Jacob and I took off for Guatemala
with great excitement and energy!
And just as we were about to get into the security line,
I realized the Tylenol I was bringing with me
was 1 oz too big for air travel!
It's something I rely on for when Jacob is teething,
and of course this week he was teething...
So I had to leave it with Greg and the kids,
and then get a box in the Denver Airport before take-off!
Look at how much I had to pay!!
We settled into our seat,
and were ready to go visit Buela and Buelo!
We had a seamless, uneventful flight into Dallas, and then on to Guatemala!
The sun set just an hour or so before we landed!
This boy did such a good job keeping himself busy!
Mom and Dad met us at the airport,
about 15 minutes after I'd come out of customs.
I knew to stay put til they got there, so no problem!
Then we stayed the night in the city at a friends' house
and left after breakfast to make our trek "home"!
It was a bit over a 2 hour drive,
so at about halfway we stopped at a beautiful tourist-y rest stop!
Then we continued our trek,
and turned off the main road when we saw this!
Their home is in a large green tower,
next to a hotel
that you can "barely" see from the main road!
Jacob was happy to get outta the carseat!
Although they are not hotel guests,
Mom and Dad have to walk through the lobby
to get to the elevator for their apartment!
And first thing we did was get lunch ready!
On the balcony!
Looking at the amazing volcano!!
And enjoying the ambience of a vacation destination,
except it's really home!!
Then it was time for Jacob to take a nap,
and Mom and Dad and I just kept the chattin' goin'!
Then Jacob woke from his nap,
and since we hadn't yet gotten the balcony baby-proofed,
he enjoyed the view from inside the glass doors!
When in a 3rd World country,
one must be sure to drink "Agua Pura"
so there was lots of bottled water around!
Jacob found them quite entertaining!
Sometimes we went for walks down to the
Hotel's waterfront "beach"
and hung out on the rocking dock.
While Dad was working one morning
Mom, Jacob and I drove to a neighboring town
that specializes in painted ceramics.
As we neared our destination
we came around the bend and saw this!
It reminded me of some little town off the Mediterranean!
Mom bought what she was looking for,
and this little 6 year old girl
also sold us a little Guatemalan baby to bring home to Robbie!
(Flash forward one week to him receiving his gift!
He loved it!!)
The Flora of Guatemala is worth noting!
Look at this tower of bougainvillea!
In so many different colors!
Flowers of every,
Shape-Color-Size-Variety
I think we counted over 12 types of Bird of Paradise flowers!
And
Look at this one!
A closer look!
Even the leaves were interesting!
A multi-colored bougainvillea!
These are hydrangea, passion flower (that passion fruit comes from)
and another beautiful pink flower!
We decided to go visit Dad at his office too!
There were so many "pieces" of Ecuador in there!
This is an "in action" shot that another photographer took
while they were working on an episode of Deditos!
(Wanna read an article about what my dad does?
Click on this link:
Jacob had a blast getting to know his Buelos better!
(And this mama had a blast watching them with him!)
One day we took a tuk-tuk from their place into town!
It's only about a 10 minute ride!
After shopping for some souvenirs
we went out to eat at Mom and Dad's favorite pizza place!
Everywhere we went
we greatly enjoyed fantastic "batidos"
(or "liquados" in Guate!)
Another day we went to the butterfly farm just up the road,
then took a look at the monkeys that live there,
then hiked around to a different part of the lake!
This butterfly is named for the town where they live!
Can you see the monkey?
Here's a closer look from that same picture!
Our hike included 5 long swinging bridges,
walking over large chasms in the rainforest!
I couldn't believe that mixed in with the tropical species
there were all these evergreens!!
And pine needles all over the ground!
As we trekked down to the lake on the last leg of the hike
we came upon this magnificent tree
whose root system is quite exposed!
And we enjoyed a fancy picnic of cheese and crackers!
Jacob was quite tired for our hike home,
so we used our "picnic blanket" as a wrap!
Along the hike we saw LOTS of coffee bean trees!
My view from my bedroom window!
And I could hear the flutter of the hummingbirds from my pillow!
They are a really small breed. Can you find this one?
What do I always look forward to in goin' home?
Mom's amazing "touch" to putting food on the plate!
This is fantastic stuffed French toast with
sausage (patty and link), fresh fruit, and tea brewing perfectly!
And all of it enjoyed
with the most fantastic people
and most surreal view!
Dad and I went to the waterfall that overlooks their side of the lake
This was my view looking back at him!
Jacob was still breastfeeding while we were there,
so one morning he awoke around dawn,
and after I fed him and got him back down
I couldn't fall back asleep cuz I was staring at the sunrise!
Incredible!!
My last weekend there was a "Feria" (or holiday) weekend
so the hotel filled with people from the city,
and on Friday night there was boom-boom-discoteca-music
until about 12:45am!
Jacob and I didn't sleep all that well that night,
as our room was on the front of the apartment.
Saturday night there was a church-revival-conference
until about 10:45pm!
The preacher screamed and the crowd oohed and aahed
while Jacob and I tried to go to sleep!
Then, just as I thought they were closin' up
they got into a long worship set!
Just a few more funny memories
to add to a fantastic trip!
I brought binoculars down for Mom and Dad.
(They bought them I delivered them)
and I had fun using my iPhone to capture a few of the images
of birds and other wildlife in the trees you can see from their balcony!
There were a few nests we kept track of,
but never confidently identified who the parents were.
It also appeared the squirrel was making some sort of a nest too!
This is just an interesting picture!
This little cabin is available for rent,
which is a normal thing since nearby is one of the best known resort towns.
But what's unusual about this one
is what's GROWING on the roof!
Eight days is not enough time
but you just gotta soak up every moment you can!!
And then we got special permission to go into the airport with my folks
so we could hang out after I checked in, before I went down into security!
And we said farewell to Guatemala!!
