Concert in Anguilla...I'm pretty much a rockstar ;)

What a whirlwind of a weekend! So Tom's birthday party was on Friday night. Saturday morning we left bright and early to Anguilla. Anguilla is a neighboring island and it only takes 15-20 minutes by ferry to get there. The boat ride there was kind of yucky. It was inside this little ferry with small windows, and it was hot, and REALLY bumpy. Blah...I didn't feel too good by the end of it. Ella fell asleep though...so I guess it wasn't bugging her! After we got to Anguilla, the Women Have Heart foundation had set up EVERYTHING for us! They had Eustella, a woman with the foundation, pick us up from the airport and take us to the church so we could take a look around. Then she took us to the car rental place and then to our hotel. The church itself is really old and it seems like the piano was brought over when the island was first discovered! It was REALLY out of tune, three of the notes stuck, one was broken, and the string was broken on one of them - so Tom unwound it and pulled it out of the piano! Ha! Needless to say, it was an "island" piano! Haha!



Here is Ella after taking a bath! It's just a really cute picture of her :)

She was POOPED after the concert! The concert was supposed to start at 7:30, but didn't end up starting until about 8:00 so we didn't get home until 10:00! Poor Ella was SO sleepy! She hadn't had a nap, either. I mean, she fell asleep for about an hour in the car while we were driving around exploring the island, but that isn't nearly enough! Poor thing...Tom watched her during the concert and I guess she wasn't too bad! which is always a plus :) It was SO cute! When I first walked out in front of the audience, Ella jumped up and screamed/laughed when she saw me! I was like, "Ah! That's my baby!! She loves me!!" It was SO cute! Tom and Ella were sitting in the back, too, so everyone heard it. It was really cute :) Everyone just thought Ella was so stinkin' cute! :)
Oh...random picture....hehehehhee....we saw this one the back of one of the rental cars....get it???
This is a picture of where we ate lunch after we got there. It was at CuisinArt Hotel/Spa. Yes, CuisinArt, like the kitchen appliances. Apparently the owner of CuisinArt wanted to build a HUGE luxury villa for himself on Anguilla, but you can't do that...only tourist places can be built on the water front. So he said, "Fine" and built a HUGE villa for himself....with a hotel on the side! Ha! We ate lunch at the Meditterano grill. It was YUMMY. Mmmm....Eustella told me that they do cooking demonstrations and classes there, too, in their COMPLETE CuisinArt kitchen! Yes, Mom...you need to come down and we'll sign up for some! :D
Here is a picture of the restaurant where we ate :) Very bright and colorful. mmm...They had a REALLY good kids menu, too, which was nice!
This is the pool area outside the hotel where we ate lunch. Ella, of course, wanted to jump in and it was quite the feat to keep her DRY!
Here is the pool in OUR hotel. We stayed at the Maliouhanna Hotel/Spa. Talk about FANCY! It has won the award for "Leading Hotel in the World" and is listed in the big, fancy book of big, fancy hotels! :D The rooms themselves were okay, I wished they had better insulation because it didn't ever really get cold inside...which is too bad! The bathroom was FANCY! There were robes and slippers, and really nice shampoo/conditioners, woo wee! It was fancy :) It was a good thing Tom brought his laptop, though, because there wasn't a t.v. So Ella watched Ratatoille and Wheels on the Bus on the computer :) I guess the hotel has a BIG childrens water park area with a pirate ship and a big slide. We didn't have a chance to go see it, but I heard it was really cool! Maybe next time...I don't think we can afford to stay there, though! Haha! The Women Have Heart paid for everything! YAY! :D
This is the view from the balcony. Very beautiful...
Here is Tom and Ella eating breakfast. We were POOPED! We didn't go to bed until after 11 and then Ella decided it would be a good idea to wake up at 6:50! *sigh*....so early...
Another view from our window...
Ella thought the balcony was really neat :)
Here is a picture of the cemetary outside the church. It was really cool looking. Very old...with the ocean in the background.
Here is the inside of the church. It wasn't that big, but I guess they sold about 130-150 tickets! Not too shabby!
Outside of the church...
Ta Da! We are rock stars! Look at that HUGE banner with our faces! Haha! :) I guess we were in the newspaper for quite some time before the concert, too. I need to go buy some copies of those...
Another church picture...
Inside of the church during the concert...
Another inside picture...
Here we are! The superstars! We pretty much played the same program as before. La Vaune and Jesse added some a capella pieces to the first half, which was nice, so it made it a smidge longer. Very fun :)
This is all the women who are a part of the Women Have Heart foundation. Most of them are breast cancer survivors. The whole concert was a charity event and I guess they made lots of money! YAY! :)

Anguilla was a fun little island. It is about 35 square miles but REALLY long and skinny. The island itself is really ugly - very desertish and dry - but the beaches are BEAUTIFUL and the hotels are AMAZING. I guess Harrison Ford and Callista Flockhart were staying at our hotel! Jesse saw them at the pool....and didn't tell Jenni until it was too late! That was not a nice conversation that followed.... :) hehehehe

They drive on the left side of the road, but a lot of the cars have the steering wheels on the left side too? Weird.... :)

The concert was a success! And the trip was VERY fun! If we hadn't have had Tom's birthday party the night before, I would have liked to stay an extra day before or something! It was a very low key island - no traffic AND nice roads! I recommend taking a little trip to Anguilla if you get the chance! :D