10 Perfect Days in Paradise!

Highlights of our Belize trip:

All day snorkel trip with a bbq on a private beach of the fish we'd caught while snorkeling. The guide caught most of them with a spear gun (super cool to go on the hunting trip with him), and the other guides caught a few from the boat. We had 3 snorkel stops throughout the day.

Multiple trips to Hol Chan Marine Reserve where we snorkeled with sharks, sting rays, spotted eagle rays (my personal favorite), sea turtles, lots of fish, and a few scary marine animals like the 6 foot very active Moray Eel, and multiple barracudas. One day 2 of the guides stayed on the boat with all the kids, and just the adults went out. When we came back we heard screaming (the good kind) and giggling from the kids on the boat. Carlo had let them feed fish to the sharks, and then decided with the last fish to tease the sharks so they would jump towards the boat with their mouths wide open. The kids loved it. Zachary was mildly nervous (claimed he was just really cold and allergic to salt water) of the sharks, but all the rest of the kids loved it.

Many nights of fun, food and games with our friends from law school. All 10 kids got along perfectly, without a fight that any adults heard about! We all rented villas right on the beach. We did eat out 3 nights, but the rest of the nights we rotated cooking meals for the clan of 16 and ate in one of our villas. The kids pretty much took care of themselves and the adults got in multiple games of Settlers (only the women won!), and a few card games.

Sea kayaking out to the reef a few times, and then kayaking around near our pier with the little kids.

Playing in the swimming pool at the hotel was a definite highlight for the kids. . . and a tad too cold for the adults.

Reading in the hammocks on the beach for the adults, swinging in the hammocks for the kids.

Jumping off the pier and snorkeling under the pier where an artificial reef had been created.

Riding the golf cart around the island on the dirt roads. I got names the "Off-Roading Queen" by the older boys after I plowed through 3 giant puddles in a row, covering us all with mud. Lucy giggled and said, "You are a crazy driver mom!", and then cried when she saw mud on her dress. The boys, on the other hand, thought that was the coolest thing I'd ever done as a mother.

Lamanai Mayan Ruins and boat ride through the jungle to get us to the ruins.

Fanta: Orange, Pineapple, Ginger Ale, and of course everyone's favorite: RED FANTA!

Private concert on the beach by Kelly McGuire. If you haven't heard of him, don't worry, neither had we, but we did buy a CD because it was all about Ambergris Caye, and even had a song about Pelican Reef Villas, where we stayed. He did a fantastic job, and he was so nice to everyone, especially the kids.

Only minor mishaps: colds, stomach flu, 30 mosquito bites each as a free souvenir, and Lucy's "turtle bite". Turns out it was quite a large crab, and it did slice her hand, but she will still claim it was a turtle that got to her.

Favorite phrase of all the children: "I can't BELIZE we are in Belize!" Funny for the first 5 times, slightly annoying for the following 500 times. But, they had a blast!