A Glorious Last Day in Costa Rica

My Little Biologists

We set out for the tide pools for one last trip -- this time Ella brought her net and bucket!

We found all kinds of fun little fish along with the usual sea slugs and hermit crabs.  I have a whole other blog post about our fun finds that I will post another time.

Ella is also a master at catching butterflies - as seen in a previous post.

This one is the elusive swallowtail that she's been trying to catch the whole time we've been here!

 We saw this one on the beach --- isn't it beautiful?

All of the kids have thoroughly enjoyed the wildlife here -- they have been diligently trying to catch the skinks (green and brown striped lizards) and small, bright green iguanas and many other kinds of lizards found here in Bahia Pez Vela with very little success.  The geckos have been their only victims ;)

Random photos from the last week or so...

We went to church again on Sunday -- can't miss an opportunity to take a pic of my kiddos when they're all looking so nice...

The kids and I headed into town to mail post cards and get a pipa fria for the girls who turned into the crab harvesters!!!!  When we first got here, they were totally freaked out by the dead land crabs in the pool -- wouldn't swim anywhere near them and I can't say that I blame them!! ;)  Well, this week, we headed down there on Monday morning and there were 6 in the pool.  Ella got three out and Meg got three out- they used Ella's sandal to scoop them up from the deep end and then tossed them into the bushes!  What really confuses me is that they won't touch the dead crabs when they're in the pool - they use the shoe - but as soon as the crab is on dry land, they play with it and investigate it...and make it talk and "walk"... So anyway - we headed into town because I told them they could get a pipa fria if they got all of the crabs... and Granpa Wayne also had a call for AFS stuff so we just got out of the way instead of trying to keep quiet while he was on the phone! ;) 

 Saw this iguana while driving into town...

 I couldn't resist taking this picture -- think she was tired? 

This is during rest time when she told me, "I'm just going to read... I'm not tired at all..." 

Famous last words!

The Big Hermit Crabs Come Out at Night

We went messing around on the beach at dusk and found the big hermit crabs that Granma Sandy had been telling us about!  Jack is not phased.  He rushes along the beach from crab to crab... "I found one!  Hermit crabs!!!  I found another one!!!"

This is a picture of a "naked" hermit crab -- one without a shell!!!  The one on top in the picture has a shell - obviously... the one on the bottom does not --- and that's Meg's hand to give some size perspective! ;)

One Last Adventure Before We Head Home...

On Thursday, we will head out in the morning to drive to San Jose for our flight to the States on Friday.

We thought we'd better squeeze in one more adventure before we had to come home... one of the requests from Jack and Ella was to see a waterfall so we took off for a waterfall that is just south of Liberia on the PanAmerican highway --- both Cesar (the guy in the office here at Bahia Pez Vela) and my friend Roseanna told us about this one.  It was fairly easy to get to with about an hour's drive and a short hike.

It isn't found in any of our guidebooks but was well worth the small journey. 

We ran into rough roads again so there was a quick Chinese fire drill and Granpa drove us through the large puddles and washed out road!  I think that if we're going to get stuck, the story would be much better if it starts with, "Granpa was driving and we got stuck!"

Here is the beautiful waterfall and three beautiful kids!   

 Jack enjoyed splashing around a bit and throwing rocks into the lagoon. 

 He also found a large bone on the beach... hmmmm...???

This big ol' iguana was sunning himself on one of the rocks as we hiked down into the valley to the waterfall.

Meg had a good time splashing in the lagoon a bit and  digging a large hole in which she sailed a small boat  -- she created the boat using sticks and leaves. 

 Ella also dug a big hole and played with the sticks and leaves.  She also found a seed of some sort that she brought home, along with the 5collones that Granpa found in the rocks.

Jack and Granpa investigated the other small creeks that the lagoon ran into.  They spotted a damsel fly and that was about it! 

There was quite a large and soft-sand beach that the kids had fun playing on and I enjoyed taking some photos of the three different waterfalls in the area.

The kids and me...

A nice young gal from Spain took this picture for us.  Granpa is sure getting a kick out to the assumptions that people continue to make about our "family" --- the assumption is that I am his mujures!  Not sure if I am looking old or if he is looking particularly svelt and macho!!

As often as possible I say things like "Hey kids... what's GRANPA doing over there?" or "Jack, go get your GRANPA!!!"  ;)

Here are those holes that the girls dug...

 I was so proud of the kid as we headed back up the trail.  It was no easy trail - pretty steep and lots of large rocks and little 'streams' to maneuver around.  The girls did particularly well - making it to the top like two little mountain goats and with no complaining.  Jack was calm and let me yank him around by his arm and lift him up the big rocks and did what his little legs could do to get him up the trail.

Granpa rewarded the girls at the top with a pipa fria -- which is a very cold coconut that the Ticos use a macheti to open and stick a  straw in!  The coconut water  or milk is cold and refreshing!

Knee Deep

I have been loving this song since April sometime... and have been listening to this and "Toes" all month.
But for some reason, I CANNOT stop humming this song! Even in church today! Seriously.
Those first few lines of guitar just keep playing through my head...
So many of the lines just FIT.
*Only worry in the world is the tide gonna reach my chair?
--- any beach we go to, Meg asks about this --- "Mom, is the tide going out or coming in?"
*Think I might have found me my own little piece of paradise..
---Bahia Pez Vela in June. Enough said.
*Put up a note and said "be back in a minute"... mind on a permanent vacation...
---Jimmy just wishes he wrote this song first!!!
*got the blue sky, breeze blowing wind through my hair...
--- yep, all month - except for those 2 or 3 days of HEAVY! rain

And the pictures with the video above are in the Bahamas... I could make my own of CR!!!
Good stuff.
Just can't get enough of this song!

HERMIT CRABS!

My kids LOVE hermit crabs!

I think we ended up with about 100!

Arenal Lake with the Boyer's

Scott and Roseanna invited us out for a Sunday on Lake Arenal so we loaded up and met them in town at 7 am(which was no problem---being this close to the equator, the sun still goes down at about 6:15 and it's dark by 6:30, so by about 8:30, we're all in bed! And then, in turn, the sun is up at 5 or so...so we get up!)

We buzzed up the highway and had breakfast - hearty, American-style - in Nuevo Arenal and then headed down to the boat.

Jack jumped right into the driver's seat as we got loaded up and settled into the boat.

 We even got a peak at the cone of Volcan Arenal - more than we did when we came up with Dave --- can you see it out there in the distance???

 Jack was very good about wearing his life vest - not one complaint!

 And the guys set about fishing...

And Ella and Roseanna set about soaking up some rays...

 Scott was so nice about letting the girls reel in the fish -- anytime there was one on the line, he would ask, "who's turn is it???"

 This is a jaguar guapote... or a rainbow bass...

 And this is Ginger - Scott's First Mate

Toward the end of the boat ride, Jack started getting tired!  He and Ella lay down and rested...

Meg was hungry again after the all went swimming in the lake!

Must be Ella's turn!  We caught 4 or 5 fish - most of them while trolling (is that spelled correctly?) behind the boat.

Scott took us up the hill on the way out of town to see his favorite view of the lake.  It is absolutely beautiful!  And this was a cloudy day - Roseanna said it is soo blue and even more beautiful when it's sunny.

Jack and Ella were asleep - mind you this stop was about 10 minutes from where the boat is parked! 

So, Wayne, Meg and I all posed for a pic!