Tri Hard!

Brooks and Hudson participated in their first triathlon last Saturday.  They swam 100 yards, biked 2 miles, and ran half a mile.  They gave their all!  Brooks placed 4th in the 9-10 year old boys, and Hudson placed 2nd in the 7-8 year olds.  We were so proud of them.  They loved every minute of it, and want to do the next one on Sunday.

 

Podium finish

Ryan, Brooks and Hudson had another successful race last weekend at Versailles.  Ryan tore it up and finished 2nd in his category.  Brooks took another 2nd place and Hudson took 3rd again.  Awesome job!

Happy Birthday Brooks!

You are 9 today!  You are starting 3rd grade in a few weeks.  You are a great student and a leader.  You love to draw and read.  You are strong and have excelled at swimming and biking this year.  You are a good friend and big brother.  You love playing outside and going on new adventures.  We are all blessed to have you in our lives.

Lanterns

Winners

Ryan, Brooks and Hudson raced Sunday at Muscatatuck Park in North Vernon Indiana.  It was a beautiful day, total opposite from last year's mudfest.  This year everyone had a place on the podium.  Ryan took 3rd in the Cat 2 Open division, Hudson took 3rd and Brooks took 2nd in the Junior 10 and under.

 

Decaf Cappuccino

Traveling around

We experienced many different forms of transportation while we were in Guatemala, including taxi, prop plane, tuk-tuk, and even the infamous chicken bus!

We took the chicken bus to the macadamia nut farm.  It was mid-morning and there were not many people (no chickens!) on the bus.

Chicken buses are old US school buses.  

They are outfitted with colorful paint jobs, chrome, and racks inside and out.

Each bus has a driver and a helper.  The helper hangs out the front door and gets passengers and collects the fare.  You will sometimes see the helper on the top of the bus securing luggage, while the bus is moving!

The plane we took from Guatemala City to Tikal.  

It was only a 45 minute flight, but we had snack service.  Non-US airlines love to feed you!

Around Antigua

Another old church

Awesome restaurant, everything was grilled on an open flame. 

Coffee everywhere!

The view of Volcan Agua from our bedroom balcony in our apartment.

Walking down the street to our apartment, it was the last one on the right.

Wordless Wednesday

Ruined

Antigua was once the capital of Central America.   It is filled with Spanish Baroque architecture and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  They say if you throw a stone in Antigua, you're likely to hit a church.  In 1717 and 1773, Antigua was hit with massive earthquakes that destroyed most of the town and caused the capital to be moved to what is now Guatemala City.  The thought was that the valley where Guatemala City lies would be safer (not true as GC was hit with a magnitude 7.5 earthquake in 1976 that killed 23,000).  We did experience a small tremor while we were in Antigua, enough to make the lights sway.

Antigua is filled with ruins of churches from the earthquakes in the 1700s.  They are amazing to walk around, however I didn't think the boys would be that interested in them.  I underestimated them because they said it was one of the favorite things of the trip.  They loved climbing around the ruins.