A riddle

What do a magnificent frigate bird,

a brown pelican,

Mayan temples

and the Macal River

have in common? You guessed it. Belize.

It has been really rainy today, July 12th. The next 10 days here are going to be unseasonably cool and rainy. But you know what? I don't even care. Sure, I love to talk about the weather, but that's not what this post is about. This post is about our upcoming family vacation. 19 days in Earth's hidden treasure--Belize.

Now, there are many definitions of insanity. My personal favorite is Albert Einstein's: doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result. But perhaps someone else might define it as this: taking 7 kids on vacation to Belize. Yep. We are THAT crazy.

I should mention that we are going in the low season, lodging and food are cheap there, and we are using 12 years worth of airline points from our dental office credit card for many of the plane tickets. We didn't win the lottery, and we have been saving up like crazy for this trip.

When Mark and I were there 3 years ago, we loved everything about Belize, and the whole time we kept telling ourselves that someday we would take all of the kids there, when they were all old enough to remember it. Zack will be 5 in a month, and he still remembers everything from when he was 1, so I think we are good. Also, Abram will be leaving us next summer and heading off to college, so this is our one chance to take everyone there before our family dynamics are forever changed.

We will spend 11 nights on the mainland, including 8 nights in San Ignacio near the Guatemalan border. Last time we were there we didn't explore the inner jungles of Belize, and we are going to have plenty of time to do so. I am so excited about this part.

We will then head to La Isla Bonita for 5 nights.

Belize has been calling us back for 3 years now. I can't wait to be there again. Luckily I got a jump start on my tan last week at camp.

Let the countdown begin!