Costa Rica: The Beach

 The drive from the jungle to the beach was not enjoyable.  We hit traffic, and by the end wanted to scream due to the many speed bumps.  But we made it.  I opted for not as fancy accomodations, and that's what they were - not as fancy.  We were in a little town, right across from a liquor store, and it was an interesting spot.  When I booked it I saw that it was right by the beach.  Which was true.  But it was 12 miles from the main beach we wanted to be at (AKA 50 minutes).  So mistakes were made, but we adjusted and made it work.  And I have to hand it to the kids - they were really good at not complaining.  Even when it was kind of justified.  There are good things about having older kids.

Anyway, the beach was great.  Jake, Zack, and Sage started off with surfing lessons.  Kate and I enjoyed the water on our own.  They did a good job and were pretty tired after.  Sage learned a great lesson about sunscreen.  That you should wear it.  We told her over and over again she was getting burned and cover up and she wouldn't listen.  That girl is stubborn.  I don't know if I've ever seen anyone that sunburned.  Poor girl.  But now she puts sunscreen on without us asking, so that's a win!

Day two Zack, and Kate and I did a kayak snorkel thing.  The description was kayak to an island for snorkeling.  Turned out the island was a big rock.  Snorkeling was subpar and it was windy so it was like trying to snorkel in a washing machine.   Because of the wind we had to paddle like our lives depended on it to get back to the beach.  While we were doing that Jake and Sage went with a local on a tiny fishing boat way out in the ocean.  They caught a couple tuna, so their activity was much better than snorkeling.  When they got back with the tuna we took it to a restaurant and they cooked it up for us to eat.  Delicious!

We walked around the shops and then headed back to the hotel.  On the way we stopped at a beach the snorkel guide told us about (the only good thing from the snorkeling).  It was amazing.  Instead of sand there were tiny pieces of sea shells.  I've never seen anything like it.  I also learned that sand is good for walking because walking in broken sea shells is almost impossible.  There was also good snorkeling.  Way better than what we paid for.  A win!

That wraps it up.  All in all a great trip!  There were of course not perfect moments, but those are what make trips memorable.  And the perfect moments were really amazing.  It was so good to be there with the whole family and experience something totally new all together.  Grateful!

Costa Rica: The Jungle

 We went to Costa Rica!  I've been thinking about this trip for a while, and we finally made it happen.  All kids came, which isn't a given these days.  This was the first time to Costa Rica for all of us.  I asked everyone if they would rather do a Mexico trip or try something new like Costa Rica.  Everyone unanimously voted for adventure in Costa Rica!

Our trip had two parts.  The first half we spent in the jungle, second half in the beach.  This meant driving and staying in multiple places.  A first for us.  Driving in Costa Rica is an adventure all by itself.  I drove on my mission in El Salvador, and that driving definitely prepared me for Costa Rica driving.  We learned really quickly that you don't drive fast because the roads are all narrow and there are a lot of speed bumps.  By the end we all hated speed bumps.  For example, the first place we stayed at was only 75 miles from where we were, but it took 3 hours to get there.  Slow and steady.  Lots of really tight spots.  I enjoyed seeing more of the country by car, but some of the days of driving felt long.  I will give props to the kids.  Our car was not big and they all sat in the back for hours with minimal fighting.  I was impressed.  And grateful.  

The drive to the jungle involved super windy roads.  Like think of the windiest road you've been on and double it.  We stopped on the way at a waterfall/animal place.  It was super cool.  We saw lots of butterflies, monkeys, sloths, toucans (they are actually scary), jaguar, frogs, and more.  We also saw some really pretty waterfalls.  There are so many waterfalls in Costa Rica.  They're all beautiful, but by the end they kind of started looking the same.  Which sounds horrible, but true.  Also, as far as I could tell there's no such thing as a free hike to a waterfall.  They've turned all the waterfalls into a tourist destination.  The lowest we paid was $20/person.  Good thing they were pretty.

We stayed at The Lost Iguana.  Such a pretty resort.  We really enjoyed it.  Literally in the middle of the jungle.  The hanging bridges park we went to was actually just around the corner.  That's where we went our first day.  We got to hike all over and cross a whole bunch of cool, long hanging bridges.  Kate didn't think they were so cool, but she made it.  So pretty.  So humid.  

We spent some time in La Fortuna.  Did some shopping and went to a delicious restaurant.  We really liked the food and learned that when you go eat they expect you to take your time.  They won't bring you a check for like an hour or more unless you ask for it.  Kind of a nice change of pace.  

Our activity there was white water rafting.  So much fun!  Our guides were really good.  The rapids were big and fun, but we also had slow times where we could get in and swim.  It was fun to see everything from the river.

Jake got this new 360 degree camera for work and he brought it on the trip.  It was pretty funny to see him with a selfie stick.

Butterfly

Sloth

These actually dive bombed our heads.  And the way they look at you was creepy.

The view from our hotel deck. 

Never saw the volcano completely without clouds

One of the hanging bridges

Bringing the awkwardness wherever we go.  Sitting in the hot springs with the locals instead of paying $100 per person.  Win!

Zack found this random tree to stop at on the way to the beach.  We turned up this random little road to find it.  And of course had to pay.  But it was super cool!