Back in February we had an amazing visit with friends from one of our partner churches in South Carolina. Ben and Hillary have been down numerous times to Guatemala to serve on teams. All of those visits have been to the Chiquimula area. This visit was not only to just hang out with our family but also to see other parts of Guatemala. We took them on what we call "the loop" around the Northern part of the country and squeezed as much as we could into one week. We were a little worried about them having to spend that much time in the car with our two rowdy boys but it turned out great. We had an awesome time! Here is a (long) look at how we spent our time together.
They arrived on a Sunday afternoon. We picked them up at the airport and headed out on our adventure. We drove four hours to Coban where we stopped for the night.
We love Coban and were excited about introducing them to it.
On Monday morning we visited the Kekchi Baptist office and then did some
walking around town. Next, we drove over to Chamelco to visit the cave
at Rey Marcos. Here we are on the swinging bridge.
brave little Ben
Cruz admiring the waterfall
ready to explore the cave
so cool!
exploring the grounds at Rey Marcos
We left Coban and drove to Chisec. There we stopped for a visit with Bro. Federico. He is a former Kekchi national missionary that we worked a lot with in the past. He is currently pastoring the Baptist church there in Chisec. One of his sons had died in an accident at the Baptist seminary last fall and we wanted to visit his family to encourage them and pray with them. We had a wonderful visit. They ended up serving us a typical Kekchi meal of caldo soup and tortillas. We were glad for Ben and Hillary to experience that. It was also a first for our little Ben.
From Chisec we traveled on to Sayaxche and made a few visits there. We took them to see our old house and let them meet our former landlord and his family. What a joy it was to get to visit with them again! We had planned to stay in town for the night but ended up traveling on to Flores instead. Here we are on the ferry crossing the Passion River in Sayaxche. That was a normal part of our lives when we lived there back in late 2010- early 2012.
I have a tradition of taking a picture with Cruz on the ferry. He was just 6 months old when we moved there. Many of his "firsts" took place in Sayaxche. It will always hold a special place in our hearts.
We enjoyed the night in Flores. That is another place that is special to us. Ben and Hillary got up early the next morning to watch the sunrise from our hotel terrace. They took some beautiful photos!
After breakfast we loaded up and headed off to Tikal to explore the Mayan ruins. Notice the blue shirts...
As a joke the Masons brought everyone a matching t-shirt for the trip. I don't think they really thought we would wear them but you know me. ha I decided our Tikal day would be a good one for us to all look alike. I loved it!!
The boys standing at the base of a Ceiba tree as you enter the park. It is the national tree of Guatemala.
off to explore!
our family at Tikal
the back of our shirts had our names
Can you spot our group up top?
all done!
We left Tikal and headed off to Rio Dulce for the night. This photo is a little blurry but it shows one of my favorite parts of the trip. Hillary brought a read-aloud for the boys and read them chapters as we traveled. (What a blessing to this homeschool mom!!!) It helped pass the time in the car and made it a lot of fun. The boys would beg for more every time she ended a chapter.
Big Ben and Little Ben at Rio Dulce
We arrived late in the afternoon just in time to drop our bags off in our rooms and run down to the river to catch a boat. One of my favorite things to do in Guatemala is ride the boat on Rio Dulce at sunset. I was so thrilled that we made it in time!
bird island
the San Felipe castle
my boys love this activity just as much as I do
What a perfect ending to a long day. We had supper at Bruno's and then played cards until we could not stay awake any longer.
We began Wednesday morning with a guided tour of the San Felipe castle.
Ben and Hillary on the bridge overlooking Rio Dulce. We left there and drove all the way back home to Antigua. It was a long day.
Thursday was Valentines Day. We began the morning with heart shaped pancakes.
We then visited the zoo in Guatemala City.
We were there less than two hours when they evacuated everyone. Someone had called in a bomb threat and it ended up shutting down the zoo for the whole day. Bummer!
Instead, we took them to see the Relief Map in Guatemala City. It was also our first visit. How have we lived here all these years and never gone there?
The Relief Map is a map of the whole country of Guatemala and Belize. It has most major cities, volcanoes, rivers, highways, ports, and more. It was cool to point out some of the places we know and have visited.
On the way home we stopped at Eskala Mall to ride the go-carts.
Friday was a leisure day in Antigua. We spent a lot of time doing a walking tour of town, shopping, and eating.
Visiting a jade shop in Antigua.
That night they kept the boys and sent us out on a date. We enjoyed a delicious Italian meal at La Pasta Nostra and then coffee and dessert at one of our favorite cafes.
We ended the night with more cards. That was something we did every night of their trip. So fun!
They had wanted to visit Panajachel on Saturday but since they didn't get to see all of the zoo they opted to return there instead. Here we are at the zoo on Saturday morning.
the bird exhibit is my favorite!
we ended the day with a few rides before returning home
and just like that our fun was over
They flew back to South Carolina on Sunday and even though it has been two months now we still miss them greatly. It was an amazing week! It was fun-filled from start to finish. Spending that time with them made us love them even more. We can't wait for them to come back and visit us again!
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