Day Three Arenal

Our day began with a 6 hour drive from the southern coast to the northern center of Costa Rica. We were very excited about seeing some different parts of the country. All I can really say is that the roads of Costa Rica are horrible, very bumpy and extremely curvey. LOL
This is grandma (brides grandma) looking at the only fresh water crocidiles. We had to walk along a very narrow part of the road to the middle of the bridge to get the best view.

The pictures just don't even do them justice. They were HUGE. The biggest one that we saw must have been at least 16 feet long. Amazing.

This was the funniest part of the whole day. On one of our potty breaks Jamie and I decided to buy a pop and when we asked for them they opened up the bottles got two bags and poured the pop into the bags handed us the bags with straws and called it done. LOL We were shocked and laughed for about 20 min. after getting back on the bus. These are the type of experiences that you just can't describe but that you have to keep the memory of. We found out later that when the pop is in a glass bottle they will do that every time because they get a deposit for the glass. Great memory. :)

Our "private" bus to our destination. It was a great trip with many of laughs. At least we had enough room for everyone to stretch out.

Our sweet ride!!!

Our hotel room wasn't as fancy as the last one but really for Jamie and I, we are not picky about where we stay because we would much rather be out exploring then hanging in our room and at the end of the day as long as we have some were to lay our heads that is all that matters and it needs to be clean. LOL

Our first dinner at Arenal. This ended up being our favorite place to eat. The food was wonderful. Each time we would get their traditional meal of rice, beans, salad and some sort of meat. It was great.

We had to take a picture of how close we were to the valcano but we weren't too sure if we would ever see the top of the valcano as the clouds were always covering it. This was a great town. We loved it because all the stores that we went into were the same stores that the locals shopped at and so we never felt like we were getting taken. We also felt very safe walking around and exploring.

Day Two in Paradise

After a night of sleeping and listening to the amazing sounds of the jungle I went out onto our deck and in a tree not to far away was this 4 ft. iguana. It was not neat to see and it was huge.
Just walking around the resort where we were staying there were a lot of different animals. This one you could get really close to and it didn't even bother it.

The monkeys where amazing. They were all over the place and very entertaining to watch. We could have sat and watched them all day. They were really cute.

After a great breakfast we decided to take a walk through Manueal Antonios national park and what we saw there was amazing and we really felt like we were living in the National Geographic channnel. I can't wait to bring the kids back because they would love to see all the different animals and insects. This one is a sloth and they really do move as slowly as you think. LOL

This is not a picture that I was too excited about taking but you will do anything for you kids. This spider was huge it was about 2 1/2" long and wide. It was a little scary and thankfully in the jungle and not in my room. The web from this spider is used when making bullet proof vest. It was very interesting.

These are the howler monkeys. They sound like barking dogs and are pretty need to see, but loud.

After a long walk through the park you come to this private beach that is beautiful and the water was so calm. This is definitely one of the most beautiful places that we have ever been. I loved it.

You just can't resist a monkey chilling in the shade. :)

After some time in the water we were back on our walk and looking for some were to eat our lunch and we thought that we had found the perfect place until these little critters came along. These are Costa Rican racoons. They are a little bit smaller than our north american ones but just as persistant when it comes to wanting your food. We had to keep moving and find a place where they weren't. LOL

I really can't say more to the beauty that we saw. I really can't wait to go back here again. I just need to say how amazing the people were. It was not at all like Mexico. It was very clean, we cold drink the water, and the people were so friendly and willing to help. It was great.

After a wonderful morning of exploring it was time to get ready for Jamie's cousins wedding which was the reason for coming to Coasta Rica. This is while we were waiting for the wedding to begin.

We were so lucky to be invited to this beautiful wedding of Peter and Candi. The setting was amazing and they are a wonderful couple and we wish them all the best in the future. They have already had some great adventures together and I don't doubt that there will be many more.

The reception was wonderful. Again the setting was amazing. They had a live band there and they were really good. We had a great time. Thank you Candi and Peter for the invite and showing us this beautiful country of Costa Rica. I always joke now and say that for my next wedding I am going to have it in Costa Rica. LOL Thankfully I found the love of my life and pray that we will have many more years together and so instead of getting married in these places we can just go and experience them together. :)

Day One In Costa Rica

So after a very long night of flying we arrived in Costa Rica at 6:00 am in the morning. We were very excited to be going to Jamie's cousin Candi's wedding which will be tomorrow. It was great to have the whole day. Once arriving at the international airport we were taken over to a small airport where we got on a small puddle jumper. It was very entertaining.
There really wasn't very much room on the flight. The thing that made us all laugh was when the pilots got on their only safety instructions to us were to "buckle up". LOL That was not even a mention of where our closest exit was.

The different views of the land scape and the closesness of the moutains at some points were amazing.

We were happy when we finally landed at our first destination in Manuel Antonio.

We were so impressed when we finally got to our hotel. It is by far the nicest hotel that we have ever stayed at. It was so neat because there were no windows just screens all the way around our room. The sounds of the jungle at night were amazing. All around us was tropical rain forest and the different animal sounds were so neat.

This was our view from our balcony. We loved it and spent as much time sitting out there and relaxing as we could. I would have been happy to move here and just stay here for a very long time.

There is something so beautiful about a view of the ocean. Breathtaking!!!

At the resort that we stayed at they have this old 727 that they have converted to a two bedroom hotel room. We tried to book it just because of how unique it is but it was booked but it was so neat to see this in the middle of no where. The jungle is so thick that you can't see any of the other buildings around until you are right beside them. Next time we go this will be something that we will try for sure.

After a very long walk we finally made it to the beach. And it was once again breathtaking. The water was so warm just like climbing into a bathtub and we were surprised because we were on the pacific side of Costa Rica.

After spending just two hours in the sun we came back with some pretty majoy burns and that was with using precautions. You don't realize how intense the sun is when you are that close to the equator. We figure it was the equivalent to being in the sun for 8 hours. Poor Jamie's head was so red that when he spoke to the boys he described it as being as red as a tomatoe and that he couldn't wait to get home to put his head in a snowpile. LOL

The walk down to the beach wasn't too bad but that is because it was down hill. The hike back up was a totally different story. The picture just doesn't do it justice in showing how steep the incline was and the humidity was intense. (not that I am complaining. LOL)

For dinner we made our way up the streat to La Avion. It was so neat. The army plane had crashed in the jungle way back when and so they had moved it to this location and made it into a restaurant.

Again the view was amazing. I really could have sat there all evening.

I never really realized how thick the jungle is but you really couldn't see anything down below and everything is built on stilts because of the incline of the hills.

We have zero complaints about any of the food that we ate while we were away. It was all amazing. This is Jamie eating octopus and enjoying every min. of it. LOL

Define!!!!

After dinner we made our way over to the other hotel where the rest of the family was staying for the wedding. It was great to see people that I haven't seen in a while. This was the view from their hotel terrace. This is Jamie's Uncle Tim, Aunt Teddie and their son Bradley.

Our travel buddies.

Again we had to eat with everyone that was there for the wedding and Jamie got a poboy sandwich, thinking of his best friend Keith that had just made him one for Christmas.

Day one was amazing. I am sure that I will use that world alot when talking about this vacation but their is just no better way to describe the beauty that we saw.

Our Journey Begins to Costa Rica

This was one of the longest layovers we have ever had. It was a long 6 hour wait in the Denver airport but at least we were in good company. We played a lot of cards and I even managed to finish a book.

The boys had fun just sitting back and watching "Two and a Half Men" They were really cute because they would both laugh at the same time. It is great to have Jamie's brother Tyler and his wife Michelle to travel with.

Darien's Hida House Project

Of course the day before Jamie and I are due to leave on our vacation Darien comes home and tells us that he has a project that he needs to have done. I love those last min. projects that we have no supplies for. But we managed to scramble some supplies together and he was pretty happy with the results. Thankgoodness for Dollorama. LOL

I wish that I could have seen his final project but we were already up in the air and on our way. He was happy with the final result and so was his teacher and it is now on display in the library at his school.

What's For Dinner

You guessed it. KR is what we are having. LOL The girls are really keeping us on our toes. I just couldn't resist taking a picture. I couldn't even believe that she actually got in the pot but she did.

If the lock is not on the cupboard this is their favorite place to play. LOL Who can resist playing in the pots and pans. I know I can't. :)

Sweet Sweet Keagan

It has been a very trying couple of months with our sweet Keagan. Our poor boys has been going through some really trying times and after many meeting with teachers and councilors we have come to realize that Keagan has been holding in some very difficult emotions and not expressing his concerns, fears and worries. It has been very difficult to watch him struggle and have no idea why or how to make his hurt go away. After some more meetings it was determined that he might even be suffering from depression and as a mother that was very hard to hear because you just want to take his pain away and you think that you should be able to make it all better. We really had no idea what was causing it but soon discovered that it all started when his Uncle Doug left to go to Afganastan and since then he has been worrying and having a very hard time. Thankfully we have found someone that we think can help him with those feelings and it seems to be going well. We actually saw a glimps of our old Keagan yesterday when he ran up to his Auntie Joe and said that he had "something special for her" and gave her a big kiss. That is something that we have all really missed for the last few months. It is going to take time but we are willing to take however long it takes to have our sweet little guy back. Being a mom is the best thing in the world but you learn something new every day. I love my children more than words can say.
Anyway, on to the pictures. There aren't a lot of times that I get to go and help out with the kids in school but this time I got to go and help with Keagans in school field trip and I am so glad that I did. It was a great time.
We got to learn about boats and bouancy. It was a great presentation.
After we got build our own boats out of wood and it was a ton of fun. Keagan is such a joy and I am so thankful for the time that we got to spend together.

I tried to get a picture of the tongue sticking out while trying to hammer without hitting his fingers. It was so cute.