La Pura Vida

Day 1 continued....

I have to admit that when we finally pulled up to the house and realized that it looked like the pictures we had seen before we arrived, it was a big relief. The house was all lit up and there was relaxing music playing and candles and flowers everywhere. After the tour of the house and talking to Donald, the owner, for a bit about our tours and recommendations, we settled in for the night.

Day 2 (Sunday 10/4)

We went to a local bar across the road for drinks and to catch the Bears game. We had some pizza for lunch, which was pretty good for Costa Rica. Later that afternoon, we headed down the street and drove down an unpaved road to the beach...think windy curves, potholes, no shoulder, people passing with no room to spare. The beach was gorgeous and Kileigh absolutely loved her first time in the ocean. After the beach, we came back to the house and swam in the pool and then cleaned up for dinner. We went to El Avion, which has an old military plane inside with a bar where you can have drinks or eat in. We sat in the regular restaurant part overlooking the ocean for the sunset, which we caught the tail end of. We have some drinks and appetizers and then headed across the street to an italian restaurant for dinner. After dinner, we came back to the house and sat out on the upstairs deck to wind down for the night.

Day 3 (Monday 10/5)

Yesterday Kevin, his parents, and brother all went on a jet ski tour. I stayed at the house with Kileigh. I was able to interact with Jessica, the housekeeper, a bit and she really enjoyed playing with Kileigh. Kileigh really took to her quickly! Before I knew it, they were back at the house and we went swimming in the pool. We had sandwiches at the house and then Kevin and Pat took a siesta in the afternoon, before heading downtown to Quepos to do some shopping. We went to La Hacienda for dinner, which was set into the jungle. What a beautiful location for dinner! We feasted on chicken, shrimp, and snapper. It was absolutely delicious! We stopped at a local grocery store and then headed back to the house. They sat out on the deck, but I was exhausted so I went to bed early.

Day 4 (Tuesday 10/6)

Today was our tour of Manuel Antonio National Park. We picked up our guide at a local restaurant and then drove to the park. On the way, Gama had us stop along side the road, because he had spotted an iguana in the tree. We parked and set off on our tour. We saw some spiders, iguana, monkeys, raccoons, crabs, and caimans. After the tour, we spent some time at the beach. We left around 1pm and hit Cafe Milagro for lunch. We had some sandwiches and milkshakes. Then we went back to the house and went swimming for a few hours. Kileigh had a blast walking around the ledge in the jacuzzi, which was more pool water temperature. We got out and hung out on the upper deck watching the rain come in, while discussing our next vacation options. We cooked spaghetti for dinner and are going to play Apples to Apples.

Day 5 (Wednesday 10/7)

Sailing/Snorkelling tour

Day 6 (Thursday 10/8)

Zipline Canopy Tour

Day 7 (Friday 10/9)

Surfing for Kevin & Andy...Beach day

Day 8 (Saturday 10/10)

Return home

Greetings from Costa Rica

After a 2:30am wake-up call yesterday, we packed all our stuff in the limo and set off for O'hare. We were there by 3:30 for our 6am flight to Charlotte. Check-in went smoothly and Kileigh enjoyed walking around in the terminal. The flight to Charlotte was smooth. Kileigh struggled to get settled initially, but fell asleep for the remainder of the flight. Our layover in Charlotte went by very quickly. We had breakfast and explored the shops for a few minutes, before heading to the gate. As we settled in at the gate, they announced we needed to bring our boarding passes and passports to check-in. After doing that, they announced it was time for boarding and then we settled in for our 3 1/2 hour flight to San Jose, Costa Rica. Kileigh was awake for that flight, but was well behaved, and before we knew it we were landing. We went through customs, got our bags, bought some duty-free liquor, and then met up with our driver.

The first portion of the drive leaving the airport reminded off being in some third world countries with the houses and buildings. Shortly after taking off we stopped at a local spot for some lunch. It was outside, but a covered building. When we were ready to leave, it started to pour, but the rain didn't last long. After lunch, we drove through the mountains, up and down and around tight corners. The roads don't have the shoulders they way they do back in the states. It was a little hair raising at times. Halfway through the trip, we stopped at Crocodile bridge. There were probably 25-30 crocodiles swimming in the river or hanging out on the banks. We stopped at a local grocery store and picked up a few items for breakfast and drinks. Once we got back on the road, we noticed how dark it had gotten. There were lots of locals walking along side the road or biking with no sidewalk or much of a shoulder to walk on. Thank goodness we had a driver and didn't have to manuever our way in the dark with no street lights to guide us. When we arrived in Quepos, we drove through the downtown area and then headed to our home for the week "Casa Tranquila". When we arrived, we were exhausted from our travels, but thankful to have made it and be greeted with quite a sight.

Donald, the owner, was there when we arrived. We unloaded our luggage and groceries and when we came into the house, we were greeted with a "welcome fruit drink". Donald gave us a tour of the house. To be continued.

It's Over

Today was the last day of school and the year is finally over! We only had an hour with the kids, so it was nice and short. I had just enough time to finish putting my paperwork in envelopes to send home to the parents. After the final bell rang, I grabbed my purse, the kid's locks, the envelopes, and my computer and locked my door. I turned my stuff in and checked out. Woo Hoo! I saw a few good-byes and left! I went and picked up Kileigh and we have just been hanging out today. She is currently taking a nap, so it's quite peaceful in the house. Tonight is Kevin's softball game. Tomorrow we're taking Kileigh and Haley, our dog, camping for the first time at Lake Shelbyville. We're excited for 4 nights of rest and relaxation.

Pictures and updates to follow.

Busy Week

This is the last week of school and I am anxiously awaiting being done and getting to stay home with Kileigh.

Today was an early dismissal day, so I picked Kileigh up at 1. We have just been hanging out this afternoon. She is busy crawling all over the place and grabbing for things. She has been sitting up on her own for awhile when we place her in the sitting position, but now she can pull herself up into a sitting position.

Our friends just had their 3rd child, another girl and we are going over to their house later to meet baby Casey Marie.

Tomorrow we are taking the kids to the Jr. High for their Step-Up Day, to get ready for next year.

Wednesday is our Picnic Day and Kevin's field visit to the Orlando airport.

Thursday is the last day of school for 1 hour. As soon as all my paperwork is done, I am turning in my keys and computer and taking my files to the co-op and then I am done. Kevin's next softball game is Thursday night. They lost last week, so they are now 1-1.

Somewhere in the midst of this, we have to finish packing for our camping trip, which starts on Friday.

Sunny Saturday

Right now I am sitting out on the patio on our new swing that we found on craigslist. It's nice and sunny, great morning to be outside. I took some pictures of the irises on the side of our house that we planted a few years ago. They are a pretty mixture of purple (Japanese), yellow, and burgandy irises. We have some yellow ones out front as well. The flowers we planted along fence and the plants that we replanted along the side and back of the house look good. Along with the flowers in the potters on our patio. However, the flowers in the pot on our front porch are taking a beating thanks to the squirrels.

This weekend is the Irish fest at Gaelic Park, so we are hoping to head over there at some point and check it out, since we have never been there. We have tickets for the Sox game tonight. We're planning to go down around 3 or 4 to tailgate before the game. We're taking our Little Joe (baby Weber grill) and grilling brats. We're also going to throw some bags (cornhole). The weather forecast for the afternoon/evening is showers, so I hoping they are wrong. Kevin's parents are going with us for Kileigh's first baseball game. She's already been to a Hawks game and an Illini basketball game, now this fall we'll have to take her to a football game.

So I saved the best for last. Yesterday was a big day for Kileigh. She held her bottle for the first time and went from just scooting to actual crawling. She was only using her left side which made her look funny while she was doing it, but whatever works. We took Kileigh over to Kevin's parents yesterday afternoon, so we could go out with Jen & Jon. I am sure Kileigh had fun and a few pics were taken too.

After dropping Kileigh off, we picked Jen & Jon up and went to a carnival by their house that was in the Meijer parking lot in Bolingbrook. After walking around, riding the bumper cars, and eating a funnel cake, we decided that we had had enough. Besides one can only handle so much from teenagers who cut in line and call people names. After having dessert, we decided it was time for dinner. We headed over to Home Run Inn for some pizza, but then we saw that for $12.99 per person we could have the pizza feast which included salad, appetizers (cheese sticks, toasted ravioli, chicken fingers, cheesy garlic bread, and pizza. Cheezy garlic bread = YUM!! We each only had one piece of pizza and were officially stuffed. We headed back to Jen & Jon's and dropped our leftovers off and grabbed socks. Then we went to Brunswick Zone for some bowling. They had a 99 cent per person per game special going on, so that was a pretty good deal. We ended up bowling 3 games. There were a few strikes and a few spares spread out amongst us, and quite a few gutter balls as well. A good time was had by all.

More weekend update later. Happy Saturday!

Flowers, Flowers, Flowers

Yesterday afternoon Kevin mowed the yard and I went over to our neighbor's house to check out their flower beds to get some ideas. We then headed to Menards and were not impressed with their selection. We got a few lillies, a turtle garden stake, and a black lab welcome statue for our front porch. After Menards, we went to Home Depot, which had a much better selection of flowers. We bought some lillies that were twice the size of the ones we bought at Menards. We also bought some petunias, snapdragons, and an azalea bush. When we got home, we unloaded everything and then I worked on pulling out weeds and dead brush out of the flower beds while Kevin raked up the dried grass in the front yard.

This afternoon is supposed to be nice, so I hope to get all the flowers planted in the beds and pots for the front porch and back patio. Depending on how far they go, I might have to make another trip to get some more annuals. I might also make a few hanging baskets as well.

Up with the birds

Kileigh was up with the birds this morning. She seems to be winding down a little, but for almost the past 2 hours, she has been squeaking, growling, playing, and rolling all over the living room floor. I was hoping she would sleep in because I was starting to feel a little under the weather. I woke up with a sore throat and runny nose. Not enough to keep me in bed all day, though. The plan this morning is to have a mini-brunch (egg, bacon, and cinnamon rolls) and then go to church.

It's supposed to be 70 today, so maybe we will spend some time in the yard this afternoon. We have a lot of yard work to do to get ready for next weekend. We plan to remove a couple dead bushes, trim some other bushes and the rose bushes, mow, trim up the weeds, and plant some flowers.

We're also busy spring cleaning inside and getting ready for our rummage sale in 2 weeks. We have a pile of clothes & shoes in our garage to take to Goodwill. This pile covers our futon, so let's just say it will probably equal a few trips to drop everything off. I can't believe all the things that we have accumulated over the years that are sitting in our attic, basement, and garage that we need to sell. I already sold a bunch of school stuff, so that area of our attic that used to be consumed with school stuff is much smaller now.

I will post some pictures of the cleanup later in the week.