JOY: great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying; keen pleasure; elation

It was such a great day. We want to share with you one of the richest experiences during our time in Central America.

We decided to take three of the poorest kids we know to the children'smuseum in Tegucigalpa. We've talked on here about these three before - two brothers and a sister who have very little and are left home alone every day while their single mom goes to work. The oldest one has had to take on so much responsibility and grow up so fast. All three were just due for a day where they could be kids.

With excitement overflowing, they wanted to meet us an hour before it was even time to leave. They sat on our doorstep anxious to start the big day.

As we set out to catch the bus, the two boys clutched Lisa affectionately (see photo).We got on the old, retired U.S. school bus to go into town - no type of transportation we or anybody in the states would write home about - it was as if these kids had set foot inside a NASA Space Shuttle. The oohing and ahhing as we rode turned into even greater amazement when we transferred into a taxi for the rest of the ride. It was at that point we realized that what we consider simple things can bring such joy to those who have so little.

The Tegucigalpa Children's Museum, called Chiminique, is first class and as good as any children's museum we've ever seen. It is loaded with activities. We started by visiting the Santa display and making Santa hats. Then it was off to see the moon rock, play with a crane complete with a hoistable bucket, make a TV recording in a TV studio, drive a bulldozer.. on and on. They loved each activity so much, it was hard to get them to move to the next....







But it was the ball machine that was the big winner. One part of it shot balls up into a maze, where the balls would drop through, activating other parts of the machine. Another part with a blower caused the balls to hover magically. The boys literally were shrieking with joy as they played. Try and play the video... it is so cute.



It nearly took the jaws of life to pry them away from the museum. But they had built up an appetite, so we lured them away with the promise of a meal. It was time for McDonalds.

This was the first time these kids had ever eaten fast food. And what's so cool, they got to do it in style. Though this is Tegucigalpa, the resident expert in McDonalds, Reade, rated this as one of the top five nicest McDonalds he has ever been to (they even have a doorman). Happy meals... french fries for the first time in their lives... and then Playland. It was so cute. Third world, meet first world. What do you do when you come from an area with no playgrounds and then see something like Playland??? All these tube slides and ladders!

We quickly discovered the kids didn't know what a slide is. They tried to run up them at first but just kept spinning their wheels. We laughed... they laughed. So we showed them how to climb up, then slide down. The shrieking screams of excitement could be heard again.

We finished the day by walking up to the mega-mall, which is also a first world type mall, to get some Frostys.


The day was not without amusement. When it came time to use the restroom, Reade pointed the boys to the stalls. The five year old promptly stuck his hands into the toilet to wash off his sticky fingers. "No, no," Reade shouted, and the boy stared in bewilderment. He thought he was doing good to clean up. But when you come from an area with just back yard latrines, toilets can't be taken for granted. So they got to learn how to use toilets that day...well at least in part. The two year old little girl seemed scared of the toilets. Lisa tried to get her to go, but to no avail. She finally couldn't hold it any longer, and just let loose in the middle of the mall all over her older brother while sitting on his lap.

Then there was the escalator. What the heck was this??? Do you go up it or down it? Why not try both?

What a joy it was to give the kids such a special day. What a joy it was every time they smiled, laughed, or shrieked with excitement. What a joy to let them just be kids... to play... to run around... to not have to worry about babysitting each other, or not worry about having a warm meal. It was such a great day.

But we were sad their mom had to work and couldn't share in the day with us. And we were sad when we got back home, because we knew that the kids might not get to experience anything like this again for a long, long time.