Antigua at Night

After we got settled in our hotel rooms we decided to take a walk around town to look at some of the sites. We walked through the park and took a few pictures. We are standing at the entrance into the park.
I think this is one of the churches.

We are standing in front of the fountain in the park. It is decorated with flowers. David and Regina lived in Antigua for a while and they said they had never seen it decorated like that before. It was really beautiful.
Look at goof ball Kelly.

David, Mama and Regina

After our walk in the park we went to a local Pop's ice cream parlor for a snack.

The people of Guatemala really liked Larsen.

They all gave her hugs and kisses.

Hotel Centro Colonial Antigua

These are some pictures of the Hotel Centro Colonial Antigua. We stayed there on Thursday, March 19. It was very beautiful and it cost only $45 a night. The hotel tax is about 22% so it was a little more after taxes. We were able to go up on the roof top so I took a few pictures from there.
This is a volcano. David and Regina have been to the volcano. You can climb it on horse back. You can see lava just feet from you. Several months ago they posted some beautiful pictures from there on their blog at http://www.davidandregina.blogspot.com/.

This is just outside our door. Beautiful!!

This was taken inside my mother's room I believe.

This is from the courtyard at the hotel

Can you get an idea as to how beautiful this hotel is?

As I have said before, motorcycles are very popular means of transportation.

More motorcycles. You can also see the volcano in the background. The streets were pretty busy while we were there.

It is also common to see this little vehicle around Antigua. Also notice that the streets are cobblestone. They are pretty and you feel a sense of "old worldliness" but they are not great for walking on.

I love to see the women carrying things on their heads.

Carrying a child in a sling is also common in Guatemala. We do that in the states but not usually with children as big as that little boy is.

Traveling to Antigua

We left Coban on Thursday and headed to Antigua. We saw some beautiful country side and and ate at a nice restaurant called Sarita's. Even the restaurants in Guatemala have play lands for the kids. We even ran into a large tour group there from all over the United States. They immediately asked me, "Where in the South are you from?". This is a nice little spot in the play land. Sawyer, Larsen and Kaylie.
They look happy don't they? They enjoyed the trip. Sawyer has already asked if we are going back over the summer. I don't think I will be ready to fly anytime soon not to mention that we couldn't afford it.
I think that Sawyer might just be Larsen's favorite kid...and BIG BROTHER. He really does love her and looks out for her. It is okay if he gets aggravated with her but he doesn't won't anyone else to get on to her. Sawyer has three sisters so hopefully he will be a great husband one day.

Larsen loves to slide!

Sometimes Kaylie is such a good big sister. Kaylie is becoming so busy with her own life, schedule, sports, and activities that she doesn't get to spend a lot time with Larsen.
At Sarita's I had a great pasta and seafood dish. I ate the familiar seafood and Kelly ate the unfamiliar seafood. I think there was conch in it.

This is a small herd of cattle on the road to Antigua. I realize this isn't that unusual especially for people like us who live in the south.

I took these pictures of the hillsides because I wanted everyone to see how they farm all the land. You have to look closely but you can see different shades of green in nice squares. They must plant many different things. Can you imagine weeding and harvesting on those hillsides?

Local Baptist Church

This is a local Baptist church. I think the name of it is Jericho Baptist Church. Your international mission donations support missionaries like David and Regina and churches like this. You might also notice that the lady walking in front of the church is wearing an outfit similar to the one that Kaylie wore shopping.

Let's Go Downtown

On Tuesday a little while after we arrived in Coban we walked down to the local market. Kaylie wanted one of the blouses that the indegenous women wear. It took a little while but we finally found the perfect blue to match the skirt she had brought with her. This is Kaylie wearing her new hand made blouse with her skirt. The purse she has was given to her buy David and Regina last October while they were home for a visit.

Robin, Kaylie and Regina doing a little shopping.

This is a Ropa Americana store. They sell used American clothing.

While we were downtown Kaylie had the approval of the women and the men. The women touched her blouse as she walked by and the men honked and whistled.

Cuevas del Ray Marcos

These are a few pictures of us at Cuevas del Ray Marcos. It is a little water park and cave. The water is freezing cold. It comes down from the mountain. Kaylie and Sawyer are trying to decide if they can go any furhter into the cold water.
My mother, Linda.

The adults are wathching Kaylie and Sawyer to see of they can tolerate the cold water.

Larsen did not like the cold water.

Some locals jumped from there in the water.

Kaylie

Sawyer

That is David. The water was REALLY cold!

Regina and Larsen

My family

It was nice and relaxing.

These three little boys were playing beautifully. Larsen had a good time dancing to their music.

The entrance to the cave.

This cave was not lighted like caverns in hte states. We had to crawl and climb our way through. It was an experience.

We all came out covered with dirt.

This is what LArsen and Regina did while we went into the cave.