On the Road Again

Today we woke to a serene ocean.. it was like glass. It almost seemed like it was beckoning us to stay a little longer. How tempting.

During breakfast Darin started to pack the vehicle when he discovered there was a flat on the rear tire. (Hey, this isn't a Peichel vacation!) So that was the first bump in our day. He changed it with a full-sized spare. Later he told me that there was a slight scare when the jack tilted sideways in the sand, but luckily there was a guy who noticed and helped. We felt a bit nervous about hitting the bumpy back roads and mountains without a working spare so a guy at the gas station had a friend who would fix it for us for $6 US.

Much to our surprise the pothole stricken road seemed to have been grated so it wasn't as bumpy, which made for a much more pleasant ride. Both girls even fell asleep.

We made an hour detour to San Ignacio to stop at a Mayan ruin. At first I wasn't too excited about the idea because I envisioned an open field at full sun and humidity. Much to our surprise the ruins were all in the shade. The girls loved exploring and climbing the ruins, they would find new rooms and make up stories as they explored. Most of my pictures are of Kate on this adventure because she is the only one I could keep up with! After an hour or so we were exhausted and got back on the road to Belize City.

We ended up getting into Belize City well ahead of schedule. We arrived at 3pm, which was nice so we could get dinner and reorganize our packing and plans for tomorrow's flight home.

I doubt we'll blog tomorrow as we leave Belize at 12:30 and get into the freezing MN around 11pm.

Last Day in Placencia

Our last full day in Placencia was good. The ocean was unusually calm so Emma and I snorkeled in front of our cabin. We saw a lot more sea life then we thought we would (5 starfish, conk and fish). We also dove for shells which was fun. Snorkeling is very relaxing to me.. I almost feel like I'm sleeping, I think this is because of the consistent breathing. I made Emma wear sweat pants on her legs and I wore a shirt so we didn't get more sunburn.

The day was also filled with some shopping for souvenirs and gifts. Of course since we were going past our favorite smoothie place (The Shak) we decided to stop for a game of Chinese checkers. We thought we would do a double treat and stop at the ice cream place too, but sadly it was closed on Wednesdays :-(

We relaxed in the hammocks and on the beach some more. The girls discovered Disney channel was on the TV after all (ugh)... that darn Hannah Montana song. We caught Kate recording a whole episode with her camera's video and later watching it!

Laughingbird Caye

Tuesday was our trip to Laughingbird Caye for snorkeling, though we weren't sure in the morning whether it would be a go or not. Kate's left ear was really giving her trouble so I set out in search of a doctor early in the morning. The local clinic opened at 8am but the doctor wouldn't arrive until 9am, which is when our boat was set to leave, so we decided to go ahead with the tour and stop by on the way back around 3pm. We would just have to keep Kate on ibuprofen and out of the sun and water.



The boat to the caye (pronounced "key") was rough, about 12 miles out with a stiff headwind, but we did see two dolphins along the way. When we arrived at the caye it was amazing, like something out of a postcard, a narrow strip of land maybe 50 feet across and about 400 yards long. We got right to snorkeling and the camera worked great. Emma used a life vest for extra flotation and got the hang of snokeling pretty quick. In fact, she spent more time in the water than just about anyone.

When we got back to Placencia we headed straight to the clinic, only to find that the doctor had already left. Fortunately there was still a nurse on duty and she looked at Kate's ear. Good news, she was able to provide us with antibiotics and ear drops on the spot... and apparently at no charge! We made sure to give a donation though, we were very grateful. To celebrate we stopped by the ice cream shop on the way home.

By the end of the day we realized that even with all the sunscreen we had gotten pretty cooked. I think today we'll mostly stay out of the sun and just do a little shopping. It's our last full day in Placencia, tomorrow we'll be back on the road to Belize City. I'm hoping we'll have time to stop off an see Mayan Ruins in San Ignacio.

Monkey River Tour

The Monkey River Tour was excellent. Kate was a little unsure about the boat as we set out and wanted to turn back within about 5 minutes, but by the end she was saying it was the best day of her life (which was of course 6 years to the day :-).

Captain Burt navigated the boat from the peninsula to the mainland via a beautiful mangrove swamp. At the mouth of the Monkey River there was a small village where we picked up a tour guide and put in orders for lunch at Alice's Restaurant. The tour guide's name was Raymond and he was very knowledgeable about the wildlife and local history.

About two thirds the way up the river we stopped a conservation area and took a walk through the jungle (notice Raymond's machete in a couple of the photos). There were other guides there as well all searching for the howler monkeys. We found a small troop at first, but later ran across a very large troop of over a dozen monkeys! The guides goaded them into howling, very odd sound.

I have to cut this post short, we're going to try to find a doctor at the local clinic to take a look at Kate's ear infection. It was really bothering her last night and this morning.

Happy Birthday Kate!

Kate has been saying since we decided to come to Belize that she was going to have her birthday on the beach, so by golly we did. After our excursion to the Monkey River we stopped for some gelati at our favorite italian ice cream shop and headed for the beach in front of our cabin. We wrapped her Belizian gifts in the colorful shopping bags and she gleefully opened them. Emma was excited to give her the gift she bought which was a scarf/wrap. You can see in the pictures all the different ways she can use it. Kate calls it her new blanket though! In an attempt to have a cake we bought prepackaged little cakes... very unique and she loved it.

I also convinced Kate to take her 6 year old pictures... what a better backdrop! She cooperated for a little while... I think we may have got a portrait. Let me know which is your favorite.

Day Four

So, we didn't do much yesterday either. By the time we had looked into the Monkey River tour the boat had already left. So we booked a trip today, we'll be leaving in about 20 minutes. The main event yesterday was a game of Life at the smoothie shop. Emma and I practiced snorkeling in the ocean, though there isn't much to see where we're at.

There is a bit of trouble in paradise though, it appears that Kate's ear infection has returned. We may check to see if there's a doctor around, but most likely we'll just keep her in pain relievers.

Gotta go, look forward to pictures of the Monkey River!

Pictures from our second day.

I have posted some pictures from our second day. Just click on the picture to see them.

Day Three

Not much to report for yesterday, mostly just laying about.

We had breakfast at De Tach, the same place we had dinner last night. I tried a local favorite called the Fry Jack, which is kind of like a deep fried omlet, but the egg is scrambled and it has salsa in it.

After breakfast we just kinda hung around the beach for a while. Later the girls went shopping while dad stayed behind for some more napping in the hammock. When they got back we decided to try dinner at the Green Space Monkey. The food was very good, Saima and Emma shared a 1/2 lb. lobster tail.

By the time we got back it was dark and the kids were ready to call it a day. Both Kate and Emma have rather pink faces, but Kate's burn looks pretty bad. Somehow we managed to pack several bottles of insect repellant and anti-itch gel, but no sunscreen or aloe! I went up to the Supermarket to find some aloe but they didn't have any.

We were hoping to take a boat out to the reef and do some snorkeling today, but not sure whether it's a good idea with Kate's burn. Perhaps we'll buy her a hat and take a boat trip up the Monkey River or something.

Beach at last

It's much more difficult to upload and post photos with very limited bandwidth, but here are a few on my Flickr account. Saima will have to edit and post the "good photos" later. ;-)

Day Two

Day Two

After breakfast at the hotel, we were on the road again. We saw a bit more of Belize City, but soon we were out of town on the Western Highway. The "highway" is comparable to County Road 1 near my parents, but with narrower shoulders. Still, we would be longing for this road again before the day was out.

Our first stop was the Belize Zoo, which was everything we had expected. Very small, but it seemed to have been cut right out of the jungle. The animals were incredible, the jaguars were the crown jewel.

It was only a little further to Belmopan, the national capital, where we stopped for gas and snacks. But not for long, because we could see the mountains ahead of us and were eager to keep going. The Mayan Mountains are only foothills by Rocky Mountain standards, but they were beautiful. The rocky canyons replaced by canyons of towering and flowering jungle trees on either side. And oranges, lots of orange groves.

We made one more stop at the Blue Hole, a sink hole that's a popular swimming destination. The girls couldn't resist trying it out, though Kate was a little hesitant. I couldn't believe the current within the hole. It welled up on the pool side and then flowed like a river for about 20 yards and then disappeared into the wall.

From there it was straight on to Placencia... or at least after a short detour down the wrong dirt road into an orange plantation. The right dirt road wasn't much better, rockier than I had expected and full of washboarding. Once we got onto the peninsula we were amazed to see the ocean on both sides of us at once, very narrow. And it seemed that where ever it was wider there was also new construction.

Once we arrived in Placencia we noticed the sign for our destination. It was a sandy side street that eventually required 4WD and a push from some passing tourists. But that was it. The side street from the road led to the main street of town... the longest sidewalk. A few "blocks" down was the main office and we were checked in before long. Approximately 2 minutes after that the girls were swimming in the ocean. :-)

After some conch fritters with a shrimp dinner, we made it an early bedtime again. Everyone was pretty exhausted from the day. But now we'll have plenty of time to rest and relax.

P.S. Saima wanted to make sure I mention some personal anecdotes as well, not just the logistical geographical blow by blow I typically write. So...

It's election season in Belize as well and one of the billboards you see around says "Believe in Belize". After Saima read one aloud Katelyn said thoughtfully, "I believe in... my dad!". Before her dad could get too choked up, she turned to her sister and asked what she believed in. Emma said with typical disdain for her sister, "I don't know, I'm going to take a nap". We had to crack up at that. So typical of both of them.

Day One

Ok, to bring the story up to date...

We dropped off Bronson the night before we left. I think he knew something was up because he seemed a little agitated. But once he realized he was going to see his good friend Hersheys (a cute female chocolate lab) he seemed to ok with the idea.

We tried to get everyone to bed early that night, but the girls were certainly not in the mood. You could tell they were too bursting with excitement to sleep. In fact, Emma woke up at 4:40 and asked me if it was time to go yet. ;-) Not quite, but we were all up soon after that, and everyone was in the van faster than I ever thought possible. I had to take one last picture of the -12 frozen tundra a reminder.



The flights were pretty uneventful as well, which is good I suppose. But not much to write about then either (not like running for the plane on our trip to the Grand Canyon). I suppose I could say that we regretted leaving our jackets in the van since the shuttle took like 20 minutes to get to the airport. And also that I think McDonald's is running some kind of copycat commercial to the "Get me my Whopper" ads by withholding sausage, egg, and cheese biscuits. Twice in the last week Emma has been denied her favorite morning treat because they're "all out". Weird.

We new things were going to be interesting on our approach to Belize when Kate blurted out "We're landing in the jungle!" Everyone within three rows got good chuckle from that one. After landing, we disembarked via stairs and walked into the airport. :-) We got through immigration, luggage, and customs all pretty smoothly. We tried to avoid all the porters trying to help us with our luggage, since we only needed to cross the street to get to the rental car place. But when we walked out the front door there was a guy standing there with my name on a plaque. He insisted on helping us over to the rental place (and also on being paid $6 Belize).



The rental place was a nice lady in an office not much larger than our closet. We had to wait around a bit for our turn, but Kate used the time to make friends with a local girl all dressed up in her school uniform. The Toyota Landcruiser looked like it had seen a few Belize back roads, but seemed sturdy and ran well.

With a Google map to the Radison in my head and a few vague pointers from the rental lady, we set out. It was pretty much a straight shot with the ocean on our left, but I must have missed a left because ended up on some pretty narrow streets. Still, I knew we were headed in the right general direction and we found it eventually. We checked in and got our stuff up to the room just as the sun was setting, and what view from the room. Wow. We headed out right away to see if we could get some good sunset pictures, but mostly just found a little park down the street where the girls played for a bit.



Dinner was at the hotel, a place called The Stone Grill. As it turns out, there are real stones involved and the come with the meal. The stones are very hot and the meal isn't even fully cooked. You turn your shrimp, fish, steak or whatever and let it cook how you want. The food was good, but Kate was a little put off by the shrimp (no kids meals here). After dinner the girls tried out their snorkeling equipment in the pool. I think it will be easier for them to get the hang of it in shallow open water.

And that was about it. Sleep came easy, the beds were comfy. All in all it was a pretty good day, but I'm really looking forward to more Belize exploration today. We may not be able to find Internet this evening but will try to check in again by tomorrow morning. Until then!

We've Arrived

First, for those prone to worry... we have arrived safe and sound. The traveling went without incident, which is pretty amazing. We've got some good stories to tell about the day, but I'll have to fill in the details and pictures a bit later. Bottom line, so far so good. Belize is certainly interesting... in a good way. ;)

The Final Countdown

Counting hours, not days. It's all logistics now, getting Bronson settled with the Peichels, moving the last bits of furniture downstairs, final packing so we don't have to think at 5am in the morning, and replacing the battery for the van (which picked great time to die).

I've also been trying to get precise directions to the place we'll be staying in Placencia. The proprietor doesn't quite seem to understand that we'll actually be driving there, she just assumed we'd be getting a taxi from the airstrip about 10 min away. I also get the impression after reading a few forums that there may not actually be "streets" in this town, that we may have to park a block or two away and use the famous sidewalk (2nd paragraph) to get to the front door.

Making Lists

Like astronauts preparing for launch, it seems like we've made a dozen lists and checked them off... photocopying documents, making extra keys, packing/repacking suitcases, updating emergency contact information. ;-)

Tonight I jotted down several latitude/longitude coordinates to enter into my old GPS unit. I figure it'll be a good backup for the map, and we can also use it to geocoding photos (you'll see how that works later).

Emma has already finished all of her pre-assigned homework for the entire trip (32 pages of math, 10 chapters of reading, and several other assignments). Unfortunately, she's also misplaced her camera... a chip off the ol' block eh?

Moving Day

Wait, what? A slight diversion from vacation packing, today we moved everything from the upstairs into the living room. Why? While we're out we've planned to replace the upstairs carpet with wood floors (the carpets in the girls rooms are looking pretty rough).

The girls were pretty helpful with everything. Somehow the idea of sleeping on their mattress on the floor was very cool. And of course, whenever you dig deep into the closets and drawers strange and wonderful things show up. They were kept pretty busy with toys they hadn't seen in a while.

The Peichels came over toward the end of the day and helped finish moving some of the heaviest items, and then we headed over to the River Inn in Hanover for some good food. The kids all had their own table and we didn't have to apologize to the waiter once!

Why Belize?

Ok, I've been asked enough times now that I should probably come up with a story... How did we decide on Belize as a destination?

Well, the first and more important requirement was that it be warm and sunny, of course. So, the usual suspects come up first (i.e. Mexico, Carribean). I've always wanted to see the Mayan ruins, so Cancun seemed like a good candidate. But after doing some research we just found it too "touristy" and started looking for something more undiscovered and quiet. I think it was one of Saima's friends how knew a friend that stayed at some quaint little bed and breakfast in Belize. The website looked dreamy and so we checked it out. Unfortunately it was all booked up, three months in advance!

So, our interest had been piqued and we started digging deeper into Belize. For a very small and relatively unknown destination, there's a lot to see and do. The second largest coral reef in the world lies off the coast of Belize and has some incredible features like the Great Blue Hole. The country has many Mayan ruins and is also well known for incredible cave systems. The Belize Zoo is also considered to be quite unique. We were hooked.

The primary tourist destination in Belize is San Pedro, which is on an island (or Caye, pronounced "key") not far from Belize City on the mainland. There were plenty of beautiful hotel options, but eventually we started to get the same feeling as when we were researching Cancun. So we started limiting our search to bed and breakfast type places. That's when the small fishing village of Placencia popped onto the radar. There are a few larger resorts in Placencia, but there are also a number of small 4-8 unit places right in town and directly on the beach. We eventually settled on Ranguana Lodge.

As we started to make travel plans it became apparent that a cross-country trip to Placencia after landing in Belize City was going to mean driving through the jungle at night. I'm all for adventure, but that was probably going a bit too far. So, we will also be staying at the Radison in Belize City the nights we arrive and before we leave. That will give us two full days to travel to and from Placencia, stopping off for lots of pictures along the way. It will also be nice to spend at least some time in a bigger resort with a pool and all the usual amenities.

So, that's it. We've occasionally had second thoughts, but the excitement for the adventure has been building since the holidays and we're counting the days and hours now. And the thought of warm sunny beaches also helps us cope with the -17 (-31 wind chill) temps outside right now. ;-)

One Week to Belize

Only one week from today and we'll be in Belize! We all went to the travel clinic today for some final shots and travel advice. The girls were relieved to find out they didn't actually need any more shots, but really enjoyed watching mom and dad get them. ;-)

I've been tracking news on Belize for over a month now, it's always interesting to see what comes up. Here's an interesting discussion thread on the conditions of the road we'll be taking to the resort (at least the last 20 miles or so). My favorite quote is "potholes big enough to swallow an elephant". A couple of other blogs that are pretty regularly updated with interesting information on Belize are Belize-y Livin' and Images of Belize.

And in case you were wondering where in the world Belize is and where we'll be traveling, here's a neat maps I created with Google. (Hint: you can click on the map icons to pan and zoom).



View Larger Map

Katelyn reading

Kate had a big day today at school. She is reading whats called backpack books which is where she reads one book at a time at her determined level. Once she reads 20 books she reads to the teacher to see if she can pass onto the next level. Well today she passed onto level B!! check out the pictures there is a video of her reading! She's so proud and of course her silly self !

Brrrrrr

Well its the middle of January so I suppose its about time its cold.. but still I'm just not use to it yet. This morning I woke up an the house was freezing! I looked and it was 60 degrees in the house!! It was also 10 below zero outside! To find out our programmable thermostat had dead batteries therefore the furnace hadn't kicked in all night! brrrrr I was thankful this incident happened today rather then next week while we are on vacation! That would not be good!

A Perfect Sledding Day

What a perfect day for sledding and just getting outside; the temps were close to 40 degrees! We went for a walk to the sledding hill at the new development which is just a short walk. Bronson was out of his mind excited, its been a while since we've taken him for a walk. The girls grabbed their sleds and snow pants, Saima grabbed the camera, and Darin forgot his gloves!

Check out the pictures... they tell their own story!

Rocket Buddy

Today we got a glimpse into what teenage life is going to be like. After getting home from school Emma had a snack and then it was off to dance practice in Delano. Saima dropped her off for practice and headed back to Rockford. As soon as I got home from work I had to change and head back to Delano to pick her up, leaving enough time to pickup McDonalds beforehand. Emma ate in the car as we headed back to the Rockford school for the Girls Varsity Basketball game.

Emma was a Rocket Buddy for the game, along with a couple of her friends. Its a great program that helps the younger kids see what the older kids do and learn more about the game. They treat her as part of the team and she runs water for them during the game.

After an overtime game, we finally rolled in back home around 9:30 and Emma went straight to bed. I don't think Saima saw her for more than 15 minutes all evening. ;-)

Emma's Doll House

Emma and I have been been working hard over Christmas vacation on her doll house. After sanding, gluing, reading the book of instructions (yes it was a book) and making a big mess we finished putting it together. Emma couldn't be happier, now she gets to decorate it. She wants to do the outside with a white and olive green; she's unsure of the inside yet. Hopefully this weekend Saima will be able to help her get started.

Girls Cameras

Emma's Pics

Kate's pics


Emma and Kate got camera's for Christmas from grandma and grandpa N for Christmas so I thought it would be fun to put he pictures and movies they've taken over the past couple of weeks. They both LOVE the video part of the camera and have a lot of fun with it. Its interesting seeing they took and the world from their point of view!

New Year's 2008

Happy New Year everyone! We had a wonderful time with the Peichel family. Its a tradition we've had for the last 4-5 years is to have them over on New Year's Eve. They spend the night and celebrate New Year's/Christmas together. The kids look forward to it all year!

We had dinner right away and then broke out the chocolate fountain, the kids loved it! Next we opened gifts and enjoyed some more laughs. The big finale for the evening was the traditional fireworks display. Joe and I get everything setup and then strategize on how work our way through the fireworks, maintaining a steady stream of ooo's and aah's. I suppose that's rather entertaining as well.

After the fireworks and more snacks the kids settled down in the basement to watch "High School Musical 2" (thanks Auntie Tara!). The grown-ups threatened them with deportation (to the upstairs bedrooms) if anyone got rowdy or made a peep after lights out. We then settled down to play our annual game of Texas Hold'em poker. Darin got his revenge on Kim this year after being and will hold the title for 2008. Check out the funny video of Joe misreading his hand. ;-) After that we played a game of Fact or Crap until 0:00!

The next morning we circled the laptops at the kitchen table and planned out the day. Since it was too cold to go sledding or ice skating we decided to do lunch at Dave and Busters (kind of less annoying Chuck-E-Cheese with descent food). Everyone had a blast, hard to beat skee ball and air hockey. After that went to the movie Alvin and the Chipmunks, which the kids loved.

All in all, an excellent start to the new year. Best wishes to all!