent the last week hanging out in St. Thomas. We took advantage of being near the city and got a lot done, including eating at a couple restaurants that have been on our list for a while. Being near the city meant we were able to get