Costa Rica

The day had finally come.  All of us had been looking forward to this trip for sooooo long.  We had planned and planned and gotten all the details all ready for it.  We all met in Dallas to fly to Costa Rica together.

Fun finally seeing each other!!!

Ready or not!

Once we got there, we had about a 4 hour van ride to get to where we were staying.  It was a bit brutal but we made it!

Pit stop!  Norah didn't feel so great and got carsick :( 

This was the entrance to the house.....amazing!!!!

They greeted us when we got there with coconuts to drink!!  We met Sonia (our concierge) and she was the absolute best.

We had literally just gotten there and it was raining off and on.  All of a sudden the biggest BOOM ever.....a huge lightning bolt and thunder.  We found out later it hit one of the trees in the yard.  Crazy!!  I was standing next to Weston when it hit and I literally grabbed him and held on.  It scared me so bad!  It was SO loud.  So that was something!!!  Then we had take out from a burger place called Eat Street the first night.  It was pretty yummy and we were just glad to be there.  

The next morning we just scoped out the place and had fun relaxing on the beach.  We went for a walk and it was all just so pretty.  

We had breakfast each morning at our house.  The staff was incredible and made the freshest, yummiest breakfast.  We had fried plantains, eggs, toast, rice and beans.  They made smoothies some of the mornings too.

Then we had our first surf lessons on the beach.  We had hired a few guys to teach all of us.  Anthony and David were the main guys.  They provided the boards and all the training.  The kids went first.  The waves are HUGE by the house so it was kind of scary at times.  The kids did so great and all of them got up surfing.  

I'll let you guess which 2 cousins drew this.

We walked across the street for lunch that day to a place called Brekkie's.  It was so yummy and had really  great food and smoothies.

We surfed again that afternoon at another beach called Hermosa Beach.  The waves were in a straight line so a little easier to surf and learn.  It was a lot of fun! 

We got back and all showered and then headed over to the other house for our catered dinner.  We had a chef named Aaron that cooked for us.  

He made salad, grilled veggies, ribs, tenderloin, chicken and bread.  He had yummy sauce to go with it too.  It was fun to get to stay at the house and do dinner there.

Since Kai and Logan's birthdays were yesterday we all celebrated them tonight.  Chef Aaron had a chocolate cake for them.  It was fun :) 

We were all so tired and crashed right after dinner that night.

The next morning we slept in a little and then did a run on the beach and a walk with Logan.  Sonia arranged a horse ride for the girls on the beach.  They loved it!

After we finished we headed to the zip line tour in our side by sides.  This was how we traveled around for the week.  We had 2 of these rented and then one SUV.  We had quite the time trying to find the zip line.  It was pretty comical but finally we found it.  

We finally found it and got all checked in and all of our gear on.  We did 5 different zip lines and then got to the waterfall area.

The kids and dads all jumped off the rocks and swam in the pond.  They all had a blast throwing the football to each other and trying to catch it.

Mimi had a bad fall right after the waterfall walking back to the zip lines.  She hit her knee and sadly it bruised pretty bad.  We did 3 more zip lines and of them Pawpaw came in really hot.  It was so funny because he was going so fast!!!

We got back and headed to the Bakery in Santa Teresa.  We all got some kind of treat.  It was yummy and fun.  Then we went back to the house and relaxed for awhile.  Kids played on the beach.  We got ready for dinner.

That night we went to eat at Amici Ristorante and Pizzeria.  It was SOOOO yummy!!!  They had authentic sourdough pizza with the best toppings.  We all loved it and ate a ton.

We all got home and crashed.   Everyone was so tired.  It stormed and poured forever but so relaxing to hear while you're sleeping!!!

The next morning we got up super early and made our own breakfast so we could get to the surfing spot when the tide was at its best.  It worked out!  The kids went first again and all the kids did SO awesome!!!  The rode/surfed the waves for so far!  Sadly the girls got stung by jelly fish and it was bad.  They were crying and their poor little legs were covered with all the stings.  The adults went next and we all had fun.  I didn't do it a whole long time....kinda hurt with the pump rubbing on the board but I loved what I got to do.

We packed up and headed to this authentic chocolate shop that was nearby.  It was literally in the jungle and SO incredible!!!  Everyone got a treat and it was one of the coolest places.  They had chocolate bars so we all got one of those too.

We stopped in Montezuma and shopped for a little while.  It was mostly just small jewelry so we bought some bracelets. Then we bought a few fruit stand things and headed back.  We hung out a little bit and then went to dinner.  We headed to Katana for asian food.  It was yummy!  Caleb wasn't feeling the best so that wasn't very fun but we made it.  We all learned chopsticks the best we could :).  Everyone was branching out on food and doing so good!

We crashed!!  So tired! 

We got up super early the next morning and ate breakfast and headed out to Montezuma.  We met our captain and loaded on our boat!  Joshua was our captain and so nice.  We rode out on the boat about 45 minutes. We saw waterfall and Mel Gibson's house!

We stopped and got to snorkel!  There was gross trash all over the top of the water but so many fish!!!  It was pretty awesome.  Tyson wore his go pro and got all these awesome pictures of us.  

We went to an island and ate lunch of fresh fish, rice, fruit, beets and carrots, ceviche with plantain chips.  It was all so good and the kids loved it.  We got to play awhile in the water there.

The guys tried to fish for awhile but no fish.

We made another stop on another island.  It was super cool and not many people around.  They had one place but it was like an off the grid type place.  We walked around awhile and then eventually all headed back on the boat.  We tried to find spider monkeys at another place but we couldn't ever spot them.

It was a bit rough ride back but we made it!  We stopped at another fruit stand and got some bananas and stuff.

We stopped at Taco Corner for dinner in Santa Teresa.  We all got tacos, burgers or chicken.  Everyone loved it and it was good.  We had a CREEPY cat that wanted to join us at our table.  Do you see him?!?!?!  He would just appear and be sitting at the table with us!

We all crashed when we got back....so tired!

The next morning we just relaxed and hung out at the house.  We drank some coconut water and that was yummy. 

We just played at the house all morning and then went to Ani's for lunch.  It turned out to be one of the best places of the entire trip.  The salad I got was SO yummy!!!

After lunch the boys decided to go surf at Hermosa beach for awhile and so we took the girls to shop for a little while.  

Then we walked down the beach and went to a surfing competition.  Anthony that was one of our teachers, was in the competition.  So it was super fun to watch him!  Tyson got buried as we were waiting :)

Beautiful sunset that night!

After we finished, we cleaned up and headed to El Falcon for dinner.  It was Argentina food and so yummy!  All the food has just been so good!  We all loved it.

When we got back we all played mafia and I laughed so hard I cried and cried. Mallory and me couldn't quite contain ourselves.  Jason was the narrator and so funny.  Fun night.

Next morning was relaxing.  We woke up to a thunderstorm and it sounded so relaxing and awesome in our room.  Boys decided to go surfing one last time.  I went running on beach and Mallory went to coffee shop with girls.  Judy had her massage that we wanted her to have.  I think she loved it!

Girls just played and played.  They are the cutest!

Last of the surfing!

Here's pictures of the house and stuff....amazing place!  Caleb took some amazing shots with his drone while we were there too!

We shopped for awhile and got some stuff in the places in town.  The best was a husband and wife set up on the side of the road selling cutting boards and bowls that he had made.  They were so cool!

Girls were begging for Ani's again so we headed back.  Gosh it was SOOOOO yummy!!!

This might be the best salad I've ever had :)

That evening we did family pictures.  For what ever reason there were these awful bugs.  It was hilarious and awful at the same time.  They were flying up our dresses and just everywhere!!!  But we managed to get some great pics!

After pics we went to a fancy restaurant called Nectar.  Nate was the bravest and had octopus for dinner!  We came back after dinner and packed :(. We leave in the morning.

The van ride back was long and several got to feeling sick but we made it.  Caleb was trying to smuggle in his coconuts.  Only Caleb.....he said he didn't know.  It was kinda hilarious watching him unload them.

Sad.....

What an amazing week.....time together, yummy food, sunshine, beach, sand, pool, breakfast all made for us, no phones for most part, no work, so much cousin time.  It was such an amazing trip!!!