Baseball season is in full swing and we are exhausted but loving it!
Cruz:
As of right now, the middle school team is 3-2 and having a good season! Cruz plays the starting second base position and is very good at it! He works so hard and is always willing to go to an extra practice to improve his skills.
I love watching the boys pray after each game.
Row:
Rowan also plays the starting second baseman position on his team and has made some great plays and outs this season. Rowan has improved so much with his hitting as well having gone 5 straight games without a strike out. He also works so hard and we are so proud of him.
Row was showcased on the sports instagram page on game day.
Love my big boy!
Gamechanger is an app that records the game stats and includes a live play by play of the game. I like reading these little articles the app generates after the game and Row always enjoys seeing his name in the highlights.
Father/Daughter Sock Hop:
Coco and Daddy looked the part as they headed off to the annual daddy/daughter dance. They started out with a dinner date to Outback followed by a night of dancing!
Height Update:
Rowan officially passed me up in height this month. He's coming for Roger next! :)
Cruz Fishing Charter:
Cruz was invited to go fishing in the ocean with his friend Wyatt. This was a fun new experience for Cruz and he had a great time. Unfortunately they didn't catch anything big enough to keep but Cruz had fun!
Universal Studios Dance:
Once again, Coco and her team got to dance on the Universal Studios stage! They did a great job and we had a fun day with our friends. Watch the video at your own risk as you'l hear a lot of screaming moms! :)
Cousin Visit:
Uncle Randy, Aunt Nicole, Emmett and Otto came down to Cape Coral to visit Grandpa and Deona for Spring Break. They all came up to Sarasota (along with Linda, Uncle Craig and Lisa) for lunch, a little hang time at our house and even a trip to SCS to watch the boys play baseball! It was such a fun day and we're so thankful that we got to see them.
Emmett is so cute and he loves Cora so much!
The boys enjoyed having extra fans at their games!
Otto was a happy, smiley angel per the usual.
Since it was spirit night, Emmett and Cora got to go out on the field with Rowan for the opening prayer and the National Anthem.
Driving:
Blazer Olympics:
Dance Pic:
Cora's annual ballet photo! I love looking back at all her years of being a ballerina.
We left early Monday morning from Miami. Our flight landed in the main airport in Belize City. We immediately hopped another flight on a tiny little plane to the island of Ambergris Caye, about a 15 minute flight.
Our first time on a plane this small and on one with a propeller!
They sat you based on weight to balance out the plane. Cruz, Cora and I got to sit on the bench seat in the back. It was great because it had extra leg room!
We stayed at the Alaia Belize thanks to Marriott points! We had a beautiful two bedroom suite with a kitchen and HUGE patio, which was great for playing games and hanging out.
The view from the front of the hotel was cool. You could see right past the pool into the ocean.
We walked a little ways to find lunch. This cute little restaurant wasn't busy at all since it was mid afternoon. The kids had the horseshoes, hammocks and swings to themselves.
On our way back we stopped at a fruit stand and got some watermelon which the kids ate for breakfasts. We also stopped by a local grocery store for a few snacks.
What's a late afternoon swim without a smoothie?
In the evening we walked down to the beach and played beanbags, soccer and ladder toss.
We finished up Day 1 with a few rousing games of Spoons, Bluff and Golf.
Tuesday: Snorkeling
Our all day snorkel tour began bright and early. Our first stop was the Hol Chan Marine Reserve. This area is the second largest barrier reef in the world! We saw sea turtles, baby sea turtles, a few sharks, SO many fish right up in our faces! We saw barracudas, sting rays and so many types of coral. We even got to swim through a coral forest. Our second stop was a spot where nurse sharks are known to congregate. They are a friendly shark but swimming with them was still intimidating. We stopped at a few other places to see sea horses in the wild, large star fish, tarpon and other fish. Roger got a bird to take a fish out of his mouth and the kids got birds to take them out of their hands! It was a truly fun and memorable adventure.
Unfortunately, I left my bag with the GoPro and several other things on the plane (we later got them back) but didn't have for this adventure. We got a few phone videos which I will upload at a later time.
Lunch was on a small island. We had BBQ pork, chicken and ribs along with beans and rice. It was all delicious.
After Hurricane Hattie, the channel dug by the fisherman was widened making it look like the island was split in two. Now people like to swim across to the other side. There's even a tiny little ferry boat to shuttle people and their golf carts across.
Cruz is always the first one to try something new which is funny considering he used to be the most timid of our kids.
We got back, showered and headed to the hotel restaurant for dinner.
We spent much of dinner discussing the fact that how to do CPR was posted step by step near the pool. The kids thought that was so funny and we debated whether or not we wanted someone to read the rules to try to save us. ;)
We finished the day with ice cream and paletas, which are popsicles.
Wednesday: The Great Blue Hole
The Great Blue Hole is a giant marine sinkhole. From the water it doesn't look like much but from the air, it's really neat to see!
We boarded our second tiny plane for this experience.
Again, we were boarded by weight. This time Roger got to sit in the copilot seat! Rowan and Cora sat in the back two seats and Cruz and I got the bench again.
Video highlights
After our flight, we picked up our golf cart to explore the rest of Ambergris Caye. There are not many cars allowed on the island so everyone travels by golf cart!
The roads were bumpy but it was a lot of fun!
Our destination was Secret Beach, which really wasn't a secret but the waters were so calm and there was a lot of things to do. Cruz and Cora were excited for the inflatables in the middle of the ocean.
Cora also got to have her hair braided.
We finished up our last evening in San Pedro with ice cream, paletas....
and some Belizean chocolate too!
Thursday: Travel to San Ignacio, Belize
We had a slow morning packing up, having a Burn (card game) tournament and saying good bye to the Alaia Belize!
Our final tiny plane ride was the bumpiest yet. We basically landed sideways. Rowan told me afterwards that he was sure we were making an emergency landing.
We stopped at a roadside restaurant which turned out to be a great choice! We all enjoyed it. The food in Belize was very American. Even their more local choices like BBQ, beans, rice and tortillas were enjoyed by all members of the Baum fam.
Our next hotel was called the Vanilla Hills Lodge and was just outside the town of San Ignacio. We had the villa with two bedrooms, a living room and a HUGE wrap around porch with hammocks.
The kids love a good tropical welcome drink! We swam and ate in the hotel restaurant as we had an early morning the next day!
Friday: Tikal, Guatemala
Our hotel had a delicious breakfast with smoothies and Nutella pancakes so the kids were set! :)
We started our day by visiting a brand new country, Guatemala. The border between Belize and Guatemala was only about 25 minutes away from our hotel. We had a guide which made crossing fairly quickly. Once across, we traveled several hours to Tikal, one of the best preserved civilizations left from the Mayans.
The Ceiba tree is the national tree of Guatemala and to the Mayans, these trees were the axis of the world.
Backside of Temple I
Its hard not to be impressed with the blocks the Mayans used to build these structures.
Temples I and II look at each other across the courtyard.
The part the kids found most interesting here was learning about a game the Mayan nobility would play using a ball and a hoop to decide which of them would be sacrificed. Winning was an honor though Cruz was pretty sure it might be the one time he wouldn't try to win! :)
Here is where these sacrifices took place.
There were several areas where the kids (and Roger) were allowed to climb!
It was HOT. The kids brought their portable fans which helped a little bit but 95 and sunny is hard to cool down from! We stopped at a roadside restaurant for tacos on our way home.
When we got back a few of us swam and others of us played a rousing game of Wall Ball under the villa.
Saturday: Cave Tubing
While I didn't do it on purpose, we saved the best for last. Our adventure started at the Nohoch Che'en Caves. We got fitted for helmets and lights and picked out our tubes.
The tour started off with a 25 minute hike through the jungle carrying your tube! The kids did great although Roger did end up with two tubes by the end. :) We waded through water, walked over roots and through tree tunnels.
We had a few minutes to cool down in the water while the guides tied our tubes together.
The caves quickly got dark!
We made several stops along the way to crawl, swim, jump and float. It was truly a memorable adventure and one of our favorite stops!
Video highlights
The kids finished off the night with a swim. I loved listening to the giggle, laugh and make up games. As they get older, this happens less so its always so fun to watch when it does.
Sunday: Going Home
We had one last breakfast before making the two hour trek from San Ignacio to Belize City to catch our flight. As usual, Rog did a great job driving, learning some new traffic rules and getting us where we needed to go safely!
This week was truly so fun and refreshing. The family time, break from schedules and adventures were just what all of us needed!
