Bathtime fun with an orange

The many faces of Cookie Monster

Random trip pics.

Lena Becca, Jonah and mom hanging out on the trampoline.
The kids spent most of their time on it.















Mmmmmm. Bubblegum ice cream!















Even yummier is coconut ice cream!!!
















I love this picture so much. It reminds me of a very realistic watercolor painting Ive seen before. I think I would like to frame it.

Spring cleaning!

OK so I have probably a dozen posts to do before I finish up on our trip...but life does go on!

Spring cleaning was a phrase that I never fully understood. Why would someone clean more in the spring than any other particular time. Now that I have a large piece of land, a garden, greenhouse, and a gigantic strawberry patch all overtaken with weeds and willow trees I get it. Oh do I get it. So here is a Spring cleaning list I have thrown together. With any luck some of these jobs wont carry over into NEXT spring!
















SPRING CLEANING:

· CUT HEDGES
· WEED STRAWBERRIES
· ADD SOIL TO GARDEN
· PRUNE APPLE TREES
· WASH OUTSIDE HOUSE
· FINISH BASEBOARDS
· TILE COUNTERTOPS
· CABINET HARDWARE
· REPAINT DECK
· BUILD MOM A DECK
· CUT DOWN WILLOW TREES IN FIELD
· CLEAN & REPAIR GUTTERS




And then of coarse the obvious washing of windows and such things I dont need to list. So far the hedges are cut, strawberries are half weeded, and half the cabinet hardware is put on. This weekend we will build mom a deck. Then next weekend Jon will be off to The Charlottes for a while :(

Dylan and Emily were amazing that day. We started at 10am. They had a red wagon they filled up with brush, pulled over to the pile of brush we started, emptied the wagon and pulled it back, got another load and so on. Emily made it about 2 hours, Dylan lasted the entire day! No complaining either! He was so happy to have a job and work beside daddy. Usually he complains if I make him pick up a tshirt on the floor. Not this particular day though. He worked his butt off for 6 straight hours (lunch break included). We were so impressed that daddy gave him $10 to go and buy something from Walmart. Emily got $5. Now that ,ay sound like alot for a 4 and 2 year old...but I havent bought them a toy since Christmas. Chores are now their only way to new toys. They work hard and at the end of the month they are rewarded with an appropriate amount of money they can spend. Right now they empty the dishwasher every day(I take the knives out), and clean up anything that is laying on the floor usually once a day. After all its probably there because they put it there! Im not really sure what else I should be making them do at this age but Im sure I will think of more. For now I am extremely happy with their willingness and eagerness to help me. I will make use of it while it lasts for sure!
















Voila! Pretend the unpruned apple trees arent there.

Placencia

We took a 2 day trip to a sleepy little tourist village called Placencia. It was very nice there. During the morning and early afternoon the ocean was calm and the water warm. During the late afternoon and evening the waves got bigger. The kids had a great time splashing around in the waves searching for any signs of life in the water. Corey found a big starfish that Dylan and Tommy fought over for quite a long time. The other kids put on snorkeling masks and swam around looking at the odd fish that would come close. For the most part it was just relax time for us adults.

One of the cabanas we stayed in.

There they are. Fighting over the starfish!

It was a perfect starfish!

So cute.

Just a good pic of me:)

This picture makes me very sad. Its hard to take Dylan away from this life.

This is the morning we left Placencia. Goodbye.

A day at the river.

Lena's brother Josh and his wife Sandra invited us all out for a picnic at a river one day. I was picturing something a little different than this when I reluctantly said yes. I instantly think of fast moving sewage filled deep water when I think Belizean river. Imagine my suprise to see this beautiful place! The water was shallow along the edge where the kids played most of the time. The adults could walk chest high to the other side and bring the kids easily. It was probably the most enjoyable day spent in Belize. It was really nice to have so much family around - and getting along!

Mom watching over some of the kids .

The kids spent the whole time looking for shells

Here is Julie and James with the shells everyone found.

Tommy with one shell.

Sandra and Josh.

Kenya and Jonah. When she was around Jonah only had eyes for her!

Lena and me.

Jon took the boys for a little canoe ride.

Swimming with the sharks!

Our 2nd trip during our stay in Belize was to San Pedro. THE tourist spot in Belize. Its an island about an hours boat ride from the mainland. Its main attraction is diving and snorkeling . Divers go to the Blue Hole which is a very deep crater with lots of aquatic life and corals and everything you could want from a diving spot. I however do not and will never dive. I could hardly put my face under the water with a snorkeling mask and take 1 breath. Its just not for me. Jon and I decided that instead of us going out snorkeling on seperate days (someone staying at the hotel to watch the kids) we would charter a glass bottom boat and my mom, Jon and I and the kids could all go out for a few hours and see fish from the comforts of the inside of a boat. Good plan. It was really neat. The glass bottom boat was more like a plastic rectangle in a quarter of the bottom of the boat, but it done the job. When we pulled up to what is called Shark - Ray Alley a whole bunch of nursing sharks come to say hi and see what you have to feed them. My mom refused to get in but Jon and I did. Then Dylan got in after a few minutes. He didnt stay in very long. He said he seen a sting ray and that he was sure it was going to kill him just like the Crocodile hunter! Poor kid. I think he hears too many adult conversations that we dont think he's listening to. Anyways. I didnt last too long in either. I just cant breathe through a mask underwater. And Im also a terrible swimmer. So I got out and took over parental duties so mom could have a turn in the water once the sharks left.

It was a long day and a very slow boat ride but it made a good day trip with the kids. Emily and Jonah never got in the water but the rest of us did. Even if it was really short lived for Dylan and I. Emily was so tired that on the way back she fell asleep sitting up on the floor of the boat looking at the fish going under the boat.

Bacab

When the going got hot, the hot got going...to Bacab! This is the greatest pool Ive ever been to by far. The entire place is designed out of concrete. The waterfall, rock walkways, all concrete. It is beautiful. Best of all it was free to go to because Lena's brothers built it so we were all VIP's! Dylan and Emily put on there water wings things and basically swam around for hours. Tommy and James already knew how to swim but it didnt take long before Dylan and Emily were right there. I thought Emily would be nervous but she wasnt at all. She just went off on her own and would float on her back, then on her front, and back again! She had so much fun.

Jonah wasnt too sure half the time whether he wanted to swim or sleep. When he did go in the water he had a blast! He was like a completely different baby in Belize. Happy, smiley, all day long. It was wonderful.

One storm.

We had only one storm the whole month we were in Belize. There were a few days of cold and rain but only one storm. Not even anything to write home about but I just love this picture!

Altun-Ha

Our first real "trip" within Belize was to a Mayan Ruin site. I have to say that I couldnt think of anything more dreadfully boring than looking at a big old bunch of rocks piled one on top of another. But hey. Thats what floats Jon's boat. And the kids had lots of fun too. Im not sure the story of the Myans but it went something like...They lived a long time ago, there were millions of them, they built all these ruins, and one day they all just dissapeared. A little spooky. Nobody knows what happened to them. They just vanished. Thats my version of it anyways:)



So this is the first and biggest ruin we climbed. Yes we brought the kids Waaaaaaaaay up ther and they thought it was just awesome!

Here is the view from the top. Not too bad eh.

And here we all are. We left Emily and Jonah behind with Lena. Not a good place for babies.




Here are the three amigos! Inseperable the entire trip. Dylan loved every minute.

Onward!

Well moving on...Belize here we come. After a few days of rest in Playa ( and a wedding that I forgot to bring my camera to) our time is up in Mexico. We had to take a 4 hour bus ride to Chetumal, Mexico. Then a taxi to the border, and finally on the Belizean side we were picked up by Corey and Lena. From there it was another 2 hours in a small crew cab with 5 adults and 3 kids. Can you say SQUISHED! Of course we had our luggage in the back of the truck and what do you think happened the? A massive rain storm that probably lasted 1 hour. Our luggage was pretty wet by the time we made it to the hotel. But hey! Who cares cause we made it!!!

Playa Del Carmen

Wow. Its really hard to look back and remember things that happened 6 weeks ago. I wish I had had the time to post as the events occurred.


So we had like THE longest day ever on Tuesday (Feb. 26th). First off we drove to Seattle on Monday. We went to bed around 9pm, got up at 1am, woke the kids, loaded them up in a shuttle with all our luggage, and went to the airport. We sat around there for 3 hours till our flight at 5:20 am. Got to Phoenix, AZ at 7:30. 8:30 we got on our next plane and arrived in Cancun at 3pm. Alas, our trip was not over yet! Then we had to find a taxi large enough to fit 3 kids, 3 adults and 5 - yes 5! 50 pound bags. I know they were all 50 pound bags because when they checked our baggage on the plane there is a 50 pound limit on each bag and we exceeded the limit on 4 out of 5 bags so we had to shuffle contents around till they all evened out under the limit. Man, that was fun! So once we found that large taxi ( a small bus really) we had to drive to Playa Del Carmen which was another 45 minutes away. We finally get into Playa and the taxi man has no idea where our hotel is and proceeds to drive around for another half an hour!!!





Well when we finally got to our hotel I must say it was worth the wait. Marble floors and countertops. A marble shower ensuite. Soaker tub in the 2nd bathroom. Stainless steel fridge/stove/dishwasher, Microwave. It was awesome. 3 seperate bedrooms. A HUGE walk through closet!Great.

The kids were so good on the airplane and the taxi ride! I could not believe how well it went. I think Jon and I were in worse moods than they wee. It was just another adventure to Dylan and Emily. For Jonah it was a good excuse to sit on mommy and daddy all day long!

By the time we got to Cancun Jonah was so sick with a cough and cold. For a few days it sounded like he might have pneumonia. Irefused to turn the air conditioning on in the hotel room, which of course made everyone else a little irratated. Too bad!

He was a little snuggle bum while he was sick. When we got to Playa Jonah still couldnt crawl. Just pull himself around on his belly with one arm. The floor was all marble tile everywhere though and very cold. Jonah hated feeling his belly on the cold floor so after a few hours he was crawling!









Emily wanted so badly to pick the pretty flowers. I let her pick one but I made her stand there so I
could take some pictures first!

Dylan spotted the pool on the way in and could not wait to get in it. Every waking moment spent at the hotel was spent in the pool. I had him take swimmimg lessons before we left for our trip but it was a waste of $$$. He learned more from daddy in a day than a month at the pool.