OUR COSTA RICAN ADVENTURE

23 January

There were some serious zzzzzzz's going on here today. The kids slept in after their late night last night, and dad... well he still needs a couple days to recover from a long travel day. It's 4 pm and he's, well, sleeping again.

One small thing that we've noted while here is that for things like fences and guardrails, rather than sinking posts into the ground, the way it's done here is to plant a tree (or 10 or 100) and use it as the post. The image doesn't show it very well, but the post is a topped of tree, branches sprouting from the sides, and rows of wire attached.

The other notable for the day is that Brice has now become quite mobile in the pool as he can now steer his way around with a boogie board by kicking his little legs.

Our high-speed wireless connection is up and working great. We're happy now to have easier access to all of our friends and family. You can reach us by phone via Skype at laurel.harkness or with any ol' phone at (530)554-2370. It's free to use Skype. The call to our number is the same as a local/regular long-distance call depending on where you're calling from. No charge to us in either case. Also, it costs us only about 2 cents / minute to call numbers in the US, so we ought to be able to keep in good contact. Note: Costa Rica is in the same time zone as Central US.

24 January

They've been widening the road the we walk down to town since we've been here and today we got to see some of the concrete being mixed and poured. Every bit of the project has been done by hand, even the cement mixing.

We missed the bus to the beach, so rather than wait the 30 minutes for the next one we took a taxi which helped to calm the momentary panic experienced by both Tate and Brice when we saw the bus pulling away.

As tide levels change, so do the beach features. Today we got there just after high tide and there were lots of nice little pools and waterways for the little people. Tate and Brice were playing cocodrilo (crocodile) while Geoff and I had a chance to take in the surroundings.

Later at home, Tate got hold of the camera again (snapped 100 images) and captured a man sharpening a machete. He was working here at the property all day. We're learning about the high-maintenance factor in this area and each day it seems we get to witness some sort of crisis and subsequent repair. It's all very exciting. Today it was mostly plumbing repair, or non-repairs I should say. Seems that the septic pumping company quoted one price but somehow the price doubled when they actually arrived. So they were shooed away by the owners. Meanwhile the septic is still in need of repair. And so it goes...

The action later in the evening was when Dallas (the 13 yo) was flying his remote control airplane and it got stuck in a tree 30' up. Lot's of excitement for all the kids in cheering Dallas as he climbed the (ant infested) tree to remove it. Later however, the airplane met a sad fate when the family dog got hold of it and chewed it to pieces. The motor was spared and Dallas now has plans to build a remote control boat. Stay tuned...

25 January

We ventured for the first time to Manuel Antonio National Park today. It is a preserved area and home to several species of monkey, sloths, iguanas, and all sorts of other creatures. Within the park there are also several different beaches - all great for swimming. The kids were excellent hikers, and we made it a couple of km around the perimeter of the tomollo (on a map it looks like a penninsula, but technically it is a tomolo because the land was once an island and is now connected to the mainland by a land bridge).

We didn't see any monkeys on this visit, but it certainly gives us a reason to return again soon. We did however see a few impressive iguanas. They seem to lurk on the beaches near people much like seagulls do. They are about as long as Brice is tall. The other thing that was quite entertaining were the hermit crabs (lots of them) cruising the rocky border to the white sand beaches.

After a couple of hours hiking and a couple of hours at the beach the kids were ready for what else but an ice cream sundae at the bus stop before the walk home.

At home we were treated to a delightful email from Tate's preschool teacher, Sarah (with messages from all of our school friends).. It goes:

dear tate brice and folks,
here are some special messages for you,
greta says,i miss you
sar-bear says,i love you
chanel says,I hope you feel good, my brother finally know how to ski.
nina says, I wish you were here and not leaving, are there any monkeys down there or zebras? Are you having a fun time down there?
miles says, do you see any dump trucks or tractors in Costa Rica?
logan says, tate, I've done a great job skiing and will you marry me?
maybelle says, I am three years old.
finny says, noodle-hide and seek
isabel says, hi!
molly garcia says, hola-happy new year.
claire says, the princess and the pea.
emma says, hola
christian says, I just got back from hawaii, did you like the airplane? I miss you.
sarah says, we are not the same without you guys! we love hearing about your adventures...we miss you a lot!
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOlove love love....

So we'd like to address a few of the questions raised by our littlest friends.

Nina: Monkeys, yes. Zebras, no. Lizards are abundant, and the birds are loud and lovely. We are having a fun time; although we miss our friends in Mount Shasta and will look forward to seeing everyone again in April.

Logan: Tate will be happy to talk marriage when she gets back in April.

Miles: Yes, we do see dump trucks and tractors in Costa Rica. We are living in an area where there is a lot of construction going on so we see all kinds of really wonderful heavy equipment. We also see some interesting little trucks (represented in the photos). The first is a landscaping truck with all sorts of plants just hanging out all over. The second is the curbside recycling truck which holds many bags full of glass, cans, and plastic bottles. Good thing that there are no freeways, because the bags would surely all fall off if the truck went too fast.

Christian: Yes, everyone loved the airplane. We got to fly right over the top of Mount Shasta before it got dark. It was dark for the rest of the way until we woke up the next morning in Costa Rica.

26 January

Today we enrolled Tate in a local Kindergarten(!) program through el Colegio Los Delfines. Her first day is 19 February, which should allow enough time for us to acquire the items on a two page list (in Spanish) of school supplies. I'm having a hard enough time finding something as simple as popcorn, so this ought to be quite the scavenger hunt. The school is in Paquita, just outside of Quepos. Tate will get to ride a school bus to and from the school; the bonus is the bus will come right to our home. Tate will wear a uniform like all the other kids - so this will be some (great) new territory for our fashionista. The instruction will be in Spanish, and her teacher Maestra Marisol speaks very little English. There are many other students in the school who have come from many other parts of the world; many of whom are also learning Spanish. Our friends Brandon, Dillon, and Dallas will also attend the school, so Tate will be in good company while there.

After our meeting at the school office, we headed to the bakery (inside of the supermarket) for donuts and bunuelos (another variation of fried dough). The donuts were quite notable, and were the kind of donuts that you would imagine were lovingly made by someone's grandma. They were so good. And one bonus for all those around us was Brice's elephant interpretation as the half eaten hand-crafted donut seemed to make a wonderful elephant trunk.

We of course swam a lot today, what else is new.

It rained (really downpoured) all afternoon, so we decided to take a walk into town for what else besides a chocolate caliente. Now this hot chocolate is about the best hot chocolate anywhere on the planet - nearly worth a special trip to Costa Rica just to try it. I think you could almost make a meal out of one cup it's so rich; in fact we hardly had an appetite for dinner once we got home. Good thing we had the hot chocolate first.

27 January and 28 January

Saturday was a market day and we stocked up on all sorts of fruits and veggies. Everyone had armloads of goodies and Brice insisted on carrying a cantaloupe all the way home. We came home to find a little crab friend cruising around on our kitchen floor. The kids named her "Flower".

There are coconut trees all over around here, and there are many vendors that simply chop off the hard outer shell and poke a straw inside as an instant beverage. We treated ourselves to one - the kids we're a little indifferent about the flavor, but they're always game to try new things.

Just when I thought I was through with Mandarin oranges for at least another 10 months, along comes this bowl of mandarins. Our hosts also have a property near San Jose where they grow oranges, Mandarins, and coffee. Both the oranges and Mandarins are ripe inside even though they remain in their green state. It's hard to tell what's an orange and whats a lime around here.

Overall a relaxing weekend for us. What a luxury to be able to spend this much time together.