It’s Ashlynn’s 15th Birthday in Belize.  We have a quick breakfast where we ask her “what do you want to do today for your birthday?”  We have been asking her for the past couple days but she has said she wanted to think about it. “I don’t know”.  

Not to worry, Kyle has come up with a plan.  “How about renting golf carts and going into San Pedro?  We can explore, get lunch and ice cream?” he asks.  Ashlynn likes the plan. “And we could also get a manicure and pedicure?” adds Leanne.  The boys don’t look thrilled with the idea but Ashlynn likes it. 

We recall that today is also the four year anniversary of Corey and Ashlynn officially joining our family.  Four years has flown by in the blink of an eye.  Kyle pulls up pictures from Ashlynn’s last four birthdays with us and we are amazed by much all the kids and grown and matured. 

Kyle goes off to arrange the golf cart rental while Leanne waits in her hammock therapy session at the end of the pier where she meets a retiree Kevin who owns a property here at the Villas.  He’s a retired former Motorola executive and Texan who moved here with his wife five years ago.  Wifey was with her coffee group so hubby takes the time building up the coral reef right here off the pier. 

He encouraged Leanne to snorkel there later today.  He says living on the island has many ups and downs. For instance, he doesn’t have water in his second floor condo as the island’s infrastructure is very limited.  (The hotel has its own water system so tourists rarely see or experience the real true problems in any country).  Corruption is an issue no matter what party is in control and drug smuggling and human trafficking is a huge unaddressed problem.  “And we have our fair share of wackos; people move here that generally don’t fit in society.” Well, ok, Leanne thinks Kevin was more interested in talking us out of moving here.  

Today we have rented golf carts to explore the island of Ambergris Caye as well as do some errands and exit with pretty nails. We ultimately chose “Sparadise” for its cute name and hot pink sign.  But only one manicurist was working on this random Tuesday so the girls will have to take turns.  Leanne goes first will the boys go off to errands.  

The nail salon manicurist was a laid back and happy Belizean mother of four boys.  But that happy disappears quick when Leanne asks her more about her family.  She lost her mother in the last year and broke down crying while doing Leanne’s nails.  The loss still raw.  Leanne asks her what she loves about her country — “everything” she answered. What would she change? “How expensive phones are” as she holds up a cell phone with a severely cracked screen. It’s prohibitively expensive to repair the cracked screen and iPhones are at least 50 percent higher here than in the U.S.  

Meanwhile the boys hit the post office to mail Kyle’s post cards.  Then they have to pick up an Amazon package that Kyle got shipped here and miraculously arrived and the hotel helped Kyle track it down to a package office in town that was holding.  Then the ATM for some Belize dinero.  We knocked off a good hour and return to the spa expecting everyone to be done.  

Not the case.  The manicurist is still on Leanne’s fingers. “Only a few more minutes,” she says reassuringly.  Kyle offers to take the kids for ice cream.  “Text me as soon as your done and I’ll bring Ashlynn back,” Kyle instructs Leanne. 

We walk out for ice cream and into the place down the street.  Very odd design.  It’s a huge room, somewhat on the dark and dingy side, with a few tables and a big floor with nothing on it and a kiddie sized merry go round.  The actual ice cream part of the operation is built into a small corner and only offers four flavors and no toppings. 

“Is there another place we can try?” Ashlynn asks politely.  Let us interpret that one – what she’s really saying is can we get the hell out of here and find a place that not so creepy? It’s Ashlynn’s birthday so we quickly exit and find a different place.  This one is a huge hit with flavors and toppings galore.  Kyle keeps checking for Leanne’s text but it does not make an appearance.

We return from ice cream with two hours knocked off the clock and the manicurist is STILL working on Leanne’s hands.  Kyle becomes frustrated as he sometimes lacks patience when other people don’t go at his breakneck speed. Looks like lunch plans just got axed as Kyle tells the kids, “look like the ice cream just became lunch.”

Everyone takes a seat and watches Leanne as the minutes tick by.  “Ummm, you do know this is Ashlynn’s birthday not yours, right?” Kyle asks sarcastically.  Ashlynn still has to go next. “We might miss our flight tomorrow at the rate she’s going?” Kyle points out.

But Kyle wasn’t alone.  A chorus of “aren’t you done yet?” ensues from the teen peanut gallery. All sitting and waiting for Leanne to finish up.  Leanne’s note to self: don’t ever take spectators to your manicures.  Kyle’s note to self: don’t ever let Leanne get a manicure on the kid’s birthdays.

After finally pretty nails, the crew hits the Belize Chocolate Factory to learn even more on chocolate production.  We thought about checking out some of Belize’s 800 Mayan ruins (it was once the Mayan capital), but the good ones are far away and we have the Mayans coming up at the next stopover.  So chocolate wins out today. The small artisan shop offers soups to nuts in chocolate production from Belizean cacho and even earned a Silver Award in some international awards.  

Next up, we walk along the beach sidewalk scouting for a place that we can have dinner later that doesn’t serve seafood only. Tall order in a place where we witness a fisherman drive his boat right up to a restaurant on the pier to drop off his days’ catch.  Two locals suggested Palapas, an open air grill restaurant where you can lounge in inner tubes attached to the restaurant’s pier. The place was in ruins after a 2016 hurricane but this establishment was so loved the local San Pedro community — including many of the 5,000 Americans residing here — chipped in donations to restore Palapa. It’s the kind of place it takes a good hour of your stay reading the funny signs around the place.  Like “Hurricane Evacuation Plan: 1. Grab Beer. 2. Run”.  Perfect place for our last night in Belize and Ashlynn’s birthday dinner. 

With the front table reserved now, it’s time for Ashlynn’s super fun birthday time.  We walk down the beach and book two jet skis for her and the boys.  They zip out on the Caribbean Sea as if it were in the Indie500.  Leanne is waving her hands up and down and shouting at the teens to slow down but they teens are way out of earshot.  Leanne hangs at the end of the pier saying prayers to whatever saint might deal with teenagers on jet skis. Leanne’s note to self: no more jet skiing on trip.  They return happy and exhilarating as could be, not noticing the 300 extra white hairs on Leanne’s scalp.  

Afterwards, we head to Palapa Bar and Grill for the birthday dinner.  We settle into our table and some head down the dock to hop in the water and on the inner tubes while we await the appetizers.  At dinner, Justin does his fun facts about Belize and we have more fun with the flags and signs in the place.  Justin is rattling off all the college flags. 

Signs with funny slogans are all over including “It seemed like a good idea six drinks ago” “No I didn’t retire, I changed vocation locations” “This is NOT Burger King, you don’t get it your way, you get it my way or you don’t get a damn thing.”

A good time is had by all and we drive the golf carts back in the dark through the busy San Pedro night traffic.  At the hotel, we find the cake and decorations we arranged through the concierge. We open presents and Ashlynn drifts off to her room with a happy smile.

Some of the crew head to the pier for our last night of stargazing.   Thousands of stars can be seen tonight.  It’s a clear night — we see Orion, Cancer, Virgo, and Leo constellations and even catch some shooting stars. Justin, our expert astronomer, points out all the constellations and facts about them.