Belize Day 5 and 6

The first full day that we spent at the resort I didn't take a single picture. We had been on the go so much since we had started our vacation, that we decided to just spend this day taking it easy. So we spent the entire day swimming in the pool and in the ocean. It was lovely. The kids had such a great time. I still can't get over how much they wanted to swim. I'm so glad that I had Shane with me, and have to say that he spent much more time in the water with the kids than I did. He was such a good sport.

 In the afternoon we borrowed some snorkel gear from the resort and let the kids practice with it in the pool. They both did ok with it so we decided to sign up for a snorkeling trip the next day.

I was a little nervous about taking the kids on the snorkeling trip the next day, but for the most part they really did great.

We got up early and met the boat at the beach. It had been a bit windy since we got there a few day ago (not Idaho wind, but warm lovely sea breeze wind), but today there was no wind and the ocean was calm and glassy.

Max was a little nervous on the boat ride as it started to speed away from shore, and we realized that Max had never really been on a boat before. After a 40 minute boat ride we arrived at the reef. It was amazing. The water was like glass and I could see the reef all around us. We got in the water and started to look around, it was beautiful. Shane and Max swam together and Mason stuck with me. Both kids really did great and got excited to see all the colorful fish. Mason was especially excited until our snorkel guide pointed out an eel hiding in a rock. Now think to yourself... what does a seven year old know about eels... well they are sinister creatures that do things like KILL NEMO'S MOM! Yup, after that Mason was done snorkeling. He never did say that it was the eel that made him want to get out, but his polar change in enjoyment level after was hard to miss. We got back on the boat and I tried and tried to talk him out of his worry, but he was done. I decided not to push him and instead to try and salvage the memory that he would take with him of snorkeling, we talked about the colorful fish, and I praised him for being such a good swimmer up to that point. A few minutes later the rest of the group rejoined us and after a another short boat ride we stopped at South Water Caye. It was a beautiful island and made me wish that I had put exploring some of the nearby cayes on our itinerary. The water was clear and calm right up to the sand and standing on the dock the kids could see sea urchins, sea horses, and several kids of fish. It was so beautiful.

After a short rest at the Caye we were back in the boat and headed to another snorkel spot. Mason was adamant about not getting back in the water and finally pretended to fall asleep on the bench in the boat. I felt a bit torn, but finally decided to leave Mason on the boat with the other tour guide and joined the group. Max stayed with Shane in the water for most of the time so I was able to have a lovely time snorkeling all by myself. It was a wonderful excursion we saw so many colorful fish, sting rays, a lobster, and of course the eel. I was really proud of both kids for giving it a try.

When we finally got back we were exhausted, and sunburned. We spent the rest of the day just lounging around. Shane took this picture with his phone later in the day and it pretty much sums up how we were all feeling.