Happy Spook-Tastic Halloween!

We this week we celebrated Halloween Honduras style.  Our friends Erika and Ken were rock stars and hosted a Halloween party that was so much fun.  Costumes, snacks, music, beer pong, bobbing for apples and so much more!  Luke and I felt a little challenged with what to be since we didn't have the resources that we normally do stateside - however, I think we pulled it together pretty well.

On Monday (actual Halloween) the kiddos were allowed to wear costumes and can I just say - my kids were by far the cutest things I have ever seen!  Here are some fun photos of all of the Halloween shenanigans that took place.

Bobbing for apples

The men 

Kimberly

Natalie and Angie

Grapes and Johnny Depp

Awesom-O and Professor Chaos playing beer pong (oh yea - we won by the way)

Arggggg - captain Jenna and Elio

Nice

Dan always loves photos or should I say Bruce

Poppa and Mama Smurf

Frida and ACDC Man

Awesom-O and Professor Chaos

2 Seconds - that's my husband!

Congrats to Aenne and Robert!

Last month one of my best friends in the whole world got married!  I was so sad I could not be there but I heard that it was amazing and perfect.  Luckily, I had plenty of spies there to catch me up on everything that happened and how lovely the whole thing was.  I wish you both nothing but happiness and I hope you have fun on your rocking cruise honeymoon!

Tela

Oh my - it has been a long time since I have updated.  In that time a lot has happened but we will do this one thing at a time.  In October we are really lucky to have a million holidays - so that equals a million three day weekends.  On one of the those weekends - Luke and I decided to be road warriors and take the mopeds for a good old fashioned road trip to Tela, a beach community about 1.5 hours away.

We pack up the mopeds and headed out.  Sadly, about halfway through, the rain came, and when I say it came, it didn't stop.  Luckily, Luke and I bought rain jackets from REI (the best store in the world) before moving to Honduras.  We were very happy to have them.  The ride otherwise was great and it felt really good to be on the 'open road'.

When we arrived in Tela, we stayed at a hotel called Maya Vista which was awesome!  The hotel itself is on a hill which makes for amazing views.  We were so happy to arrive, soaked, but happy.  We checked into our room and enjoyed sitting upstairs looking out at the sea and the really lovely sunset.

The next day, some of our teacher friends decided to join us for a kayaking adventure in the mangroves!  Jenna, Elio, Dan and Erika all met up with us and we went kayaking where we saw a baby alligator, monkeys and the Bruja Bird (my favorite because it cackles like a witch).  It was a fun and amazing time except for the mosquitoes   Holy biting batman, when you got into that stagnant water - they came after you.

We ended the day getting pizza in town and drove home the next day.  It was a great short trip and super fun to hang out with friends outside of Ceiba!  Here are some photos for your enjoyment.

View from Maya Vista 

Erika and Dan 

Following our guide into alligator infested water! 

Baby alligator in the water!  Top left. 

Jenna and Elio 

Not the same as Oregon but pretty bad a

Taking a break

I decided to lay down

Elio is ready for adventure!

Dan not so much

Drinking lots of water

Erika with the fish!

Pizza

<3

Dan smiled!

Elio knows how to shake it!

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving Eh!

One fabulous thing about being married to a Canadian is the joy of two Thanksgivings.  So, on the second Monday in October, we had friends over and decided to have a pot lock Thanksgiving dinner.  We are very lucky to be blessed with an amazing life, great family and fantastic new and old friends!

We had Italian Chicken rolls, butter horns, corn, apple pie, mashed potatoes and so much more.  I will let the photos speak for themselves though.

Cheers!

 Luke hard at work in the kitchen

 Wan Tzu holding down the fort

 That's right - I helped

 Ken and Erika

 Natalie and Tyler

 Friends!

 Anuar being a p-i-m-p

 BABIES!

 Can you say awesome?

 Dishing up

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

Waterfall Hike

One of the great things about Ceiba is the ability to go outside and do a lot of fun outdoor activities.  Out by one of the rivers is an epic waterfall hike that our friends told us about when we arrived in July.  We decided right away that we had to do it.  I have recently felt really lethargic because it has been really hot and humid outside.  But today - we decided that it would be a great day to head out to the falls.

Our friends Erika and Ken decided to come with us and we caught a cab early in the morning to the trail head and headed out on the hike of fun.

The trail itself is only 4k but it is all uphill.  I had forgotten how much I liked hiking.  It was amazing weather outside, hot, but not really.  The forest was great and we had a very fun time hiking and checking out all the wildlife.  I caught frogs and ran from spiders, overall it was an amazing morning.

When we got to the falls, it was really great to cool down in the mist.  Luke and Ken went down and played in the water and it was just really beautiful.  It made me really happy to be living where we are living.

Here are some photos of our adventures.  I can't wait to take everyone on the hike when they come to visit.

Cheers!

Our little toad friend

The small falls

We made it!

Ken on the bridge

Luke was getting his 'zen' on

Ken yelling 'I'm in a waterfall!'

We hung out in the mist area

The falls

Rainy Season Has Officially Started

Well friends - rainy season has officially started here in Honduras.  This morning it began raining at 8 in the morning and has continued on into the night.  This morning, Luke was brave and ventured out into the rain to go to the mall since we were in desperate need to some TP.  Yes - TP.  Seeing as this was a necessity my brave hubby went out and conquered.  Although on the way back he had to drive on the sidewalk versus the road because it was so flooded.

Maybe I should preface with the fact that out neighborhood (El Sauce) tends to flood.  Before moving in to our house, we made sure to ask our land lady that the place did not flood.  She assured us it didn't and we have had faith in her since.  Today - I almost doubted her.

When Luke returned from the Mega Mart, the water was past the gate and slowly creeping towards our patio. I nervously watched as I slowly walked around the house and lifted all of the electronic cords and wires off the floor.  Luke then decided he wanted to see how deep the water went and proceeded to wade, yes wade, into the middle of the road.  Tofu would have none of it and went to save her dad.  Wan Tzu sat with me and watched.

Tofu made it just the gate before she had to start swimming to get to Luke.  It was maybe one of the cutest things I have ever seen.  She isn't much of a water dog but seemed to like being out there with Luke playing.

It is now 8:24 and the street is clear of water.  It is really hard to believe that only 5 hours ago there was so much water that it was going to the top of my rain boots (thanks for those mom!)  Anyway - here are some photos of the adventure!

Luke and Tofu 

Wan Tzu was with mom in staying dry 

About an hour later and the sidewalk, road and cement part in our driveway were all under water