Last day in paradise...

We got up this morning and had breakfast and coffee out under the pergola, read our books for a bit and chatted with the kids (this is me and Trevor while Jay slept in). Around 10 we headed for the beach, our last beach day. 

I don't know if you remember yesterday I mentioned seeing a couple kids playing with a bike with no wheels and how sad it was.  Today, on the way to the beach, we went and bought a bike and went back and dropped it off, I had asked the cab driver yesterday where was a shop you could buy one and he gave me directions.  I honestly don't know if it was the same family, because all the houses are in a similar state, but we drove down the same road and then backtracked to a house with 4 kids, ranging from 3 - 10 probably. We stopped and said to the parents we have a bike for the kids if it's ok ("ay una bicicletta para su ninos, es ok?"...they said yes, so they came to the back of the car and when I opened the tailgate and they saw a NEW bike, they were very excited. We got red because we didn't know if it would be for a boy or girl. The little girl, who was about 4, got a huge smile on her face and immediately went and claimed the bike, which was just slightly too big for her, but had training wheels, and a friend of hers came running down the road full tilt with another great big smile to see the bike too. I could hear the mother say "es para dos" (it's for both of you)...so I know they'll share it within the families which is nice too. 

The store where we bought it would sell it for 39,100 colones or $78.20 US. Or you could buy it on credit (everything in the store was like this, fridges, couches, everything) with 49% interest for 48 months, which would basically double the price. You can imagine not many little kids have bikes!  When we left Jay said "I feel like we should go back and buy more bikes for the rest of the kids". It felt nice to be able to do that and I hope it makes the girls realize how fortunate they are. We talked about how living down here is not the same as at home and how they don't have as much and how lucky we are and they are. Anyway..it was a good feeling, I just hope the parents weren't offended. 

We went back to Playa Flamingo today, the waves weren't as big, and it was a scorcher today, so we were piling on the 60 sunblock as often as we could (though I managed to spray a zig zag pattern on Jays back somehow and he didn't reapply so now he has a weird burn pattern!). We left the beach after about an hour and went for lunch to Marie's. My Mom said we went there when we were here last time and it was good - it's in a new location now, it's open air. We had a big conversation at lunch about at home we couldn't have restaurants like this because the snow would come right in. And Paige is hung up on Costa Rica not being in Canada..she can't believe we're not in a part of Canada and keeps thinking we're just not understanding what she's asking us "are we in Canada?"   "No honey, we're not in Canada" "no mummy, but is Costa Rica part of Canada" "no, it's not". "No mummy, but are we still in Canada". "Paige, seriously, I don't know what to tell you but we are no where near Canada". 

Trevor's birthday is in a few days, on Christmas Day..so Paige said to him "So Santa brings you Christmas presents wrapped in Birthday paper?"  Very cute. And she said - "but you can't have a party for your birthday because no one would come because they're all opening presents with their families. So sad for Trev."

Back at the house we just hung out by the pool all afternoon, not too much to share. We're keeping an eye out on the weather in Toronto tomorrow and signed up for alerts on our flight and the inbound flight from Toronto too. If that one is delayed we should know before we have to leave for the airport. The owners of the house we rented own a hotel in town so I emailed Nathalie and asked her if we could come to the hotel tomorrow to stay by the pool. We have to check out at 10am and our flight is at 7:45pm, so we would leave here around 3:30 to get to the airport and drop the rental car off if the flight is on time. She said no problem we can stay at the hotel as long as we want. 

Home tomorrow...boo. I actually don't mind if we get delayed, but Trev would likely miss his flight home, which would suck because it's expensive to fly over the holidays and he probably won't get any money back, plus he'll miss seeing his family for his birthday and Christmas!  I'm not sure what would happen if they cancel the flight..when Sunwing would get us home..

Fingers crossed we'll get out on time!

Windy in paradise

Have I emphasized enough that it is paradise here?  Its windy today - we got up, made omelettes for breakfast (Doug Middleton style for me, the only way I'll eat an omelette. It's thin, like an egg crepe, with cheese, salami and salsa inside and well done, delish!). Then we went down to the beach, the girls had fun body surfing on their little flutter boards we bought, but the waves weren't big enough for our liking and the wind meant there was sand everywhere!  We were down about an hour.  After we posted our postcards to the girls class, went to the supermercado to grab some more ice and came home for a swim and lunch. 

I think we decided if we came back to Costa Rica we'd stay in Playa Flamingo. The waves and beach are better and less crowded - and since clearly we are not party animals the night life in Tamarindo is not a requirement!  I think I'd like to come in May one year, before it gets too hot, when the dive visibility  is still good. Maybe 2015. I think Trevor is still willing to vacation with us, even though we've got the kids!  That's a lot of I thinks. 

Trev and I are just killing time until 2:10pm when we get picked up for zip lining this afternoon. It's freaking hot!  I was going to change out of my swimsuit to come read (and write) under the pergola but decided against it because I'm pretty sure I'm going back in the pool sometime in the next hour! Jay is trying to catch a nap now before we head out, we get picked up in an hour. 

Completely off topic, you should have seen the size of the grasshopper I rescued out of the pool last night. Well, rescued I'm not sure is appropriate since I don't know his ultimate fate. If you hold out your thumb and extend your pointer finger in a gun motion, this grasshopper MIGHT have fit between the two digits. MAYBE. It was huge, Jay saw it land in the pool and I was swimming after putting the girls to bed (at 7:20, and they asked to go to bed...they're so beat from the sun and the water, its awesome). So I went to rescue it and then decided I couldn't bring myself to use my hand. Seriously it could bite off a finger!  So I grabbed the girls snorkel and scooped it underneath and you could feel the grasshopper latch on...that freaked me out so I dropped it and so back in a the water he went. Now that I knew what to expect, I scooped him again and when he latched I lifted the snorkel out of the water so he could fly away, but he started walking towards my hand - so I dropped the snorkel back in the water again!  Yuck. Then a third time I scooped him and quickly went to the side of the pool and put the snorkel on the edge. The grasshopper climbed a few inches and then the weight of him rolled the snorkel back into the pool again!  This thing had a death wish!  Finally, I scooped him up and flung him into the trees, which is why I'm not sure the fate..he either landed safely in the tree, flew away or landed unceremoniously on the road below the pool. Poor guy, but yuck again. 

The air is thick today, it's a good thing it's breezy!  There is no way I could come here and sit in the sun, the shade is where it's at!  The house has AC, the wall mounted units, in every room. But we usually just turn them on at night in the bedrooms..and even then ours is turned to 26 or 27 degrees and it's cool enough that you just need the sheet and a blanket.  The pool has full sun and is probably about 87 degrees, which is perfectly refreshing day or night - you can just walk into it with a sensation of being refreshed. The ocean is the same, yesterday diving was 27 degrees at 60 ft below the surface. We had 3mm wetsuits on, and it was perfect. 

We were looking at the weather this morning and see that Toronto is slated for another big storm on Sat night and Sunday morning and we are scheduled to land at 2am on Sunday. So we're hoping we're not delayed or cancelled..we would have to find a place to stay in Liberia for the night. And Trev would be in big trouble, he didn't realize we arrive home early Sunday morning and booked his flight home for the holidays to Nova Scotia for Sunday at 8am going out of Porter at the Island Airport..so if we're delayed he could miss his flight home, which would suck.  I just turned to him, swinging away in the hammock behind me and said "if your flights do get screwed up you can always come up to our place for Christmas.."  He said "I don't know, you guys might be sick of me by then". Listen, we've spent every day together for the last 5 days, I would know if we were sick of eachother and we're not. Oh, and that reminds me of what Jay said last night at dinner that was funny...Trevor as waffling on what to get for dinner, the braised lamb and porcini mushroom pasta or the Malbec tenderloin. I said "I'm getting the tenderloin and I was thinking of the pasta, why don't we share?"  Jay said to the waitress, pointing between him and I "we are actually the ones who are married, but you'd think they were married"..then we shared dessert too!  I had caramelized apple crepe with rum flambé and icecream and Trev had a dolce de leche crepe. Jay, of course, had the chocolate volcano cake and was quite disturbed when the girls wanted to share his (and actually liked it so ate most of it!). For dinner Jay had a 17 oz rib eye steak for $21!  Everything was delicious. 

26 oz of rum between us and several hours later this is my first drunk blog, so here goes...

So, Paige had a rough day..

Earlier she got punched in the face by Sophie while swimming and has a black eye, and then Sophie kicks her in the face in the pool and finally her tooth falls out!  Yay!  Sophie said to Jay "daddy, are you proud of me for kicking Paige in the face and getting her tooth out?"... Uh, what do you say to that?

Just after this Trev and I left to go zip lining, so much fun. On the walk down the hill to meet our transportation there was a loud scuttling that startled us both - we looked into the tree and there was a huge iguana that had been quietly sunning himself that was now rocketing to the top of the tree!  He was about 3 ft long, orange and yellow and FAST!

It's about a 15 minute drive to the canopy zip, up, up, up!

I think I might have to pass and blog the rest tomorrow...

Good morning!  Much better. I did a pretty good job on what I wrote, I didn't have to go back and fix anything.

On the way back from the tour we saw a couple of kids playing with a bike with no wheels...so sad. I asked our driver about the average income here, he said it varies, but the people working in the hotels might make $500 a month.  I was asking a lot of questions because his English was really good. The houses that we were seeing, that were typical would cost about $30,000 to buy and most people do own their homes with credit from the bank. I forgot to ask how much the interest rates are..I just looked it up, rates are 9.05% (their prime) plus 0, 1 or 2% depending on how much you need to borrow for an 11-30 yr term, fixed for the first 5 years and then adjustable. 

Back to the house for swimming and drinking. Even though I've been mentioning the tequila sours we've only ever had a couple of drinks a day because we're so busy doing stuff and tired from the day in the sun. Today we spent from about 4pm just at home relaxing and drinking because we felt otherwise we would have a lot of open alcohol to leave. We needn't have worried about that!  Jay and Trevor's rum and orange juice looked like poo water it was so strong and my last piña colada was taupe. 

We were swimming earlier and Paige said "I'm drowning!"  Trev said to her "you're drowning my ass!"  "Uh hum, excuse me Uncle Trevor?"  "Whoops, sorry, I meant I don't believe you are drowning!"  Then we had to have a conversation about saying you're drowning and the consequence if they do it again. 

Jay put oldies on the jam box and did what we call the perfect perfect dance with the girls in the kitchen, I have a couple of cute videos. We talked about staying up past 8:30 tonight and playing cards and the girls said Grampa taught them to play Go Fish, so we all sat and played a couple games. When Sophie started the first game and asked me for a card I said "go fish sucka" and when it got around to Paige, Jay hinted that he had a 4 so she asked for a 4 and he said "how did you know I had a 4?" And she got up in his face and said "cuz you told me sucka!"

We were dancing in the pool for the girls 8th swim of the day, just before bed and got a couple more sunset shots from the pool.  I said to Sophie "I'm going to put a swimsuit on". She said "I'm going naked!"  "Ok, I'M going to put a swimsuit on". We spent about 15 mins dancing to the oldies on the pool steps then it was bedtime for the girls, I stayed in the pool for a bit and Jay got up and said to Trev "Trev, make my wife a piña colada while I go take care of the kids...my wife, your wife, whatever". It's a team effort this week!  

We stayed up and played bugger your neighbour until the rum was gone and then conceded that Trevor was winning this game since we had no hope in catching him. Drinking improves his card play, it must be an east coast thing!

Hump day in Paradise

6am came pretty early this morning, but Trev and I were being picked up at 6:45 down at the bottom of the hill for our dives - good thing I went to sleep at 9!

We did a 2 tank dive set this morning at the Catalina's, big volcanic rock formations about 30 minutes off shore from Playa Flamingo. Our first dive was about 45 minutes, visibility was pretty terrible, only about 20 ft and a lot of debris in the water (particles like you see sometimes in the sunlight). We saw a couple of white tipped reef sharks right off the bat, maybe 5-6 ft long, sitting in the sand between reefs. Then we saw a spotted ray swimming along, then another one. Other than that, we didn't really see too much else. Mark, who had been out with Jay and Trevor on Monday and then again yesterday, saw a giant manta he said was 6 meters long from head to tip of the tail!  Once we were done our dive we came up, boarded the boat and then motored to our next dive site around one of the other rock formations. The second dive we saw even less - another few sharks and that's it.  I'm glad we went diving here - it wasn't the focus of the trip, so I'm not disappointed. And Trevor completed his open water dives and got his dive certification today!

I asked Charlie, our dive guide, if the visibility is always like this - he said no that in May, June, July and August the visibility is 150 ft and crystal clear. I asked how hot the air is at that time of year...about 38 degrees!  He explained that they are really affected by the weather in North America because of the currents. In the winter the cold water is brought down the coast and the currents stir the particulates - he said in January the water temperature for diving might only be 12-15 degrees, so they wear full wetsuits, booties and hoods to dive, while in July they don't wear wetsuits at all to dive. 

After the dive we came back to the house, I made lunch and then took the girls out to the grocery store while Jay and Trevor had naps. We decided to have dinner out tonight at the Argentinian Steak House called Patagonia. I'm looking forward to it!

Right now I'm sitting on the patio under the pergola while the girls play in the yard. With a tequila sour of course - though I was starting to be concerned that I would run out of tequila and that meant I would either have to start conserving or buy another 26er and binge for the next 2 days to finish it. I decide to compromise and bought piña colada mix so I can join the boys on their rum!

 We all just enjoyed a swim in the pool. I can't even really begin to explain how much I love this house - I would come back here, and for anyone who knows me they know that is a huge compliment to the owners because I like to go new places, not stay in the same place. It's very safe and everyone is friendly. This morning while Trevor and I were standing waiting for the dive shuttle pick up cars would drive by and honk - they want to know if you want a ride, for a small fee, like gypsy cab drivers, only here that's all there is!  We had 4 or 5 honks, and when you wave and say no, they wave back with a big smile, it's so refreshing. What I like about here too is that we came just before busy season, so mostly everyone here is a local, in the restaurants, on the beaches, in the shops. They're local or surf bums..there are no resorts in Tamarindo. The closest one is the beach over, Barcelo Playa Langosta (which is where we stayed with my family the last time we visited). But Tamarindo has a couple of hotels, a couple of condo buildings and then it's mostly residential, no mega resorts. This also means the beaches aren't packed tight with people. Busy season actually starts next week, the start of guaranteed nice weather and higher prices...we took our chances with the weather and it has only rained for about 6 minutes the first day we were here. We've had some cloud cover, but it's welcome sometimes from the heat of the sun. 

Jay just got up off his hammock, stretched, said "I need a change of scenery" and laid down on the other hammock. "Ah, that's better"...lol. Suns back out, the first hammock was too much in the sun. 

We just got back from dinner, it was amazing.  On the way there Paige kept asking me about the party where we were going for dinner..I couldn't figure out what party she was talking about. Then I figured out, finally, that Jay had joked that we should get there in time for the Early Bird Special because we eat at freakin' 5:30pm like geriatrics. She thought we were going to a party!  It was cute. 

At dinner Jay said something funny..I can't remember what it was, but it was funny. If I remember I'll add it later. 

No photos today...weird. 

Gotta move the freakin elf..we forgot last night - oops. 

Otro dia en el paraiso..

Paige had an earache last night during the night, Advil didn't work, but crawling into bed with me and a couple of head scratches and she was out like a light. A friggin hot, sweaty, tossy, turny light. She didn't wake up until 8, but it was a pretty terrible sleep. I tried to put her back in her bed once, but she came back crying that her ear hurt and climbed back into bed again. I'm pretty sure I heard her saying "sucka'" quietly as she fell asleep with her hot breath in my face. 

All Sophie has wanted to do, activity wise, since we got here is go horseback riding. So I arranged for the girls to do a lead horseback ride for an hour today at a ranch close by. We got there at 9 and the girls saddled up. Sophie was riding Blitzy and I can remember Paige's..Chupacabra or something like that. You know Julia, this is all Avery's fault!  Our friends Julia and Steve were watching the girls for us overnight one night and in the morning Steve had to take the girls with him to bring Avery to the stable for her horseback riding lessons. Jays said to Steve right there "if my girls come back from this wanting to horseback ride I'll be very put out". Well here they are, shining stars. 

Yeah, no helmets or anything and we let a large costa rican dude leave our eyesight with both of them. Parents of the year. 

When they were done we went back to the house to chill for a bit and Juan was there and Sophie asked him to show her how to open the coconut we had found the other day in the yard. Trev took some pictures so I'll add them later. Yesterday I had said to the girls we could ask Juan to show us how - and then I turned to the guys and said "I guess that's pretty assumptive guessing that he could do that."  Trev said "profiling" I said "yeah, geographic profiling, I mean do you know how to dogsled?  When was the last time you clubbed a baby seal?"  But he said sure, went and got a machete and opened those coconuts like a pro. He opened up the one we had that was dried and brown and told us (in Spanish) that the water inside was no good, but the meat was good. The green ones from the tree are the best water. So then he was nice enough to get a ladder out and get down a couple of green coconuts from the tree and open them with the machete. The girls didn't like the water, but I put it all in a bowl and transferred it to mix into my tequila sours - it's awesome!

After a swim in the pool we headed back over to Playa Flamingo today for lunch on the beach at Coco Loco, which was delicious. And then just down the beach from the restaurant we set up camp and played in the waves for a few hours!  I got some good video of the girls, Jay and Trev boogie boarding in the waves and surf. This is a VAST improvement over the first vacation we did with the girls to a beach where they refused to put their feet in the sand!  And I think Jay is really appreciating having a playmate of his own on vacation too!  I can stay shallow and make sure our children aren't sucked out to sea by the under toad and Jay can play in the waves. And Trev is loving the beach too!

After a couple hours at the beach we went back to the house for a swim and Jay's nap. The girls usually do a craft during this time and Trevor and I sit under the pergola with our drinks, a snack and read. It works for all of us. 

Then dinner, chicken on salad and bed. Lol. Yes, this is us on vacation, up at 7 or 8, play all day and to bed with the kids!

I'm up tomorrow at 6 to do my two dives while Trev finishes his certification, we get picked up at 6:45am. 

Sweet dreams!

(Jay just read through tonight's blog and said "you realize he's your playmate too..someone to sit under the pergola and have drinks with". I said "you realize your naps would be much shorter if he wasn't here!"  Ah Trev..we love ya man. 

Another day in paradise!

Jay and Trevor were picked up this morning at 6:45am for their dives. Sophie was "up" (when he walked into their room at 6:30) so Jay was kind enough to bring her in to lay with me. What a guy. Sophie was good though she laid quietly for about 8 minutes before she started chanting under her breath "poo poo poo pee pee pee poo poo poo pee pee pee". She's a weird kid. 

We woke Paige up at 8am, grabbed some breakfast, which we ate out on the patio under the pergola and then decided we would go to the Monkey Park this morning (similar to the Seagrave Zoo animal sanctuary only parrots and monkeys) and then mini golf and then back to meet the guys for lunch. 

Sonia, the housekeeper comes 3 days a week and even though I speak little Spanish and she speaks no English I learned that today she would only clean the main floor, that the dishwasher detergent was under the sink so we don't need to hand wash because the dishwasher is much faster (I knew that already, that it's faster, but the guys had said there was no dishwasher liquid and I'm not in charge of dishes since I prep the meals and snacks, so who cares if they get dishpan hands), that she's coming back on Wednesday and then she will clean the upstairs as well as change the sheets and that she leaves at noon and will set the alarm when she leaves if I'm not back yet and that Juan, the groundskeeper will be here from 10-1. 

The girls and I headed out to Monkey Park, which, as I suspected was a bit of a lunch bag letdown. But, it was an easy way to spend an hour and a half out this morning. We hit the mini golf afterwards, which is right near the house, spent another 30 mins there and then headed home for a swim and to wait for the guys to get home from their dive. 

She's no Tiger Woods. 

Catchin' a wave!

The friendly neighbourhood lizard. 

Chillin' and waiting for the guys. 

When Jay and Trev got home from the dive we were swimming, so we hung out a while longer and then went into town for lunch. We ended up at a cool pizza place that had excellent pizza. There was a guy standing out front in 32 degree weather with a white chef jacket making pizza and then firing it into the brick oven. So good!  

After lunch we went down the street because Sophie wanted to get the same dress Paige got yesterday. Then they used their own spending money to each get a little island drum. Add that to the whistling birds and I've now got a headache. (Which could also be from the 32 degree weather and the tequila sours). 

Back to the house for Jays nap - I read my book, Trev napped in the hammock and I got a couple shots of the house. 

From the edge of the pool, the open dining area (the screen doors will enclose it at night) and above Trev's room. 

Jays nap couch. 

After nap and a little bit of down time we headed back into town to go to the beach just before sunset. When I say "into town" it sounds far, but we are in town where we are staying, within walking distance to the beach - but we tend to combine the beach with another activity so we've only driven down. 

After the beach we went to Subway for dinner, my idea believe it or not, I just wanted low key for dinner.  I had a BMT on oregano bread with chilis dolce, pepinos, avocado, lechuga and mostaza :) my very little Spanish is coming in very handy!

Back to the house now, girls are in bed, Trev and Jay are chillin in the hammocks and I'm in one of the comfy patio chairs writing then reading. 

Gotta remember to move that elf before bed...

A day in paradise...

I love it here. A lot. 

I woke up this morning to the girls coming into our room and seeing Elfie on our bookcase. They whispered at least when they said "look, there's Elfie". I immediately went back to sleep. I woke up later to Jay coming into the room saying "are you going to get up?  We want to go do something".  I opened my eyes and looked at my watch, it was 1:30pm!!  I was so tired I closed my eyes again...and opened them to Sophie coming in the room asking why Elfie was in our room. I opened my eyes again, looked at my watch - it was 7:00am..the in between Elfie and Sophie was a dream that I got to sleep in!  Frig. 

So up we got to go for a 7am swim!  The girls noticed while we were out there that we have a plantain tree in the yard and a coconut palm too..that's a highlight for them,they've been asking if they'll see a coconut palm tree while away, so to have one in the yard is awesome. And there was a coconut in the garden on the ground - total score. We plan to ask the groundskeeper, who apparently is in tomorrow, how best to open it for the milk and meat!

After our swim we woke up Jay and went out for breakfast and grocery shopping. The humidity here is crazy and the girls hair is gorgeous!

The place recommended by our host was down the end of the road at the round about - which is where, I'm pretty sure my brother and Jay did surf lessons like 11 years ago when we were here. So, the girls went exploring the trees on the beach while we waited for our food. 

We ordered breakfast and Trevor got the Original Omlette. He said, "that's funny, original here is different then at home". It had bacon, avocado and tomato in it!  Then a few minutes later he said "what time is it?"  "9:30, why?"  "There's a guy over there drinking a beer, I guess it's never too early on vacation..that's awesome". 

While I waited to pay the bill Jay went down to the water with the girls. When I got down there 2 mins later they were in their underwear and in the water. We decided right there to keep a swim bag in the car in case the urge to go swimming overtook us in the moment!  Good thing we did too - we used it later in the day!

Sophie actually wasn't happy because she got a soaker, but I said it was no big deal, kids swim in their undies all the time here and she took off her shirt and went right back in with a smile!

After the beach we went back to the house for a quick stop to change and then went out and grabbed groceries, enough for breakfasts, lunches and steak and chicken for a couple dinners, and booze. Lots and lots of booze. 

Then back to the house for lunch and Jay's customary vacay afternoon nap and some quiet time for the girls since it was a late night and early morning.  And, of course, some swimming and hammock time. 

We decided after lunch to go to Playa Flamingo, about 30 mins away to check out the dive shop recommended to us and we missed it on the way in but ended up at the beach (enter emergency swim bag). The boys played in the waves for an hour until we had to drag Jay out of the water!  Trevor hasn't vacationed much before, so it's a tonne of fun doing stuff with him. 

We hit the dive shop on the way back and they were out on a dive, so we got the number and arranged for Trevor and Jay to be picked up tomorrow morning for Trevor's first 2 open water dives for his certification. On the way back we stopped in town because Sophie really wanted this monkey she saw hanging in a shop - $25 freaking US dollars. I think not. I even tried to bargain - 2 for $30. No joy, no discount for you, not when your precious punkins eyes start to well up and overflow at the thought of not getting her monkey. Walk away Sophie, surely he is not as heartless as I am, he won't make you give up your dream of owning a monkey of your very own.  Two shops later, monkey forgotten she gets a $5 whistling bird and Paige decides on a $10 dress. That's more like it!

Back to the house for dinner and a beautiful sunset. 

We had steak, corn and salad for dinner. Jay said he would still rather eat the dinner we had over all-inclusive food though I'm borderline. At least they would have hidden the tough meat with gluey gravy. I said to the guys "do you think there is any way to make this meat salvageable for another meal?"  Between the 3 of us we didn't eat one steak. Jay said "if you cut it up in small enough pieces maybe it won't kill the dog that eats it". So funny. The meat was like shoe leather, and the steak we didn't eat was the same colour too! The steak we tried to eat at least looked like steak, not pork,,but it was terrible. The corn was tough and more meaty than the meat and the salad had soggy lettuce and Kraft fat free Italian dressing on it that we used to marinade the girls chicken (which was delicious).   At least now we get to go out for dinners!!  And on the plus side the tequila sours are excellent!

Now it's 8:46 and we've been in bed for an hour (me blogging and Jay reading!). Jay and Trev have to be up and ready for 6:45am pick up. They'll be home by 12:00pm tomorrow. I might try to take the girls to the wildlife sanctuary or to horseback ride if I can find a place that will just let them do a couple laps around the parking lot and not a 2 hr tour!

Elfie is all ready downstairs on a shelf, I can rest easy and sleep in!

The "trauma train" that never was...

For anyone that has asked Sophie in the last month if she's looking forward to going to Costa Rica, you know she would get wide, doe eyes, a lower lip a bird could perch on and, if she felt really dramatic, she might be able to squeeze out a tear while she said "I don't like flying".  For anyone who knows me you know I don't really care - Girl, you better get used to it 'cause Mommy lives to travel - so, suck it up buttercup and enjoy the ride!  

The turning point came a week ago when Sophie asked if we could take Elfie (our elf on the shelf) with us. Hmmm...opportunity...."Well, we can see if Elfie can get special permission from Santa to come with us on the airplane. Go ask him to ask Santa when he reports back tonight and he can let me know tomorrow."... Lo and behold, Santa agreed with the condition that Sophie was brave because Elfie had never been on a plane before and he's just a young scout elf, a little nervous about flying without magic. The elf and gravol are what pulled us through. Sophie was SUPER excited to wake up in the morning and find Elfie perched on the suitcase ready to go!

We got to the airport early because the roads looked like they might be bad, but it was fine. We had planned on going early to get past security early and have time for a sit down lunch. The line for check in was HUGE!  I said to Jay.."we paid extra to choose our seats and get priority check in and boarding"...I could see the instant tension relief...we were suddenly the 2nd in line. Also, the security line was short, so we breezed right through. We went to eat at Casey's and started the vacation off with a marguarita on the rocks and a couple of beer for the boys. The Manager came over and checked on us and we told him everything was great. He came over again when we were done and asked if he could give the girls a gift..and if it was ok with us if he could take a photo of them with the gift..we said sure. So he left, came back and brought the girls the bill. Lol. Then he told them to rip it up!!  Lunch was on them..WOW. Such a nice surprise!  He took a photo as they ripped apart the bill for $124 as part of a holiday special promotion. 

Back to the gravol...We dosed Sophie about an hour before the flight because she gets motion sick and she's afraid of the turbulence, so we thought we'd give her every advantage we could...and if drowsiness was also a side effect then it would be a win-win for all of us. Let me tell you about Sophie on Gravol...picture a squirrel on methamphetamine. Her pupils dilated and she literally ran circles around the lounge for 45 minutes. Literally. No, really...literally. Quiet circles, because I asked them to be respectful of the other passengers!  Hahahaha. This is not our first experience with her on gravol, this just re confirmed that she does, indeed have what I would consider an 'adverse reaction'. 

As far as her fear, she seemed fine right up to when we started to board when she started to cry, said she wasn't going and tried to bolt for the nearest exit. I put Jay in charge of Sophie because he can distract her with silly poop stories while I will either try to sooth her, which doesn't work or tell her to chill, which she doesn't. He did awesome - she calmed down and got in her seat, we had a 45 min de-icing delay where we had to sit in the plane, which helped her relax and then had an uneventful flight. We landed and she said "mommy, I did the whole plane ride without a single tear"..uh, we're just blocking out the 10 minutes prior to boarding the flight and walking onto the plane, but whatever. 

We finally arrived at the house and let me say thank goodness I got the GPS!  It took us right to the door down a couple roads that are not roads - picture steep gravel driveways after rainy season. Most of the roads were amazing, just the last 2 mins to the house.  The girls didn't fall asleep on the plane at all, but crashed for the hour drive to the house, we didn't arrive here until almost midnight so they needed it. 

The house is STUNNING. Exactly as shown on the listing on Homeaway. It's literally a private compound. We put the girls to bed when we got home and then had a quick swim before we went to bed ourselves...ready for a week in paradise.