Butterfly Hunters

Many many butterflies to catch, right here in our yard! 

 This is Cesar - one of the guys in the recepcion office -- he told Meg and Ella when we arrived that if they needed help identifying any of the butterflies they found, that he could help them... he couldn't find the ones they found on his chart... ;)

The Beach

Close encounters with Costa Rica's "locals"

So this is a White Throated Magpie... and he is not shy - and neither are his buddies...

Along with this beautiful bird, we have been visited by many coati mundi's -- they resemble raccoons and are as shy as the magpie.  While Dave was grilling chicken last night on the patio, he was attacked - well, bombarded might be a better word to use - by 5 or 6 of this little fellows.  They are hungry!  They were at the back door again tonight around dinner time, looking for some hand-outs!

Our first night here, I think I heard some of these coatis fighting - sounded just like a cat fight...

We can also hear a male howler monkey - he has a very threatening and deep growl that he lets out whenever he feels threatened - or maybe just annoyed - by anyone or anything - including the maintenance guys and their vehicles. 

Today, we did some snorkeling and saw many other "locals" -- lots of cool angel fish and puffer fish... many hermit crabs on the beach.... good times.

Ella and her gecko

Ella found a gecko last night - while Dave tried to catch it with a net, she bumped him right out of the way and grabbed it with her bare hands!  She was pretty proud of herself and sad when I told her that she couldn't sleep with it.  ;)

Three Days of Travel

So, as soon as Meg was out of school on Friday, we packed up and hit the road! We drove the 6 hours to Denver and stayed at Sweetie and Papa's house for Friday night.  I got to meet with my friend Betsy later Friday night and it was a great chance to catch up with her!  And thanks to Sweetie and Papa for the great accomodations andYUMMY chocolate donuts! :)

Saturday morning, Devin and Belle met us at Sweetie's at 8 am, and drove us - in two vehicles, mind you - out to DIA.  We checked in with Peg at American Airlines and I could've kissed that woman!  She just had a wonderful attitude and was friendly and excited for us and - best of all!!!! - checked 7 of our bags!  We had planned to carry-on most of our luggage.  We had one large duffle bag (thanks Amy!) that we'd planned to check.  Then we each (Meg, Ella, Dave and me) had a duffle bag or carry-on suitcase and our backpacks.  I was seriously THRILLED when she asked how many bags we had to check and Dave said, "how many can we check?" and she answered, "one per ticket" -- -seriously, praise the Lord.  What a huge blessing!

We also checked Jack's car seat. 

Huge blessing.  Seriously.

Everyone got settled into the plane and enjoyed our flight to Dallas/Fort Worth.

 Sandy was sitting behind Jack on this flight - think that was a good thing!  ;)

In Dallas, we had lunch/dinner... ?  Who knows when you're traveling like that... we ate, anyway! 

Then flew from Dallas to San Jose.  Jack sat with me and we knew he would be tired... he squirmed and fought sleep for quite a long time - but then finally fell asleep for about the last hour of the flight.

When we got into San Jose, I was carrying a tired and sleepy boy.  Sure helped us get through Immigration --- a young man called us over and we jumped to the front of the line! Granma Sandy says, "it doesn't hurt to travel with three kids and grandparents"  :)

We got into San Jose pretty late and got a van to Country Inn and Suites -- highly recommend this to anyone flying into San Jose --- especially with kids.  We had two very nice suites - with two queen beds and a living space for less than $100.  Very nice!

Here are the girls looking out the window in the morning. 

Meg came into our room around 4:30 am and was so excited!  She wanted to go check out the pool and flowers!

When Dave opened the window, Ella said, "oooo it smells so good!"  And Meg kept remarking on how 'exotic' everything was!  She couldn't believe that so many of the plants lived outside -- many of them are like our houseplants at home!

 Breakfast - papaya and pineapple and granadilla fruit (I think it looked like boogars) and yummy pastries.

Ella and Meg and Jack swam while Dave and Wayne went to pick up the rental cars.

 Beautiful flowers around the pool

 So then we hopped in our little cars and headed for San Jose, along the Panamerican Highway -- not a major thoroughfare like you might imagine - more like a small highway... full of pot holes and lots of traffic and folks walking alongside the road... and RAIN!!!!!!!!!!!! 
The picture above was one of my favorite sites all day.  All three slept for about 2 hours.  It was fabulously quiet.  ;)

We stopped at a place about halfway and had lunch... dinner?  Again, who knows... we ate.  ;)

I had the chicken especial --- chicken with rice mixed with some veggies and served with french fries and macaroni salad??  It was good anyway...

One unfortunate thing happened after our lunch stop - I was munching on some Starburst candy and a filling came out of one of my teeth!  Many of you know how fearful I am of the dentist and so I think this is a test.  ;)  I contacted my friend who lives in Coco and she recommended a dentist that she goes to and really loves. Dave and I stopped in there this afternoon - she's out of the country.  So, it's up in the air for now.  It doesn't hurt - yet - is just bugging me.

We're just glad to be here.

Today has been a day of relaxing and getting settled in... we did head down to the beach and checked out the tide pools.  LOTS of hermit crabs and sea slugs and fun stuff. I'll try to post some more pictures later. 

Some of you will be pleased to know that it has rained much of the day -- big heavy down-pours!  It is still pretty overcast by no rain at the moment.

Wayne and Dave just geared up a fishing pole or two and are headed to the beach to see if they can catch some pescado for dinner... I bought chicken when we were in town, just in case. ;)

And we are preparing for a scheduled power outage tomorrow from 8am to 2pm.  Wayne had to reschedule a conference call and we're planning a trip into Liberia.

We're here!!!

Thought I'd update anyone who's interested that we made it - finally - to our condo in Playa Ocotal.  We are getting settled in this evening and will post pics of the THREE days of travel to make it to this beautiful place soon.

We drove down to Denver on Friday afternoon.  We stayed at Mom and Dad's with Wayne and Sandy - shout out to Sweetie and Papa!   Thanks for the amazing and comfortable accomodations!
Then Devin and Belle came bright and early on Saturday morning to help get the whole crew - and the LUGGAGE - out to DIA by about 8:45.  Shout out to Bel-Vin --- THANKS!!! 

And the thing that I am celebrating most so far on our adventure --- SEVEN CHECKED BAGS!!! (9 if you count Wayne and Sandy's and 10 if you count Jack's car seat!)  We had planned for just one checked bag and the girls and Dave and I to each wheel a 'carry-on' suitcase --- Praise the Lord, we didn't have to do that -- shout out to Peg with American Airlines!!! 

So, the kids and I are unpacking while Dave, Sandy, and Wayne all rode back into Coco for groceries.  When we mentioned going to the grocery store, Jack said, "that will be too hard for me..."  Seriously?  Wish this kid would verbalize more!!!  ;)  He still hasn't seen the beach yet but seems to be happy to be out of a seat. 

I must mention that it is raining cats and dogs -- I mean rain like I've never seen before... and I was a little nervous that that might make me nuts... but the rain is different here somehow - oh, it's warm!!!  ;)

Anyway... just thought I'd check in!