Day Four Adventure Day

This was our more adventuresome day but thankfully it didn't feel like the day went by super quick infact it was just right.

Our day started at 7:00 am being picked up at our hotel and taken for our first adventure of going on zip lines through the jungle.

Before our tour we went for a walk through a beautiful jungle and while there we saw a ...
Red Dart Frog and so in true mommy fashion I had to take a picture for our boys. It was so neat but they are very tiny. They look so much bigger on National Geographic. :)

We got to ride in a trailer pulled by this really cool tractor. This was not what I was expecting by so fun. It took us up the side of the valcano.

This is were we got suited up. The water fall behind me is call La Fortuna. It was so amazingly beautiful. I will be honest with you I was beyond nervous and was really questioning what I was doing, I am a mother of six and it felt like a huge risk but it was also something that I felt that I need to do to over come some fears and discover that I am still Tracy the fun loving girl that likes to have fun and try new things. There are times that life gets so busy that I forget who I am. I wouldn't change my life for anything but it is great to through a few adventures in there.

This was our crazy family. Before our first jump. Incase you are wondering those helmets are just for looks. LOL If you are falling 100' feet they will not save you. :)

My first ride and it felt amazing and thrilling. I thought for sure that the height would be an issue but because the tree tops are so high and close to you, it just doesn't feel that high up.

Jamie was so excited to try. I am so glad that he gave me that little push to try it.

There was quite a bit of hiking involved as we made our way from one zip line to the next. It was so neat but very tiring. This one part of the trail when we had to walk across a suspension bridge.

This was the longest line. It was 948 meter long and took you right out into the open with an amazing view of the waterfall. We figure that we were about 250 feet up. Awesome!!! Our next adventure was going quading throught the jungle. It was so neat but very dirty as I am sure you can tell from Jamie's face. We went through some great mud puddles.

This was one of many stops where we got to have another view of the water fall. We would like to go back so that we can explore some of the lakes that are hiding up in the hills.

Another stop was at the tarzan swing. I wasn't willing to try it but the boys were. It took a little bit for Jamie to make the jump because he was scared the rope wasn't going to hold him. LOL

But he finally made the big splash.

And of course in true boy fashion they had to do some cliff jumping.

And finally another National Geographic moment. These are those ants that you see carrying pieces of leaves that are ten times their size. They went on forever and all the way up this huge tree.

The end of a wonderful day. We took a taxi up to the valcanoe and watched it erupt. It was so neat the only problem is that it was too dark to take any pictures and we only got to see it happen once as the clouds moved down too low. But it was so neat to watch. Then to finish off the evening we went to a natural hot springs. The water was flowing so quickly that I thought for sure we would get washed away. There were a ton of people enjoying the warm water. All said and done this was an amazing day and one that I will not soon forget.

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.