parte dos... finally!

Saturday
We loaded up the cars once more and made the drive to Manuel Antonio/ Quepos. During our trek through beautiful country we had a little hiccup. Our car pulled over to wait for my brother, while we were waiting we ended up getting stuck in the mud. This didn’t happen on a straight & obvious road but on a steep windy curvy road. Finally after being some type of spectacle a kind man pulled out a tow rope and got us out.

Then, after getting through construction, passing over the crocodile bridge, stopping and petting some cows & driving around forests of palm trees we 4-wheeled into our final destination, Villa La Macha. This home was breathtaking. We had our own maid service, personal chef, security night guard and a caretaker/host. Now this was our favorite way to vacation by far! This is a perfect fit for our family.

Sunday
We woke up bright and early; the sun rises at about 5:30 am and sets by 6 pm. We cooked up some eggs and toast and got ourselves ready for church. The whole family pilled into their cars as we made our way through town to this very quant building. It is just down the street from our caretaker, Jota, he told us that this building used to be a daycare as of 3 months ago. It is incredible to see the humbleness in these people. The circumstances and faith is so obvious even if I don’t speak the language. It was so hot to sit through sacrament meeting. Our family took up most all of the tiny meeting center and with the gross amount of children all of the men/fathers were up and down through the meeting. It was nice to have us women relax and enjoy the meeting.

Jota helped us gather up some coconuts so we could enjoy some pipas (coconut water)

We had some lunch and enjoyed a quick dip in the pool,then ventured to a nearby beach, where the husbands were probably more welcomed than the women and children. The drive down to the beach was rough and rugged, we were able to drive our vehicles right down around the beach where we parked.

We are so happy the Criscione's could join us!

****WARNING****

If you are easily offended or may get grossed out easily just skip the next picture please!

When Oli was in the sun tent he started rolling allover the place, which also lead to him tipping the tent over and starting to head to the beach

Back at the house we had a delicious feast of Chicken and steak fajitas waiting for us. I can still taste the unforgettable guacamole.

Monday
Today was a relaxing day. We were able to just sit and hang out at the house without much of an agenda. In the morning we ate a great breakfast, the traditional eggs and toast. The boys were determined to get a good deal on surf board rentals so they spent their morning working up a good deal. Before lunch we had some visitors. A tribe of squirrel monkeys invaded the house. One of our cooks/housekeepers took a banana out and began feeding them with James. They began to flock to her so rapidly it was almost freaky to watch how human like they were when they stood and grabbed the bananas from our hands. It is against the law here in Costa Rica to feed the animals.
SSSHHHH, dont tell!

We spent the rest of the day back at our beach then back to our pool for a dip before dinner.

Oli adores his cousins, he gets so excited when the give him even just an ounce of attention

Tuesday
We decided to take the day and hike the Park in Manuel Antonio. We enjoyed a beautiful beach, the water was so warm! Fellow beach-go’ers were being begged and almost pick pocketed by these nasty raccoons.

Wednesday
Curtis and I enjoyed an odd but relaxing massage at Raindrops spa and then risked the terrain down to a beach less visited, it was about a 15 minute hike. This was a great way to end our trip. Our cooks went out with a bang by preparing us an incredible dinner, yet again!

Our crazy Einstein hair baby!

This poor lizard....

Part 1: lizard has tail

Part 2: lizard HAD tail

Part 3: everyone screem and gawk in disgust.

Thursday
Today we headed home, it was sad to say good bye to our long awaited and much anticipated vacation but it was time to go home. Oli has built up of quite the skymiles and, in my opinion, has earned his wings.

This is Jota, and the next picture is his mom (one of our cooks and housekeeper)

Costa Rica parte uno

Tuesday
The airplane ride: Oliver did pretty well on his flights and for the most part all of the kids did pretty great. We flew from Salt Lake to Huston, TX (3 hours) then from Huston to San Jose (5 hours). We had 1 hour between landing in Houston and catching our next flight. The flight was boarding and all we had to do was walk 5 feet to cross one gate to get to the other. Both flights were booked up and potentially equal misery for anybody sitting next to our crowd. Again, the kids all did great! We arrived in San Jose around 9 pm and commissioned some taxi vans to drive us to our first hotel, Adventure Inn. Rach and Gio had arrived a couple hours before us. It was pretty exciting trying to get settled in which lead to a little bit of a scolding from one of the other guests. We each had separate rooms and took up most of the hotel. The humidity is incredible here. Oliver’s cheeks, which have been SO dry from our Utah climate, have almost immediately heeled and turned Oli’s hair into soft curls.

Wednesday
In the morning, it took a while to try to puzzle our luggage into our cars but eventually we all crammed in and made it work. We drove to La Fortuna Volcano which was an amazing drive. Winding up and down in our train of cars, zig and zag all the way to our stay at Kokoro and met a helpful/ hospitable staff including Felico. Kokoro was a beautiful place to stay, you felt like you were right in the jungle with all its glory right out your door/windows. We had our own individual cabins side by side to one another. It was impressive to not be bothered by many bugs bearing in mind that we were in the middle of a jungle. Weather near the Arenal was warm and rainy (in my opinion is the best kind of rain.)

This is mine and Curtis' cabin

Thursday
On this day it was our treat to have Felico became our personal tour guide around Kokoro. We hiked a small but slippery trail and started to begin to see just how incredibly beautiful Costa Rica truly is.


In the afternoon we hiked to La Fortuna waterfalls. Now that was crazy steep, but the view at the end was well worth it! This waterfall has a 70-75 meter drop and creates a loud crashing noise. Some of our extreme guys thought it would be great to dive into the waterfall and try to swim as close as they could to the falls but the push was way too strong and they were lucky to not be pulled under by the pressure. We delighted in the flavors of Lava Lounge and enjoyed some delicious nachos after being teased with them by the folks. Afterwards we ventured back to the hotel sat by the hot tub and ordered some takeout from La Parada Soda (a soda here roughly translated means fast food)

Here we spotted our first monkey!


Friday
Los Lagos was our next stop on this day. Here we were able to enjoy all kinds of activities: Zip line, hot pots, waterslides, pools and even some incredible animals. First the zip line: We separated into two groups, the women and the men, so the children would always be supervised. We were sad to not have my sister-in-law, Jennine, in our group but I hope she had a great time with all the stinky men. There were 12 platforms that we zipped to. On our second zip the guides flipped me upside down so I could appreciate an extra thrill, it worked! It was on like the 7th or 8th zip where they asked who would be brave enough to try something daring. I was up for the challenge. They had me soar through the zip like I was an eagle! For this to work I had to go tandem so I could be horizontal and outstretch my arms like I was flying! What a rush!


The animals: Los Lagos has some pretty exotic animals, at least to me! It was like a zoo! Walking around we past lizard after lizard, turtles, a butterfly farm, an ant farm (nasty!) and best of all crocodiles. What fascinating creatures crocodiles are. They sit completely still, some with their mouths gapping wide and some just laying in the mud. I did something that I know was very stupid but I just COULDN’T RESIST. One of the crocs tails was pretty close to the chain link fence, and yes the path walks you right along the fence. A bottom section of the chain link was turned up and just beckoning me to reach my hand in and pet the croc’s tail. So I did, not once but twice. I felt I was just tempting fate to try for a third. (I will get back to the rest of what Los Legos has to offer)

Vegetation here is so lush and green! Costa Rica has 2 seasons: Rainy (winter May-November) and Dry (summer December-April) so Costa Rica is in high season right now.

The ants go marching one by one.... NASTY! There was a whole hut as one giant ant farm, Blah

"Never smile at a crocodile, no you cant get friendly with a crocodile".....

We wanted to drive around the Volcano before it got too late. We witnessed a breathtaking sunset just over the lake and then took an alternate road definitely less traveled. Potholes were typical ok typical is a kind word but potholes littered the road. Poor Oli was trying to sleep, every time he closed his eyes we would hit a big pothole and he would jumpstart awake again. We were really hoping to be able to see the lava spewing from the volcano but the cloud/ smoke cover was too thick however some say they could hear the rumblings. We headed back for dinner at La Parada again and then back to Los Lagos.

This is what my view was

Hot pots: One of the swimming pools was a warm pot with a giant slide attached. There was a horseshoe trail with a handful of hotpots. The designer must have had honeymooners in mind, there were many secluded little alcoves that almost guarantee you possibly interrupting some couples intimate moments, just ask my brother-in-law Gio (and that was in broad daylight!) There was a giant slide that we were pretty sure was closed down because all of the lights were off but I couldn’t refuse when my brother suggested we check it out. Of course I made Curtis come with me! As a side note these slides aren’t built by American standards, my second time going down I was going so fast I almost slipped right out!

Oli became pretty accustom to be in his carseat

Family photo at Kokoro, in the backround is the volcano even if you cant see it trust me it is there.

1 week....

And we will be on our way to here!!!

a couple days here at the Arenal volcano where we will sit in the local hotpots

Then travel to this beautiful location where we will be the remainder of our trip. The Royce clan get the house all to ourselves

This beach is about a 15 min walk from where we are staying

And hopefully, we will get to enjoy these friendly (I hope) creatures!

As a side note.... 3 days left and I am done with work! We have been fortunate that I will get to stay home with my baby, I just hope Oli will like having more mommy time!

Our Christmas this year was nothing
more than merry and bright. With having our little O this first year we have truly enjoyed the joy he has brought to our home. This year has really helped me feel the excitement and anticipation of the Christmas time that I remembered as a child now that we have a little one to spend it with. Our family has been so good this year that our Christmas gift is to enjoy the sights, sounds and flavors of this beautiful tropical place....
Costa Rica. We leave mid January and will enjoy this excursion with the whole Royce clan! Babies and all!
Curtis and I also splurged and purchased our dream couches that I have been drooling over for a couple of years now. The only downer is we have to wait for them to finish being made and will be delivered while we are relaxing on the beach.
Santa spoiled Oli with a new activity table which he absolutely loves! (thanks to Kit and Nat Santa was able to find it!)

Mostly we spent our Christmas filled with traditions and family.

• Reading of Luke 2
• Christmas Eve fondue, all the kids got to open a gift from MiiMii and Papa, comfy soft handmade robes and blankies
• Christmas waffle breakfast
• Cousin Christmas party with french toast strata... YUMMMM
• playing wii until our arms about fell off
• our first, of many to come, assembling toys for little O
• and non stop laughter with loved ones

I hate the frosty nip in the air but I love the feeling of Christmas time that engulfs you when it snows. We hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas this year and we hope the best for you guys as we start the New Year!!!