Day 4

This is actually the last day I actually took pictures. We woke up early and drove the remainder of the way to Tikal. It was amazing. Just no other way to describe it. To think of those people building such massive structures just boggles my mind.

So this is a picture of the path carved by the leaf cutter ants. They would carry pieces of leaves 3x the size of their ant bodies. Pretty crazy. It kind of makes my head itch to see large quantities of insects in any given place.


One of the temples

Close up of the stones that are used to construct the temples.



Still good looking.

Mi mama y yo (gotta use some Spanish...we were in Guatemala). It was SUPER muggy there. And hot. And sunny. I am not keen on any of those things, but it was still worth it. I also saw some howler monkeys swinging in some trees. No howling though. I had hoped.

I also got bit on my bosom by an ant. No joke. It killed and itched for quite some time. I felt like I had ants crawling in my shirt the rest of the day. I think he thought it was his anthill. Ha.







I guess this is the scene in a Star Wars movie.

















So, no where in the US would you EVER be allowed this close to a ruin, much less climb on it.



Just starting to unearth another. They are all over this area.

So I passed on climbing this one. I am not much of a heights person and though I knew I could get up, I think going down would have freaked the bejeebers out of me.

My brave hubby did it though.


After we were finished at Tikal we got back in the van and drove the 8 hours back to Guatemala City. It was a long drive. Don't worry though, I kept everyone entertained with a myriad of games such as "20 questions" and think of a song with "this" word in it.

Monday was D's big 31. I got him nothing. hmmm. I guess he still gets to be married to me, what more could he want? Ha. We had a nice dinner and then went to the really nice, new mall to see "Angels and Demons" The theatre was as nice (or nicer) than any theatre in the US and they sell caramel corn at the concession stand. I am almost tempted to move to Guatemala just for that very reason.

Oh, I forgot, the last day the guys hiked the Volcano Pakai (spelling anyone?) I was lazy and bowed out. My back and feet bother me so much and by the last day I was feeling it (though my new tennis shoes are now making a world of a difference with that problem). The lava was actually flowing and once again, unlike the US, they let people climb it and play in it, if they choose. The guys spent most of the time throwing in sticks and watching them go into flames. My parents have since taken hot dogs and marshmallows to roast up there. True story folks. How many people can say they have had a marshmallow roasted over molten lava. Few, I am sure.

I know we have pictures from that event, but my organization lacks a bit and I may need to hit up my dad for another disk. Maybe D was smart enough to take the disk and hide it from me so I couldn't lose it. Good chance of that too. It is amazing that I can keep all my client's stuff findable, but when it comes to my own, my brain is overloaded and I seem to misplace things ALL. THE. TIME.

Anyway, story for another day.

I went shopping with my mom that day to pick up a few little souvenirs. Got J some really tacky Guat. shorts which he wears regularly, some really nice placemats (that I am yet to use), napkins and cute vege and fruit napkin rings. I got an assortment of other little things including a slingshot for J which he uses to shoot marshmallows in the back yard. We made it very clear when giving it to him that they were the ONLY approved ammo.

And there you have it...Guatemala. Oh yes, did I mention how FABULOUS it is to travel without kids? It is.

Day 3 last post...

We drove for a long time after Quirigua until we got to El Rio Dulce (Sweet Waters). We checked into the Banana Palms hotel. It was decent for the middle of no where, Guatemala. We had some time left in the day so we decided to take a boat ride out to the edge of the river and the Atlantic ocean to a town called Livingston. It was the craziest little Jamacian town with people who have a sing songy Spanish. We walked from one edge to the other in 20 minutes. Also, there is no access to Livinston except by boat. It was pretty cool. The boat ride to Livingston took about an hour and a half and it was so pleasant. At one stop along the way a little girl paddled up and showed us a turtle and held her hand out for money.



Water lillies


The turtle girl







Check out the concrete slide...

Walking up the main street
One of D's many random beverages.







The public baths


Our group...dad, mom, D, me, Jonathon and Dean
There were some amazing flowers in Guatemala!


Mango tree...I also was interested in how mangos grow.
Our little boat. Manuel is in the back.

The little houses on the shore.

The edge of the river were sheer drops. It was pretty crazy!


Cool bird on a branch.

The poop island. The ground was totally white as is the tree from all the birds.

Day 3 still continued...

so, I was totally fascinated by how the bananas grow. I didn't know before visiting Guatemala. There was a huge Dole? Tropicana? plant right next to Quirigua so I asked to pull over so I could check it out and take some pictures. Did you know monkeys open bananas from the part we consider the bottom? True. In our house I always ask the kids if they want the people or the monkey side of the banana (I cut them in half and give one to each child). They know what I am talking about.

Tell me this isn't cool.





They cover them up to keep the bugs off.



cool rail system to transport the naners.

Day 3 continued...

Remember how I mentioned how much D loved trying everything? Well he definitely couldn't pass up the coconut man. He sat on the curb and you could pay him to cut you a coconut and give you a straw to drink the milk. I don't want to know how many times the straw had been used so we opted to drink without.







Coconut milk isn't very good plain BTW.

Day 3

So, I am accepting the fact that I am not going to get any work done tonight so I figured I might as well blog for a bit. Then, it is off to make some buttermilk syrup for D's trip and get on the treadmill. I have a love hate relationship with the treadmill. I feel great when I get off and get a good workout in, but it is sooooo boring. I need some good TV shows to watch. Any suggestions?

Well, life has been busy in the Shaw house. We made it through D's intense GMAT Prep, he took the test, did well and now we are on to applications. We went to San Diego for a week with D's family and had an absolute blast (more to come on that some month :)), J started at Miss Debbie's superstar preschool and loves it, my business is BUSY (good and bad), I am making 5 Halloween costumes (remember last year when I swore I wouldn't do it again...I am), and Miss P keeps me crazy. I felt a little validated when the sitter (who has 6 children of her own) told me she has never had one as busy. Thank you. Thank you. I am not crazy. P is though :).

So here we go. I may need some help filling in the gaps, Mom. You know how I am with the memory.

Day 3:
We got up early this day and loaded into our nice van that actually had seats and seatbelts. Our driver, Manuel, was awesome and came with us on all our adventures. We had a long drive ahead of us, so we had to start early. We drove for some time through the lush Guatemala landscape (I think most people have no idea that Guatemala is a very tropical climate). We passed a lot of "living fences" where people would cut a stick of a tree, plant them in a line and they grow into new trees, forming a natural fence. Pretty cool.

Our first stop was Quirigua (did I spell that right?) There were large stelas all over the place and they had such intricate carvings all over them. I will just say right now, that the ruins in Guatemala are unbelievable. I can't imagine how long and how much man power it took to build these things. It is also soooo HOT and muggy.

look at that hot guy and the cool wall/stairs behind him.


my mom and me. You can see a little of how this little area was laid out.

With my dad-e-o too. Forgive the bad resizing. I can't get it right and I give up.

D and Jonathon went exploring in the jungle. It was really thick once you got past the trees you see.
Stelas





Happy Jonathon. He was so fun to have around.