Our Video Debut

Fruits in Belize from Heidi King on Vimeo.

There are many more fruiting trees we have discovered since thanks to our great guide, Wilson! Hope you enjoyed! - Heidi, Addie, Ryland

Sailing by Addie

I'm so sorry I have not posted a blog in a long time. It's been really busy here, especially when we were sailing. The sailing has been really fun and interesting!! I love it!! If you keep reading then you can find out more!

Sailing The Optimist

So you know we started sailing. It's been great and we really love it!  We use these boats called optimists. To use them you steer with the tiller which is attached to the rudder. Plus, you have to keep pulling in the main sheet to go faster or slower. You are supposed to put the dagger board down in deep water and put it up in shallow water so it does not hit the ground. This diagram will help you.

                                                                                 

The Regatta

  In the sailing club you have a regatta. It's when all of the sailing clubs in Belize get together and have a big race called the regatta. It is really cool!! I really like it!! Anyways, the coaches can pick as many people as they want from their team to be in the regatta. The kids have to get a boat out in the morning at 7:30 and sail it to the beach to get ready for the race. First they have a meeting and see what the course is. Then they get breakfast and get their boats ready. This year my friend Olivia is sailing in it and a lot of other kids that their names would be too long to list right now. So the regatta is really long.  It is two days long. The first day takes 5 hours and 5 races.  Then on the second day it was 2 hours long and there were 2 races. After the regatta there were the award ceremonies and of course San Pedro wins because they practice every day and have pro coach. Well maybe some day I will be in the regatta and I will write about it!!!!

  

The Big Boat

That is me steering

So about 3 days ago Mr. Paul, the sailing coach, asked us if we would want to go on his big boat with him and we said yes. We were supposed to go on Friday but it rained :( ... ok, thats all.  We did not get to go...bye.

I'm just kidding.  If you fell for that I'm sorry but this is more interesting. So we decided to go on monday instead. It was a long weekend because I was so excited. Anyways, I woke up really early this morning even if we didn't have to. We packed up a lot of food and left the house. When we got to the boat it was really big and had really big sails. It was called a trimaran which is like a catamaran.  The boat had a little cabin and it had two seats in the back and that was where you steer.   It also had two little bench like things in the front of the boat.  We set sail and headed for an island.  While we were heading there Mr. Paul asked if I wanted to steer, so I steered the boat about half of the way.  It was way cooler than sailing one of the optys.  When we got to the Caye we got out and started to snorkel.  We saw lots of star fish and big angel fish.  There were lots of coral where we were and I really loved snorkeling there.

After that we swam to the island and looked around.  I saw a humungous iguana and saw an old man who lived on the island canoeing in an old row boat up to his island. We said hi and talked to him for awhile. He was really interesting and said he has lived on the island for 55 years and raised 3 children there. After, we swam back to the boat and had lunch and I got to sail back home. I had a really great time and maybe will go again some day!!

- Addie

Mystery Picture

They're big, they're small

They climb so tall 

They're nice, they're mean

They're brown and green

They're quiet, they're loud

They're all around

They're rough, they're smooth

They're on the move

They're cute, they're ugly

But they're not so snuggly

Now can you guess what my picture is?

If you do you'd be a wiz.

by Addie

THE KITTENS!!!!! - by Addie

Ryland ran up the stairs...and said "someone threw baby kittens in the water to drowned." I said, "Really let me see."  So he brought me over to where it happened and my neighbor Don had gotten them out of the water. There were three of them but one of them already died. I was really sad but I took the two to my mom. They were soaking wet and very cold. We took them in and cared for them.

So when we got home we put them on the porch and my mom got a tub of warm water and a towel.  We rinsed them off and dried them off.  We gave them some milk and let them soak in the sun up on the rooftop.  When we finally got back to doing school we were about 20 min. in and I said, "Hey Mom, can I go check on the kittens?" And she said, "sure." So, I went up on the rooftop and they were not in the box.  I was really scared because I thought they fell off of the roof.


Then I looked in the corner of the porch and I saw a black and white tail so I went over there and pulled the kittens out.  I was so happy!!  After that we named them Oreo and Tiger because one looked like an oreo ad the other one was very feisty.   After that my Dad called and said someone wanted a kitten and we decided to keep Tiger and give Oreo away.

Today everything is good. We still have Tiger and we think she is six weeks old.  Plus, we think her b-day is April 1, the day we got here!!!!!!

- Addie

A Poem - brought to you by Addie

My Brother's Room 

I have plans for my brother's room

Which I've renamed the den of doom,

While he is gone for three days (three!)

with plans to have more fun than me. 

There's ice cream for his pillowcase

(Nice and sticky for his face).

Rubber spiders for his sheets, 

(A nice and soothing bed-time treat).

I'll read his journal - glue it shut,

And tell Mom it's filled with smut.

I'll stuff his shoes with pistachios,

His posters I'll mustachio.

Give me time, I'll think of more.

What's that? My brother locked is door!?!

I'm so angry I could bust.  

It's sad when brothers don't have trust.

by Denise Rodgers (modified by Addie King)

One Day - by Addie

One day and what we do and where I wake up:  Just saying, it's pretty awesome!!

When I wake up and I look out my window it is so pretty.  I love looking out at the beautiful view.  It always makes me happy!

In School we do lots of fun things.  The different subjects are math, language, writing, science, and grammar.  I like it a lot.  Sometimes we do school in the fort that me and Ryland built.  It is really cool.  I like to play math games on the computer.  In science we like to learn about the ocean and animals in it.


After school we have lunch.  We usually have it at home but sometimes we have it out.  If we have it at home I usually make my 2 min. sandwich.  It has toasted bread with melted cheese on it and a tomato, and some mayo and mustard .  It is delish!!!

What we do after school is we either stay at home or go to town to see my dad or to go to the pier.  If we are at home we usually go swimming or just hang out and try to entertain ourselves.

For dinner we usually eat at home whatever my mom makes.  But sometimes we eat out.  Like last night we ate at Omar's.  It was really good.  I got a fish and cheese burger!

So at the end of the day I am usually pretty exhausted so ... GOOD NIGHT!!!
-Addie

Addie's Awesome Life in Belize - by Addie

What I do? Who I play with? Where I eat and what is going on with school?
Well I'm going to tell you. I love it here. It is all so fun! I do not have a lot of friends but some. And I can not wait to tell you about where I go, all about school, and what we do.


So, when I got here I was worried about meeting friends. Then when Reuben, the care taker down
stairs, sister and brother came.  I was excited because number 1 I was wanting a girl down stairs and 2 lets just say Ryland was starting to not be so "perfect". So her name is Hannah and she is 12 but we like playing together. Also, we like  to go swimming a lot. Plus, her brother Levi, who is my age , Ryland likes to play with.

I like going to a lot of different places and having a good time. But I'm going to tell you about all my favorite places.  So one of them is Tutti Frutti.  It is an ice cream place and it is the best ever.  It is so good and fun to go to and have around.  Also, Brewed Awakenings has the best smoothies you have ever tasted.  They are so good.  Plus, I love going to the pier.  It is a lot of fun.  They always have something going on.  So, all of it is fun but these are my favorite places!

So, about 1 week after we got here we started school.  At first we did not do a lot but now we are.  We end at about 12:30pm and start at about 8:30am.  It is a lot of fun. We do all week except on Wednesdays we only do 2 hours. I love to have my mom as a teacher because she makes it more fun. After school we usually play with Hannah and Levi or go to the pier!!


- Addie

Layla's Crazy Way to Belize - by Addie

It was 3:00 in the morning and we're at the airport and they said Layla could not come...

So when we checked in all the bags and went to check in Layla they said she could not come because dogs cannot travel in hot weather over 85 degrees and in Belize it was 86 degrees.  Then we begged them to bring her but they said no way.  We asked them to call the supervisor and ask him if we could bring her and he said no also.  We asked him to look on different websites and he did and found one that said it was 85 degrees!  It was a miracle!  When we got her in the crate and went to go through security they zip-tied the door closed and she escaped to come looking for us.  My dad had to get out of line and shove her back in and we finally got to go!  Yay!

Addie