¡Pura Vida!

by Tamara (the mom)
**Warning- this is a long post**

Pura Vida translated in exact terms means "pure life". The slang for this term is "This is living"!

For those of you that know me, I am a bit high-strung (understatement). You also know that the pic above is my signature "I am completely relaxed" pic. Do you see the view that I have? How can you not be relaxed???

I feel that I haven't kept you in the loop on our whereabouts. Christmas and New Year's are a BIG deal here. Needless to say, the hotels were full and our "coming here without hotel reservations" kinda backfired. Luckily, when we stayed in Jaco, the staff at Morgan's Cove made accommodations that allowed us to stay from Wednesday until Sunday. In Jaco, we went spent New Year's Eve, went zip lining and horseback riding (well, kinda...mostly just visited the local hospitals).

We are now in Manuel Antonio. This is my ABSOLUTE favorite place in Costa Rica. It feels like Gilligan's Island to me. We went into Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio (or the national park). The park is the 2nd most visited national park in Costa Rica. You hike through the bottom of the rainforest that opens up to the most beautiful beaches.


When we were here 14 years ago, there were monkeys and iguanas EVERYWHERE. Due to the increase in tourism and development of the area, the monkeys and iguanas were absent. We had really built this up with the girls, and they were so excited! Needless to say, we were all pretty disappointed. Until...we saw this at the end!



There are very few things that I can be a snob about...BUT I absolutely LOVE 5 star hotels!!! As I was explaining to the hubby, you pay to get pampered by the staff and for the super duper comfy beds! With that being said, we are staying at the La Mariposa! (It means "the butterfly) We toured the hotel when we were here on our honeymoon. It has always been a dream of mine to stay here and...it has been worth the wait! The view is amazing! I give this place 5 Ludlam Smiles!
(This is our view! Pictures do not do it justice!)

(I woke up before everyone this morning to have my morning devotional and watch this!Isn't God amazing???)

How about having breakfast and coffee to this view:

We are definitely...¡Pura Vida!

by Lauren

This is me in one of the funniest chairs that I have ever seen...but it's SO cool! We are staying at a hotel that has a gorgeous view. The beds are so comfortable! I guess life doesn't get much better than this.

After the horseback riding incident, I haven't been able to swim. I have had to wear a plastic bag over my hand. Now, I have figured out how to keep my arm out of the water so I can still get into the swimming pool.

I have always liked horses...until now! When we first started out on the horses, I thought "This is going to be so fun!". Then something moved in the jungle and scared my horse. I wasn't holding on tight enough and flew off the horse. Somehow, I was able to land on my hands instead of my head. I immediately jumped up and said "Mama, I broke my arm!". Then it hit me that I was scared and in pain! Three hospitals later, I got to meet the coolest doctor! Now, I don't want a horse anymore!

by Lexie

Hi, people of the blog...it's me, Lexie, again! I am here to tell you about an amazing thing that happened yesterday. So, here it is...we saw MONKEYS! They were everywhere! It was like monkey here, monkey there! Everyone was feeding them bananas even when the signs said not to. I thought it was funny because everyone knows that monkeys like bananas. One was trying to drink out of a coconut but he dropped it. Another monkey stole it. I thought that was pretty mean! Now, about the above picture, these monkeys saw their reflection in the bus window. They were mad because they thought it was two other monkeys that might steal their food. Or...they might have thought that they were having a bad hair day!

This is a picture of me drinking the BEST LEMONADE IN THE WORLD!!! I meant, literally, I am not joking! This restaurant was built around a HUGE plane. It is a C-123 Cargo plane.

¡bienvenido a Costa Rica!

by Tamara (the mom)

This is a picture of us landing in Costa Rica (literally)! We're finally here!

Once we landed, we had to go through immigration. This was quite an experience for the kids. Of course, as luck would have it, the line was crazy long.

Then it was time to get the rental car. This is a picture outside the airport.

People literally show up everyday to help tourist "find their way" once they are outside of the airport. They work for tips..and that's their "job". We were talking to the guy that was helping us. He told us that he worked in Manhattan for 4 years but hated the American lifestyle. He said that we "lived to work" and that everything was just "go,go,go". Hmmm...I may have to agree with him.

Things have changed dramatically since the last time that we came. As we drove into Jaco, I was saddened to see high rise hotels and people EVERYWHERE!!! We drove around for 2 hours trying to find a hotel with vacancy. The girls and I walked up to the "recepcion" desk at one hotel, and the lady informed me that it was "an adult only" hotel. What does that mean? Then she handed me a brochure. Uhhh, yeah, "clothing optional"...NOT a place for kids! However, she WAS very helpful and called around to surrounding hotels to help us find a room. We finally found a room at a place called Morgan's Cove. It definitely has a Costa Rican flavor to it. The restaurant is outdoors under a tiled roof area that over looks the beach. VERY COOL! (For those of you that prefer "clothing optional", that place is called Copacobana. They were so helpful that they deserve a plug for their business!) Here is a picture of our hotel:


I truly cannot believe how "technologically dependent" that we have become! If you choose to come here and have to have cell phone service, be sure that your phone is a global one. Ours are not, so we have NO cell phones for 8 days! Most hotels have WiFi but that doesn't mean that you will be able to get access in your room. I am sitting in a common area outside the office right now. It's the only place that I have been able to get access. So, if you choose to come here, be ready to UNPLUG! I mean, really...why else do we get away on vacation anyway??? Gosh, we Americans are soooo spoiled! :o)


by Lauren
When we first got here, I wasn't very excited and it didn't look at all like my parents described it. It was scary but fun at the same time...until we had to get in the car! I was tired and stressed because we had to drive 2 hours AFTER flying all day. Then we finally got to Jaco. Then I was excited again UNTIL...we figured out that most of the hotels were full. We finally found a hotel and it is awesome. Oh, by the way...on the way to Jaco, we were crossing a bridge and saw all of these people looking over the side. Our GPS told us that there were crocodiles in the river. So we parked our car and walked over the bridge. This is what we saw:

HOW COOL IS THAT!!!

by Lexie
This morning when we woke up, we heard a noise outside our room. My dad, my sister, and I came out to see what was all the commotion. Then...we saw a beautiful Macaw bird. He was eating his snack. Then, when we were walking back to our room, we saw wild Macaws flying around the trees. They had pink heads and black bodies. I wondered why that one Macaw was in the cage and not free. So, we went into our room and got our mom to see the Macaw. When we walked back to the cage, there was a man feeding it. I thought he was messing with it and taking its food but he wasn't. He was feeding that poor little bird. I asked why he was in the cage and none of the other birds were. He said "This one is blind. This keeps him safe." I thought that was good. Here is a picture of me with the Macaw:

THAT'S NOT SOMETHING YOU SEE EVERYDAY!!!

The hubby went surfing at Hermosa Beach this morning so, needless to say, he won't be blogging just yet. However, if I know him, he will have LOTS to say when he returns!!!

Adios for now!