We are in Guatemala

Hi,

We arrived safe and sound yesterday. Our plane was on time and when we arrived at the airport we found the hotel van waiting for us. Very convenient! There are always lots and lots of people waiting for relatives and it gets very confusing. We were so happy to have somebody waiting for us.

The hotel is very nice! We got a suite through Expedia and it is wonderful, very luxurious. There is an executive lounge with beverages and food all day. Don has taken many trips there. Today we saw Carlos and Titi's birthfamilies and we went to the zoo again. We had a good time.

Tomorrow we will go to Panajachel and I will try to post more from there.

Leaving for Guatemala

Tomorrow we leave for Guatemala. We are going to be there for 10 days. I have been packing for weeks and I have packed and repacked, trying to fit more things in the suitcases. We are only bringing a small portion of the donations we have. We can bring 8 big suitcases but they have to weight 50 Lbs. or less.

We are going to stay at the Gran Tikal Futura hotel in the city to visit with Carlos and Titi's birthfamilies and then a van will pick us up on Monday to bring us to Panajachel. I am hoping to do some research for future projects. We want to start an after-school project, a community garden and some kind of feeding program for children and older people.

We will try to be in touch via email or here.

Northwest Florida

We went on vacation at the beginning of the month to northwest Florida. It was a good trip and we got to see some more of the state.

We first drove to Busch Gardens in Tampa. We arrived on July 4th at night and we were able to see the fireworks from the employee's parking lot. It was perfect, we saw them very close! The next day we went to the park and Carlos and Titi were happy to see they were tall enough to go on most rides.

Carlos was tall enough to ride all the rollercoasters by himself and he did it, sometimes 3 or 4 times in a row. They do not bother him at all. It makes me nervous to see him go but he loves it so much I have to let him go. Don went with him on a couple of ones but for the most part he just waited for Carlos. Titi and I just walked around and of course Titi had to get wet 2 or 3 times. It rained in the afternoon but it was not too bad.

We went to the park 2 1/2 days and then left for Homossassa Springs. It is a very nice park and we saw manatees, alligators, fish and all kinds of birds. We could not believe how clear the water was! The next day we visited Wakulla Springs near Tallahasse. Carlos and Titi wanted to swim in the springs but when they got in and felt the cold water they got out quickly. The water temperature is 65-68 degrees year round. Now we can say we have been to Tallahasse. It is a nice, small city.

We then drove to the Panhandle. We loved Destin and stayed there a couple of days. There was so much to do! We went to a nice waterpark and the marina and had a nice time. Carlos and Titi were able to feed fish and crabs and they were very happy.

On the way back we stopped in Orlando and went to Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom. We got home tired and happy.