Nicaragua Easter Birthday

What a wonderful gift

A day at el Canyon was a great way to end the traveling portion of our trip, now on to a slower pace to finish out. We awake to another bright, wonderful day and a relatively 'slow' schedule. All that we have to achieve is to go to the market to get a pinata, a couple of gifts for Ellie and the host family and hang a little with Jahzell (pronounced Ha Sell). We roll out of bed and into the luke warm shower, change band-aids and get dressed in another super cute, brand new outfit and we're off.

Jahzell isn't quite ready so we go to the bank, car wash and then pick her up so we can go to the market. It turns out that waiting for Jahzell was well worth it as everyone in the market is more Nicaraguan-friendly than US friendly when it comes to quoting prices and bartering. We knockout getting the prized Tinkerbelle pinata, party hats and a few more toys in a few minutes. We return to buy soccer jerseys for all the kids at the house (9 total) as a thank you from Jon and I for being such great hosts to the both of us as well as making sure that Ellie isn't the only child getting gifts at her party on the 12th - the BIG FOUR! Eventually we find a handmade bowl for the family that I think would make a great gift and we move on to lunch and a nap for the little one. Below is a video of Ellie playing beautician on my hair that happened a few days back that I forgot to upload and thought it sorta fit here.

Nicaragua Haircut

The rest proved to be invaluable and we met up with Jahzell again for dinner and a movie. All in all a perfectly paced day and yet we achieved all of the things on our list that needed to be done. We get back from the movie and put Ellie to bed. It was too hot and there was too much on my mind, so Jon and I stayed up until about midnight talking outside the casita on the patio. It is amazing how God uses every discussion, every day to work his plan and love into our lives. Thank you Jon for being so open, honest and for the time this week.

Sunday morning begins much like Saturday except church starts at 8:00 and I for some reason think it was to start at 9:00. So shifting into high gear to take showers and get into the Easter dress we head off to church 15 minutes late. Thankfully the Latin American culture is very 'forgiving' of deadlines and we arrive just in time for church to begin. A great and uplifting service was followed by a potluck lunch (which we of course again forgot to bring anything for so only Ellie ate). Walking around the school grounds for the last time, it was nice to see again what has been Jon's world for nearly three years. When we first arrived, we didn't really 'tour' the place and it hadn't sunk in just what I was looking at. Now, seven days later, I had a better perspective of what I was looking at, the people I was talking to and the lives Jonathan has been a part of. One thing though too was the first stage of the school expansion for a creative arts wing had been completed over the past two years and they were looking forwarding to moving ahead on the next stage. That creative arts wind was what many folks back here had given money towards in memory of Leslie shortly after her accident. I took a somewhat deliberate stroll around the building of the first stage and tried to picture what some of the classes were like since it had been built and maybe some of the classes that were to come. It was obvious which parts of the building were new, which windows were fully functional, which doors hadn't been worn a bit by the weather and use. Although I knew that the donations were only a part of what I was looking at, it felt really good to see those dollars put to use in a real world. For those of your readers that donated money for this school, I saw the outcome with my own eyes and I met the real people that get to use that building. It was a great feeling to be a part of something bigger than just one or two people. This school will affect hundreds and hopefully thousands of children that will go and make a bigger impact on this world than any of us could imagine. It was a good 'tour' to have taken on Easter Sunday, the day that the Lord gave it all to us, it was good to see how we sometimes give in small ways in return that the Lord tends to use in bigger ways than we could ever imagine. Truly a loves and fishes moment in my life.
Church greetings/Our Easter dress is sparkling!

In line for brunch/Very happy to eat

Jahzell helps out Ellie/MMMM lunch

Fresh fruit/These capture the 'ellie' cheeks and eyes

Jon looking coy/Then talking with friends

Another Ellie fan/The usual fun times


We get back to the casita and it's time to put Ellie down and get to work for the big party. One of the boys in the compound had spent a few hours trimming back the trees and bushes in the yard preparing for us a space large enough for the pinata so that we wouldn't run into things and even raked the dirt so there wasn't trash, limbs or leaves in the way of the expected fallen candy. We started blowing up balloons and hanging Tinkerbelle our candy-laden pinata. As was typical the entire week, it was super hot, but Sunday seemed to be the worst - hot AND muggy. Although hampered by profuse sweating, we managed to get everything in place in time and went to awake Ellie. It took no time at all for her to shake off the cobwebs and run outside with the pretty Easter/Birthday dress on looking for the festivities to begin. All of the children of the compound were anxiously awaiting her arrival as well.

We began with an idea I had to bring a bit of U.S. traditions to Nicaragua by coloring some eggs and then hiding them and having an Easter Egg hunt in the yard. THe children didn't really know what to think of it, but as they usually do, they rolled with the punches and fully embraced the fun of turning their fingers blue, pink and green of the food coloring dye. We had an excellent support team consisting of the family's housekeeper, Margarita, (that gave up a day off to come and help) and Jahzell (who by the way is completely afraid of blowing up balloons because the potential of them popping freaks her out). Once again us men were saved by the women as Margarita was a pro at running these kid get-togethers and I bet could corral a thousand cats if ever challenged to do so.
The family helps prepare/We start coloring eggs

Ellie is party-ready/Everyone gets into the coloring

Ellie chats up the girls/While we hide eggs

A successful hunt/The anticipation grows


Next was the main event of the pinata. What great fun it is to give a kid a bat and watch him/her beat the crap out of one of their cartoon friends only to have loads of candy come spilling out of its belly. A bit weird when you think about it and put it into those terms, but a lot of fun when you partake in the gamesmanship of raising/lowering the pinata and the cat-and-mouse aspect of tricking the blind-folded child to swing in mid-air at nothing. Everyone tries their hardest to get in a solid swing with contact, but usually it's a glancing blow that merely injures a limb. Getting to the big kids the swings becoming longer swooshes of power and eventually limbs come apart and it's amazing to see the frothing at the mouth that suddenly appears on every child's face. One hit finally loosens a piece of candy and all things come to a halt as the single piece of hard candy is fought over and retrieved. We go through the rest of the children and no one has been able to finish the job. In steps Uncle Jon and a real bat. Oh how the temptation was pulling at me to yank on the rope and have him swing at air without making contact, but the wolves were frothing for too long already. With two solid blows and explosion of Laffy Taffy, gum balls, butterscotch pieces and other hard candy filled the air. A flurry of small legs and hands scurried about trying to grab any and all pieces that they could shove into their rolled shirts while simultaneously unwrapping the first few catches and shoving them into the mouths. It was expected, but hard to believe as Ellie stood by most of the action and needed a gentle push to get into the mix, lest she come away from this bedlam without any candy for the birthday girl.
Ellie gets to take the first couple of whacks (see video)

Then everyone else/While Ellie watches closely

Then Gabriella (video)/Uncle Jon finishes the job

Total bedlam ensues without any injuries!

Cleanup for the birthday/What a cake!



The final scraps were picked up and counted, we brought out the cake next with orange pop to wash it down. I'm sure you're wondering if I was out of my mind to let that much sugar be ingested by 10 little people in a relatively confined space. To that I say, "Heck, you only turn four on vacation with friends you had just recently met once, so live it up!" A beautiful cake made by Joni and the perfect birthday was complete - oh wait, there were presents too - and LOTS of presents. For folks that don't have a lot for themselves, they went beyond the measure of being welcoming in their gifts to Ellie. There were sandals, shirts, books, crayons and all kinds of games that were wrapped beautifully for Ellie and it really showed how great these people are. We were only there for 7 days and they gave as though we were family. I can't say thank you enough. As mentioned before we also had a gift for all of the kids to show our appreciation. The soccer jerseys were a complete success and were covering their existing shirts in a manner of seconds after receiving them. The soccer ball was fetched and we finished off the afternoon playing in the yard and getting completely dirty chasing each other around. It was a great Easter celebration, one that I won't soon forget.
Singing of "Happy Birthday"(video)/Great gifts

A great hair salon kit/Gifts for everyone else

What a great way to end the party

We played into the dark and until we could see no more. Everyone's clothes filthy from having fun and becoming true friends. We said a few goodbyes as Ellie and I had to leave early the next morning and headed of to get some sleep before our very early wakeup call. This was an amazing trip and although it came together in a very short period of time, my memories and experiences there will be remembered for many years to come.

Nicaragua-Day Six & Seven

We go hiking and swimming on a beautiful day

To start, I'll say that there are days when I fell like Super Dad and other when I feel like someone should call in family services (not really that bad I suppose, but I FEEL like it). Yesterday (day 6) was one of those bad days. We started out with all of the best of intentions and it went down hill from there.

I was brought to an abrupt state of awareness when at 6:02 a.m. I realized that the lights in the room were not on full blare, rather it was just the direct sunlight coming through a 18"x6" window and illuminating the room as though it was 2 in the afternoon. Oh yea, and those muffled sounds were the snoring of my two roommates that somehow were managing to ignore my revelation. I tossed and turned for a while until luckily Ellie awoke and I was able to snuggle and tickle her for a bit. Jon finally awoke at 7:00 and we all just laid in the AC-cooled room as long as possible knowing that today's hike was going to be a scorcher. Jumping to it around 8:00 we packed our bags and headed down stairs to eat breakfast, of course after everyone else had already done so. The group quietly and patiently awaited our completed meals and we all checked out of the hotel and set off for the beautiful El Canyon de Samoto an hour and a half away.

Our first run in with absentmindedness already happened 12 hours ago when Jon and I forgot our tennis shoes in one of the other 2 cars that we had transferred to in route to the hotel (we thought it might be Laurie's but we couldn't be sure) which was going to make today's hike all that much more 'challenging' with a 4 yr old. Neither of us had been there before so we really didn't have a great idea of what the 'trails' were like and how difficult they were to hike, so caution to the wind we pushed forward. After 90 minutes of passing overloaded Nissan trucks and small Honda Civics, we finally arrive at the canyon (which was marked by a hand painted, hand-hewn sign pointing right and down). It sure didn't look like the national monument-type sign we have in the US for the Grand Canyon or even a local state park camping grounds. Good thing we were paying attention AND driving a 4wd car that could take a 60 degree hill smattered with bare boulders and rain-carved ruts down to the river bed. After traversing the flowing water, we finally found a parking spot under some large old trees, paid the locals about $1.00 to watch the vehicle (knowing that it was still a 70/30 chance our stuff would be missing upon our return) and headed off to the great canyon ahead. Enter boneheaded move number two - we forgot Ellie's life vest in the back of the car, but didn't realize it until we were 20 minutes into the hike. Push forward Gen. Forgetalot!!

Ellie takes turns riding people's backs and chatting them up until we get to the rough parts of walking the rocks. Yep this turned out to be every bit of tough hiking that you's think just short of mountain climbing. Jagged rocks, no real set path, tight walks against water's edge, and oh yeah, other groups wanting to pass, coming and going. Feeling the SuperIdiotDad title coming on strong. Jonathan was totally Mr. Awesome Uncle as he carried Ellie through most of the bad stuff until we got to the point of no more walking and everyone swims to the other side. Enter Dumb Move number three - packed too much to carry while swimming. It was a good idea to have Ellie wear shorts and a t-shirt over her swimsuit (see, Grandma Dad isn't completely screwing this up) but it's bad when he has to carry her, those clothes, extra water bottles AND sunglasses and hats WHILE we try to swim without a life jacket. So Jon swam with her in tow and I carried all the crap. Luckily on the other side was a hut where they were selling floatation devices like tubes and life jackets for $.50!
Not kidding needing 4WD/The first check point before REAL hiking

Dave in fron of the 'life-saving' stand

Lori & Ellie/The beautiful canyon view


We pay for a life jacket and drink one of the bottles of water and we were on our way again into further parts of the canyon. By now the walls of the canyon are 125 feet high and absolutely breathtaking. Most of the 'hiking' now is swimming and portage across rocky 'sand bars'. Ellie was towed by Lori most of the way in and I think both girls liked hanging with the other. I felt again like a bad dad because every time I went to help Ellie swim it was always "No Daddy, I want Lori to do it." Ugh, can't win for losing. So we get to what amount to probably half way to the end of the Canyon and we come upon a cliff jumping location that has different levels of roughly 20' at the lowest and about 50' at the highest and stage in between. We all swim up to a spot across the river to watch a few jump and quickly Jonathan and others swim over to participate. I of course needed to be responsible and stay with my 'helpless and fragile four year old' and watch from afar. But as much as life usually gets me, I soon find that the urge to throw myself from the edge of a cliff into water from AT LEAST 30' is all too tempting and that one of the girls could watch Ellie for a moment or two. Just before I swim over we see Jonathan at the highest perch after painstakingly climb the 'tricky' rock edge to get to his perch. With a bit of light banter to encourage him, Ellie gives him a five count and whoosh he jumps...splash! Perfect form, now I'm not saying that it looked like form that had been practiced and perfected elsewhere - say the cliffs in Pella - I'm just saying it was a safe landing in the water here;-) I join the group on the rocks and begin my ascent to my perch at about 30' above the water and Ellie gives me a three count (not sure where the factors of 10' effect the number of seconds I get before I plunge to the water before, but it did) and I jump...SPlatsh - yeah that's what is sounds like when the legs aren't completely together. Can you say WEGGIE? Not to be without a perfect jump I climb up to the same perch and do it again - this time legs together and arms in tight. The only fault was non-pointed toes so the flats of the feet sting a bit, but success enough for these cliffs. It's starting to get more chilly as the sun is moving creating shadows in the canyon so we start the return swim.
Cliff jumping spot-upper right is 50'/Bob enjoys the swim

The group minus Michelle and Ellie/The Three Muskateers

Uncle Jonny with Squeeker/Dad with Elliebird


Not sure why we didn't figure it out earlier, but one of the girls - Amira - was in an inner tube and offered Ellie to ride in her lap instead of swimming. Due to the water getting colder and her stomach being much emptier, I think Ellie was more open to this offer. So floating back to the lifesaver hut was much more fun and a lot faster. We gave back the floatation devices and thought to ask about the boat back this time instead of hiking back over those crazy rocks - it turned out to only cost $.50 a person. Uhh yeah, we're riding that bad boy back to the dry land. Although we had to wait for a boat to return it was the best $1 I spent all week. (Actually as before I didn't have my money with me and actually Robby paid for the boat and I still owe him for it - Jon can you cover me now that I'm back in the Sates? Thanks Robby!)

We finally get back to the cars and are all absolutely famished and Ellie has asked no fewer than 50 times 'Can we eat now?' PB&Js are promptly started and the chips and drinks come out. The ladies change into dry clothes with one another holding up a towel while the guys continue to eat more food - typical. We're all refreshed and full we head back to Managua in the same groups as we arrived in. Along the way Lori captured the hilariousness in our car on her digital camera and it really captures just how great Ellie had been all week during all of our travels.
"I can't feel my face."
"Crazy faces"
"Silly Goose"

We got back to the casita after once again going through the car shell game and along the way picking up all of the things that we had forgotten to take to the canyon. Oh well, it's the thought that supposedly counts right? This proves that when a four year old is involved and swimming is the activity that no, actions are more important than the thoughts. Thankfully we were with great friends that all took turns covering for a deficient dad and did it all with smiles on their faces. Thank you all for an unforgettable trip - both to the canyon as well as the trip as a whole. Everyone of you 20-30 somethings are doing amazing things with your lives and you should feel proud of the lives you lead. You are making a difference in this big world of ours one life and one day at a time and you are proof that one person can make a difference. It's amazing to think that with the help and direction of God, you can not only make a difference today with the people you meet, but if blessed by God, you make change happen for generations to come and that's what these people are doing by teaching the next generations and by sharing the Lord with people that aren't always thought about. God bless you all, may God's hand continue to protect and bless you as you forge forward.
I'll leave you with a gorgeous sunset

Nicaragua-Day Four & Five

Even at 50 mph, this place is beautiful

We’ll start with a question of the day because sometimes there are moments that are really funnt that should forever be captured. I’ll ask the question and we’ll answer it at the end of today’s entry. The question: 'Uncle Jonny, did you pee on his tire?’

Now that I have your attention, let’s get right to it. Wednesday was a rush start and somewhat slow finish. We left San Juan Del Sur at 8:00 and tried to make good time back to Managua so that we could join up with friends Mark, Lea and Joni to go surfing. Through Jon’s best efforts we did, with Ellie and I getting a bit green behind the gills sitting in back watching Cars to pass the time. After a short intermission and more packing of the bag for another destination we set off for surfing and playtime.

Ellie got to stay and play with Mark’s family in an apartment/condo complex that had all kinds of other kids, a pool, a park and of course more movies to watch. After a small amount of disappointment that she wasn’t able to go surfing at the beach, she settled in to like the idea of swings and a pool. Then Jon, Joni, Mark, Lea and I went off to find some great waves. It took us about an hour to get to the place where these guys tend to go quite often and it looked beautiful. If I knew anything about surfing I’d say that it’s amazing that more people haven’t heard about this place. The break was about 6 ‘ and relatively consistent throughout the day. We had a small accident in the group about 2 hours in. Lea took a board to the head/face during a wipeout that looked vicious and I’m sure throbbed with pain, fortunately it was only just that. Unfortunately her day was done and thankfully another group of surfers that had shown up, agreed to take her back while the rest of us stayed to surf. At this point my chest had a pretty good ‘board rash’ on it and I had enough for the day. So while Jon, Joni and Mark set back out to find more perfect waves, I stayed on shore and decided I’d try my hand at rebuilding the small fort on the beach that had once stood but had since been pulled apart. I did what I could and got it put together with driftwood from the surrounding area. The next step for the next builder should be to bring some orange storm fence or some other netting to create a better shade that allows the wind to pass through. I felt pretty good about my efforts and sat to watch the surfers for a bit. An hour or so passed and I started to get bored so I walked around a bit and tried to find shells or rocks for Ellie’s growing collection. With the sun still beating down I decided to walk back to the truck, climb in the bed and take a nap in truck’s shade. Thirty minutes later the others arrived and we packed up for the day. It was about 6:00 and time to head home and get Ellie. I saw some beautiful Pacific Ocean views and an amazing sunset, but it was time to get back to my little girl and listen to her great day.

We get back to the casasita where we’re staying and all of the ‘family’ is out playing in the cool of the evening. We of course get sucked in for another hour or two playing hide and seek and throwing the ball around. The family’s kids have really accepted Ellie and although the language barrier is still there, everyone seems to be trying to learn from one another and still play. The kids are excited that It will be Ellie’s fourth birthday on Sunday and that we’re having a big party. Unfortunately we should have gone to bed a few minutes earlier as we ended up having a small accident playing Hide and Seek. I was helping Ellie hide and we were the last ones back to base and were running, Ellie in my arms. We turned the corner at the back of the house and I lost a flip-flop. Not to be deterred or caught I continued running and a few steps later tripped on the remaining flip-flop with Ellie tumbling in front of me. Oh man was I absolutely devastated. There’s nothing worse than seeing your child get hurt – except being the cause of it. She’s screaming and we make our way back to the front to inspect the damage. It turns out to only be a skinned knee, thigh and forehead, but still it’s time to call it a night. After wiping everyone down with a washcloth because there’s no water at night for a shower, we put a band aid on the knee with some aloe. We crawl into bed, all licking our wounds a bit, sunburns and skinned knees alike.
All of the 'family' thinks Ellie's quite the attraction


We deicided to sleep in on Thursday as we have breakfast with Hasel (Jon’s girlfriend) at 9:00 and really are all exhausted from the day before. Today is a scheduled slow day and more travel day to the Canyons North of Managua about 3 hours. We eat with Hasel and then run some errands for the birthday party and get some additional snacks for the trip later. We also get to see Hasel’s home and even watch Sleeping Beauty (while Jon takes advantage of the downtime to become a little Sleepy Beauty of his own). Ellie snuggles in with Hasel, thumb firmly planed in the mouth and manages to almost fall asleep, but not quite. We’re off shortly after the movie ends to pack up for the trip to the canyon before Laurie picks us up at 2:30.

Packed up and somewhat recharged, Laurie arrives and we hop into her car, only to drive to another home to change cars again. From there to our third house where we meet Bob and Rob, roommates that both have larger SUVs that’ll be driving the 10 of us in the group to the hiking place in the canyons. Somewhere in the mix we forget to transfer one of the bags, the tennis shoes for hiking. Ugh, now we get to hike in flip-flops. We are in the car no more than 20 minutes and Ellie is sound asleep on Laurie’s shoulder. It’s a relatively quick drive when Jon tells us he needs to make a ‘roadside stop.’ Not uncommon as there aren’t too many QTs around. Ellie wakes up when the car stops and of course asks ‘are we there yet?’ The answer is not yet and that Uncle Jonny needs to go potty really quickly. We all wait and someone mentions ‘going on the tire’. Ellie picks up on the conversation and as soon as Jon hops back in those wonderful words come tumbling out of her innocent mouth. Now ‘caught’ by his 3 year old niece, Jon smiles slyly and answers ‘Of course I did Ellie.’ And we all chuckle at the moment and Jon’s honesty. We get to our hotel that is 2 hours into the trip and unload for the night.
Some beautiful views in the car on the way to the canyon

Like I said - Nicaragua, a hidden paradise


We go out looking for a quick dinner and after double-backing at least four times, we find a place that’s actually open (due to the Semana Santa holiday) and pull in. We experience our first power outage of the week that Jon has told us about so many times being a frequent occurrence but we have only had one in our stay. The staff brings out candle and we eat by candle light for a few moments until power is restored. We have one of the best meal that we’ve had all week and head back to the hotel once again tired and ready for bed with dreams of another great day tomorrow planned.
This shower actually had the water ON the electrical - no way would this pass in my house;-)