Oh, what a BLAST we had on our 3 day field trip to Tobacco Caye and Hopkins!  We left on last Mon @ 8:30 AM with (of course) our boat captain, Charlie, and his 2 mates, his brother Titi, and his cousin, Davies...our upstairs neighbor, Dave, and another friend, Vicky.  We got all loaded up and headed out, and our 1st stop was 1 of the smallest cayes, Sargeants Caye-basically a sand bar! Then we went snorkeling at Geoff Caye (not much bigger than Sargeants!).
 Just before we got to our destination, we went snorkeling on the other side of the reef, at the drop off!
 When we got back in the boat, the boys decided to troll for bigger fish...lol...Josh had not done that before (he loves the quickness of cast and catch), in between complaining about the slowness of it, he was singing the"fishy-fishy" commercial and said he couldn't wait to say "fish on-fish on!"...just being his 9 yr old self!, then all of the sudden he drops his pole in the boat and yells "HELP!"...lol...he caught a 10lb barracuda!!   The girls in the kitchen on Tobacco Caye cooked it p for us, and it was all good!
The next day we went out snorkeling and trolling again (didn't catch any really big fish,
 but did get some yellow tail snapper), and chilled out on Tobacco...that is an awesome place!!!  I wouldn't want to stay more than a week, but boy, what a week!
On Wed we got up and packed to go to Hopkins, a little town on the mainland.  Charlie and his boys' families are from there and stop off there when they can...The town is mostly Garifuna, very small, but really neat...a lot of history!
 On the way there, we passed a really neat, small caye called Laughing Bird Caye, that is an endangered bird sanctuary...the birds picked this caye to hang out on!  Awesome!
We went to the boys fav hangout on Hopkins, the drumming center.  This couple started it many years ago.  They have a few rooms for rent, places for tents, and a covered area for people to learn to play the drums, drink, socialize, and spritualize together!  It was really neat to watch Titi play with a group!  The Garifuna, like the Hawaiians, sing their stories and history in their native tongue...
And then the ride home...we stopped to fuel up, then it took us over 3 1/2 hrs to go straight back to Caye Caulker...and it was choppy and windy!  Charlie is an awesome captain and did what he could to get us home safely and not too beat up! Lol!  David and Vicky were in the front, they got bounced around but not wet...Josh, Daniel, and I were in the middle and got a little of both...Charlie could duck and not get too wet...Titi and Davies were just soaked sitting in the back!!!
Whew...made it, had a blast, and fell out as soon as we made it thru the door!

Hello everyone!  Was checking Joshua's school schedule yesterday, and realized that we have less than 3 weeks til we head home to visit grandkids/family/friends, do taxes (yes, we are late!), and try to get a converted school bus to go to "PLAN B"- travel the US and Canada!  I don't want to say that coming to Caye Caulker was a failure, not by any means...we feel very stuck, we don't have our own boat and can't afford to do everything we want (tho we really have had a blast doing the things we have!).  The humidity is killing Daniel and I and the parasites just LOVE my feet, we are bored of the food, and our tummys are fine 1 day and not the next...I can't eat cheese AT ALL here...We will miss all of the people that we have met here!  It is so cool to walk down the street and 9 out of 10 people say hello and how are you today, people singing out loud to themselves, the traffic is awesome-everyone going their own way on foot, bike, and golf cart...the colors of the buildings, hearing the different accents, watching the "newbies" come off the boat, sitting on the beach/pier and watch all the boats/kite boarders/kids play, smelling all the grills from the people selling food on the beach/restaurants, and so many other things!

                                                We hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!

Coloring brown eggs with food color!

Hey everyone!  Yesterday we went snorkeling with a whole lot of fish, a bunch of sting rays, some turtles, a few nursing sharks, and a manatee!!! We went out with our buddy Charlie again, and he took us up to the reef (it is the 2nd largest reef in the world), and we just had a blast!  We  packed a picnic lunch and just stayed on the water all day, so of course we got a little burn...again, but not too bad!  It is so beautiful!  At 1 point I was just floating around and this huge turtle scared the crap out of me...I guess I was blocking his way to the surface, he swam from  my feet to my face, missing me by only inches!  But of course I didn't have time to take a picture...and on that note, I thought my camera was broken or out of battery 'cuz I couldn't see the pictures I was taking (but it's ok...just a querk I guess.

Josh driving us safely to the reef!

Part of the reef above water

Sting Rays!

Lots of Sting Rays coming toward me!

This is Fire Coral...you barely touch it, and it feels like you are on FIRE!

Massive amounts of Conch...this is where the turtles hang out

Turtles!!!

Finally got to go scuba diving!  Yeah!  We just had a blast!  Bert at Scuba Sensations was awesome!

Hey everyone!  I haven't forgotten you and I hope you haven't forgotten about us...We have been trying to stay busy, yet not spend too much money!  We did go out fishing one day and that was awesome!  We went out with Charlie again...and it didn't rain!  Yeah!  Daniel, Charlie, and Josh (with John's help) caught almost a cooler full of silk and red snapper! Josh caught at least 15 by himself!  WOW! All in 2 hrs!  We all had a great dinner that night...They also took us to a VERY small island that their cousin and her hubby stay.  They keep it up really nice, no trash all over, the bunk house and outdoor kitchen is clean and organized, and they were very friendly and nice people. Some people who were staying for a few days showed us where some seahorses were!  Really a great day! After we got home, I went to the high school for my afternoon volunteering and got to PROPERLY learn how to make tortillas!

O man...time escaped me again! Not doing a whole lot... school, walking, chilling...that is a normal day.
We did have a few cool days...rented a car in Belize City for the day and drove all around and found a neat pool and park Gabby showed us, met a really neat couple from Bremerton on San Pedro for lunch, and went to Caye Caulkers' "drive-in" to see "Silver lining" and "Django" (both REALLY good movies!).
The biggest thing is, Thank Goodness the rain stopped! Everyone kept saying that it was very unusual...it rained for a few minutes every day for a couple weeks, then POURED for 5 straight days! At least it was warm (lol), but we just hated the grey skies!
Next week will be the beginning of a change...I am volunteering for 1-2 hrs on Mon-Thurs at the high school here on Cay Caulker! I will be teaching the girls some hair styles and hair theory, and also helping with internet and typing skills!!!!  I am sooooo excited!

Iguana road kill is like the US squirrell or possum roadkill!

Joshua doing his multiplications on the water taxi!

Isn't this a cool bus at the park?  Hippies built this place!

Gabby and Joshua

Beautiful park

Neat pool

LOL...Gabby on her laptop, Joshua on our laptop and me on the Ipad!

The Ham!

Charlie, Laurie (the couple from Bremerton), Daniel, and me at Estel's on San Pedro

This is a Coatimundi...strange!

The "drive-in"!

Awww, the big man, Noah...thank goodness for skype and facetime!