Smiley

Back in February I posted about how Nolan never smiles in pictures and hates having his picture taken.  It's changed, at least for now, and he's all smiles!  He sure has a great smile!!

The Emperor's New Clothes

Keaton has been going to drama club after school and they've been practicing the play, The Emperor's New Clothes.  Keaton was a guard.  They practiced once a week for about 6 weeks before the big performance.  There were kids from all grades in the play.  I was very impressed with how well they all did.  Keaton did a great job with his lines at first and then stopped talking for some reason for the rest of the play.  There was another guard so it wasn't a big deal.

It's Magic

Keaton's school had a magic show on a Friday night that we went to.  I wasn't really looking forward to it since I'm so skeptical of magic tricks that I don't really enjoy them but thought the kids would have fun. 
This guy was fantastic!  He was really great with the kids and they loved it.  The best part was he picked Keaton for one of his tricks.  Keaton did a great job and a bunch of his friends and his teacher were there to see it.
There was a snake in a box that Keaton was suppose to fight.  So he made Keaton a helmet and a sword.  Then he made a big deal of him walking towards the box.  He really hyped it up about how scary the snake was going to be and I thought it might freak out Keaton but it didn't.  When Keaton opened the box a huge snake popped out and luckily Keaton started laughing (instead of crying).  I got it all on video tape.  It was great!

How well do my kids know me...

The kids and TJ were super sweet on Mother's day.  Especially Keaton (sorry Nolan...).  We treated it like most days since that's what I preferred since I always have mixed feelings about the day since my mom isn't here.

Both the kids filled out one of these forms at school and I love to see what they say.  Some is true and some I have no idea how they came up with their answer!

Nolan:
Red isn't my favorite color but I do like it.
Macaroni and Cheese isn't my favorite food (but is his right now).
I like picnics but rarely have them so this was really an odd answer for him to think of.
My job is DEFINITELY not to "pick up my toys".

Keaton:
Purple is my favorite color!  I think I tell them they look good in red a lot so that's why they think it's my favorite.
Chinese food is not my favorite.  This was a really weird answer since we never eat Chinese food.  Keaton has never eaten it.
 My dream vacation would not be to Alaska.  Again, I have no idea why he thought this.
He is right that "mom likes when I don't say bad words!" 

These things are awesome!  I hope they keep doing them for years and years so I can see how the answers change.

Under Age Drinking

Keaton's friend Max celebrated his 6th birthday in a bar!  Somehow all these kids were able to sneak in without getting carded.

It was a bar that had mini golf and was open to all ages during the day.  I brought Nolan with me to give TJ some time to himself.  Nolan with a golf club in a small space is extremely dangerous and not safe at all (imagine what it would be like if he was drinking)!

I had to be right next to him at all times since that club was getting swung everywhere.  All the kids had a great time and it was a very unique place for a kids party.

Happy

I took these pictures one morning while we were waiting for Keaton's bus.  They look so happy.  That's all!!

Belize 2017

This is the first post that is all about me!  We've been planning a 40's trip to Belize for over a year.  All of our friends turned 40 this year or last year and we wanted a big trip to celebrate.  I'm not sure how we decided on Belize but I'm glad we did because it was somewhere different.  I only wish we had stayed there longer because there were so many different parts of the country to explore.

There were 4 of us on the trip (me, Carrie, Colleen and Kim).  We stayed on the island of Ambergris Caye, the largest of the islands in Belize.  To get there we had to take a small plane from Belize city to the island.  The water was really shallow and there were these parts of land coming out from the ocean everywhere.

 

The main mode of transportation on the islands is a golf cart.  There are a few cars which are taxi's.  Locals would have their babies on their lap while they were driving.  Everyone drove crazy!  These things were fun to drive!

 

 The first day it rained really hard and then was hot and sunny the rest of the time.  We spent most of the time at the beaches and exploring.  We went to a beach called "secret beach" that took about 45 minutes to get to on a very bumpy road.  It was a long ride in a golf cart but worth the drive.  

Most the beaches in belize have lots of sea grass since the reef is so close so the best way to go in the water is from a long dock.  This was a beach you could walk into.  It was also shallow for a really long way out.  In the second picture there is a tiny dot in the middle of the picture which is my friends standing out in the ocean.  I was too scared to go out that far since I got about 20 feet from shore and thought I saw an eel.

I realized what a bad swimmer I am on this trip.  I really need to get some swim lessons.  I was also reminded of how scared I am of the water.  We went snorkeling and I freaked out and had to have a floatie ring to help me.

We went to a place where there are sharks in the water.  For some reason the sharks didn't scare me as much as the other snorkeling we did. 

We took a boat to another island, Caye Caulker.  We also were on a flight that landed there and this was the airport.  The runway was a dirt road.

The thing we did (and one of the coolest things I have ever done) was go on a tour of ATM Cave.  The only way to enter the cave is with a guide and it definitely wouldn't be safe without one (actually it wasn't safe with one).  Something like this would never be legal in the US. 

"Actun Tunichil Muknal, also known locally as ATM, is a cave in Belize, near San Ignacio, Cayo District, notable as a Maya archaeological site that includes skeletons, ceramics, and stoneware. There are several areas with skeletal remains in the main chamber. The best known is "The Crystal Maiden", the skeleton of an adolescent, possibly a sacrifice victim, whose bones have been calcified to a sparkling, crystallized appearance."

We weren't able to take pictures inside so I'll share some from the Internet since it's impossible to explain the experience.  The trip starts by swimming through a river, getting completely wet.  Then hiking for an hour through the jungle (crossing another river along the way).  When you get to the opening of the cave you have to jump into the water and swim over to the entrance.  We were in the cave for about 2 hours.  We were climbing over rocks, squeezing between them in the water, swimming in the water.  There were several people we saw who stopped exploring because it was too much for them.  At one point the only way through the cave was to be completely submerged in the water except your head.  The opening in the rocks was only big enough for your head/neck to fit through above water.  It was awesome!
This is us after...wet squishy shoes that we've been wearing for hours.  Bruised/banged up legs and elbows. 

Internet pics:

We loved Belize, the people were so nice!  It was full of adventure!  And a fantastic place to spend a week with some great 40 year old friends!