It is OFFICIALLY Summer!!!

So much has happened since my last blog post. We celebrated our anniversary, took a trip to Belize, have been to many garage sales, an auction, started getting ready for a flea market, and have been up to many other things! 

Our anniversary happened to land on Memorial day this year, so I didn't have to go to school. We celebrated by touring an underground mine in Soudan, Minnesota. It was really cool. We got to go down a little over 1/2 mile into the ground. This is very different than the mining Joe is doing. He works in an open pit mine, so there is nothing underground. Anyway, after we were done touring the mine we drove into Ely for lunch. It was yummy. After we ate lunch we walked around downtown Ely. We didn't buy anything except for some delicious ice cream cones! 

The following Saturday we left for the airport at 4:15AM. My fabulous Uncle-in-law got up bright and early to take us there in time. We arrived in Belize City and met up with my parents and brother shortly after. We walked over to a car rental place and picked up our Jeep that was ours for the week. 

Our trusty Jeep!

After a three hour drive from Belize International Airport to Hopkins, Belize we arrived safe and sound. We rented a house for the week. 

 

The back of the house is on the top. We could sit on the deck and look at the ocean. The bottom picture is front of the house. We rented the second floor of the house. It had three bedrooms and two bathrooms. 

The first day of the trip we took an adventure down Monkey River. We saw some really cool things! There were howler monkeys, birds, crocodiles, flowers, plants, manatees, iguanas, and a "Jesus Christ"  lizard (It is called a Jesus Christ because it can walk across water on its back legs!!) Here are a few shots of our trip down the river. 

 These are black buzzards. They are very common in Belize.

This species is was some people call a Joel. I call it my baby brother.

This is Joel with a Cashew. In order to eat it, you have to let it dry out, pull off the fruit, and peel the cashew. No wonder they are so expensive!!

Here is one of many crocodiles we saw on the tour!! Our guide, Ralph, pulled up right next to them. It was really cool!

Mom, Dad, Ralph, and Joe. Ralph was a Monkey River native! He lived on the south side of the river where there is no road access, only boats! He was very knowledgeable about all of the plants and animals.

After the tour we went home for dinner, a quick swim (we saw a HUGE starfish, it was about the size of toilet seat lid...odd comparison, I know.), and then off to bed. We got up early the next morning to tour the Lubaatun Mayan Ruins. The ruins you will see in the pictures are in shambles because an explorer in the 1800s thought there was treasure buried, so blew them all up with dynamite. What looks put together has been reconstructed. 

 

The following day we went on a snorkeling and fishing trip in the barrier reef. We saw many different kinds of  fish. We even saw a sting ray! We watched it swim around and them bury itself in the sand. So cool! We fished for a while, and I caught a barracuda with the help my pro-fisherman brother. 

I snagged the fish on the side instead of in the mouth, so it was really hard to reel in. We sent it to a local restaurant called the "Watering Hole" and had it for dinner that night. It tasted like chicken!

Thursday we took a trip to another set of Mayan ruins. These were much farther away, but worth the drive! The Xunantunich Ruins were much bigger than the ruins we saw earlier in the week.We were just two miles from the Nicaraguan border. On the way to the ruins we went through a police checkpoint. They had very LARGE guns. Our tour guide at the ruins said there were so many police officers around because of the proximity to the Nicaragua border.

In order to reach the ruins we took a ferry bridge

across. You had to hand crank it! 

 

Stairs on the way to the top.

                     

The "Stone Lady" ruin. This is where the priests lived.

 

Joel, and Joe.

Dad and Mom on the way back down!

This is a view of Guatemala from the top of the ruin, "Stone Lady". 

Friday we just relaxed at the house and got ready for our trip the following morning. After 21 hours of travel Joe and I made it back safely to the Iron Range and were in bed by a reasonable 3:02AM! Joe got to sleep in until 5:15AM before he was off to work a 12 hour shift (He said he wasn't tired at all when he came from work that day, but I don't believe him.) We are very thankful to my parents who provided the frequent flier miles, housing, and ground transportation for the trip. We would have never had the opportunity to go on a trip like this without them! We got to experience some really cool things during our week in Belize!

Now that we have been back for a week, our Minnesota summer has started. We scored at garage sales and auctions. Joe and I (with the help of his dad) are working on restoring some antique furniture we purchased from an auction down in Moose Lake. It is going to look so cool in our (hopefully) future house! I can't wait to see what it will look like when it is all finished!

Right now I am getting ready for a flea market on July 3rd. As many of you know, I like to make jewelry as a hobby. Well, now I am in super-power mode because I will be selling this summer. I hope to attend a craft fair this fall, but we will see how the flea market goes first. So far I have made 30 pairs of earring and 7 necklaces. It sounds like a lot, but I have many more to make!!!

So much has happened since my last post, this one got pretty lengthy. Thanks for taking the time to read it. More pictures from the vacation should be on my facebook soon! I hope everyone has a wonderful week. :)