Costa Rica - Day 2

I told you the bugs were huge. HUGE. These grasshoppers disappeared during the day but at night 5 or 6 of them would show up on the windows and scare the crap out of us. They were literally as big as your head. We were eating outside one night and one flew right into Kellye's hair, we all ran into the house screaming. The ladies that cooked for us were getting a kick out of it, then proceeded to tell us that the same thing happened to another girl but a barb from it's leg flew into her eye. WHAT!? We ate inside the next night. :)




Day 2 was mostly a pool/beach day - relaxing, hanging out, getting used to wearing a swimsuit in the middle of winter. I packed a bunch of swim trunks for Brody but when we saw this little wet suit at the surf shop we knew it was the perfect thing! I mean, putting sunscreen on Jared is an ordeal in itself, trying to wrestle two boys that don't want anything to do with it? Forget it! Next year I'm getting Jared a matching one.










Nothing too exciting, I love those kind of days. No watch, no schedule, no makeup. (maybe could have used a little makeup :)








Brody's thing lately is that he's WAY more interested in anything that is not a toy vs. actual toys. Cup in the pool? Huge hit. Empty (I swear it was empty) can of Coke Light = major fun. This kid is weird, but I love him.




Especially his chubby feet. He could sit and splash all day if we let him.



So the house that Melissa found was perfect for us. It actually was a boutique hotel that someone turned into a rental house. There was the main part of the house when you walk in - living area, kitchen, dining area - then a main large bedroom upstairs. On each side of the house were two separate rooms, four total, with their own bathrooms and deck that connected to the pool. This made it nice since we're such a big bunch, especially when it came to nap time for Brody. Put him in the pack-n-play and sit on the deck and read a magazine. Tanning during nap time - yes, please!!

The only interesting thing about the house was......the pit. I'm assuming at one point it was some kind of central fireplace for the hotel but the current owners decided to make it a seating area, that we affectionately named and created a gang sign for. So here we are in the pit, keepin' it real.




Pretty much every day ended down at the beach.

Costa Rica - Day 1

This was my view as we flew from Houston to Costa Rica. Volcano!

We've flown with Brody a few times and have had really good luck, this time he was a little more squirmy and ready to get there. So there were lots of goldfish, lots of iPad, and lots of Hulk.





When we landed it was the craziest thing. I don't think I've exited a normal 747 onto the tarmac before, and I know for sure I've never waited for customs and baggage claim in a giant open air shed before. And I liked it! So did Landry. :)





What was also surprising (I think I should have expected) was that it was hot. Like HOT hot. I mean Texas in mid-January isn't super cold, I think we were in the 40's, but going from that to 80 is a jump. Needless to say we were all ready to bust out the swimsuits in the airport parking lot, especially since our driver was a tad late.




Honey keeping Brody entertained. (see his red little cheeks!? It was hot! Hence the no pants.)




Now daddy's turn.




Will chatting it up with the driver. Will got back from serving his mission in Chile last fall so he was our resident translator. Thank goodness for Will!!




Monkeys!!! On the side of the road right before we got to the house.




Our home for the week. Melissa, travel agent extraordinaire, found the perfect place. If anyone needs help booking straight up awesomeness give her a call, she can do no wrong.




Ahhhh, the light. Every afternoon there was this warm golden glow coming from the ocean through the trees. I wanted to bottle it and bring it back with me.




Landry and Jason both worn out from the trip.




Things that initially surprised me when we got there: it's the jungle, for real! Monkeys, giant bugs, huge trees and plants, amazing colors, and crazy looking birds - real jungle. Another thing - we didn't meet one rude or impatient person the entire time. Everyone is SO NICE. The town we stayed in is SUPER small so everyone knows everyone - the lady who owned the surf shop was also our excursion arranger, tour guide, masseuse, and emergency medical contact (which we actually needed when my mom got an ulcer on the inside of her eyelid day 4 - yikes!). No worries, she got some good drugs and woke up feeling better.

I didn't know what to expect when we got there but I immediately fell in love with everything about Costa Rica - the people, the food, the weather, and that LIGHT! Oh, that light.