Today was the much-anticipated day that Papa arrived in Belize! The boys have been counting down the days for a week. We tracked his flights and when the flight from Dallas to Belize City was delayed over an hour, we decided we’d change plans from waiting for him at the house to meeting him in town and having dinner there. The boys were thrilled: “We get to take a boat!!”
But first, we had a lot of time to kill — we weren’t leaving the house until 3:30. We walked up to Mata Grande Grocery to buy Bruce a few of the local beers and Orange Fantas for us.
Ezra and Finn spent some time drawing and doing journal entries. Here’s one of Ezra’s.
The closeup: it’s a shark drinking an Orange Fanta. See the theme?
At some point, Janice and I shooed the boys out of the house so we could clean up. After a while, I went to see what they were up to and found Ezra here.
Finn was down below, directing Ezra to the coconuts he wanted him to loosen.
Needless to say, I’m not entirely comfortable with this.
Finally, 3:30 came and we piled onto the Coastal Express water taxi … only to have the boat run out of gas a few docks down. The captain dropped an anchor …
… and called the office to get someone to bring us gas. And we waited. Some passengers cursed, but most were good-natured about it. One made a phone call and told whoever was on the other end of the line that we were in shark-infested waters, to the roar of laughter from all of us in earshot. The boys were most interested in the little compartment where the anchor was stored.
After a quick trip to The Green House to pay our bill for the food they delivered yesterday and pick up some more Fanta, we got to the airport with a few minutes to spare before Bruce’s plane landed. The boys were very excited and made sure he got a taste of the Grape Fanta they chose.
Then they talked his ear off the whole way to the restaurant.
And at the restaurant.
They took a break from talking to work on the new puzzle we got at Graniel’s.
And marvel at this teeny tiny bug on the table.
After a quick scoop of ice cream at Manelly’s, we headed home. On the dock, Ezra (who’d run ahead) came running back to tell me to get out my camera because he thought he saw a snake. He was right!
That boy has an eye for spotting nature.
Welcome to Belize, Papa!