Our Costa Rican Adventure - Day 6

Thursday morning we set off to fulfill Jacob's biggest wish, to see a volcano. He really wanted to see a volcano with lava coming out but Volcan Arenal was too far away. We explained that Volcan Poas is a volcano that blows smoke and would be almost as great as seeing real lava. Jason rallied everybody up for an early start and after a stop at Bagelmens for breakfast we hit the road to the volcano. We were trying to beat the clouds before they filled in the volcano crater. When we reached the park entrance we were told we had a 50/50 chance of seeing anything. We didn't go all the way to Costa Rica to give up so we bought our tickets, crossed our fingers and drove on in. By the time we parked the car the rain was starting and our chances weren't looking good. We took a short hike to the top and well....you'll see the pictures below! The way we look at it, we had great company, a beautiful walk, and Jacob can never say we didn't try.

After our trip to the volcano we stopped at a cute little giftshop to buy souvenirs and then stopped at a great restaurant called Chubascos which means thunderstorms. A very appropriate name since it rained throughout our meal. The kids had a great time running around the huge lawn and playing on some cute wooden bugs. We ate on the patio and enjoyed the sound of rain on the roof and the beautiful lush green forest. After lunch we headed back to Amy and Jason's with a quick detour to POPS (we love that ice-cream) and a stop at the store for groceries. We were sad to spend time packing as this was one of our greatest vacations ever! One more blog to go and we will have reached the end.

Jacob and Michael on the way up to the top of Volcan Poas.

Here is the crater we were hoping to see.

The gang's all here! Jason's taking the picture.

Here is the view from the top. Yep, the clouds beat us.

It started to clear, we crossed our fingers...

it got a little clearer....


and filled back in again. See behind us, nothing but clouds. No big deal, we were all smiles because we were on vacation in Costa Rica!

A traditional Costa Rican restaurant.

We couldn't get the kids to look because they wouldn't stop running around.

Imperial is the beer of Costa Rica...here is their newest spokesmodel....

and his partner!

Thanks for a great time Orlando Family!

Our Costa Rican Adventure - Day 5

Sorry about the delay in our trip updates but school was starting and things got crazy! We are back on track with Day 5.

Gone are the days when you slept late, had a relaxing breakfast, and then barely managed to check out of the hotel before the noon deadline. We still barely made our checkout time but that was because we had to drag the kids out of the pool, AGAIN! We woke up (early) to a beautiful sunny morning and decide to hit the beach and pool since we had at least 4 hours before heading back to the Orlando's. After enjoying our last moments at Los Suenos and saying goodbye to several new friends we made the drive back to Escazu. We stopped again to see the crocodiles and had a quick lunch in the car. By that time we were in the middle of a torential downpour that lasted most of the day. Needless to say nobody wanted to get out of the car to get the camera from the trunk so we don't have any pictures.

Our big challenge going back to the Orlando's was whether or not we could make it all the way to their front door. Jason was nice enough to leave work early and sit home by the phone waiting for us to call when we reached a point where we were unfamiliar. We are proud to say that we didn't call until we were sitting in their driveway and needed them to open the garage. This was quite an accomplishment because without street signs or addresses we were relying on familiar landmarks. We are pretty sure that we took the longest route possible to get there and probably were driving in circles for a good amount of time but the kids were quiet and the rain was nice so it didn't bother us in the least!

After telling Amy, Jason, and Sophie all about our adventures the guys took the kids to the mall for dinner and some playtime. It was Amy's bunco night so Jessica went along and had a great time. The ladies were all so nice and the food was delicious. Jessica ended up winning a set of candles for having the most wins and Amy won in so many categories but ended up with the prize for most losses! Jessica volunteered to go back in August to play again. (She didn't make it!)

Hitting the beach at Los Suenos.

Jacob is finally brave enough to get in the water.

Olivia doesn't like the water but she loved picking up rocks and shells.

Jacob back in the pool and showing off his rainforest monkey shorts!

There were so many iguanas at the hotel. This one was above us....

...and this one was on the edge of the pool next to us.

At one point we counted at least 9 on the pool bar roof!

The kids learned how to order drinks at the swim up bar (and how to charge it to the room).

We are in trouble now.

Our Costa Rican Adventure - Day 4

Day 4 began with a quick breakfast in the little coffee shop at our hotel and then a stop at the Auto Mercado for some snacks. We then headed south, a little more than an hours drive, to a town called Quepos. The drive was easy with a beautiful view of the coastline. We drove through Quepos to reach Manuel Antonio National Park. This is a beautiful undeveloped area where the coast meets the rainforest. We had been told that this is the best place to see monkeys and sloths in great abundance as well as many species of birds and reptiles. It wasn't exactly as the tour book described but we still had a great experience. Unfortunately we weren't told that this park had beautiful beaches and would be a wonderful whole day trip. We ended up arriving at the park in the middle of the day when the animals were avoiding the heat so we didn't see as many species as we expected and the stroller wasn't the best accessory to have with us. We didn't have swimwear with us and a cooler would have been a good idea! Despite not being prepared we did get to see a beautiful park and animals that are not seen here in California.

Anyhow, back to our day....after parking the car we made a short trek across the beach where we tipped a man to row us in his boat over a small inlet of water to the park entrance. We had to wait a short time before entering the park as they limit the capacity to help preserve the wildlife. We then began our walk with the open, sunny coast on our right and the dense, dark forest on our left. We did get to see hermit crabs, iguanas everywhere, a couple of monkeys, a few sloths, a raccoon, and some birds. We stopped to have some snacks for lunch where an iguana stole a few fruit snacks and then we made our way back to the park entrance. We made our way back to the car and headed back to the hotel.

Upon arriving back at our hotel we changed into our swimsuits and headed back to the pool! We stayed in the pool until dark, changed for dinner, and enjoyed a wonderful Mexican buffet. Too soon it was time for bed but there were more adventures ahead!

Manuel Antonio National Park

The view was amazing!

A great shot of the boys.

Just one of the many iguanas we saw. They were huge!

Olivia wanted to see the "dog" up close!

Jacob got worried and wouldn't let her get any closer. What a great big brother!

A quick kiss before jumping in the pool.

Our bathing beauty!

Check out those swim strokes!

Vacation is soooooo relaxing!