Isla Verde

The headband girls!  We love these Guatemalan head bands we bought on the street.  So comfy and colorful!  We had such a fun day today.  This morning, we crammed our whole family into a tuk-tuk, and drove to a boat dock.  Got on a boat and headed over to Santa Cruiz.  Then we took a beautiful hike over to Isla Verde.  Greg, Colin, and I had gone to check out Isla Verde yesterday, and talked essential oils with a few of the ladies who work there.  Their place is similar to Mystical Yoga Farm, and they are very interested in the oils as well.  We got a tour of Isla Verde and it's like a tropical paradise!  Cozy yoga room, and "hotel" rooms that resemble tree houses.  We ate "real" food at a nice restaurant.  The smoothies were so good, I was craving one today and we wanted the kids to see this place, so we came back!     

Yoga room.  Ty loved all the cozy bean bags everywhere!

Canoe swing

The girls had fun on this silk swing!

After lunch, we hiked through beautiful terrain to Jaibalito. 

Very cool wall surrounding a very nice home.

This is us contemplating how amazingly beautiful it is here!  

As we passed by this "home" the kids and I commented how the family who lives here would greatly benefit from an Onil stove.  Can you imagine living in this smoke-trap and growing up with smoke-filled lungs?  It's really difficult to think that this kind of a life is a reality for so many families.  

This sweet little child called out, "hola!" as we passed by, with a wave and a smile.  I felt a part of my heart stayed in this tiny little village as we passed through.  Destitute and poor, but still so much hope and happy hearts exist here.

Enjoying the fast boat ride home.  We've gone on several boats that are pretty slow, but this driver knew how to crank the speed!  I don't know if I'll ever tire of these boat rides.  It's a great way to travel!

After we got back from our adventure this morning, Emily, the T's and I went to the biblioteca (library), while Colin took the older boys shopping. They bought exactly what you see here!  Calvin and Devon are already becoming pretty good on their flutes.  Colin got some of these wild pants too.  They crack me up!  They look so comfy.  The guys pulled off some pretty sweet bargains on their little shopping expedition.