Adios, San Pedro Town

On August 20th we said goodbye to the Caye and San Pedro Town and flew to the mainland. We’d been wanting to spend more time there and explore a bit, so we looked around for a place to stay. Thanks to Jamma’s reminder and San Pedro Scoop’s awesome blog posts, we discovered the Lodge at Chaa Creek. From the website, we were hooked (and it helped that Jamma hooked us up with Belizean prices on the accommodations).

So, we were off. Here we are on Tropic Air, once again.

Back on Tropic. San Pedro to BZE.

Back on Tropic. San Pedro to BZE.

And one obligatory shot from the air.

Obligatory shot out the window.

Full Moon on the Dock

This year we got to experience the Perseid Meteor Shower (a little bit) and a full moon. I tried to take some pictures but without a tripod and my big camera it’s pretty hard.

Full moon.

At some point, the boys decided to add their own moons to the shot.

Three blurry full moons.

It’s even harder to get a clear shot when you’re laughing.

Little Island Adventure

We had a new experience this year when Jamma arranged for her friend Eddie to take us to an uninhabited island for some exploring and snorkeling. Finally, a boat captain who’s not afraid to break the rules. Ezra was so happy.

Happy kids.

We went down to the back side of the island, through the mangroves.

Through the mangroves.

And out the other side. That’s our destination up ahead. (Finn and Eddie’s daughter Kristen make a cute pair here.)

Excursion to a small, uninhabited island. Finn and Kristen.

Once we docked the boat, we walked through the island — which was mosquito central, we couldn’t get the bug spray on fast enough. But it was fun to see some of the plants and explore a bit.

Walk through -- needed bug spray immediately!

Once we got around to the other side, it was warm, shallow water, perfect for swimming.

The other side.

And snorkeling.

More snorkeling.

After a while of swimming and a quick snack break …

Post-swimming fruit break.

… we headed out to take a look at what had been an abandoned house when Jamma and Scott visited a while back. Turned out, not so much abandoned anymore! Trespassing alert!

Exploring.

On the way back, Eddie taught Finn how to drive the boat.

Driver Finn.

He was in heaven.

So happy.

Concentration.

He drove the whole way back to town, navigating us even through the tricky parts!

Back through the mangroves.

Finn navigated our way through perfectly.

Ezra was, of course, content to hang out at the front of the boat.

Ezra was still happy to be on the front of the boat.

Super fun outing!

Morning Walks — Belize Style

I tried to stay on my walking routine the best I could while we were away and was pretty successful. I got in some beautiful morning walks. Here are a few samples of the view.

Morning walk 8/10

Morning walk 8/12.

I got a rainbow one day.

Rainbow during morning walk.

And this day I got caught when these clouds opened up.

Morning walk 8/15.

Good thing I was carrying my poor man’s waterproof iPhone case.

The poor man's waterproof iPhone case.

Golf Cart

We tried a new form of transportation this year — golf cart. We’d rented them before with Jamma but only for a couple of hours to run errands in town. This time we decided to get it for the week so we could explore a bit more of the island. Bruce did most of the driving, which was fun for me because I got to look around. The boys each got to drive, too. Ezra wasn’t a big fan, but Finn loved it.

Happy driver.

Bruce even made him a Belizean driver’s license.

Finn's Belizean driver's license.

One day we drove the cart north on the road which proved to be incredibly bumpy. It was a good adventure though. We went to X’tan Ha resort for lunch and swimming.

Lunch at X'tan Ha.

Wide shot of X'tan Ha.

We decided then that we wouldn’t try to go further north. The “road” is really unpleasant and you’re not allowed to drive on the beach. I think we’ll stick to boats.

But … it was a good thing we had it because it enabled us to get into town quickly when we discovered Ezra had a very painful ear infection and needed to see a doctor in town. The office was closing early so we high-tailed it to town. I didn’t take any pictures of the doctor’s office (seemed like bad form) but he was very nice and we got some meds for Ezra. I loved that the antibiotic came in the old school glass bottle.

Ezra's old school antibiotics (ear infection).

His ear healed enough for him to enjoy the rest of the trip, although we did have to visit our own doc and get some drops for him after we got back.

Bikes

Every year Bruce likes to rent a bike and this year I decided to get one too. We went to Bruce’s usual place, Joe’s Bikes.

Joe's Bikes is great.

Joe’s super nice and laid back. We got the bikes for a week and had a great time. We rode around town a little bit.

Biking in town.

photo

And did some shopping.

Shopping.

Then headed back to the house on the bumpy (and muddy) road.

Riding back to the house

We rode several times after that, but not as much as I would have liked. I’d forgotten how much fun bikes are.

Snorkeling

There was a lot of snorkeling this year. Ezra has really taken to it and used his mask and snorkel every chance he could — mostly in the pool, but this year he snorkeled off the end of the dock, too. (So did Bruce.)

Snorkeling off the dock.

Finn’s not as big a fan of the snorkel, but he liked to wear his swim goggles and have a look around.

For our bigger snorkeling trip, we decided to go back to Hol Chan and Shark Ray Alley. Ezra finally got to ride in an open boat, but our guide, Randy, wouldn’t let him ride on the top.

Snorkeling day.

I don’t have any pictures of us actually snorkeling because I was snorkeling, too. But we had a great trip. Finn got a tow in the floaty ring from Randy and Ezra swam the whole way on his own. I can’t really tell how long we were out but probably 30-45 minutes. I was so proud of my boys! We saw some great sea life, including my favorite — a green sea turtle munching on some grass.

After the Hol Chan visit, we went over to Shark Ray Alley and Randy, of course, called the sharks over.

Shark Ray Alley.

Bruce, Ezra and I got in the water first. Then I saw Finn jump in and swim over to the ring, little legs kicking as fast as he could. Even Jamma did some snorkeling!

Even Jamma did some snorkeling at Shark Ray.

We were pretty pooped after that. The boys enjoyed the usual pouches of water and we headed back, hitting a quick out-of-nowhere rainstorm on the way.

Post snorkel rehydrating.

Great day! Perfect weather and a wonderful adventure for all of us.

To Belize!

We were lucky enough to embark on our fourth summer trip to Belize on August 9th. Here are a couple of shots from our travel day. First, the boys at LAX. Love those backpacks.

Heading out.

Ezra and me on the LAX to Houston flight.

E and me on the first leg of the journey.

Sleepy Finn on the Houston to Belize City leg.

Sleepy Finn on leg #2.

Finally, the last flight — on the Tropic Air 12-seater to Ambergris Caye.

Finn on Tropic Air. BZE to San Pedro

Ezra on Tropic Air. BZE to San Pedro

Jamma met us in town and we had a lovely dinner at Fido’s before heading out to the house.

Quick dinner at Fido's.

As always, it was a long day of travel but other than a delay in Houston all went smoothly. It was time for some relaxation.

More Archery

Bruce has taken up archery as well and I went with them to a class last month. Here are some pictures. Never mind the archery, the setting is beautiful!

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Finn wanted to try that day, too, but apparently he is left-eyed and Ezra is right-eyed so the bow Ezra was using wouldn’t work. He got to try this past weekend and loved it. Unfortunately, I have no photos but I’m sure we’ll get some soon.