Belize

So, approximately 19 years ago, Robie and I, and my sister, Jennifer and her husband Mark, went on a trip to Belize.  Robie had served his mission there a few years earlier and was so excited to share it with us.  Now so many years later we finally got a chance to take the whole family there!  What a trip!  I starttd thinking about it back when I was looking at Brooke being a senior and how that was really possibly our last chance for a long time to travel all together.  Of course we knew it would be so expensive so I just started working a ton more days at subbing and making it happen.

We left Thursday night and got a call 3 hours before our flight asking if we could come a litlte early and take a direct flight instead of our short layover we were supposed to have in LA.  Heck yes!  that one had orignally cost more so score for us.  The kids were ven excited just for the overnight in Houston although already mad that I made them eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches intead of going out to eat at 9pm in Houston... heartless start from mean mom of course.

Next morning we were up and headed to Belize City.  Everyone was so excited!  It took 45 minutes at the car rental checkout which put us behind the schedule i had hoped to be keeping but I was trying to relax and go with the flow - not my specialty! The border from Belize and Mexico also took forever... like the lines were all long and then we were stuck parked in frton of a building where another car parked and locked us in.. ugh!  It was becoming clear we wouldn't make it to Tikal before they closed and I was so sad about it but trying not to let it get me down.  We rolled in around 6:30 (we had been hoping to maybe make it by 4.. um yeah, guess not!)  It was already dark so no Tikal for us that night.  the Jaguar Inn ended up being nice but of course Brooke was walking to the room and somehow fell on an open grate that was broken and sliced her leg totally open - like it was deep and probably needed stitches but there was nowhere to go for that!  So we bandaged it up good and used the antiobiotic that we had for Lauren's ingrown toenail that was super bad before we left and hoped she didn't get tetanus or somehting!  It was a much nicer evening than I was anticipating.  We had actualy even considered staying outside of the park just so that we could make usre that we had air conditioning and weren't miserable but it was the perfect night and even got a little cool (which was funny when Brooke woke up and said she had been ocld and we asked if she put on her blnaket and she was like "I had a blnkaet?" duh!  The grounds were pretty and they said the electircity would go off at 9 and then just last however long it was still in there but we had power for most of hte night at least until we wnated the fan off anyway because it was cold!  We got up bright and early to go into Tikal.  We wanted to be there first thing at 6 but it was closer to 615 when we headed in.. it was so peaceful and beautiflu in the jungle.  We didn't see another person for a long time! Headed straight to the Grand Plaza with only a short stop to watch some spider monkeys in the trees as we took the jungle trail there.  We got some good pictures but really wnated to get to "the lost world" and Temple IV in case of howler monkeys or animal behzvior there and also to beat the rush of tourists we were afraid were coming as the park opened (it opens the gates at 6, but hte main gate is about 20 minutes down the road from the actual park entrance which is by where we stayed the night).  Anyway, we did see so many kinds of parrots and other birds, a coatamundi and some funky turkey (found out it is an oscillated turkey - kind of looks like a peacock) around hte Lost World area and of course njoyed all the cool buildings and the vastness of the ruins.  We ended up taking the long route to Temple IV and saw some cool stella on the way (replicas sadly) and they were doing some construction on the front of Temple IV, so jsut headed straight up!  A little sad when we got to the top to realize you can't go around to the bakcside right now.. that is where we had seen howler monkeys when we were there so many years earlier (and of course the monkeys should be waiting for me in the same spot, right?, hahahah).  We did start to hear the howler monkeys when we were up there though and really wanted to find them.  Coming down all the stairs we were all starting to get a little stair weary but we had SO many more to go with the other temples.

the po po

Fox and Lauren were playing at Mia and Maddie's house today - I guess since it's Thanksgiving time, they appreciate their cousins even more (which is only funny because my parents were here but they were at our house and the kids were at the Chambers).  Anyway, they decided to take their bikes up to Target, which I think is about a mile from the Chambers' house.  The 3 girls all had bikes and then Fox was on a scooter, and they were cruising on up.  When they left their house they had realized that they only had 3 helmets, so they decided the bike riders should definitely take those.  As they are cruising up the street, they see a police officer go by and were a little nervous because Fox didn't have a helmet (I'm so proud they actually listened to my helmet scare tactics!) .  Anyway, he drives past but then they see him turn make a u-turn and come back and then turn around to drive up by them.  They said they were freaking out!  He gets out to talk to them and they were all crapping their pants.  Fox said he was so scared!  Come to find out he just wanted to congratulate them on wearing helmets and gave them a free card for a small slurpee!  He even gave one to Fox even though he didn't have one on... lol!  That is going to be a funny story for them for a while!

Food exploration

Fox is eight now.  He isn't a baby anymore, which is really hard for me to remember!  Anyway, Lauren has always been super picky but Fox will actually try new foods and even sometimes eat a whole meal with the family, while Lauren will usually only eat a roll or something.  Fox has recently realized he does like meat though.  When I pulled out a roast that I was going to make the other day, he said, "ooh, are you making the red chicken stuff?"  TOO CUTE!  I really wish he could stay young and cute forever - he doesn't even say head fore anymore (used to say that for forehead).

Brooke - college tours

Brooke is a senior this year and is looking at colleges!  It's seriously crazy.. i can't even believe it.  She has been wanting to play lacrosse in college so I have been looking for places on the west coast where they have lacrosse (so she doesn't go far away!) and found out that Arizona State - ASU - has a newly minted Division 1 NCAA team (which is rare on the west coast) and a club team, so decided to start encouraging Brooke to apply.  For a few weeks, I was looking at the programs that they have, etc. and learning about how they are #1 for innovation and have so many cool programs.  I even messaged a few friends from Arizona and asked about it, and talked to a few others.  After a few weeks, someone finally mentioned that apparently, they are also the #1 party school!  Hello!  None of my friends thought to mention that?!  Now it's a running joke because I swear the first thing that everyone else has said to me when I tell them we went to ASU is that it's a party school!  (now they tell me :))  So the jokes have been all about how "only 9 of my 10 friends at ASU needed to go to rehab" .. um, yeah, i'm scared now!
We actually did go to check it out this weekend - it was a pretty nice campus and I think it got Brooke excited about college life for sure.  It was a Friday afternoon so there weren't too many students around, but there were some and the buildings and programs are great for engineering which is what Brooke was sort of hoping to do.  Marianne got us a time share so we ended up buying stuff for breakfast (we left san diego friday morning after Brooke's improv show at RBHS - funny, btw) and just stayed Friday night, and the place didn't have breakfast, so we got stuff to make what Brooke termed a "vegan with a twist" breakfast.  It was avocado toast with an egg on it.. i was like, "so the twist is that it isn't vegan?!"  I was basically cracking myself up... lol!  We also did a little hike over by campus and then to Last Chance for shopping and even went bowling and for ice cream.  Of course, we were exhausted after such a long day so we slept in until 10 and then didn't get moving back to san diego until a little bit after noon. We were hoping to hit some ATv's or something on the way back ,but the guy we called was actually a little farther out than we realized so we didn't make it and just ended up goofing around and stopping at some random exits to explore.  It was actually nice to be home and in bed at a decent hour, though!

Lauren's primary program talk she wrote...

When you choose the right many blessings can come from it.  A perfect example of that in my life is an award I received last year.  In 5th grade, I tried to make everyone around me feel involved and welcome.  One day in the middle of the year a new girl named Stephanie joined our class.  When our teacher asked if anyone would like to show her around my hand shot up right away.  I tried to make her feel welcome and I even introduced her to some people and she started making friends and even became really good friends with Katie Brooks.  I felt good that she was happy.  At the end of the year, I even was lucky enough to receive a citizenship award from my teacher.   We may not always get an actual physical reward but the spiritual reward of feeling good when you’ve made the right choice is something we can all get.   In the name of Jesus Christ amen.

Memorial Day beach time

This is people huddled together for warmth

James fixing his hair on brooke's phone.. funny since she was just using him as a backrest

We met 3 other families at the beach today.  One is the Clarke's - they used to live in San Diego but moved to Arizona about a year ago.  the other is the Drago's - they are friends with the Clarke's from the Murrieta area, but also we had been friends with them when our husbands were all going to San Diego State.  The other is the Mendenhalls who we have been friends with forever, as well, and who get together with the other 2 families quite regularly (or at least before the Clarke's moved).  Anyway, it was fun to sit and chat, but it was seriously SOOOOO cold.  I think it was even raining right when we got there - mostly misting, not like a real rain, but really not warm.  We kept thinking it would warm up, and I did finally not need a blanket on my legs towards the end of the day :)  The kids seemed to have a good time, though.  Brooke brought a friend with her.  They played soccer together but haven't really hung out much since then, but the friend reached out so Brooke invited her and I think she had a good time.  She is a freshman and so is Ashley, so some people were confused why she was there with Brooke.  I guess that's one of the problems with being at different schools (or is that a benefit that they can both be friends with whoever they want and don't have to worry about the sibling).  Ashley didn't seem to mind that Brooke was hanging with a friend because there were boys her age - all 3 families have a boy either one year older, her age or a year younger.. she likes hanging with boys more than girls (she says because they have less drama, i say because she just likes boys :)).  Anyway, Lauren had girls there her age, and they even went in the water for a little while (brave girls!).  Fox was in heaven, though, playing soccer and goofing around with older kids that didn't mind playing with him (sometimes his own siblings are kind of grumpy about it).  He was cracking em up when he came over with his entire face covered in sand, so I offered to clean it off, since I figured someone pushed him in the sand and he denied my offer saying that it was his "camouflage".  I'm still not sure who he was hiding from.
At one point I was trying to stay warm and also just needing to move around so I was trying hard to find someone to play smash ball with me.  (just like two small wooden  rackets and then a bouncy ball), and no-one wanted to, and then all of a sudden fox and abby are wanting to play with each other.  I was like, "excuse me?"  Mark was supposed to be bringing the smoky joe so we could cook up some hamburgers and hot dogs, but he was running way late and eventually just picked up pizza on the way down. I was so full from all the snacks (chips and dip and doughnuts) that I wasn't even hungry but of course ate some cheesy bread anyway!.    Sister Atwood that served in this mission was back visiting and happened to be there and it was fun when she came by to say hi and hang out. Sort of awkward because you don't know how much they remember you and you don't know much about them outside of them being a missionary but fun to get acquainted.  

Then Robie and I went to see the new Pirates movie.. i think I actually missed a few in the middle there, so I don't really know the sub plots, etc. but it was interesting.  They know how to keep it moving and entertaining.  I hate being bored in movies, and I wasn't so must be a winner!

Little joys of Fox

Fox is a crackup.  He's 7 almost 8 now and it breaks my heart that he isn't a baby.  I am afraid the moments are almost done when he will laugh at silly things and I can still grab him and lift him up (maybe he will lift me up someday?).  He used to love soccer but we have been going through a rough spot for the last 6 months or so.  He loves to PLAY soccer, but he hates to practice or do whatever seems more like drills, like skills clinics or camps.  Robie and I both know we let Brooke back off at this age when she was nervous and we think that has made it harder for her to succeed as she has grown up, so we are hesitant to let him back off.   Mostly it seems like he doesn't like to not be the best at something, so instead he just gives up, which of course is super frustrating!  I mean, if you want to be the best, you keep practicing!  Anyway, I've now resorted to bribing him to go at all, but when he gets there he usually has a good time, so hopefully it won't be the longest season ever where he hates every moment.  He wants to start lacrosse so we need to find a good league for that - i think he would have fun, especially if he starts young so he is one of the better ones.

He is obsessed with Star Wars.  As in, he knows all the ships and their names and who would use them.  It's actually quite amazing.  And he gets disgusted when I don't know what each one does or how they are different - so shameful