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.