Our Costa Rica Tour

Tristan was the most excited about going to the beach, but he didn't trust the water. This is about as deep as he wanted to go. We liked Cauhita, despite the cold showers and roaches. Landon, Susan, and the kids enjoyed waking up to the sound of a rooster competing with the howler monkeys for vocal dominance.

Logan loved to be in the water -- the deeper the better. I had to save his life countless times.

Our vacation spots included Arenal, Cauhita, and Monte Verde. We spent many, many hours on buses and perfected the art of bus-sleeping. After Chloe threw up on our first trip, I passed out Dramamine to everyone. The added benefit was sleepy children.

Nonna doing her thing.

It is the summer (school's out until February here) of sleepovers, and it makes me happy that they are enjoying each other's company. Note Tristan's leg draped over Chloe's neck -- a demonstration of flexibility and tolerance.

The kids enjoy their time with Daddy after he gets home from the field. Some dads read bedtime stories, but Landon prefers to wrestle.

Pinned! The kids win.

Nonna-fied Chloe

Nonna-fied Joss

Chloe versus the volcano. The Arenal Volcano is active, but only releases ash and smoke, like the Turrialba Volcano in our backyard. I was like, "What, that's all? Our volcano does that." I'm pretty sure our volcano can beat up their volcano.

Since I'm unable to pass up free stuff, I made the whole family go to some mandarin trees on campus and pick 5 bags of fruit (after talking with the owner, who didn't want it). We came home covered in insect bites and allergic reactions, and I had to squeeze oranges for 2 hours. But it was free.

While in Arenal we went to the hot springs. They tap the hot water underground and pipe it up to make a series of pools and waterslides. Besides Logan's determined attempts at drowning himself, it was pretty fun.

On the boat crossing Lake Arenal.

Nonna with kids on the boat in the Cano Negro River. We got to see howler monkeys, spider monkeys, white-faced Capuchins, various birds, caimen, and other cool stuff.

At the hot springs.

The lovely hot springs.

I don't have pictures of Monte Verde for some reason. It’s a cloud forest, just meaning a tropical forest that is usually covered in clouds at the canopy level. There we saw some birds (of course), a sloth (hanging in a tree outside our hotel), tarantulas, and other bugs. One guide showed us a type of cockroach that he claimed was cleaner than the human mouth. He demonstrated this by popping the roach onto his tongue. I felt faint.
Logan’s vocabulary continues to increase and contains both English and Spanish words. He prefers the word “shower” to the Spanish “ducharse”, but he likes the Spanish “leche” instead of the English word “milk.” He picks and chooses what’s easier for him to say, I guess.
As we were passing a church in town the other day, Chloe pointed it out, saying, “That’s not our church. That church don’t got a prophet.” I hoped our (probably) Catholic taxi driver didn't understand English.
I still don’t have a calling, and Landon recently got released from his. Although I asked to be a visiting teacher, the relief society president looked at me and said that I had enough on my plate with the 4 kids. So I’ve given myself the calling of ward indexer. Other than that, Landon and I keep pretty busy on Sundays taming the little heathens in our row and trying to understand Spanish.