Back at the Belize Jungle Dome for the summer

Whilst Karen (our resort's manager) is on her well-deserved break to Canada we are back in Belize running the Belize Jungle Dome. Coming back to Belize-after all these months in Aruba-was a bit of a shock to the system, but we are now back into the swing of things and are enjoying ourselves.

We had to get used again to the fact that in Belize you create your own fun. Nothing gets handed on a plate to you. Especially with the kids...I missed the many playgrounds, the tennis club, the summer camps, all the things that Aruba has in abundance. Lucky enough, the Brazilian Ambassador's wife has set up arts & crafts mornings at their residence. The boys go there most mornings and it breaks up the day perfectly.

Back at the house, they play with the local kids, catch bugs, swim, etc. And at 7 o'clock they are ready for sleep.

We also went for a short break to the golf island, Caye Chappel, which is always fantastic. So, all in all, we are doing great. Here's a few pics of the boys in action with several of their friends.

My mum's brilliant birthday party!

Andy's birthday....out on a quadbike!

This is quiet beach we found on the North of the island, where thousands of people over the years have been piling up rocks for good luck. I built a little rockpile myself whilst there and made a wish. It's a shame that in this picture you only see a small part of the beach, because these piles of rocks go on forever and even are built high up on giant bolders. Very cool place indeed.

After having been on our little tour of the island in the morning, Andy picked Lucas up from school with the quadbike in the afternoon. Of course, Lucas was delighted!

And here is picture of a us with our neighbours, who we'd invited over for dinner by the pool. We served them chicken, rice & beans, to show them what people eat in Belize (there's not much chicken, rice and beans being served in Aruba)

father's day, going orange, etc. Some recent pictures...

We're here!

We arrived in Aruba last Tuesday night, but it feels like we've been here much longer than a week already. My dad and Ina had flown over to Aruba from Holland on a last-minute deal that they found, which was a wonderful surprise! We had some great family time with them (not long enough though)

Our house here is great, Andy is happy playing golf, I've found a band to sing with, the kids are settling in well at school...all is good, really.

It's so hard to imagine that the following pictures were taken just a week ago in Belize. Bart had come back over to spend some time at the Belize Jungle Dome to help out the ladies in the kitchen (congratulations Nora on the birth of your baby girl!!!!!)

It was great to spend some time with him, John and Silvia before we left. And of course with Karen. I will miss you her whilst we're here : (

Will blog more soon....

Spiderman, spiderman

Oh, my boys do crack me up. Aidan is quite a handful these days. His favorite thing is playing in mud and grabbing things he shouldn't grab. He also lifts up your shirt to blow raspberries on your tummy (laughing hysterically as he does so). And he has started to talk a bit too. Just a few words so far: mommy, daddy, night-night and juice & in Dutch: koekje en vissen. He's attempting other words, but can't make them sound right yet.



And Lucas? Well, what can I say about Lucas. He actually believes that he's Spiderman. On some days he thinks that he's the boy from the Incredibles (the one who can run on water), but most days he's Spiderman. To be honest, I even think he's Spiderman sometimes. Just look at this clip and you'll understand what I mean.


Oh, and before I forget...here are some more funny comments from Lucas: "Oh mom, you should have seen these little baby rabbits. They were so cute, I almost cried"

And a while ago he came home from school to tell me that he has a girlfriend. "Wow" I said, "That's nice. What's her name?"

"Er...I forgot"

"Well, do you want to invite her over for a play date soon?"

"Oh, no!" He answered mortified "I don't talk to her. I'm scared of her"

High school reunion

Yesterday I went to see my 2 old school friends Marloes and Wendy. We had all grown up together and kind of lost touch with each other after finishing school, mainly becaues I moved away to London when I was 18. Our little 'reunion' was brilliant. They haven't changed a bit and they said the same of me. It is astounding to think that you can be away from people for 17 years and then simply pick up the threat where you left it, but that's how it felt. I guess it helps that we are all in similar phase of life again as all 3 of us have young children. Here is Lucas with Wendy's little boy Djoy and Marloes' little girl Tess. I definately intent to stay in touch this time and to visit them again next time we're back in Holland.

Oh, and we drove past my old house, my old school, etc. It was funny seeing it all back again and seeing how much things have changed.

Wendy talked to me about why she never left the town that we all grew up in & she was quite right when she said to me: "I see it like this, regardless of where you live, once you've been there for a while it will become mundane and regardless of where you are in the world, you need to work for a living. So why move half-way across the world to end up the same situation you would be in right here? At least here I have the support of my friends and family"

Yep, she sure has a point.

Anyway, here's a picture of Lucas with Wendy's little boy Djoy and Marloes' little girl Tess. And a picture of the 3 of us together with Tess and Lucas.

Some more pictures of our travels

Lucas is very much stuck in his role of Spiderman. But then, aren't all 4-year-old boys? This outfit is actually a swimsuit. Isn't it fun?

Aidan trying to stand on Lucas' new skateboard with assistance from Ina.

My dad and Ina....aren't they sweet?

Going on another daytrip with the boys. They've been in playgrounds, petting zoos, etc. virtually every day. Not a bad life!

6 months to build a house in Belize? I think not!

It's been pretty crazy here the last few days. We are still finishing off rooms in the new house that we're renting out just after Christmas. It's all becoming a mad rush, with several 'plan B's' thrown in to get the project done in time.

Anyway, I'm too tired to blog about it. But here are a few pictures of what's going on:

I've been meaning to upload these for ages

Andy has helped me figure out why I haven't been able to upload any photos for a while, the files were simply too large.

So anyway, here are some pictures of what's been happening here in last few weeks

First up, the kids getting ready for the Independence day parade. Several took Banana Bank horses along.

11-year-olds probably should not yet be left in charge of toddlers. Proof of that is this next picture of little Henry. Jessica made a right mess of him (it did make us all giggle though)

I've finished my 12-day introductory program at the new gym in Belmopan. I had to go and work out at the gym for 20 minutes every day & follow a diet. I didn't stick to the diet too well as I didn't really want to diet whilst I'm nursing. So anyway, I'm not sure that I got the full effect of it all, but that's okay with me. It's just nice to have gyms (yes, there are two now) in Belmopan.

And finally, John's living room has become rather crowded with this pool table in it. But he likes it!