Our Family Site

BELIZE

Our friends, James and Cynthia, had their baby, Abriana, just before we left. Go to their links on this page to see pics. Congrats!!!

We just got back from Ohio and Belize. We were in OH for Lisa’s little brother’s wedding. We’re very happy an attractive and smart girl actually agreed to marry him. Bryce was the ring-bearer and he did a fantastic job. He took his responsibility very seriously. He listened well and practiced hard during the rehearsal and executed like a pro on game day. He was a trooper throughout the entire ceremony. At the reception we learned Bryce is a dancin’ fool!! He was on the dance floor for hours in his own world. We’re not exactly sure what you might call his dancing style… something between footloose and a seizure. When we left for Belize, we left the chilluns with Babe and Paw. We’re hopeful the kids will recover and be back to normal with a little time and therapy.
Lisa and I hopped on a jet and went to Belize where we stayed in a private villa and rented a Mercedes to get around to see the sights. Sounds fancy, right? In truth we got cheap tickets because we chose hurricane season for our vacation, the private villa was a little house right smack in the middle of a third-world residential area riddled with stray dogs. The Mercedes was circa 1970-something and continued to run for about a minute after removing the key. The owner calls this smoking diesel-beast the “Panzerkraft,” and we gave it a beating on some of the potholed dirt “roads” leading to some fairly remote areas. The people of Belize were quite intimidating and thug-like at first, but as you get to know them they are very friendly. We were fortunate enough to meet up with a local family who invited us in their home, fed us a couple of times and even took us to a Mayan Ruin and a local football game (soccer). We hiked through jungles for three days. We made it to the beach once. We relaxed a couple of days as well. Lisa also dragged me to the Belize Zoo. I had little interest but I must say it was one of the highlights. In the U.S. they build multi-million dollar zoos that are like amusement parks with animals viewed 20+ yards away. This zoo was a simple path cut through a jungle with wild animals within arms reach. In some cases there were not even cages, just a little electric wire. All the animals were native to Belize and all rescued animals. The culture in Belize is pretty diverse. There are Garifunas (from Africa and Jamaica), Mayan Indians, Indians, Guatemalans, Mennonites, Chinese and a smattering of foreign expatriates. The worst part of the trip was seeing the overwhelming poverty. Many… make that most, live in houses smaller than our garages and have only the bare essentials (if that). Many are without jobs. In Hopkins, it was wild to drive by all the hovels and not a half mile down the road pass by the million-dollar, foreign owned beach front homes. All in all, we loved Belize though. It was beautiful and we met a lot of interesting people. We will be back. There’s way too much to see and do in just 5 days.

 

  

Cute for Sunday

  

pigtails and smiles

  

the ring-bearer

  

Pinky and the Brain

  

cheeeeeeezy

  

drunk boy and nose-picker

  

Paw and da kids

  

babe n zoe

  

under construction

  

Belize1

  

Mayan Ruin

  

ruined

  

bananas

  

me n roy

  

panzerkraft

  

a cow

  

lisa and roy

  

the land

  

Hopkins

  

beaches and dreams

  

backyardigans

  

lisa and a travler's palm

  

fiveladiesofthelake waterfall