After our trip to Chile, Joe returned to Colorado, and we had one more week off of school!We were lucky enough to have our break coincide with the time that our good friend Bob was in Belize, so Alexander, Natasha and I flew there for 5 days! This photo above is what some of Belize looks like. When we were there, it was super hot (like 90+ degrees, 90% humidity, or it sure felt like it!) And beautiful.
Belize is a poor and beautiful country, that we knew nothing about, except that it is the only Central American country with English as it's first language. (Now we know that 70% of the people speak Spanish, and 30% speak Creole) It was fun for us to hear English used a lot for the first time in over 3 months. It was a British Colony, until the British removed all of the wood that they could log, and left. Now it is small, poor and struggling. The flora and fauna are incredible. Like this random orchid above that was just growing along the road.
These two photos are of three men who are changing the face of Belize. Michael, above, works with an organization called ProBelize. They do amazing work for the environment by bringing students down to Belize, who help create green places that can bring money into communities. Google ProBelize to find out more about this wonderful organization, and how to participate if you are interested.
This photo is of Richard and Bob, who are doing so many projects in Belize that is hard to talk about all of them. They do everything from painting schools to raising money to send girls to high school and college. ( Kids in Belize can go to school for free until they are in 8th grade. Then they have to pay. Many families can't pay, and if they can, the girls end up not being able to go to school, while the boys can. These guys believe that if you educate a girl, you help the entire family) They brought lights to the local police to use on their bikes in the night. They are bringing $300,000 worth of medical supplies into Belize for public hospitals. They are constantly coming up with new ideas to help Belize. There is definately a book in this story! If you want to find out more about their projects, go to Doroteia Pathways on facebook and you can see photos of all of the girls they are sending to school. Amazing. I am so honored to know these guys.
An amazing breakfast burrito in San Ignacio. Yep, he ate the whole thing.
Somehow, we got Bob, who we know from the Peace March, to take a break from everything, to be our tour guide. He picked us up at the airport in Belize City, and we got on this water taxi and spent the next two days on an Island Called Caye Caulker.
We landed at this pier, walked to our rented house, changed and walked to the end of the road, and jumped into this warm wonderful ocean.
Here are my kids, exactly how they are. Loving the turquoise water and warm sunshine.
Then next day, we walked across the street and went snorkling at three seperate spots, and Bob got our camera to take some awesome underwater shots!
The colors were amazing.
I think this one looks like a hand coming up from the bottom of the sea.
We left Caye Caulker the next day, and drove to Cayo, where Michael lives and we had the chance to go to visit some Mayan ruins. 
There are tons of unexplored ruins in Belize, because there hasn't been money for digs here. This area was super cool. My kids hadn't ever seen anything like it.
We climbed up onto what they think was the palace of the royalty who lived there. In front of which was a playing field. We learned that the losers were killed after their games. Talk about high stakes!
This is Natasha half way up. The guy behind her had an interesting tatoo, so Alexander snapped this photo.
Often times, you can't see much detail on ruins, but these were truly breathtaking.
Seven miles away from these ruins is Guatamala. Alexander took this photo. If you look closely, you can see a road. That is the border.
This photo cracks me up. We were very near the top, and we wanted to look over. We thought we were right on the edge, so Bob was holding my arm, and Natasha was holding on, so she wouldn't fall. Look how far away from the edge we were! Funny.
This is Alexander in one of the passage ways inside the ruin. Hard to tell what kind of room it was, and it was cool to try to figure it out.
Another view of the details of the ruin.
Our actress, posing on the chopping block, used after the games? Maybe?The next day, Michael and Bob took us on a hike, where we found a lot of caves. Michael and Bob were telling us tales of climbing down into caves and finding pottery and treasures.
We went into a lot of caves that had no light. The only way we could see was with the flash of my camera and the light on my cell phone.
Climbing around. If Joe had been there, this would have been our holiday card, I think!
One of the caves that the guys had been inside of. Something like 35 feet down, dark and tight. Not for me. Alexander decided that day that this is what he wants to do . He wants to be an archeologist. He used to say that when he was little. How exciting to imagine exploring for your lifes work!
Then of course, we got lost and wondered around for a bit. Then Michael found a cave that we hadn't been in. With no light, again, we climbed over a wall and went in. We took the next two photos in the dark, and were amazed at what we saw. (Michael never wears shoes, and I love this photo cause it shows his feet and the untouched pottery right there.)
Alexander just held up the camera and took this photo. We only saw the pots when we looked at the photo. How crazy.
Here are a couple of photos of San Ignacio, in Cayo. Just to show what the town looks like. With English on the walls! How funny for us to understand everything.
On our last day in Belize, Bob took us to the farm. It is a beautiful piece of land, that he is slowly turning into Paradise. This is Jorge, who is the caretaker of the land. They hope to turn it into an Eco Tourism kind of place. Super peaceful and lovely.
It was really important for Bob to find land with running water. When he found this place, he knew it was right. The water is so clean and inviting.
A view from the porch, overlooking many trees growing all kinds of fruit. Super place to catch some ZZZZZZZZZZZZ's.
Oh, I forgot to introduce you to Alexander's best friend in Belize, the machete! He had more fun learning how to use it, and carrying it around. Natash wanted to eat something from one of the trees, so Bob and Alexander used their machete's to get her a coconut. It was a fabulous trip. We would recommend it to anyone, and would go back in the blink of an eye!
