Birthday WEEK! BREAKING NEWS: New Teens officially now know EVERYTHING

When I was down in Roatan back in November "scouting" it out for the family, I met a local fisherman who took me out fishing for a day.  What a great experience!  I wanted to get in touch with him when we came back, and I spent the better part of our first month down here scratching my head as to how I could get in touch with him again.  We were out on a dock one day when who should come putting by...but "Red".  I called out to him, "Red!" and he putted over and called out "Dustin!"  We set up a trip for a few days later for the kids birthday "week.".  So we started off the week with a fishing expedition with our good friend Red.

                                                             "A 3 hour tour...a 3 hour tour...."  

Ethan & Dad workin' the lines....

Something was fighting Ethan hard, and when he finally reeled it in, he had caught a huge....

 FISH HEAD!!!  My first thought was to start singing the old Dr. Demento song..."Fishheads, fishheads, roly poly fishheads...eat them up...yum!"

Something (probably a lot bigger) had caught his prize before he could reel it all the way in.  He was bummed.  In an effort to try to cheer him up I said, "Just think Ethan, whenever you're swapping fishing stories in the future, you can say, 'Oh yeah, I once caught a fishhead THIIIIS BIG!'"

We EACH landed nice sized tunas that morning, and even a Lion Fish (left), which is the only fish on the island that is legal to hunt with a spear because they are eating all the juvenile fish and cutting the fish population down significantly.

 It's been interesting learning about Lion Fish....they started showing up in Roatan about 4 years ago and no one really knows why.  No other fish can eat it because of its poisonous spines so they have no natural predators.

But it makes for GREAT eating...so we found out that night.  Stephanie just cooked it in some butter and a little salt, and it was seriously the best fish I'd ever eaten (and I'm not a huge fish lover)

But the Prize for Biggest Catch of the Day went to....

 HOT MAMA!!

It was the best tasting fish....and Red even filleted it for us right on the boat...

The next night we were invited by some church members over to their house for a Family Night.  We were expecting a few games and maybe a little treat...they went all out and cooked us a huge meal, and THEN when they had found out that it was the twins birthday....

THEY MADE THEM A CAKE!

We played games, sang songs, had a great lesson by the "Hermana" about service, and the kids most of all LOVED playing with her dogs.

The next day we had been invited by our new friend Mark Chace to spend the afternoon with him out at the place he was staying for a "Pool Day".  This is a view of "Pristine Bay", probably the nicest development on the Island.  We had a great time swimming and getting to know our new friend better.  What a great guy, and we're so excited that he will be back in April with his whole family!

Ethan chillin' in paradise.  This beats sweating out the afternoon in our small island home...  

Now that the twins are 13, it is official...they think they walk on water.  

And now Ellie has the picture to prove it...

What a beautiful vanishing pool.  This property is SO gorgeous.  

Selfies, hangin' on for dear life in the back of Mark's truck.   So fun.

Thanks again for the great afternoon Mark!!

On the kids' actual birthday, we served them breakfast in bed, then rented a car and went exploring for the day.  We did some tourist traps, like Mahogany Bay, and also saw some other cool places and met some very interesting people.

Here is the little restaurant where we stopped for some "Baleadas" (like a breakfast burrito...eggs, beans, cheese, all wrapped up in a yummy warm freshly made flour tortilla.  Mmm, mmm good.)  Ethan and I had a fascinating conversation with a German drunk guy who sat down at our table while the girls were shopping.  He must've thought we were back in WWII, because he kept dropping the "F-bomb".  Had it not been for that and the alcohol on his breath, he was actually a fascinating guy with an amazing memory.

We ended the night singing a "New Teen birthday song that I wrote just for the kids:

Happy Birthday to ME

I'm finally a Teen

I officially know EVERYTHING

So don't question ME!!

In West End there is a boat out in the middle of the bay that you can swim out to and play on.  They have a rope tied to the mast that you can use as a rope swing, and there is a huge ladder that is the perfect place to jump off of.  We had a great time playing and swimming here finishing off their "birthday week".   And the sunset is absolutely perfect in this bay.

Ethan catching some Gnarly Air!

What a GREAT week with the kids celebrating their birthday!!