turtle pier restaurant

 this was the view from the balcony on clare and stella's departure day - a good day for flying i'd say.  on our last outing before taking them to the airport we found ourselves at turtle pier restaurant.  on a whim we stopped there for lunch after trying to go to the über-crowded sunset beach bar.  we had never been but i'd always been curious about it.

well i knew this place was going to be great for two children tired of going places when this big blue parrot greeted us on the walkway from the parking lot to the restaurant.
 

 he was friendly but ezra roared at him a little.

 i was even more delighted when i saw the following views and just kept snapping pictures on the way to our table.

the colorful bar

the dock

the pier

 there was a lobster cage

 ezra wasn't worried this time and took a closer look.

 after getting our table and placing our order we continued to walk around.  the parrot was on his perch.

 much to our surprise we found about a dozen more birds in cages all around the property.

 ezra found this old radio flyer.  he has the same one in mint condition waiting for him at his grandparent's house where we'll be living for a while.  it seems everyday we're talking about our upcoming move back to california and getting our minds ready.  we sent clare with a suitcase full of ezra's toys to go back - thank you again clare!!!

 this is the view of the restaurant from where we were checking out all the birds.

 on our way out we were surprised to see these monkeys.  we totally missed them on the way in because of the parrot.

 i love monkeys

and good friends!

 here was the last animal we saw - a land tortoise doing some sun bathing.  it was the perfect little hour lunch spot with its mini-zoo and good food on the breezy pier.

here is ezra saying goodbye to stella and clare as they make their way upstairs through security.  what a fun week it was to be on vacation with them.  see you in april clare and stella!  thank you for all the good times on st. maarten.