Belize, part 2

On Thursday, we had booked an all day Chill Cruise with Island Dream Tours. It was a fabulous way to spend Thanksgiving!

We checked in at a dock at the north-ish end of town and boarded the YOLO catamaran for the day, along with about 17 other people and the crew. It took about 30 minutes to make our way to the Hol Chan Reserve (with breakfast french toast sandwiches provided along the way), where we all set out snorkeling for about 45 minutes...seeing sea turtles and sting rays and LOTS of fish and coral. (We got an underwater camera for this purpose along with waterproof cases for our phones but decided at the last minute not to use any of that and to just enjoy the experience. So I have no pictures. :( But. The crew took videos and photos all day (I didn't realize that would be part of the deal) and says they'll be sending those along later this week, so hopefully I'll have some pictures to share after that.)

I'm pretty proud of myself for not throwing up or getting seasick, btw. My only other experience with snorkeling was in Hawaii back in 2015 and I got pretty sick pretty fast then. I didn't think I'd be able to handle it, lol. But. I think knowing what to expect and being determined to make it work helped. (We went out in small groups with our guides and if I'd needed to go back to the boat, my whole group would have had to go back.) Also, the crew recommended that everyone wear a life vest (tied around our waists, not around our necks in "Titanic mode," lol) and that made it easier to take breaks and rest, too. I think Nathan was the only person besides the guides from our whole group that didn't use a life vest, as he wanted to be able to dive deeper. 

We then got back on the boat and had fresh fruit (and the drinks were endless all day...a bartender was always ready to fill drink requests, be they alcoholic or not) as we journeyed a bit further to Shark Ray Alley to get in the water with nurse sharks and rays (and more sea turtles!). Back in the boat again after that, we headed to some mangroves for calmer water when lunch was served...a buffet of jerk chicken, sweet corn rice, BBQ pork ribs and coleslaw. Honestly, it was one of the best meals I had during our time in Belize! (And, they prepared a special meal for Micah to accommodate his gluten and sugar free diet! He says his was delicious, and I actually liked his coleslaw better, lol.) I'm sad I forgot to take any pictures but was too busy enjoying the food. :) 

After lunch, we ventured to what appeared to be the middle of nowhere to anchor in for a couple hours of just chillin' in waist/shoulder deep water. It was gorgeous! The boys played some football and volleyball and I enjoyed some rum drinks and laying in the sun. :) We headed leisurely back to the dock after that, with shrimp ceviche along the way and more music and some dancing and just general happiness.

Top: The YOLO (we picked the YOLO because it was one of the larger boats and actually had shade available...which helped both my seasickness and Nathan's whiteness, lol)...enjoying pineapple and watermelon juices

Middle: at the chill spot (we all had rash/sun guards on while snorkeling but Micah and I took ours off at the chill spot)...Micah crashed on the way to lunch...football at the chill spot

Bottom: beautiful waters and a volleyball net...again with the juices and relaxing

Once back at the dock, we said our goodbyes and headed back to the resort for some time again in the pool and hot tub then showers and downtime. We ventured across the street for dinner and cornhole before playing cards in the room before bed.

Clockwise from top left: Noah and Micah waiting for our food (actually taken not on Thursday), a shot of the food shacks from the resort side of the road, Thanksgiving dinner for Nathan, Micah and me (pork tacos, salbutes, panades and patties...um, yum!), Thanksgiving dinner for Asher and Noah (chicken burgers and fries that apparently were great), very difficult to see Asher and Nathan playing cornhole with the Tipsy Lobster shack in the background, and the whole fish that Noah had for dinner on Friday night (also delicious!).

Friday we had a leisurely morning (it was vacation, after all, lol) then ventured to town for brunch at Estel's by the Sea to try fry jacks (awesome!!). While we were enjoying our beach view, there was a celebration going on in the neighboring Central Park to celebrate the 35th anniversary of township...and all the elementary school kids were being ushered back and forth from their school (just south of there) to the gathering. One of the soccer boys from Wednesday recognized Micah and they waved. (We're guessing he got a thrill out of telling his friends all about playing with the tourists earlier in the week, lol.) 

After lunch, we did a final bit of souvenir shopping (and the boys all got to pick their Christmas shirts for this year) before heading back for some pool and down time. (Asher did his backflip for Belize on the beach, too...though we'd hoped to do it on the water trampoline that had been at the resort's beach area just days before. They had just moved it to repair a leak, though.) Snacks in the room, naps, and then across the road for dinner...then back to the room for board games and packing.

Clockwise from top left: our table at Estel's while school kids walked by...stopped for a quick picture in front of this mural at The Truck Stop...from the dock at our resort (looking south)...the view from the passenger seat of our golf cart going down Middle Street...playing with a photo toy (that's me and Asher)...the sign at Estel's.

Saturday, then, was another travel day. Up and checked out with plenty of time and took the resort shuttle to the airport...a bit delayed but got on our 12 passenger plane back to Belize City... 

Top: aerial view of the lagoon side of the island and Secret Beach...aerial view of the coast where our resort was

Bottom: strangely fancy terminal in San Pedro for Maya Air (crystal chandeliers and marble floors)...runway in San Pedro...undeveloped forest/jungle just before landing in Belize City

Once in Belize City and through customs and such, we grabbed some lunch then caught our Southwest flight (just barely) to Denver. (It was really hard to hear the PA system and we'd had to sit a bit away from our gate...ended up being the last ones on board.) We landed in a very snowy Denver just after dark and were greeted by temperatures about 70 degrees cooler than we'd just left. Half of us had dressed for Belize weather and half for Denver. The half that had dressed for Belize added layers once we landed, lol. We ate dinner at the terminal before catching a shuttle to our van in the economy lot. Fortunately, the whiteout conditions and high winds had died down after dark and we were able to drive home uneventfully. (Earlier in the day, roads were being closed due to low visibility.)

So. Yes, we timed our vacation pretty well...leaving just before the big snow storm and arriving back just after the secondary snow and high winds. Got ourselves all unpacked and situated yesterday (did all the laundry, restocked groceries and boys finished what homework they needed to...Micah even went and climbed a bit and I made it to the gym in the morning...and we finished out the evening with a movie). Boys were all back to school today...

And that was our vacation. :) Probably one more post coming with some thoughts and tips...

Belize, part 1

So. We spent last week in Belize. :) With boys getting older and schedules getting busier, we figure we need to take advantage of family vacations while we can...and all three of them had the full week off for Thanksgiving. 

Yup, so we flew out of Denver on Monday, just before mother nature dumped 18" of snow on Fort Collins. (Woohoo!!) Our flight landed in a balmy Belize City about four hours later (the Southwest flight, btw, was great...the flight attendants invited us to write advice for a newlywed couple on board and we all sang happy birthday to everyone with a November birthday)...we made it through immigration and customs and onto our transfer flight from there to San Pedro (a 15 minute flight on a 12 passenger plane, unfortunately in the dark so we didn't get to see everything from the air)...and our resort's shuttle collected us there and drove us to the resort, Belizean Shores. We ordered dinner to our rooms and mostly called it a night. Whew. Travel days are always long, lol. 

Clockwise from the top left: boys waiting in the airport to get on the little plane, the view of the pool from our rooms, the loft area in our suite (Asher and Noah had beds up there, Micah got the pull out couch, and Nathan and I obviously got the bedroom), the fun folded towels that greeted us on arrival, a view of Belize City just after take off, and my view from my seat to San Pedro. (San Pedro is the only town on the island of Ambergris Caye just off the northeast coast of Belize. The entire area is about 25 miles long and 1 mile wide. Our resort was about 3.5 miles north of town, at the end of the lone "good" road.) 

Tuesday we got up and ready and picked up the golf cart I'd reserved through our resort. We headed north to Secret Beach, which was perhaps not the best choice for an inaugural driving of our six person golf cart, lol. As I mentioned, our resort was literally at the end of the "good" road...further north was all dirt and potholes. But. We found it! (It's really not difficult as there's only the one road and there are huge signs pointing the way, lol.) We unknowingly found ourselves escorted to the Maruba Bar area of the beach, but ended up being really okay with that.

(There are apparently public parking and beach areas along with areas run by individual bars and such...if you set your stuff up at one of the bars you're expected to eat and drink there or, at a minimum, pay for the use of their chairs and umbrellas. Ricky waved us in, got us parked and set us up at chairs and umbrellas without explaining any of that. But. He also got us fun floaty things and a delicious lunch and brought us drinks in the water. So, we were happy.)

These pictures were all at Secret Beach. We were glad to have gotten there in the morning when it was quiet and mostly empty and enjoyed our time just playing. Because it wasn't quite busy season yet, some of the rental vendors (with paddle boards and kayaks and such) weren't open, but we entertained ourselves seeing how far out boys could go and still touch (quite a ways!), exploring under some of the docks, and just lazing in the sun. 

After lunch and drinks, we found our way back to the resort and enjoyed the pool and hot tub a bit before cleaning up and heading into town. We found a great little restaurant called Caramba's on Middle Street (there are three parallel N/S streets in San Pedro--Front Street is along the Caribbean to the east, Middle Street is next and then Back Street). After dinner, we stopped at a grocery store to pick up a few things before making our way back to the resort to play some cards before calling it a night.

Wednesday, we opted to not get in the water and do some exploring of the area instead. We began the day with Nathan walking to get his daily coffee just across the road at one of the little food shacks there and then making eggs in our suite. After that, boys opted to just chill at the resort while Nathan and I drove into town...stopping at a Marbucks along the way (saw the sign and had to check it out) and then finding the artisan market I'd read about. We had a lovely chat with one of the woodworking artisans there, Terril Hemsley, and picked up a few things before heading back. We collected boys and drove south again, stopping for lunch between our resort and the town at a place called The Truck Stop, which is a collection of eateries and a bar in shipping containers that I sadly neglected to actually take any pictures of. It's a pretty cool area that has night time events like trivia and movie nights, had a pool and dock and game area, and just had an overall fun atmosphere. 

We then continued on into town and showed the boys the artisan market, where Asher and Micah and I wandered some more and did some shopping while Nathan and Noah ended up next door at the House of Culture learning about the history of the area. While we were waiting for Nathan and Noah to get back, two little local boys approached us and asked the boys to play soccer with them in the small "courtyard" area of the market...which was great fun! After that, we went looking for a coffee place Nathan wanted to find (at the far south end of town, beyond the paved roads) only to find it closed for the day so ended up at the Belizean Chocolate Company for some treats before heading back to our resort. Along the way, we got caught in a downpour! (Yes, it's the end of the rainy season and, yes, we were warned that perhaps we should keep rain jackets with us but hadn't taken them. Yes, we got completely soaked because golf carts don't offer much protection, lol.)

So. Back to dry off and then we tried to go across the road to the food shacks for dinner but ended up walking down the road just a short bit to the sister resort, Coco Beach, since they actually had a restaurant and people staying at our resort were able to charge things to our rooms there, too. It was a very fancy restaurant, to our surprise. But we ate there and then walked back, checking out some board games from the front desk on our way. 

Top: Nathan with Terril at the artisan market, me with the large iguana just across the road from our resort, Micah walking back toward our resort from the dock

Middle: Our trusty six seater golf cart (almost everyone gets around via golf cart on the island if not walking or biking), boys playing soccer with the local boys

Bottom: Micah found a "climbing wall" LOL (no, we didn't get any rock climbing in during vacation), the Marbucks Coffee House sign, a fun sign along the main road (I don't think it's an actual town...just signs surrounding one of the resort areas), and one of many hilarious signs at The Truck Stop

And that was the first half of our vacation... :) More in just a minute...

Oh! And, btw, while we were enjoying all of this, our house looked like this:

Thank goodness for neighbors with snow blowers and lovely friends who watch over things while you're away!

Happy Seventieth!

My dad would have been 70 today. He's been gone twelve years now. As has become an annual tradition, I'm handing out Three Musketeers bars in his memory today. Because we just got home from a week away and I'm still catching up (more on that soon!) and because it's just easier at the moment, I'll direct you to the Good Grief Blog I had awhile back to see and read layouts I made about him. He was such a good man. 

Just a favorite picture of my dad at the farm, showing Noah how to drive a tractor back in the summer of 2004. 

Happy birthday, Dad!

Thankful Thursday

This week...

1. Neighborhood organized classes. Last week, Nathan and I attended a small class on AED assisted and hands free CPR. It was organized by our neighborhood and within walking distance (though we ended up driving given schedule issues). Nice reminder/refresher and we learned some new things, too!

2. Being ahead on holiday lists. I'm pretty organized. I know that. :) I'm a planner and tend to start on holiday to do lists early in the year. Yet, most years I somehow forget how much time each little thing takes and end up scrambling in December. So, given that I have more time than usual this year, I'm delighted that I know I'm ahead of schedule right now. I've finished or prepped most all of our gifts, know which cards I'll be ordering, and have a plan for when to mail what. I know that December will get busy...but I'm thankful at the moment that it feels more manageable than normal. :) 

3. A full week off. I know I'm spoiled..my boys have always had a full week off for Thanksgiving. Sometimes, when homeschooling, heck...we took two weeks off, lol. Since starting at CEC, we've had to work with school schedules. So I'm very thankful that CEC has always had the full week of Thanksgiving off. Since CSU also takes the full week, it works out to a nice break all together. Yay!

4. Microwave popcorn. We've been eating a lot of popcorn lately. It's a decent gluten and sugar free snack. :)

5. Weather forecasts. Even though they're often wrong, lol, I appreciate weather forecasts. At least with them, yesterday's snow didn't take me by complete surprise...especially considering that the day before I was wearing sandals. ;) Thanks, Colorado, for keeping it interesting, lol.

Climbing competition

On Saturday, Nathan & I took Micah to his first climbing competition! It was down in Colorado Springs and it went really well...

So...for grandparents and those who are curious, here's how it works (as I currently understand it, lol). There are two seasons. The fall is for bouldering (no ropes) and the spring is for sport climbing (ropes). During the season, there are 5-7 local competitions. Climbers go to those to try to qualify for regionals. I don't know yet about how sport climbing season works; but, for bouldering season, climbers must finish in the top 16 at one of the local competitions to qualify. 

I'm not sure if all local competitions run the same way, though I'm guessing they're close. Climbers were given three hours to try to climb whatever routes they chose. Routes were numbered from 1 to 40 in order of difficulty and points were assigned respectively. Judges manned each route and had to sign to log attempts and verify completion of routes. The climber's top five completed routes were added up for his/her total score. There was no penalty for number of attempts. It was pretty chill and, at the end, climbers just had to turn in their scorecards and were able to leave...no waiting around like the end of JOAD (archery) tournaments...as results were almost immediately posted online.

So. Given that Micah only joined Team Ascent last Tuesday, there was only this one local competition left before regionals. He had two practices with the team and then went to the competition on Saturday. (Normally, there would be other team members also competing and a team coach present, but given the distance and the end of the season, no others from Team Ascent were there.) The goal was simply to gain experience with competing, recognizing that we were coming to the season late. Micah managed to have a good time...enjoyed climbing somewhere different, attempted multiple routes, and learned more about how competitions work. And...he placed tenth (woohoo!) so has qualified for regionals next month. Very proud of his hard work and attitude!