Boys

The power was off for awhile tonight. Liad and Idan were here most of the night. In fact, Liad, the 13 year old, going on 17, is still here. Jordan and him have sparked up a little bit of a "friendship." He's cute. Really cute. But he is way more mature than my little baby.
While the power was out Jack and I were having cocktails on the patio. I was swinging in the hammock and Jack was in the rocking chair and we could hear everything that the 4 of them were up to in the casita since all of the windows were open. They were playing spin the bottle. Spin the bottle is different then when I grew up. I remember spin the bottle as kissing the person across from you if the bottle landed pointed at you. I hated spin the bottle. If it ever landed on me no one wanted to partake. I hated it. Now, when they play spin the bottle it's basically truth or dare or double dare. They played it all night. We listened to it all too. Jordan and Liad were very flirtatious and it was very wierd. Not what I expected but I guess it is what it is. She'll tell me all about it manana because Jordan is like that. She tells me everything because she can't help it. Hannah on the other hand is more private. She'll tell me all about Jordan but won't tell me about herself. We'll see what the conversation is tomorrow.
I guess if they are going to experience boys I'd rather them have the experience here, while we are swinging in the hammock and rocking in the rocking chair listening to the entire conversation. It was quite amusing. I was proud actually at how they all behaved. Good kids and these are good times.
Who am I kidding?? I'm freaked.

Letting go

It's raining, thundering, lightning and the girls are on their bikes with Liad and Idan and they went for a ride to the Mauna Loa to see if they could go swimming. If not they were headed for the beach. It was a big decision for me to let them go. They have good heads on their shoulders and hopefully they'll know to come home when the weather turns bad. I'm sure Liad and Idan are pretty used to it and know the ropes. Time to trust.
It's hard to let go and let them grow up.

Costa Rican Women

Costa Rican women are beautiful. What makes them so beautiful isn't just their skin. It's the fact that they are so confident with their bodies and the fact that they all wear these tiny little bikinis and are just plain comfortable in them. No matter what their body type is, everyone is wearing the tiniest bikini and they are clearly comfortable. It's awesome. I love the people here. There is no attitude, no ego, no keeping up with the Joneses. It is just good living and people are happy.

Random Stuff

Can't sleep again. It's only 8:25 for cripes sake. I've been trying for an hour now. I keep thinking of random things to blog about.

1) No couch: when we checked into this place I knew there would be 2 double beds. One for Jack and me and one for the girls. I kept thinking that if things got ugly, between whomever, the couch would be the other option. Well, THERE IS NO COUCH!!!! I now realize what a couch potato I really am. I love the couch. I am the queen of the couch. I get first pick of the couch and usually it is the best spot on the couch. I also get the best blanket to cuddle up with on the couch. Here, we have wooden chairs and one of them came from outside. Adirondack, wooden chairs. Except the one rocking chair which I usually sit in. But I like the Adirondack chair when I have a cocktail because the arm is a perfect cocktail spot. My Mom called the couch a davenport. Love that.

2) A sheet: We were emailing back and forth, we, meaning the people who own this place, and I asked if there was anything we could bring from the states, knowing that it is tough to get most everything in Costa Rica. They did ask if we could bring sheets. So, I got online and ordered good sheets from Overstock.com. A favorite of mine. The sheets came just in time and we packed them taking up practically half the room in one suitcase. I am glad we brought those sheets. We got here to the casita and the sheets they had on the bed were fine but super thin and very worn. I'm no sheet snob but I have to say, I love the sheets we brought with us. At first, when I looked at the bed, there was just a sheet on the bed. That was it. No blanket, no comforter, no bedspread, NADA. Just a sheet. I looked around for the closet, which there aren't any, just like our house, and nope. Not a blanket in sight. I kind of panicked thinking, "how am I going to sleep if I'm chilled at night and need a blanket?" Well, let me tell you, the sheet is overkill. Given the fact that I'm sweating like a pig all day, the nighttime is no different. The only thing I have that sheet for is to keep the critters off of me. And that doesn't even work. But, I love the sheets that we brought. I may have to take them with us and not leave them as a gift like I was going to. Just kidding.

3) My cast iron skillet: I cook with one pan. That pan is my well seasoned cast iron skillet and I miss it. I truly thought that maybe I could pack that thing but it weighs about 20lbs and that would have been stupid. Years ago I gave all of my pans away because I started using a cast iron skillet and once you're hooked the rest is taken to the thrift store. So, for those of you who are at a conundrum with your frying pans, give them away and get the cast iron skillet. I'm also missing my one good chef knife. I've had it for 20 years. We received an entire knife set from my brother's for a wedding gift. I love those knives. It's really funny how attached one becomes to things when you don't have it for awhile. Still, I'm not complaining, just thinking about random things as I lay awake in bed listening to the monkeys who apparently cannot sleep either. It's the greatest sound around. I wish I had a recorder to record the sounds that my camera can't capture. Next time around I will not be without a recorder of some sort. I did manage to get Rosa saying, "Hola" to me today.
The tail in the log is probably an iguana. I never did see what it was but the tail slowly slithered inside that log and we never saw it again. It's a mystery.

Random plants at the casita

A visit to our Lot

Jack and I rode out to our lot today. It was cloudy and seemed like a good choice. The girls were into a chill day. We left at around noon. What a great ride it was not to have the sun blaring down on us. It was still hot and I was still sweating like a pig but the clouds were wonderful. The road was extremely muddy and when we arrived at the lot I was a muddy mess. I love that. Jack hired a guy named Eddie to put in our fence posts and dig all the holes and do some other work and we are told to check on it everyday to make sure the work is being done. There was a fire burning to burn the slash on the land and all was great. No one was there so we walked across the street and I met Marc, the Frenchman that Jack has gotten to know. He's renting the house that I had found online but it was way out of our price range. They wanted $1200/month. I'm so glad it wasn't affordable because without a car it is WAY to far from the beach. 6 miles is a long way on bike or foot. Marc is nice. He doesn't understand a lot of English and I realized that as Jack was talking to him. He SPEAKS pretty good English though so it fools you. It's like me with Spanish. I speak great spanish so the Tico's think I can speak the language. NOT! Marc is kind enough to help Jack on Friday and give him a ride into Huacas to where the materials are that we need to build the fence. Should be interesting. After we were saying our goodbuys Marc was apologizing for his English. I told him he spoke wonderful English and he is helping us huge. We'll buy him dinner or something for his kindness. He's going way out of his way to help us. We think. We went to find Eddie and Jack figured he was at this other house that he has been working on. Well, he was. This house is just amazing. The guy who owns it wasn't home but we've heard about him. He is a golf pro at Hacienda Pinalla. Jack has wanted to meet this guy for some time now just because he's a friend of a friend, kind of. Anywho! Eddie is his landscaper and we have decided, after seeing the work Eddie does, Eddie is our man. I have to say. Jack may not do very well grocery shopping but DANG, he is getting things done, the right way, on our lot. I'm impressed. The video is a little blurb of us riding our bikes having fun. And the pics of Jack is our lot. When we arrived the foliage was waist high until we had a guy wack it all down for us.

Growth Spurt

I have never seen such a growth spurt as the one Jordan is having this month. She sleeps and EATS! OMG the food she is putting away right now is killing me. Her and Jack are actually fighting over food. When he makes something she'll come over and eat it. She'll make a sandwich after eating an entire dinner and we're all stuffed. It's good to see her eating so much and playing hard and sleeping like a log. We joke that she grows an inch every day. It's crazy

No Reading at Night

I can't sleep. I've been out of bed twice now and I simply cannot sleep. It's 9:15 and that has me staying awake I'm sure. But I'm tired. The girls and I played hard in the ocean tonight. We also walked down to the beach instead of riding our bikes because I carried the surfboard and Jordan and Hannah each had a boogie board. It was a nice walk. We got to the beach at high tide and walked down to dead tree. Dead tree, we have learned, is the local name for the place we like to hang out. We were watching a storm out on the ocean and it was pretty cool. Bart walked up and said hello. Other's that we have seen over the course of our stay walked by and kindly said Hola or Pura Vida or something. We are really feeling welcome here and people are starting to recognize our faces and the friendly people we have come across is amazing. The boys from Isreal who live here on the property that our casita is on also came down did a little showing off for the girls. They are 12 and 13 years old and man can they surf. They were all about it when they walked down to where we were sitting. The girls were boogie boarding while the boys were surfing and having a ball. We may have to have a card game up at the casita with them over. They were asking what we do at night and if we liked movies or playing cards and it sounds like they do the same as us. They have been here for 3 years and speak great English as well as Spanish. Cute boys. Liad and Idan (spelling?). I see a friendship forming. Finally. The girls have been trying to get their attention for awhile now.

At home, when I go to bed, I read. I may read a page, a chapter, a half a book. It's how I wind down and always have. I can't read here because the light attracts bugs and flying things. For one, there is no nightstand so I set up a makeshift nightstand with one of the wooden barstools from the counter. At least I have somewhere to keep my book and my glasses and my stuff. For two, there are no lights except for the ones on the ceiling attached to the fan. So you have to either use the headlamp or the reading lights that I brought. I was all ready to read one night with my headlamp on and I'm laying in bed, reading and bugs are slamming up to me and my light and it got ugly, fast. I'm inhaling bugs, and Junebugs are landing on me and huge moths are hovering in the light. I soon realized that reading here is out. Unless I have the overhead light blaring and Jack is trying to sleep. Ain't gonna happen. That is why I can't sleep I'm sure. I can't lull myself by reading. Hannah is also not able to sleep for the exact same reason. She is sitting in the chair right now reading because she wants to read so bad. She's also a bedtime reader. Our experiences with the headlamps were the same and she won't read in bed. Jordan is in her bed reading and I can hear her talking to the bugs saying things like, "stupid bug!" and "get out of here you dumb bug!" and "Oh, I wish these bugs would leave me alone!" I just said, "Jordan, you won't win. Shut off the light!" Now, the only light on is my computer light and you guessed it. Time to shut er down. The computer screen is being attacked.
Nighty night.

Definition of The Creature

THE CREATURE:


DESCRIPTION:
Although arachnids, Tailless Whip Scorpions (sometimes called whip spiders) are neither spider nor scorpion but resemble a cross between the two. As the name implies, they have no tail and the first pair of legs which can stretch to as much as 10 inches act as whip-like feelers. The foremost body section has a shell-like covering and is wider than it is long. They have eight legs and there is one pair of eyes at the front of the cephalothorax and three pairs of eyes on the sides. Their flat, oval-shaped bodies measure .3 to 2 inches, depending on species. D.variegatus is also known as the Tanzanian Giant Tailless Whip Scorpion, since it can measure 7.5inches with legs spread.

I love the fact that so many of you have researched this for me. Thank you. I'm glad we didn't smush it. That would have been bad considering how much fun we have had with this guy. As in fun I don't mean we play fetch with it but just the pictures we take and the conversation it has produced. Never mind the fact that it has totally kicked the girls out of the bathroom. Who knew??

Jack and I got offered a ride from Elliot today to go to Tamarindo for some groceries. We were just planning our ride to the store and getting geared up for it when he came over and mentioned he was going. We jumped on the chance to shop at the real store and get some things we haven't been able to get. Jack was in charge, for the first time, of the money today and that is alway's worrisome for me. But, I had faith and decided not to play Mom to him and trust him. Damn him. I should have known better. When we go to the store we spend an average of around $20,000-$25,000 colones. $40-50 bucks. We get the necessities and we're good to go. Well, we grabbed our cart and Elliot said not to buy fruits or veggies because we'd be going to the stand on the way out of town. We belined it to the isles and we needed stuff like toilet paper, shampoo, sunscreen, plus I found some real (kind of) salt, a kitchen scrubber, etc. Stuff that we need but don't buy every trip. We had beer and rum and coke and some oreos because it was a special treat to have a car to haul it back with. We get to the checkout and she's ringing us up and we don't have enough money to pay for our items. We start taking things out of the shopping cart, beer and liquor go first, and get it to where we can afford it. Jack, being in charge of the money always does this. He'll take whatever he thinks we'll need and not the whole wallet. He was pissed. Mostely at himself. Him, being a man (sorry men), couldn't figure out why we were spending so much. Well because dip. We need toiletries, and kitchen cleaning stuff and your oreos were like $5 bucks alone. When you have to buy papertowels and shampoo and sunscreen (sunscreen is hugely expensive), IT ADDS UP. What bother's me most is how he gets upset with me like I'm spending money on things stupid. Let's see him try to comb long hair without conditioner. YOU CAN'T DO IT!!! Like oreos aren't stupid. Get the Costa Rica oreos that are made with real cane sugar instead of refined sugar like the oreos. Needless to say the ladies at the checkout counter weren't happy with us and we ended walking out of there without lot's of stuff we need. Oh well, live and learn. Jack does now know that I am the queen of grocery shopping, since he never does it and he needs to keep the wallet intact. Don't mess with my wallet.
He's now saying how he want's to ride to our lot to check on some things and I know he is really is going back to get the fruit and veggies we had to forgo because we spent all of our money at the grocery store. He's a good guy.

Sunday Celebration

It's Sunday and it felt like it. We didn't get up super early for some reason. It was gorgious out and I kept waiting for the rain to start. It never came. Jack went surfing and I cooked breakfast for us and after breakfast the girls and I rode our bikes to the beach. I had my camera all ready thinking that we'd be riding through the river, over the bridge, but the water had already receeded. Jack was walking back but didn't get to far before we ran into him. We all went to the beachtogether and the beach was packed. Sunday is family day in Costa Rica and people take full advantage of being with their families. It's great to see everyone's mood so full of joy and celebration. People were enjoying the sun and the clean ocean. When these rains come as hard as they did the past couple of days the ocean gets real dirty and there is mud and debris floating all over. The locals stay out of the water for fear of getting sick or picking up some wierd skin thing or whatever. We have decided to follow suit. The ocean was clean and blue today and everyone was celebrating the sun and the beautiful day. We came home to get some lunch and decided to ride, while Jack ran, to Panilla to pick up Jack's bike that Christopher worked on. We had a great ride and the girls didn't complain because they knew there would be ice cream in Panilla and we promised them some ice cream. The locals are starting to recognize Jack and when he was running with his entourage of girls with him people were waving and cheering and asking him, "how far today? Como lejos hoy?" We got to Panilla and Christopher, who's entire family grew up or lives in Panilla, was laughing at Jack and asking him if he ran the entire way. Everything is Spanish with sign language with us and it works well for us to understand. Christopher only charged Jack $2000 colones. That's $4 bucks folks. He probably worked on that bike for a couple of hours. We had some ice cream and rode further down the road for a beverage. Being Sunday, with world cup soccer on, everyone and their brother is out socializing. It's fun to see. We rode home and stopped at the store we went to yesterday for French bread. We were warmly welcomed by the store clerk who recognized us from yesterday and was doting over las ninas. She's a nice lady. We rode home and went straight to the beach again because it was still sunny. We had a great afternoon at the beach with a couple of hours of swimming and surfing. Lot's of locals were hanging out at Lola's and the couple who own the pot farm, not what you're thinking, were there with their huge McCaw. Jordan got to hold it and couldn't have been more psyched. Jack went up to them and asked them if they own the pot farm. They said yes and Jack told them the story of the day he rode by on his way to the lot. Sunny, that's the birds name, was out front and it's a straight away past their store. As Jack was approaching the pot farm he kept hearing someone say, "Hola", "Hola", so Jack slowed down thinking that is was a Tico trying to be nice and it was this huge bird saying hello to Jack instead of a Tico. Everytime we come back to the casita Rosa or Pancho say it too, like we are being greeted by someone. It's a nice feeling even if it is just a bird.
The pot farm is the name of the place these people sell huge clay pots and it's also a nursery with plants and trees and stuff like that.
Lola's was just a show today with the dogs, Lolita who's the pig swimming in the ocean, the huge bird on her owners shoulder, locals galore getting drunk celebrating whatever, and sun. Lola's is closed on Monday's and I'm sure after today they are ready for a day off. We opted to stay clear of it all and spent our time down the beach by the dead tree and enjoy our family. It was nice.
We ended the day eating a fabulous dinner if Serloin, garlic bread, corn and potatoes. The day we went to the meat market with Bart and Liz, Jack and I picked up 2 serloin steaks for later. Tonight was later and we surprised the girls with a wonderful dinner. They thought they were getting spaghatti, again. It was so yummy and we are all stuffed. Jack and the girls are playing cards while I am now tired and ready for bed. Goodnight all.

The Rain

It's been raining since yesterday. Today we experienced our first full day of inside weather. Actually, Jack and I rode down to the local store to get groceries. We came back with a loaf of French bread, a loaf of bread ( the only loaf not white and it was expensive), a thing to make Tang (our treat for the girls since they've never even heard of Tang), margarine (that killed me), a season packet of chicken broth (MSG), cookies (Jack has such a sweet tooth), and a 6 pack of beer (my dessert). Our diet is lacking my usual Vitamin Cottage stuff but it's ok. I am not beating myself up to much about it. I know that it's only temporary. The salt thing is still killing me. I cannot find sea salt and I can't get to Tamarindo to find it on my own time. The salt here is just not salt. Don't know what it is but it's not salt. It's like a salt substitute. But not. Who know's? Not complaining it's just very interesting trying to shop without a car and with the little stores we are given. Time to make a trip to the big super mercado on bikes if the rain stops. If it doesn't we will make the trip anyway. It's kind of fun riding in the rain. Everything is done in the rain. It rains this time of year.
As we were riding down our road to the store today the 2nd bridge going out of the place is no longer a bridge. It's now a river you drive THROUGH! Crazy. I wouldn't ride my bike through it the first time and Jack convinced me to ride over the bridge, which is actually through the river, on the way back. Nothing reached up and grabbed my ankle and I didn't fall. It was a huge success. We stopped at the Mauna Loa on the was back from the store and had a couple of beers by the pool and talked about what we would like to accomplish with our lot while we are here. Jack has really made some progress and yesterday he met our neighbors who are in the middle of construction on a structure. They are from France and Jack seemed to like the guy. Everyone is getting scammed here and it's hard to know who to trust. He and the guy exchanged stories and got to talking. Turns out the guy was super helpful on where to get trees, steel, etc. Jack wants to order a bunch of palm trees for the lot to be planted at $3/per tree. I thought that was a good deal. If not and anyone is reading this let us know. We hopefully will order them, delivered in 2 weeks. It'll be great shade and add so much. I was also admiring these trees here that are everywhere and they look like umbrellas. They are great for rain and shade. I have to identify them and show them on the blog. They're beautiful trees. Of course, a couple of fruit trees are in order as well. It'll be interesting to see what we actually do get accomplished given the fact that it's all on Tico time. Tico time is interesting. Take a deep breath and just let it all go. It'll get done manana. Or sometime. It's great.

A great picture of the Creature

Today as we were getting ready for the beach Jordan took one look, just to see, and the creature was out getting some fresh air. Here is a great picture of the creature. The next one I get of it is going to show his crab-like pinchers that, in this picture, look like his eyes. We got home in just the nick of time because it's raining. The girls and I are going to play some cards and wait for Jack to get back. He has been riding his bike to our lot and getting stuff done. He talked with some more workers and they are going to burn all of the cut up grass that the other Tico cut for us. He also hired them to build a rock wall along the perimeter of the lot. The going rate for laborors here is $2.oo/ hour and that is what we settled on. It doesn't seem right to pay people to work that hard in the sun and heat just $2/hour but it's the way it is here and we are not in the United States right now and Costa Rica is much different and just to respect the way things are done. We'll get good help and if we treat our workers fairly and right they will be loyal to us for life. We have seen that from meeting other's around here and everyone hires help for something. Everyone has a houskeeper, yard workers, you name it. There is hired help for everything. It's how most of the Tico's make their money. For instance, the houskeeper that Las Casitas has is like a part of their family. They are building her a casita of her own for her to live in and she has been with this family for a few years now. She is loyal, doesn't rip them off and they love her. It's a very cool thing to see. So, Jack is trying to line up some help and hopefully will be sucessful. He is dropping his bike off in Panilla, a little town where we stopped on our first bike ride to our land and I was dying for water and he and the guy were laughing. Anyway, Jack and that guy have become somewhat friends because they both have something in common and that is bikes. This guy is good with bikes and is rebuilding Jacks crank for next to nothing. He's also the guy that rebuilt the wheel and it is perfect. He'll have to run back from Panilla which will be wet. He's not back yet and it is pouring so hard right now. He's bumming. We literally have to raise our voices when it rains like this. It's so loud. I'll take a video.

Night Riding in the Jungle

Throw in rain, dark, mud and bikes and you have a very interesting ride home. Glad we had headlamps. The headlamps are kind of a joke on bikes at night when they are on your head but at least it's something.
We had dinner at Bart and Liz's last night. The plan was to meet them at their house at 2:30. We rode down to the house and the 4 adults got in the car and drove to Tamarindo to pick up dinner supplies. The girls were content to stay back with Julietta, the cutest dog, and swim and watch tv. Fine by me. We were gone for quite awhile. We got an excellent cut of beef tenderloin at some meat market in Tamarindo. I'll remember that place for future dinners. We went to the grocery store and got some salad makings and potatoes. We got back a couple of hours later. Nothing happens fast here. We all chilled and fixed dinner and Bart cooked up the beef and we sat down to a wonderful dinner and we were all in Heaven. Especially Hannah to finally get some meat in her diet. She couldn't get enough. I finally had to lean over to her and whisper in her ear, "you're done". She understood and was happy to be finished because she was stuffed. Their manners were impecable and I am so proud of them for acting like young ladies. They are really growing up.
Liz couldn't be any more adorable. She is this tiny little thing, pretty, Chilean, and has a heart of gold. Bart is clearly so in love with his beautiful wife and dotes on her. They are young, mid 20's and it's fun to be around them. Liz is very diverse. She is a nurse, she cuts hair, she sews, she bakes. It's cool to see how she keeps herself busy here. Jordan's bathing suit clasp broke while we were there and Liz whips out the buttons, has Jordan pick out a button, sews a button hole on one side and the button on the other with her sewing machine. Wah lah. Fixed. Jordan was beaming and I was glad to have learned how to do that with my machine at home.
After dinner we all went for a swim and it was so refreshing. The mosquitos were terrible so any skin exposed was immediately bitten. We stayed in the pool for a good hour. Everyone was tired and it was time to go. Bart offered us a ride home since it started to sprinkle. We declined. What kind of adventure would that be? We said our goodbuys and rode down the dark, muddy road totally happy. Now, we just needed to get home without any crashes. It was a tricky ride and when we made the turn onto our dark, scary, muddy road that's when the fun began. Jordan was already anticipating the 2 bridges we have to cross. The bridges go over small rivers but if you miss the bridge, for some reason, you'll go right off into the water down below and whatever is lurking around in there. There is basically one line to take so you don't have to ride through a puddle. We all have that line down in the daylight. Unfortunately the line is way to the left of the bridge so there is about an inch to spare or you'll ride right off it. In the dark, I knew this line was not going to be easy. I told Jordan to not even think about it and get off and walk her bike. Well, she didn't and we all cleared the first bridge. Hannah was already over the bridge. Then it's up the hill which we had to walk up because we're on beach cruisers and if you don't get your speed up it's hard peddling up the hills. Jordan was coming down the hill and freaked and couldn't break and she literally just rode right into the waist deep grass of the jungle. I'm yelling at her to not go in there. All I can think of are snakes. She can't help it and is yelling and rides right "in there". All was well and there were no snakes to bite her. Of course, she's yelling at me like it was all my fault that she lost control. We get back on course and the next bridge is now coming up. We clear it and Hannah decided to walk her bike. I got ahead thinking she was right behind us and she was no where to be found. I rode back and saw her headlamp and her little voice saying "wait up". It was so cute I almost started to cry.
We got home and, once again, high fives all around. Those girls are troopers. They are learning to deal with whatever is handed to them and they are complaining less and less. I am so proud of my girls for dealing with all of this change. It hasn't been easy and there have been some serious meltdowns but all in all it's been fine.
We woke to a huge downpour again this morning. I love waking up and smelling the rain and listening to it on our metal roof. I'm getting used to the loudness of it and it's loud. I grabbed my book and read for a good hour. It's 9:40 and Jordan is still asleep. Hannah just woke up. The rained stopped for the time being and Jack went surfing. I'm going to make some potatoes for breakfast. I think the weather is going to be tricky all day. We'll have to get the yatzee game out and some cards for later. Maybe the beach will be fine if it clears up. It's trying to clear. The sun is peeking out and things are coming alive outside. The monkeys are talking to each other. The jungle is awake. It took awhile this morning.

Sleeping in

We woke up to rain this early morning and I was glad. I needed to sleep and so I did. Jack did too which is rare. He is always up at 5 or not much after. We all were tired and fell back to sleep. At around 7:45 we were awakened by Poncho whistling and yelling "HANNAH" again. It's so funny to hear a bird yelling that. We were all laying in bed cracking up at Pancho.
Jack rode out to the lot and the girls and I sat inside and chilled. A good down day is needed every once in awhile. I read and finished my book.
I made rice and beans for lunch. We're going over to Bart and Liz's for a BBQ this afternoon. Hannah couldn't be more excited to eat a steak. It's like Heaven for her. It's all she has been talking about for a day.

Friends

We had our first house guests tonight. Jen, Dave, and kids, you are all wonderful! Thanks for lunch and for coming to our casita for some laughs and hanging out. We loved it.
We met Jen and Dave and Maddie, Sammie, and Mia yesterday while watching them taking a surf lesson. They all did very well and we were so impressed by the surf instructor. Way to go on that guy. I may hire him soon.
We got to the beach today and the CA family was in the ocean with impressive surf instructor and we totally barged in on their day. They were nice and liked (I think) the company and the girls hit it off right away. Mom's talked and the rest is history. Dad invited us to lunch and we joined them and had a great lunch and a great time. Thanks again you guys. Very generous.
We finished up lunch and went back to the beach and swam in the ocean for, it seemed, like hours. I was exhausted and it was Pura Vida. We decided to meet for cocktails at our casita at 6pm and I gave directions. They found the place and we had ceviche, wine and beer and they left for their next adventure in Costa Rica. We love making new friends and these were good people. I wish you the best. Maybe in the future we can meet again.

The Bus, again.

Are you getting tired of hearing about our awesome day's? Stop reading if you are. We had another one today.
It's Amityville horror every morning at 3:15 in our casita. I tried to catch whatever it is that is terrorizing me at that gawd awful hour but I just got laughed at by my husband. Damn him. He keeps on creeping his foot over to my side of our double bed and freaks me out by lightly touching my foot. I'll ask, "was that you?" after I have completely jumped out of my sheets and he slyly says, "yyyeeesssss". This morning, at precisely 3:15, things were out in the kitchen trying to cook or something. I got my headlamp out and since the batteries were low I couldn't shine the beam that far and I was to afraid to get out of bed. So I, once again, slept very little last night. This is getting old. I thought I was more hard core than this. I am not a wimp. Most things just do not bother me. At home, in my own home, we have bears, mice, once a weasel was inside, and pack rats. A pack rat crawled over me at Amityville horror hour about 6 years ago. OK, that DID freak me out and I was ready to sell the house, but still. What is it about being here that has me scared to sleep? What is the deal? It started with that darn creature. Now, he's like a part of our family. Of course, the girls have moved into our bathroom and we all 4 share a little tiny comode. Everynight Hannah or Jordan will walk, slowly and quietly, into their bathroom and turn on the light and yell, as if a long lost relative just walked in our casita, "Mom, the creature's out!" I'll have to go get a looksee just because it's like a bad car accident. I can't not look. "Goodnight Creature", I'll say.
We got our things together and went to the beach early. It was around 9:30 and we had plans to take the 1:30 bus to Santa Cruz for our cultural day. Jack managed to carry the surfboard and 2 boogie boards down. How? I have no idea but he did it. He's good. We surfed and boogie boarded and swam until noon. The girls met some friends from Los Angeles who we are meeting manana. We were all whooped. We rode home and showered and walked to the bus stop and sat down and waited. It's always a crap shoot as to when that bus is going to show up and where it is going. After about 20 minutes of the drunk store owner, where we wait for the bus, and us trying to communicate on when the bus comes and who is going to be the champions of the world cup soccer, we figured out that he comes from another direction today and it is 45 minutes after the time we had thought. We had a lot of time to kill. The girls bought Fanta's and we waited while watching soccer on t.v. The bus came and it was the blue school bus with the bus driver who does not rip us off. He's a good guy. You can just tell. The other bus driver is an ass and intimidates everyone who gets on his bus and he rips us off. The term down here is getting gringo'd. So, we board the bus and it's Pura Vida. We took a different route, different driver, and it was much prettier and much more adventurous. He actually drives THROUGH a river for a little bit. I wondered what the heck he does if that river gets any bigger. The rains surely fills that thing up and then what? I'm sure he barrels right through it. We get to Santa Cruz and Jack, being Jack, says we're going to a new part of town. The girls don't like this one bit but they are being troopers and we walk. We walk and walk and walk. I keep asking him if he knows where he is going and he says, "yup" and we walk. We walk for about a mile and I'm sweating like a pig (shocking) and he turns to me and says, "Elliot said it was about a 2 or so mile walk. Jordan has to pee and things are going downhill and I am looking at him like he is crazy. We have a total of 3 hours to shop, eat and walk before we have to catch the only bus back. How long does it take to walk 2 miles alone???? We make the decision to turn back and go to where we have always gone before. IN TOWN!!!!! We head back into the town and find the restaurant where we first had breakfast. We ordered dinner and got some food in our bellies. We went to the Mercado and did our grocery shopping. I have become quite the leader, or drill sargent as some would say, while we are in the grocery store. Especially when we are on a time limit. I'll say to Jack and the girls, "find me 3 cans of tuna in water!" they will and deliver. I'll say, "find the packets of sauce w/ Hongos (mushrooms) and get 4 of those. We're all running around the grocery store getting our food that we need to survive. We got on the bus with minutes to spare. This time we knew where the bus was going and we had our headlamps with us. It barrels down the road and we are bumping along for almost 2 hours on the worst roads you can imagine. We got off the bus and put on our headlamps and walked the muddy road back 20 minutes to our casita. We were surprised to see how hard it must have rained since Santa Cruz only got some sprinkles. We had to take the umbrellas out for a little bit. No big deal. But here, it must have poured.
As we were getting off the bus tonight I said to the driver. "Gustamos esta boos. Es Pura Vida. Muchas Gracias" He laughed and said, "Con mucho gusto, Pura Vida."
I love that bus driver. I love Costa Rica.

Monkey's Up Close and Personal

Well, Jordan was the first to be stung by a scorpion. It wasn't bad but it hurt like H. E. double hockey sticks. Poor thing. We've let our guard down and sure enough we are getting taken advantage of now. She was hanging out this morning and it literally just crawled on her from the chair and bam! She was bit. I put a little lavendar oil on it to help the swelling. It worked. We rode down to Liz and Bart's house this morning. It rained all night last night and into the morning so we all slept until around 7am. Jack rode down and found their house early this morning to go surfing with Bart. They didn't hook up but when he came back he took us back down there. The road was super muddy from all of the rain and there were puddles everywhere. Stay out of the puddles. You never know if a snake or a huge toad or what is creeping around in there. I decided to take a far right line to avoid the puddle. My bike tire slid right out from under me and I fell over right onto the chainlink fence. My whole left side has cuts from the fence and of course my first instinct was to grab the fence with my hand and break my fall. Well, grabbing a chainlink fence isn't something you should do. We showed up at Bart and Liz's house and I was cut, bloody, and when I fell off my bike my foot landed in mud up to my ankle. I was a mess. I rinsed off under the faucet they had in the front yard. Nothing that the saltwater won't fix in a day or two. Of course, I show up looking like a trainwreck and it was typical Hef. We all got a good laugh out of me. Their house is beautiful with a beautiful yard. They have a pool in the back and a nice BBQ area under shade. We have decided to house sit for them and take care their dog. We move in July 19th and will stay until we fly out of here. It couldn't have worked our more perfect. They come back the same day we fly out. Bart and Liz couldn't be any nicer and I think we will become good friends. We're going over there on Jueves for dinner. I can't wait to get pictures of the house. It's beautiful! The clouds hung out all day here and we only swam in the ocean for a little bit. Most of our afternoon was spent hanging in the casita, reading, and computer. The young bucks were around also and they are always giving us a good laugh. AHHH, to be 18 again. NOT! The monkeys were hanging out in the trees above our casita all day. There are 3 mom's w/ babies on their backs and it seems just the one male. They are a tight knit family and don't stray to far from one another. Where the male goes, the females, w/ the babies in tow, follow. They talk together all day and just mutter things back and forth. They are so interesting to watch. If you can get close enough to them, like we did today, they'll look you right in the eye. They don't seem scared or vicious or anything but they just watch. I could sit all day and watch the monkeys. The cats try to get onto the roof of the casita and get the monkeys. Not on your life could those cats hold a candle to the monkeys. Maybe the ocelot one day but not today. We are hanging out right now, Jack working on the bikes, kids swinging in the hammocks and I am blogging. It's 3:30 and it seems like it about 6:30. I hate to take a nap because then I'll be awake all night. Not that I won't be anyway but naps here screw me up even more with my sleep. It looks like it'll rain any minute. I'm showered and clean and sand free and it's time to refresh my bacardi/papaya/pineapple slushy. I'm throughly enjoying my afternoon. Thanks for letting me share it with you.

Happy Father's Day

Jack had an awesome Father's Day. We did too. He took off after his morning cup of coffee and went surfing. The sky was blue and it was gorgious out. I got no sleep last night, again. I haven't gotten a real good nights sleep yet. More on that later. I slept in until 7 or so and the girls were already up when I got out of bed. The are pretty good about getting themselves breakfast and doing whatever it is they need to do. We didn't have internet service at either place all day so I couldn't blog. All three of us layed in hammocks and the girls did some math lessons while I read some spanish stuff and we were super content. The ocelot was playing with Bob, the cat we named, and it was so nice and peaceful. Jack came back and cooked some breakfast and we all got our suits on and went to the beach. Jack carries the surfboard with the boogie board bungied to the basket. The picture is of him carring the load to the beach. It's a sketchy ride. He hasn't crashed yet with the get up. We got to the beach and Jack and the girls were in the water the entire time. I was so tired from not sleeping that I fell asleep on my towel and never moved. Boy, am I paying for that now with the sunburn. Damn. We were all getting hungry and it was around 1pm and I suggested we go drop off the boards and treat Dad to a nice lunch at the Mauna Loa and go swim in the pool. Remember, I blogged about that place and we met Liz who works there. I thought she was the owner but isn't. They live in a house behind the Mauna Loa. We ride down to the Mauna Loa and Liz is on her computer and I re-introduce ourselves and she remembers us and we chat a bit and we say we came for some food and drinks. The kitchen opens at 2 and it's 1:45 so she tells us to go enjoy the pool while she brings us some drinks. We do and it's absolutely lovely. Just perfect. She asks us to pay for our drinks because she is leaving for the day and needs to close her stuff out and I do. I tell her she speaks wonderful English and ask her how she learned. She tells me she lives in Colorado. I ask her where, she tells me Golden. I tell her I'm from Keystone and she and I are now talking about people we know. Her husband worked at the Kikapoo forever and we know the same people. We are so thrilled about this and cannot wait until our husbands meet. Jack is sitting at the pool with Jordan and Hannah so he's missing this whole conversation. I pay for the beers and go tell Jack about my new BFF (best friend forever, for those that don't know what BFF is). I'm telling Jack about this and he stands up, bolts up, to be exact, and needs to talk to her. So, let me back up now for a minute. As we are leaving Montezuma the day we flew out, Greg, our renter, is trying to get us to contact his best friends friend, who live in CR and needs someone to take care of their house. Jack tells Greg he didn't have time to follow up and it's now to late because we are driving out of our driveway but these people live in Playa Avellana and we could care for their house for a month while they are back in the U.S. Jack figures we'll cross paths sometime while were are down here and we'll be able to meet them. Well, he walks up to Liz and asks her if she is friends with Todd W. and she says yes and he say's we are the family who was going to take care of your house and we never got in touch with you. We're all just standing there with our mouths open and now her husband drives up and we introduce ourselves and she is hugging me, as I'm sweating like a pig, and it was just PURA VIDA. They are the nicest people and they still need their house looked after for a month. Jack and Burt, Liz's husband, realize that they have been out in the water together. Burt say's to Jack, "Have I been nice or not so nice?" Jack is laughing about this because some surfers aren't so nice especially if you don't surf there often and it's a local spot. Jack and Burt are surfing together early manana and Liz, the girls and I are having a beach day together to get to know one another. It was all so strange. Liz say's, "This is God!", meaning this is an act of God and I knew what she was saying. It was so funny and crazy how we met. Liz left for the day with Burt and we said "hasta manana" and tomorrow we'll talk about staying in their home next month. Their home is closer to the beach, they have a pool and it's 3 bedrooms and modern. We'll have to see what the future holds. Jack, the girls and I stayed for dinner which Jack and I had casados with tuna, the best casado I have had yet, and the girls had a pepperoni pizza. It was perfect. The girls also met the two boys who live down in the shop on this property. On this property there is the main house where the owners live, 3 rental casitas, one housekeepers casita, another casita they are building and a shop with a house attached to it. In the house attached to the shop live a couple from Isreal and their boys ages 12 and 13. The girls met those boys today and at least talked. They go to school so they aren't around except for on the weekends. Jordan was jumping for joy to meet someone new. Hopefully they will all strike up a friendship. Jordan and one of the boys rode bikes tonight until it started to rain. I went down and introduced myself to their Mom and Dad also. Today was perfecto. It's raining and the bugs are biting. Internet is back, obviously, and did I mention that it's 5:35. Jack went to bed an hour ago. ZZZZZZZ
Hasta Luego! Pura Vida!

Scorpions

Oh, the dilemma of dinner. Tonight I'm making up potatoes, rice and beans and onions and garlic. We have tortillas again so we'll roll the mixture up into a burrito and top it with some tobasco. We didn't buy avacados at the market and now I'm kicking myself. We should never be without avacados.
Hannah had a scorpion crawling on her leg today. It freaked her and all of us out big time. If that thing would have stung her she would have been down for the count for a couple of hours. We have seen them inside our casita but they are small and they run away. This one was large and black not like the little brown ones that we have seen on occasion. When we get home from the beach the first thing we all do is rinse off in the outside shower and either call it good or take a thorough one inside. Tonight, I needed to wash my hair so I went inside. When I was finished with my shower I grabbed the towel hanging up and shook it, just in case, and sure enough, a scorpion flew off the towel. One more thing we need to be careful about. Most of the bugs I'm not to worried about. Scorpions HURT if they sting you. And you can feel it for awhile. I've been stung in Mexico before and it is not good. Thank God Hannah didn't get stung. She was not a happy camper to have that thing on her. Hopefull we won't see them to often.
We have internet now at our casita. It doesn't work inside, so I'm told, but at least I don't have to walk over to Elliot's house and sit on his porch. We'll see how well it works tomorrow morning during my usual blog time. Right now it seems to be working fine. Fingers crossed.

Just Stuff

Yesterday as we were riding to the store, backpacks strapped on, I said to Jack how amazing it is what we take for granted. The store is only 7 miles away. The same distance as it is from our house to Keystone. And there is a 1000 foot elevation drop from our house to Keystone. Montezuma Road is a great hill to ride up. It's a workout. I was saying how impossible it would be to live where we live without a car. Here, it's sort of the same. Remote, not a grocery store near, and yet somehow, we have managed without a car. Granted, the girls couldn't do the rides to and from the store. They could but it would be extremely ugly and I wouldn't put them through that. It hasn't been easy, but we have managed. I don't know what's worse. Riding in the heat and humidity or riding in the altitude. I think the latter is easier. For me anyway.
There was a fruit/veggie stand on the side of the road just before the grocery store so we stocked up on the grocery store stuff and hit the fruit stand on the way out of town. We got an head of brocolli, a giant papaya, 2 onions, a bag of potatoes, 4 bananas, and a mango for $3000 colones. That's around 6 bucks. Not bad.
My body is pretty beat up right now. After the ride to Villareal we came home and got down to the beach. I am bound and determined to learn how to surf and I was in the water getting beat up pretty good. My knees, arms, back, are all sore. It's a great feeling to be getting so much exercise. I forgot what it felt like. I feel like me again. Not homeschool mom, cook, houskeeper, waitress. I need to not be such a slug when we get home. It's to easy to crawl under a blanket when the weather is yucky. Here, even if it's raining, as it is now, people don't let it stop them. There are people surfing in the rain. It just doesn't stop anyone. Plus, it's not cold. When it rains it's pretty much the same temperature. Just wet. I'm sure today will be a day of being on the computer. It looks like rain for the entire day. It rained non-stop all night and when we got up this morning it was so wet and damp and it's now just started raining hard again. It is socked in.
We were riding to the beach and Hannah says to me it smells like Minnesota. I got to thinking of all of the similarities and the humidity is the biggie. I forgot what it's like to live when it's so humid all the time. It doesn't bother me at all. We are seeing fireflys everynight which is cool. Things grow on things if you leave them on the ground and forget to hang them up. Cacoons are forming everywhere. June bugs are attacking the screens at night just begging to come in where the light is. Jordan picks up those June bugs like it's nothing. My Mom used to be able to do that too. I could never touch the things. They gross me out. I see so much of my Mom in Jordan with her manerisms. Yesterday we turned on the music on the tv. Jordan picked out a station and it was playing "Hollywood Nights, Bob Seger." She get's the groove in her and starts dancing and I always think of how my Mom would just bust out in a dance if she liked the song. Jordan does it too. I know my mom is with me whenever Bob Seger comes on. I say hello and enjoy her company. It was a nice moment.

Hannah on a Surf Board

Hannah is surfing. Whitewater anyway. She was so excited about it too. Here's the video. I need to work on my video taking.
The pigs name is Lolita. This restaurant/bar is right on the beach. It's called Lola's and is famous down here. We ride here on our bikes and park them and either walk down the beach or hang out right in front. If you walk down the beach a little there is a huge sandy area where there are no rocks. Great for beginner surfing and boogie boarding and swimming. In front of the restaurant is more rocky and the current is stronger. But we like it in front of Lola's too. It's all good. We usually end the day with a beer at this same table you see the picture. We rode our bikes up yesterday and the owner came up to Jack and said, "there's my bike riders." He say's he has seen us all over riding our bikes. He shook Jack's hand and introduced himself. He's from The Netherlands and is super nice. He told us to park our bikes behind his kitchen for more security. It's nice to have someone watching out for us. He told us the bikes are fine usually where we park them but if we walk down the beach, which we often do, he'd rather see our bikes put behind his kitchen. That way they are sure not to get stolen. It would be tragic to have those things ripped off. The video of the pig is just a neighbors pig. There used to be a great big huge pig here named Lola. That pig was giant. Lola was so big and her little legs could barely hold her up. They wobbled something terrible and she would lay in the sand and the waves would crash up over her. I'll post a picture of the original Lola later. This pig, we thought, was Lola's offspring but the owner said it's not. It's just a different pig and they named her Lolita. Lolita loves the water too. Can't say I've ever seen pigs play in the surf. It's a sight to see. I was in bed at 6:00 last night. It wasn't even dark yet. I swear, this entire country goes to sleep before 8pm and wakes up at 5am. People who know what a night owl I am and how I love to sleep in would be amazed at my change in sleeping times. I'm up with the monkeys. Jack usually makes the coffee by 5 and goes surfing and I get out of bed at 5:30 and enjoy my coffee listening to the wildlife. It's amazing the sounds. I'd love to see every single thing that makes a noise. Plus the occasional stuff that drops out of the trees and lands on the roof or the ground. It's crazy. They're like bombs.As I was looking online a few months ago for places to stay here I ran across this website for the Mauna Loa in Playa Avellanas. Another guy, Jack met him a few years ago in Tamarindo and stayed at his place when he came down here solo, told him about this place called Las Olas. We took our bikes down the road to check these places out and I'm so glad we did. Both are spectacular. The Mauna Loa is super nice with a pool and little casitas and Liz, the owner with her husband, was so nice. She spoke beautiful English and they have a separate house with a pool. I'm writing this because I would recommend this place for anyone looking for a convenient, nice, clean hotel. The grounds were beautiful and they had lot's to do for kids. Besides the pool, they have ping pong, foosball, tv, all in an outdoor area by the pool. Everything is outdoors. We asked her if we could bring the kids back and have lunch and swim and she was more than happy for us to come back. Las Olas was beautiful as well. This place was covered with trees so you felt as though you were entering a wonderland forest. They have a nice restaruant and they have an interesting "path" to the beach. The beach is accessable only by this wooden bridge that is built over swamp land. The bridge is long and a bit scary to walk on. I kept thinking what if one of these boards gave way and you'd go crashing down into the swamp. I'll get video of it for you so you know what I'm talking about. The ocelot won't leave me alone. She keeps crawling on my laptop and she just want's to chew on my fingers. Here she is on Jordan's lap. More later. It's a grocery store day. Time to fuel up.

Cooking

These are some random pictures.
The creature, at the beach, preparing for the power outage that didn't happen.
Yesterday I got my butt whooped surfing. I swallowed more water and I have a bit of a saltwater hangover today. However, I did ride some waves and it felt great. I was surfing in the rain. Jack is getting so good in just a couple of weeks. The young bucks are commenting on how well he can surf. I told them Jack does everything well. He's like superman. He can read the ocean like he's been doing it all of his life. They're pretty amazed at him. They can't get over how "fit" he is. Their words. They're good guys. Very polite and nice and their parents would be proud of them.
I'm having a hard time figuring out what to make for dinner. So far our dinners have consisted of noodles w/ sauce or butter. You can't buy a jar of sauce here. The sauce comes in small packets that are pretty spendy. The packets you just heat up over the stove but it's enough sauce for about 2 servings. I add some water to stretch it a little. We are learning to ration our portions. I also make potatoes and onions with garlic. We have a lot of rice and beans. Unless we go to the grocery store everyday, which is unrealistic, I don't have the variety of fresh veggies on a daily basis. I sauteed up broccoli last night with the potatoes and it was yummy. You also can't get parmasean cheese. Peanut butter is out. We use honey instead for our bread. I'm sure there are places to buy these things but few and far between. We have had no meat since being here. I don't miss it at all and neither does my family. Although, Hannah mentioned she could go for some buffalo wings last night. Me too. I think the fish truck comes around today. Hopefully we'll be here to score on some fresh fish. We missed it last week. So, if anyone is creative with cooking, keep in mind my ingredients are limited, send me some ideas. I'm running out of them. We did treat ourselves to some oreos yesterday. I haven't had any but Jack and the girls scarfed them down like it was their last meal. I'm getting used to the no sugar thing and my body likes it too. My dessert is bacardi/mango/papaya juice. But I'm out of Bacardi. Time to get on the bike for a huge treck. Maybe manana.

Another Bus Adventure

Yesterday we took a much needed break from the sun. Jordan got sunburn on her back and I did a little too. Hannah keeps her rash guard on at all times. Good girl. We woke up and it was cloudy. Here when it's cloudy it's a good thing. It's a couple of degrees cooler. We got to hang out all morning doing nothing but computer stuff. We decided to catch the 1:30 bus to Santa Cruz for a bike wheel and some culture. We walked to the bus, which is around 10-15 minutes. A motorcycle came by and stopped and he took off his helmet and shook hands with Jack. Early yesterday morning Jack had ridden out to our lot to see if he could hire someone to clear it off. A lot has grown on it over the past 2 years. Anyway, the guy on the motorcycle did that for Jack and now he was looking for his money. He knew we were staying in Avellanas and came out to see if he could find us. He did. Walking down the road. Jack paid him $45 for clearing it off and we hopped on the bus to Santa Cruz. The bus ride seemed shorter for some reason this time. Maybe it was the time of day and no where near the amount of people were getting on. Plus, a lot of the school kids were already at school and they weren't getting on either. We got to Santa Cruz and started walking to find a bike shop. Jack had the wheel with him so we could show the shop owners what we needed. Unfortunately, we left without a new or fixed wheel so we'll have to try again another day. We did get 2 chains though so the chain that popped off Jordan's bike the other day and we had to push them home, will be fixed. We went to the Pali, a grocery store here owned by Walmart, and it was so crowded I could barely manage my cart in the store. I picked up some essentials and paid and we ate casados, the typical Costa Rican dish of rice, beans, lettuce, and choice of fish, chicken, beef or pork, at a little restaurant. We had 10 minutes to get to the bus that we weren't sure of. I asked the bus driver, in Spanish, if the last bus out took us to Playa Avellanas. He said, "no, Panilla" so we were a little worried considering Panilla is around an hour walk to our casita. Plus, since it get's dark here at 6:30 we would be walking in the dark and, of course, we forgot our headlamps. So were hoofing it to the terminal de bus station and the bus is pulling away. Jack flags it down and we hop on. The sign on the bus says, Panilla, Playa Abeannas. That's how he spelled it. We sit down on this super crowded bus and Jordan is on my lap and I'm sweating like a pig. The guy next to us gets up to give us our own seats while he was about to stand. I was going to have none of that. I can't imaging him giving up his seat for us only so he would have to stand. We move in close to the window in this blue schoolbus with Jordan on my lap and he sits back down. I think he was thankful he didn't have to stand because at the next stop around 20 more people got on and I thought to myself that the driver would start strapping people on the top of the bus if he had to. They don't turn people away. We're driving down the bumpy roads and people are slowly getting off the bus at their stops. We still have no idea where we will get off but he is heading in the direction we need to go so it's still going well for us. It's now pitch black outside and we pass the sign that says Hacienda Panilla. I make Jordan go back and ask Jack if he knows where he is. He's blind as a bat in one eye and won't wear his glasses so, of course, he can't see. He has know idea where we are. I'm getting super nervous which Jordan senses. We come to the town of Panilla. That's the town with the store where we stopped for me to beg for agua when Jack and I were on our bikes and I bonked. It's a ways away. Jack keeps thinking we are going to need to get off here because he thinks the bus is going to turn around in this town. He says we'll just 'hitchhike' back. Yeah right. The bus turns down a road we have never been on and were going the oppisite direction now. We stay on the bus to see if he'll turn it around and head back out to the main road. He does. We sigh a bit and now we are on the main road and he makes a right towards Avellanas. Another huge sigh of relief. Now, we are heading in the direction we need to be going but we still have never been on this particular road so we don't quite know where we are. We come around the corner and there is our familiar double wooden gate and sign pointing to "Lola's" and Playa Avellanas. It was high fives all around and we paid our wonderful bus driver, who actually gave us colones back, and got off the bus in the pitch black of night. We still had to walk the road back to the casita. We made Jack go first and I hung on to the strap of his backpack, while the girls hung on to the strap of mine. It was awfully heavy with the groceries I had in it. We made it without veering off the road and made a promise to ourselves never, ever leave without our headlamps. That was the darkest, eeriest walk I have ever had. It had rained so hard the day before that there were puddles in the road that we couldn't see. Huge frogs sit in those puddles and we'd come upon a puddle and accidentally step in it. I kept thinking of the frogs, or toads or whatever would be in the puddles. We never did encounter anything. The casita never looked so good when we arrived. It was good to be home. I mixed myself a Bacardi/jugo de naranjas and called it good. I went into the girls' bathroom to see if the creature was out and he was. I got a picture which I'll post. I don't have my camera over here with me at the moment. Hannah finally got to see it too. She was wanting to. The monkeys moved to a different tree so they weren't as loud this morning. I slept in until 7am. It's looking like a beach day.

The Creature

I'm not sure exactly when something qualifies as being called a creature but I'm pretty sure that's what is living behind the mirror in the girls' bathroom. Jordan came out yesterday after we got back from the day at the beach and said she saw the biggest spider in her bathroom. She was literally shuddering. Her comment was, "I'm never using that bathroom again!" I immediately thought there goes my space in my own bathroom. Keep in mind, we all three share a one sink, tiny bath at home. My parental instinct kicked in and I figured I better tell her a fib or we would be fighting for elbow room. I said, "I saw an even bigger spider in my bathroom a few days ago." Like it's some sort of compitetion or something. She, being Jordan, went into the asking questions mode and needed to know all the details. I, being me, elaborated. She put up her pointer finger and said that the leg on that thing was "this long". I have no doubt. She said she never actually saw the spider but just the leg and that was enough. I've already got the heebie jeebies and I'm enjoying my bacardi/mango/papaya drink and she has to pee so bad but she's to afraid to go. In any bathroom. Finally she can't hold it any longer and bolts for her bathroom and I hear her calling my name kind of panicky and I go in and there is Jordan sitting on the toilet and the creature came out from behind the mirror. Jordan is biting her bottom lip and not looking and I can't believe what I'm seeing. It's not the spider I saw on the first day here like I thought this whole time. This guy is different. It's like a cross between a crab, spider, and beetle. It's a flippin' creature. And then it crawled to his home behind the mirror. Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the ugliest creature of them all. Pretty sure you living behind it. Time for bed and I've got my sheet pulled up all the way to my chin. Clearly, this will save me from the creature if it comes to my room to snuggle with me. Never mind the fact that it's stinking hot and I'm sweating like a pig. I've put in ear plugs (that's another blog) and I'm good to go. It's 7:30. Kind late for me to go to bed. I wake up from a pretty deep sleep thinking about the creature because I have that sheet still pulled up tight to my chin, still sweating like a pig. I decide to take out my earplugs because I'm not used to sleeping with them. I also figure that if the creature decides to make his way to my room I'll hear him if I don't have the earplugs in. I cannot sleep. I toss and turn all night. At around 4:42, but whose keeping track, the monkey starts groaning. It was right outside our window and he was so loud. I finally got my camera so I could record him. I hope it comes out so you can hear it.
Last night it rained harder then I have ever seen it rain. It rains hard in MN too and even growing up there, I've never seen rain like that. Jack went surfing and Hannah and I wanted to ride around and explore. We rode for a little ways and it started sprinkling so we thought we had better get back rather then get caught in the rain. Glad we turned around. We got back to the casita and it started coming down. It filled up a whole bucket in just under and hour. I started to get worried about Jack. It's getting dark and it's now lightning and thundering and pouring so hard. He's on his bike, carrying a surfboard and I'm sure road is muddy as heck. I'm thinking back to his conversation with the young bucks. The young bucks are our neighbors who arrived 2 days ago from the East Coast. One is 17 and the other is 21. They were all talking about their surf session earlier at the river mouth and this was the conversation, "OH MAN. I THOUGHT TOTALLY YOU WERE DUST WHEN YOU WENT OVER THOSE ROCKS! DUDE, FORSURE! I SAW YOU CATCH THAT WAVE AND IT TOSSED YOU LIKE A NOODLE AND I THOUGHT FORSURE YOU HAD YOUR LUNCH!" Now, it's dark and Jack is still not back and I keep thinking he got his lunch and died from head trauma and when the heck do I go looking for him? How long do I give him? I make dinner for us and pour another cocktail and here he comes. Muddy and sopping wet and smiling. Damn him. When will I learn I never, ever need to worry about Jack. He loves this.

Danger Riding

Yesterday we took the bikes to Playa Negra. We were trying to do that for Jordan's birthday but the girls didn't want to ride in the heat. The only way to get them to do something is to tell them, "oh, it's right down the road." Jack and I donned our backpacks, water, bike pump and we started off down the road. The girls were enjoying the ride. It's fun looking at the sights. We got chased by 3 dogs passing a little store, the Tico's were laughing at us. But they did come out and grab the little yappers so we could ride past. Hannah crashed her bike riding down a small hill. She got to far to the edge and freaked and she has a bike that you have to break with the pedals. She can't get used to that so she slammed on the break and skidded out. Wham! She was down. Everytime we get on those bikes I think of bike riding at home. At home we have mountain bikes with all the gadgets. Lot's of gears, breaks that work, adjustable seats, gloves, padded bike shorts, jerseys, clipless pedals, shoes with socks, and HELMETS!!!! Here we have these beach cruisers that are barely hanging in there, wobbly tires, the bikes are pieced together with duck tape and parts that don't work. We hop on these unsafe bikes, with flip flops, bathing suits, all sorts of skin exposed, sweaty hands that slide of the handle bars, and NO HELMETS!!! I silently cringe at the thought of me letting my kids ride like that but do we have a choice? Yes, we could walk but not on your life am I walking when I have a perfectly good mode of transportation. I just say a little prayer each time we get on the bikes and hope for the best. We do have a good first aid kit at least. So if someone does go down, which everyday someone does, but if someone did get hurt we'd have to pick up the pieces and make whoever it is that is hurt get right back on that bike and ride back to the casita where the first aid kit is. Then we'll fix you right up. Then we'll get back on the bikes the next day and do it all over again. Am I a bad parent? Some would say so probably but hey, live and learn. And ride.
So, we get to Playa Negra 20 or so minutes later and it's gorgious. The waves were huge so it was fun watching the surfers ride those waves. There are tide pools and a great swimming beach. It was nice. We hung out for a couple of hours and rode back. Jack and Jordan were far ahead so Hannah and I stopped at a little store and had ourselves a coca. There is nothing like an ice cold coke in the heat and humidity. We sat on the ground in front of the store and drank. Hannah's little face was so red. She and I were just dripping with sweat. I wish I would have taken a picture of here. I'll remember to do that next time. We said "muchas gracias" to the guy and rode away. We got back to the casita, made lunch, and everyone did something different. I layed down with my book, Jordan and Hannah were in their room with books and Jack was working on the bikes. It's his new past time. Rob, you would have a hayday with these bikes. After about an hour the girls came and layed down with me in my bed, Jack went surfing and we napped a bit. At around 3:30 the girls and I rode to the beach and played in the water. It was high tide when we got down there. The tide was going out after awhile and Jordan and I were swimming and we got pretty far out by accident. I knew we needed to get in a little but the current kept pulling us out. She started to panic a little because we couldn't touch and I got scared. I told her we need to start swimming and you could see the look in her eyes. I talked to her and kept telling her we're fine we need to ride a wave in and just as I said that a wave came crashing over us and brought us in a little. I could now touch but she couldn't and I grabbed her hand and planted my feet in the sand and yanked her as hard as I could towards me. Another wave came and we rode it in more and finally she could touch bottom. We got to the shore where Jack was watching us and I asked him if he felt we were in need of saving and he said he was watching the Tico behind him sitting in the tree watching us. He said that Tico was not going to let anything happen. Neither was Jack. Needless to say, we got out to far, not by choice and I won't let that happen again.

Heat and Humidity and Hef

I'm so sorry it's snowing in Summit County for those who are reading this. I can feel your pain. I'm glad I'm not there. I know how cranky I would be.
Last night we experienced our first power outage. Apparently Costa Rica is always experiencing the outages and sometimes the entire country is without power. The rains came and they came hard. We got back from the beach and I started cooking dinner and the lights started flickering. I knew when they were doing that to get my headlamp and the minute I put it on my head the lights went out. Luckily we cook with gas so dinner was not delayed.
Jack and I got up yesterday morning and decided we needed to get groceries. Getting groceries where we are is not as easy as you would think. We aquired some more bikes from Elliot's shed. He told us if we fix them we can ride them. So Jack got one fixed up enough to ride and we were now a 2 bike family. We told the girls we were riding to the grocery store to Villareal. Jack has a basket on his bike and we each had a backpack on. I packed a water bottle and we were off. It was pura vida. The ride was gorgious and there were people walking, riding,and on horse. Everying is waving and saying hola. We got to the town of Panilla and stopped at a little store. I, of course, was sweating like a pig and we weren't even a quarter of the way there. We talked, sort of, with the owner of the store and he sold us a bike part and we were off. The ride was long. We got the the super mercado and did our grocery shopping. We kept having to keep in mind that we had to ride the 10 miles back with heavy loads over hilly, dirt roads in the heat and humidity. The hilly, dirt roads don't intimidate me. It's the heat and humidity that do a number on me. About half way back I hit a wall something fierce and thought I was going to die. It's not a good thing when you have to keep going and know that you could be suffering from heat stroke. I was shivering and had goosebumps and I was not feeling well. We got to the store in Panilla and I asked the guy if I could fill up my water bottle. He did and him and Jack were laughing at me, in a good way. Good thing I have a sense of humor. I knew I was a total gringa with how I was looking and feeling. The guy kept pointing at our bikes and shaking his head like he couldn't believe we were even riding them. We had no choice. It's our transportation. I like our beach cruisers. I slammed down the whole water bottle in one gulp, said, "muchas gracias", and we were off, again. I got home and crawled to the cold shower as the girls were asking, "what's wrong with mom?" Jack was still smiling. I'm not sure if he was smiling because he was proud that I didn't complain even once or because he was thinking, 'it's good to see her get her ass kicked.' Probably both.
We ended up packing up the backpack for the afternoon at the beach and we rode down and parked our bikes and ordered some beers from Lola's and ate Civiche and pizza. It was heaven. The girls swam in the ocean for 3 hours straight. It was a great afternoon.
Every night we lay in bed listening to all of the strange noises outside. There are so many different sounds. Just when you think you've heard them all a new bird or frog or whatever starts to talk. They never stop. It's a beautiful sound.

Happy Birthday Jordan

Good morning. And a beautiful one at that. It's Jordan's Birthday today. 14 years old. We don't have much planned except trying to find a cake or more like it a cupcake or something. She has these grandiose plans of going up to Las tortugas, a place we have stayed before, and swimming and eating lunch. I just don't know how we'll get up there. The bus doesn't run from here to there and a taxi is mucho dinero. We don't have mucho dinero. So maybe lunch at Lola's and a good day at the beach. Someday she'll thank us. The monkeys usually start grumbling at the break of dawn. It's so cool to hear them. If you've never heard a howler monkey before it is quite the sound. They don't really howl like you'd imagine. They sound like a lion roaring. It's loud. And the monkeys aren't that big. I'm sitting in my usual blogging spot. Elliot saw me yesterday and told me to come around to the front of the porch and sit there but I feel wierd since this is his home and I'd literally be sitting in his outdoor area. So, I'm on the back porch and I can hear Rosa and Pablo having a bird conversation. All of a sudden, I hear, clear as day, "Hannah, Hannah, Hannah," over and over. I think it's Pablo. He's saying it super loud that I'm thinking she is going to wake up and come out of the casita saying "WHAT!" thinking it's me or something. Those birds are a crack up.
Remind me not to plant a mango tree on our lot. They are huge and a great source of shade but super messy. Rotten mangos are constantly falling from the tree. Walking to and from this porch is like playing dodge the falling rotten mango.
My spell check is in Spanish and I haven't figured out how to get everything in English. So I apologize is my spelling is not correct for now. I'll work on it.