Tikal (December 27)

To be honest I didn't know exactly what Tikal was when Mark mentioned wanting to go there.  It sounded familiar but I really wasn't sure.  We had talked about going to Guatemala previously (there are a lot of "where do you want to travel" conversations in our house) as one of his airport coworkers is from there and she recommended it.  But Guatemala City where we would fly into was over 8 or 10 hours away from Tikal so that seemed impractical.  Once Mark realized we could fly to Belize and be 2 hours away it got bumped up on the list.

The car rental place kindly prepared the necessary travel documents for us. I haven't walked across a border since Egypt (10 years ago) when we would go to Israel and that was not always the easiest experience so I was curious to see how this one would be.  It was slow but not threatening in any way.  We had asked the car rental people if it was calm and safe to do and they said they hadn't heard of any issues so we went for it.  It was Jared and Lydia's first experience (it is pretty bizarre to me that my 9 and almost 7 year old have done this and I didn't do it until I was like 22) walking across a border and as we waited in line and then got approved I couldn't help but wonder at our experience compared to the experiences of thousands of refugees.  I can't imagine the worries and stress they must feel.  We had the documentation, spoke the language and were not fleeing horrible things.

Mark driving the car through. 

It did take much longer than we expected but we made it through.  We started down the road to Tikal and then Mark our trusty navigator doubted himself.  He was worried that he had driven too far and missed the turn. We saw no signs for Tikal which was really weird because I think its a pretty big deal there so he turned around and drove back quite a ways before asking some people waiting for a ride (who then asked us for a ride) if they could tell us which way to go.  We drove back down the road we had just driven on and found the turn not 10 minutes away from where we were.  That was a bummer.

Then, we drove up to the entrance and came to a stand still.  There was a LONG line of cars (at least 50) waiting to get into the park.  This was one of the worst line experiences of my life.  They had a horrible system in place.  I still can't believe that this is how you get into a famous place like this. You cannot buy tickets online ahead of time.  They are only sold at a particular bank and not all of them sell them.  So you get in line in your car and then one person has to walk up to the ticket counter and buy the ticket.  If you are at the back of the line chances are it is a long walk to the ticket counter.  If you don't have a 2nd driver you literally have to sit in your car until you get to the gate (you can't leave because then your car would be blocking the lane).  We also didn't know any of this until a guide came and told us when we had already been waiting a good 20 minutes.  Had we known we could've had Mark walk up sooner to get in the ticket line.  As it was he already had a very far walk to get there.  He also didn't know he had to have our passports to get tickets so he walked all the way up then had to come back. Thankfully he heard that he needed them before he got to the counter and the person behind him offered to hold his spot.  So he waited in line as we slowly moved forward.  I was concerned that we would get to the front of the line before he got the tickets and then we would be holding people up but he had just a few people in line ahead of him when we got to the gate.  Jared and Lydia were super troopers as we waited in the hot weather. The time at the border and this crazy system made it so we got into the park much later then we planned.  I really could not believe this was how it is done.  We heard a saying in Belize that kind of made sense after this. If someone said, "these roads are awful" they say "at least it's not Guatemala."

This was after waiting at least 10 minutes and you can't even see the entrance from here. We just had to turn the car off and wait and wait and wait. 

Once in we had a nice drive to the parking lot and passed all kinds of different animal warning signs. Monkeys, anteaters, snakes, turkeys.  It was fun to see them.  We had already talked about getting guide and were approached by one shortly after we parked.  We agreed on a rate and began our tour.  We decided to do 2 hours since we were later in the day and didn't think Lydia would last much longer.  We were bummed that we got there when we did as it was the hottest part of the day and the lighting was really awful for pictures but there was not much we could do about it.

Our guide was nice and we learned some good information about the Mayans.  Jared was fascinated by it all and wanted to climb every structure.  Its pretty isolated and was actually not discovered until the 1840s.  Some local workers came across huge mounds of Earth and saw some of the stone walls.  Some Spanish warriors were near there in the 1520's but didn't know they were.  It is unknown why the Mayan civilization rapidly began collapsing but it was around then year 800 just 100 years after their peak.  So there were hundreds of years where nobody really knew it was there.

We loved climbing up the structures we could (they were a little scary coming down) and enjoyed the grand view which was used for one of the Star Wars films (A New Hope, George Lucas saw Tikal on a travel poster and sent a crew to film there during Guatemala's civil war!)

Recognize this view?

It was a fascinating place to visit and worth the crazy lines but they should really find a new system. I never thought I would go there and that makes it extra fun too. It was hot and humid but we were in a rainforest so what do you expect.  We saw howler and spider monkeys and a beautiful colorful bird which was great.  On our way out a monkey actually peed as we walked under the tree and it got on Jared! He was so mad.  He went on and on about it.

Just walking through a rain forest/jungle in Guatemala.

The drive home was pretty uneventful.  Mark really wanted to not drive in the dark if we could help it  and we made it to the border as the last bits of daylight faded.  He just had about 20 minutes in the dark in Belize.

Plan C: Belize

Plan A Japan

Plan B Madrid

Plan C Belize and Tikal

Japan was too far away and too expensive.

Madrid quickly developed LONG stand by lists.

Belize cheap(er) and available. 

Japan would have been really cool and different than anywhere else we have gone and we could have gone and attended the temple in Madrid but they just didn't work out.  We brainstormed a couple of places and then I said "how about Mexico?"  Mark said "how about Belize and Tikal?" so plans were made.  

I didn't really want to go to Mexico that much we just needed to try a new direction and there are all kinds of flights to Mexico.  And the water looks pretty so South it was.  We were bummed to have to drive down to Richmond because the flight left at 6:05 and it is a solid hour and 20 minute drive but when you need to get out of town you do what you need to. 

We made or flight to Atlanta and from there on to Belize. Suprisingly it was only a 3 hour flight to Belize.  Belize is just one hour behind Virginia which was nice too.  Once our plane touched down we went down the runway, completed a U Turn and then went to the terminal.  It is a super small outdated airport.  It should have been a more telling sign of how this country functioned.  This is not to say it was horrible or anything just lacking in a lot of infrastructure and really underdeveloped.  People do speak English there (always helpful) as it was under British rule until 1981! 

We picked up our rental car and stopped by a grocery store.  It always so interesting to go to grocery stores in foreign countries.  Because of Egypt I always know sort of what to expect but they are just so different from stores at home.  Our original plan was to get our car and then find a beach to spend a few hours at before driving to the air b-n-b located in San Ignacio, a 2 hour drive away from Belize City.  We sadly learned that there are no beaches in Belize City.  To get to the water and sand you have to take water taxis.  The closest island was just under an hour away so we did not have time to do it that day. The roads are really horrible in Belize.  Full of pot holes, not lines or lanes and many are gravel.  People pass you all the time and often cars stop to pick up passengers walking or waiting on the side of the road.  There are bus stops with shelters but it appeared that a lot of people just hop in cars that are willing to take them.  People even tried to flag us down for rides. Gas is also really expensive there.  Around 5 to 6 dollars a gallon.  Mark did a great job driving us around.  We had a hard time finding our air b-n-b in San Ignacio (very few street signs and no GPS in the car) but Mark of course pulled through and found it.  I really am not sure how he did it but he always does. Unfortunately since we could not go to the beach we arrived 4 hours earlier than planned and had to try to find an Internet connection to contact our host to arrange a new time to meet up.  This was stressful but also not the first time we have done this.  I would still never describe myself as adventurous but 2018 has made it a more likely description I could give myself.  It all worked out and after we dropped off our stuff we went out to explore the town (its fairly small) and look for a place to eat.  We ended up at cool restaurant with delicious food.  The wait was super long as they were understaffed and it was a holiday (Boxing Day thank you Great Britain) but oh it was worth it.  Mark ordered this amazing coconut crusted chicken that I originally planned on getting and I wished I had ordered it too. I want to try to recreate it and I don't normally even like coconut.  Speaking of Coconuts, Jared and Lydia loved seeing the Palm trees especially the ones with coconuts.  Jared actually smuggled a (very small) coconut home in his suitcase.  He named it Coco.  

After that we went to the Air b-n-b, showered and were all in bed by 8:00.  We were so tired from leaving home so early. We chose to stay in San Ignacio because it is just 20 minute way from the border with Guatemala and then 2 hours from there is Tikal the really well preserved ancient Mayan ruins.  Mark really wanted to visit there so that also played a factor in choosing Belize.  Before Tikal I want to finish Belize though.  

The fresh juices in Belize were awesome and so cheap!  

This was Mango-Orange-Pineapple. Jared ordered Lime Ginger and like it but wished he ordered something else. 

Because we couldn't go to the beach Wednesday we decided to drive the hour and 50 minutes back to Belize City to catch a water taxi to Caye Caulker the closest island on Friday.  We just felt like we were that close to the beautiful Caribbean water we should make it happen.  Jared and Lydia also really wanted to so we left early to catch the 9:00 water taxi.  It took about an hour to get to the island. I do not particularly enjoy boats but for the most part I did enjoy the ride.  The water is beautiful and it was smooth and fun to be going out to an island.  

"Go Slow" Not an easy motto for me to apply.

Once we got off the taxi we stopped in a little restaurant for breakfast.  Lydia loved wandering around the palm trees while we waited for our food.  She said that she really loves palm trees and wants to live by them in a small colorful house.  Breakfast was great. I was trying to be very Belizean and had fry jacks (like scones only better!) rice and beans and eggs.  Jared had an omlette (he has been very into them lately) and Lydia and Mark had pancakes, eggs, and bacon.  I was not surprised Lydia wanted pancakes but was surprised Mark did.  We asked out waiter where the best place was for kids to play in the water and he told us by the Sea Dream Hotel so we decided to head over there.  As we were walking around we started to notice that there were no places to wade into the ocean.  Like, we couldn't just set down our towels and then 20 feet away walk in the water.  There was a cement bar all around the water almost holding the sand in.  We were super disappointed.  So we found the hotel he suggested and saw the very little "beach area".  It was not more than 25 feet wide and got pretty crowded with all the others looking for water you could actually play in.  It is well known that I am not a beach person.  The fact that we even chose a place that has warm enough weather to go to the beach is pretty surprising. But I did get in the water and it was so cold!  A guy told me that it is because there has been a lot of rain but I was surprised!  Jared and Lydia swam and played in the sand pretty happily, and Mark and I were both pretty bored and wondered how people do this for a whole vacation.  I know most people go and then go kayaking or jet skiing or snorkeling but that is not that vacation for us.  That being said I am happy we went.  Now I know for sure I am not the caribbean beach vacation person, I was already pretty aware of this but now I can say I did try it. And it was pretty and we did have some really good ice cream on the way back to the taxi. Both Jared and Lydia slept on the water taxi back to Belize City where we grabbed out souvenir magnet and made the 2 hour drive back to san Ignacio. 

We needed to leave the Air b-n-b by 8:30 or so to try to make the first flight out.  We didn't even have to worry about setting an alarm because there is a huge flock of the loudest birds that like to talk to each other at 6:00 in the morning.  They woke us up early every day.  There is a difference between waking up to nice chirping birds and this group.  They were the worst!  Here is a video Mark took.  (hopefully it works) He has a friend who loves bird watching.  He and his son are going to Costa Rica for spring break to bird watch. I wonder if they would have appreciated this. It was so loud! 

Before we left we stopped by the local Saturday Market to look around.  It was so great.  It was my favorite part of the trip.  There were stands everywhere and lots of people out shopping.  It felt like we were part of the community.  We grabbed some fresh orange juice and sat down to eat.  Mark got a breakfast burrito (eggs, rice and beans) and I got a regular one, (chicken rice and beans in the most amazing fresh made in front of me tortilla) at 8:00 in the morning.  I felt very local.  It was so delicious.  I wish we could have eaten all our meals there.  It was fun to walk around and see people going about their normal lives.  I am so glad we stopped by before we left.  

Spotted on our walk around town

We got to the airport in good time and turned in our rental car.  We went through security and waited to see if we would make the first flight.  We were so relived when we learned that there were 2 flights out of Belize because we did not make the first one.  The airport was super crowded and loud and we could not get the Internet to work so we could not check flights or the standby lists.  It was one of the harder airport waits for us.  There was so much uncertainty.  When we didn't make the flight we actually had to go back though immigration and re check in at the desk.  It was weird. The next flight was delayed by about an hour which meant we would miss our connecting flight to Richomd or Charlottesville.  They were both oversold anyway. So we arrived in Atlanta, went though customs and headed to the train.  We got on thinking we would see if at least one of us could get on the Richmond flight but then decided we would just all go to Roanoke.  So we got off the train looked up the flight and realized the flight was leaving from the terminal we were just at in fact it was the exact same plane!  We would have had to go through customs regardless but it made us shake our heads.  We had about 30 minute to wait and all got seats together.  We rented a car and made it home around 1:00.  

I woke up at 6:00 and could not fall back asleep so I decided I would just get ready for church and then drive the rental car down to Richmond to drop it off and pick up the highlander.  This sounded more enjoyable than having us all take a 3 hour car drive.  (Mark originally had it set up to return the car to CHO but I just called to see if we could switch it and they didn't care) I took Mark to the Charlottesville airport so he could have his car (we left one at both airports just in case we needed to fly in to CHO) and then headed back.  I missed the first 45 minutes of Sacrament meting which meant I missed half of Mark's talk but was happy to hear that Jared and Lydia did a great job sitting by themselves until I got there.  We were just so grateful we made those flights!  It was looking is bad there for most of Saturday. 

A friend mentioned that both these places were on her list of places to visit and wondered if she should she keep them on her list.  I've been thinking about it and am not totally sure.  If one does love the beach then sure go to Belize but maybe try a different island than Caye Caulker.  Even though I wasn't that impressed with the beach, (I think Lake Tahoe is just as pretty and cleaner too) we are glad we went.  Tikal was really cool and old and interesting so I would say go, but don't keep it at the top of your list.  It was a good trip and having Jared and Lydia see a really different way of life (and vegetation/landscape too) was really great, (the best part of the trip really) but it is at the bottom of my list as far as places we have been this year.  I loved that we could show them a different way of life and they pointed out lots of positive things, they don't just think the way it is at home is the best way to live. Lydia now wants to live in a simple one room house!  Besides seeing cool places, exposing Jared and Lydia to new ideas and ways of doing things is a main point of these trips and going over to Europe was not that different from here so I really appreciate this trip for that. 

Christmas

Christmas Eve included a morning run, a brunch (also quasi book club) with really lovely people, laundry and packing suitcases, the opening of the sibling gifts, reading lots of Christmas books and Mark going to work. Mark working Christmas Eve was really odd.  He really struck out with the holidays this season.  Since he works Monday and Tuesday nights he had to be out both Christmas nights and New Years Eve too.   With him working we decided not to have spend the holidays with anyone which was weird.  I missed singing carols around the piano and it was a little sad to fill the stockings without him and put out the scavenger hunt clues.  At the same time it was really easy and not stressful at all since we didn't have to plan or worry about anyone else's schedule. I hope we feel a little more social next year.

Both of them picked LEGO sets for each other. 

Christmas Day started in our room at 7:00.  Jared and Lydia came in and we snuggled in bed together reading scriptures and watching the Christmas story bible videos.  We went out to the front room and Jared and Lydia dove into their stockings.  At the beginning of 2018 Mark and I decided we were not going to buy each other any gifts especially any on the set gift giving holidays. We wanted to save any money we had for traveling.  I loved this and am pretty sure we will do it again for the foreseeable future.  If we wanted or needed something throughout the year we just got it ourself (within reason and I think we both tried to limit this).  I can't exactly speak for Mark but I know I do not particularly enjoy buying gifts for him.  Most of it is finances not that he is a difficult person. I know I am a difficult person to buy for.  He really would try to get me things but I am picky and most of the time 4 out of 5 things would be taken back which was not particularly enjoyable for him.  I always feel like the things we would really want were more than we should spend  so we would end up buying things more out of obligation.  So this year was a big relief. It was great to not have that pressure and I didn't feel sad that I didn't have any gifts.  Because of this there were only like 8 presents under the tree.  I did get Mark a bag of delicious peppermint cookie truffles for his stocking but that was it and I bought myself 2 dresses while I was out in Utah. 

The stockings were really fun because they were full of surprises.  All Jared wanted for Christmas was Harry Potter Lego sets.  They are quite pricey so that limited his gift totals.  They are also very distinctive so as his presents sat under the tree for the last weeks he would look at them and talk about how excited he was to build the Hogwarts Express, Aragog's Lair and the Whomping Willow.  Lydia got him Aragogs Lair for the sibling gift, my Mom got him the Whomping Willow and we got him the Hogwarts Express.  Mark was not a fan of this.  He hated that Jared knew exactly what he was getting and even which box was what.  So that really did make stockings more fun since they had no idea what was in them.  Lydia didn't know any of her presents which was great. 

Lydia's was a Barbie car.  She had not idea. 

The Whomping Willow

He was right and super happy and excited which was fun. 

He has been pining for these for months. 

After stockings Jared and Lydia opened their presents.  We were done with them by 8:30.  They started playing and we made breakfast. 

 

After playing for awhile Lyda asked if they could do the Scavenger Hunt.  Mark really wanted difficult clues for Jared and he ended up being stumped on almost all of them. His gift was a Harry Potter wand.  His loyalties have shifted from Ron to Harry so he wanted his wand too.  The present was hidden under the ottoman downstairs so Mark the history teacher wanted a clue about the Ottoman Empire.  I believed it very unlikely that Jared would know the answer but went with it.  He could not figure it out so Mark had him come to the computer and watch a Brain Pop about the Ottoman Empire in the middle of the scavenger hunt.  We are supposed to look for teaching moments correct?  It was fun.   Lydia's clues were not nearly as difficult but she had a hard time getting started. Her first clue was "where would you find Daddy's favorite treat?"  We figured she would guess ice cream right away but she didn't.  After that one she went pretty quick.  I was really excited about her present.  She has been asking for a Barbie camper for ages now but they are really expensive.  Ever since last Thanksgiving (2017) I have been watching Facebook Marketplace and Craiglist for one to be listed and one came up in Waynesboro about 3 weeks before Christmas.  I was so excited.  I drove over to pick it up one day after work and was so happy it worked out.  She was so surprised and happy.  We love this scavenger hunt so much.  Its right up there with the Christmas Lights award and Orange rolls for breakfast.

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Finding the first clue

I think he actually forgot he asked for this so that was fun. There was at least one surprise present. 

Eventually we got dressed for the day, finished the last of the cookie decorating and headed over to the Kwon's house for lunch.  When we dropped cookies off to them and the Struble's Sunday we all mentioned how we never got together for a Bishopric "social" this year.  So Brother Kwon arranged a get together.  I have long wanted to spend time with them and get to know them better so I was really happy it happened.  I know they are very busy (The Kwon's are both doctors and work full time) so I never know if they really have time to meet up.  Sometimes I feel like people who work full time maybe just want quiet time at their home with their family but I would like to try though.  I know I love quiet time at home with Mark and Jared and Lydia especially with his calling/airport job.  I think Jane, their 7 year old and Lydia could have a lot of fun together.  They certainly did that day.  Lydia needs a good friend like that who most likely is not moving at the end of the year.  Poor girl has had her heart broken so much by that in her little life. 

On our way home from their house we stopped by the Emergency Room and the fire station to drop off cookies.  Normally both Lydia and Jared really enjoy doing this but Jared was anxious to get back to building his LEGO sets so he was kind of grumpy.  I did my first attempt at royal icing and really liked how the cookies turned out.  It was cool to try something new.  Buttercream still tastes better to me but I am glad I tried it and would do it again.  Confession: this December (when I should have been reading the Book of Mormon) I binge watched the Christmas Cookie Challenge on the Food Network.  I loved it so much!  I watched season 1 and 2!  I don't know the last show I did that with. They inspired me to try the royal icing.  It really was a fun show. 

We ate dinner, built Legos and then sent Mark off to work.  We went to bed a little early because we had a really early fight to catch the next morning. We hoped to fly out of Charlottesville but a family of 4 in our ward bumped us down the list so we had to drive to Richmond.  We left at 3:20 in the morning to start our last adventure of 2018: Belize and Guatemala. 

It was a happy Christmas and a lovely Christmas season. 

P.S. Jared was quite pleased with how all his Harry Potter sets turned out.  He enjoyed building them so much and has spent lots of time playing with them.

Christmas activities and treats phase 2

Christmas themed science:

Snow volcanoes and colored snow

Candy Cane crystals

We attempted to grow crystals and were successful.  We tried to do this back in Colorado years ago and were not successful so I was glad they worked out this year.  Jared and Lydia thought it was really cool that we were able to grow them.  They both hung up their crystal candy canes and they did turn out really nice.

Christmas lava lamps

Melting Christmas trees: Baking soda dyed green and sprinkled generously with glitter.  Packed into Christmas tree molds and frozen.  Then melted with vinegar.

Made our sugar cone Christmas trees

Christmas tree waffles

Christmas reindeer

Christmas Shape pancakes (I sure am into Christmas themed breakfasts ideas) 

We also went out caroling to the Bishopric members houses.  We made them cards to tell them how much we appreciate all the help they give Mark.  It was really nice to visit with them we really like his counselors and their families and would love to spend more time getting to know them.  We spent today (Sunday) baking treats to take with us which made our house smell delicious.  Because Mark has to work Monday and Tuesday nights (Christmas Eve and Christmas) we decided to have our fancy Christmas dinner today.  We enjoyed our Christmas ham and sampled the treats we made. I found a peppermint bark sheet cake and was really pleased with how it turned out.  We also lit our 4th advent candle so we could eat dinner by candlelight which made it extra special.

I love our Advent wreath. It's been a great weekly activity. 

Our ward had a lot of great musical numbers at church today.  Mark sang "Angels from the Realms of Glory" (my favorite Christmas song) with 2 other guys and did a great job. I especially loved watching the people who played the piano today.  I have been completely lapse in playing the piano.  I think I've sat down and played Christmas songs once this whole month.  Back when I was taking piano lessons my main motivation for lessons was so I could play Christmas songs so I am not sure why I have had no motivation to sit down and play this month.  We do not have a lot planned for Christmas Eve/day so maybe I will sit down and play.

I arranged for the Activity Day Girls and Cub Scouts to go caroling at an assisted living home this year and then wasn't even able to go.  Poor Lydia has come down with a cold (she is almost all better so I think she will be fine for Christmas Eve and Christmas) and so I did not think it was a good idea to have her around elderly people or families who would not appreciate sick kids on Christmas. Lydia and I hung out at the church keeping water warm for hot chocolate and then once Mark texted me they were at the church we headed home and got her in bed.  It's been a fun Christmas season. At times I've thought it doesn't feel like Christmas at all and other times I've been full of Christmas cheer. I'd say that was pretty normal.  We are fortunate to have all our needs met and have opportunities to focus on others and have fun together.