Our first week in Costa Rica

July 5

We had a great day for Rylan’s birthday yesterday. We found a resort that had several pools – both hot and cold – and  with waterslides. Perfect for the kids. I was beautifully landscaped, with waterfalls, fish ponds, and even had a few animals to look at – crocodiles and an ant farm. The kids had a lot of fun. We came back to the cabin to rest before the evening. The cabins have amazing views of the rainforest and volcano, its nice just to relax and hang out here. That is, as long as the kids are happy. They mostly are, when we are here at the cabin – although the hammocks create both entertainment and opportunities for arguments – so there is some management necessary there. In the evening we went to The Lost Iguana for dinner and fireworks.

Today is our last full day at Leaves and Lizards. We are enjoying our morning here at the cabin, we are in no hurry to go out. It’s really peaceful here, and the kids are really happy just to play in and around the cabin. Getting out and about is a lot of work too – we are so remote, it’s a long drive on a dirt road to go places. We’ve gone in and out twice per day the last two days, so its nice not to try and rush off this morning.

In the afternoon we drove out to the La Fortuna Waterfall. It was a long descent – over 400 stairs down – but a very enjoyable hike nonetheless. The waterfall is very tall, and while there were many people swimming around the waterfall and jumping off rocks, it definitely wasn’t somewhere we could swim with the kids. Luckily, right around the corner, with many other families and others not so daring, there was a nice part of the stream that one could swim and climb around on rocks at. The water was very cold, so we did more wading and rock climbing than swimming, but we enjoyed it. The setting is just beautiful. Tim decided that he would jump off one of the high points and into the waterfall pool, so he went down and did that before we headed back up the stairs. And right as we began our ascent the rain started pouring down, right on time with what we have experienced all week – the rain comes in – with thunder and lightning – around 4pm. We just can’t seem to get the family going earlier so we’ve aaccepted this is part of our day! We had our rain jackets (happily, many others did not) and suited up and began up the 400+ stairs. The kids did great. Sierra even walked up all the stairs!

We ended the day with some really good steak and food even the kids ate at Don Ruffino in La Fortuna (city). It was a bit expensive but worth it, to me, as all the kids enjoyed not just what they ordered but ate a lot of our steak as well. Food has been a bit of a challenge – although overall we’ve managed much better finding food the kids will eat compared to our days in the jungle in Belize. It’s helped that we’ve barely eaten at our resort where the food (except breakfast) wasn’t quite as pleasing to the kids.

 

 

July 6, 2013

Travel day. We took the straighter route from Arenal to Nosara. We left at 11am and were in Nosara at 4pm. We almost were able to drive straight, but around 3pm the kids were getting extremely stir crazy (and cranky – I partly blame the Dramamine) so we stopped at a cute restaurant on the side of a windy road ,which had an excellent view of the hillside, and got a tamale for Sierra and some drinks. We arrived in time for our checkin to our house rental, got situated, and visited the local pizzeria for dinner. It was fun seeing all the families and surf culture there – it wasn’t the teenagers who were the surfers, but the parents – and we had a nice time.

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July 7, 2013

We’ve checked into our house here in Nosara and we are loving it! The town is very laid back, the house is comfortable, and its nice to know we are going to be here for a while. The kids are really happy here. Its our first morning. Rylan and Sierra woke up at 5:30am, with Aubrey up soon after. So much for sleeping in! Luckily, they were easily entertained with a couple of toys and books until Tim and I got up at 6:30am. Its only 9:45am and it feels like we’ve had a lot of daytime already.

It’s been fun listening to the kids play – they make up so many things and are using inspiration from our trip. Their dolls and toys are having their birthday, walking through the jungle, going to the waterfall. It’s so cute.

We are heading to the beach shortly. We can walk there, and I think walking there will be half the journey – its beautiful here. Later we will get groceries for the week.