Last Christmas, Santa left a note in everyone's stocking stating that next Christmas, i.e., 2007, presents would be delivered on the beach. As the year wore on, it appeared that Santa would have a hard time living up the his end of the bargain. Instead, we decided to head for the beach on Thanksgiving, rather than Christmas. We wanted some place warm, with good prospects for diving, and someplace where Kai could play and be watched easily. We settled on Ambergris Caye, in Belize. We all like Belize, and they even speak English, at least a lot of the time.
After a careful perusal of the web, we settled on 
White Sands Cove Resort. It is highly rated, with special emphasis on children, and has its own dive shop.
Despite the "resort" in the name, it was actually a collection of condos. We wound up doing more of our own cooking than we had planned, but that worked out all right. We worked out a schedule where everyone took a turn taking care of Kai, leaving time for the others to pursue other activities. Jim and Claire devoted a day to 
diving the famous Blue Hole, where you descend quickly to 135 feet, check out stalactites covered with marine animals, then spend the rest of the dive returning slowly to the surface. It's really an experience more than an interesting dive. Most people do it in their youth; Jim was the oldest person on board.
The rest of Lighthouse Reef has a lot to offer. In addition to the two best dives of the trip later in the day, it also has breeding colonies of Magnificent Frigatebirds and Red-footed Boobies. Jim noticed what he thought the most unusual birds of the trip: two Yellow-rumped Warblers foraging on the shoreline.
We celebrated Thanksgiving and Jim's birthday by eating out at a fine restaurant a short walk down the beach. Kai behaved well, but was not terribly impressed with the food offering.
Jim and Linda took a long day trip to visit Lamanai, site of some remarkable ruins, as well as some nice flowers, birds, and even monkeys. Jim constructed a panorama of photos taken from the top of the largest pyramid at the site. The photo shows the large lake, the main reason for the lengthy habitation of the site. The earliest archeological find at the site dates to before most of the Mayan civilization. The site was continuously inhabited throughout the Mayan times, right up to the coming of the Spanish.
Besides birding and diving, we wasted a day on a snorkeling expedition when an incredible thunderstorm marooned us for hours on the island where we planned to have lunch. Another expedition, this time an attempt to see manatees, was slightly more successful: We saw the head of one several times.
We left a day early, so Jim could have another birthday celebration in Houston. Jim always celebrates the entire week to make up for the fact that his birthday falls near Thanksgiving. K-Days are better.