A recent camping trip to Moutain Pine Ridge

 

 In March we went camping with my sister's family together and here are some pics to show the fun we had. The baby in the middle is my sister's.

 Steaks and tortillas, anyone?

 

 A few of us checked out the abandoned military camp close by. 

 Let boys be boys! Just after this trip my nephew here broke his collar bone and had to take it easy for a while.

 This swimming hole was visited every day by the men and kids. the boys had fun swinging and jumping into the water.

 The hills are steeper than it looks in photos.

 Gametime.

Below is the video of a jump into the river close to home:

A trip to the lake

One day we decided it was time to take our kids to the lagoon, where we so often went for fun when we were younger. The lake now is not visited nearly as much as it used to be, which makes is all the more a hidden quiet retreat in the jungle to get away to on a lazy Sunday. And to be honest, a little spooky.

  Bad thing, it rained. Good thing, we could eat under this shelter and enjoy it until the rain let up. the lake was much higher than I remember it being.

 Then we heard a howler monkey from the jungle, up close! The kids were super excited to go and find it. 

Except little Vicky of course, she did not think this strange noise was anything to be happy about.

 We wanted to see at least one crocodile in one of the lakes but we had no luck. Maybe next time. They will appear in the night if you go rafting out unto the lake on a full moon night. I am talking from experience, and one I would never ever care to repeat. Whew.

 Here they are inside the green hole. This hole resembles the other ones surrounding the lagoon but for some reason this one does not hold any water.???

 

 Little miss and myself did not go down but watched from above. 

 Climbing out of the hole.

 Going home again. It was a fun visit, but it is always good to be out of the jungle again where we can feel a little safer. Its a beautiful country, but you always cast an extra look over your shoulder in places like these.

A Day Out

Last Saturday we went out for the day with the crew that is associated with the light plant where Daniel works part time. The kids sure enjoyed it; I did too, but wasn't able to do the things most others did because of my blessed situation. It was ok; this way I was able to focus all attention on Timothy and had fun with him.

We went on a bus with the other folks together to Cave's Branch where most enjoyed some zip lining and cave tubing. I enjoyed watching where I could. A shame I couldn't zipline, as from a kid I have always dreamed of doing it. Hopefully some day!

 Getting all saddles up for the journey through space.

 

 What's this? Not my baby! Yes, my baby too! Guess what this mother prayed as she saw her helpless little 3 year old fly down that line hanging on for dear life! (Why don't they enforce any age rules around here...???)

 O well; you want them to grow up sometime.

 

 There she goes! It's pretty hard to get a good photo of this sport. Everything goes too fast!

 And this is the only proof I have that my baby made it across the first line. For whatever reason I or my camera couldn't operate when he was in the air...wonder why...

 After one zip he was done! Ah what a relief on my part...although I think he enjoyed it; with him it is hard to tell...

Joseph had no problem zipping along like a pro. I enjoy seeing him being such a brave tough little man.

 The next fun thing was tubing through the cave. I walked as far as the river but stopped there. Timothy had fun at the water for a while and after that we looked at a small cave.

 I tried to teach him to take a photo of me. Not too bad for a three year old after several tries!

 

 

Belize Animals-- Colorful!!!

I came across this site today; this person has been to Belize to photograph wildlife, and it is incredible the shots he took! Here you can check out the rest of his work. I just don't know what language he speaks; all I know is, his photos look great!

Finally, an Update!

Hi! Now that we live in a third world country, internet access is not so easy anymore, so that's the reason I am not writing lots lately. I hope it will improve soon. I still have some to share about our last times in the US and some about the trip.

The children have been sick. Cough, diarrhea, and today Jessica fell down pretty hard with a bicycle. Lucky she still has all her teeth. Now and then the children just want to cry, and I know I need to be very patient with them as I understand it is very hard on them to have made this move. The good thing is, they already have lots of friends so that makes it easier for them. They are getting settled, and I think by now they would prefer to live here instead of moving back. I wake up happier each day lately as well. There is so much reason for us to be happy here. Daniel is very much enjoying his new job here.

Our stuff and our cars won't arrive before another 2 weeks or so, so until then I have to busy myself with other things. I am already working on getting a garden plot started. Let's hope the officials won't mind letting me take some seeds into this country, as I took some 'peaches and cream' sweet corn seeds along. Some things just aren't easy to come by here, and there is no guarantee that I will get it from the store once I want to plant it, and they might only have very limited choices, if any at all.

Enjoy the photos! It's a great life, at least on photos it is! :)


We decided to go for some fast food on the street; rice and beans with chicken. UM YUM.

That green tea tasted pretty good that day. The red cheeks say it all.

And, here's another good thing, when it gets so hot and we have time, we go swimming! We've got great rivers for it, and it is a good pastime.

Doesn't that look inviting???

My nephew and niece enjoying the picnic at the river.

In the morning the cows wake us up, or the birds, or the neighbor's chickens...

This chicken can get into the house, but not to worry, he is usually shooed out. It's my niece's pet, by the way... And I don't think I need to explain the no-pants issue here... it's too hot for that.

Today I watched my brother in law plow their garden... Uum, Uum, I wouldn't exactly recommend this!!! It seemed as if the plow wasn't heavy enough.


Ok, that's it for today. I will be sure to update when I have time or access, so be sure to stay in touch.

A new word...

Timothy learned a new word yesterday. "Ice". It's a pretty important word to use in this country, and it sure will come in handy, especially these days.

We have a lot of adjusting to do, and sometimes I just feel like getting back on that plane and going home again. We did have a thunderstorm and lots of rain last night, so that cleaned the air a little and refreshed this parched world some.

And, my brother installed AC in his guestroom, so that is wonderful! The children and myself sleep a lot better now.

Let's see, Timothy got bitten by fire ants already, but so far he does not seem allergic to them, so there is another positive thing! There seems to be no way of escaping those ants.

Let's see what else is different. Lizards in the house, I had kinda forgotten about that one. Aw well, they don't do no harm, probably just good as they eat insects.

If one can get used to the humidity, heat, ants, lizards, and awful roads and no access to Walmarts, one might actually enjoy living here...

Don't worry, in a few months when the weather cools, and we have our own place to call home, I will probably tell you all about the wonderful paradise we live in!