Sunday, Feb. 12 (week 3 / day 21) Santa Cruz, CR

We went to church in Santa Cruz as usual & met another family on vacation, the Papas. Cedric Papa is Jared Papa's cousin who we know back home. They are staying at Playa Negra, just a 10 minute drive from the beach house. We plan to get together sometime this week. For lunch we had another version of rice, corn & bean burritos. Kyra & Cannon cooled off with the garden hose.

sitting in church at Santa Cruz Ward

 Kyra trying to get a pic of water shooting out her mouth

Playa Junquillal

We visited another beach just down the road to enjoy the sunset. It's on our jogging route but we've never gone during the day because of the large danger signs warning about the strong currents. It's the closest we've seen to a black sand beach & the sand is pretty fine, perhaps we'll try it out this week.

looking northward on Junquillal Beach

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Sunday reflections from the family:

SydVicious - Visiting the rainforest this week was incredible, it's so beautiful and its just plants on plants on plants. The zip line tour was unforgettable and I could do the Tarzan swing everyday. I also liked doing school work in the hostel in Santa Elena, there's just cool people coming in and out.
Probably my favorite thing this week was hiking Cerro Chato with Dad and Carley.  Dad said, "hmm the guidebook says its a 6 hour hike, we can do it in 2". Real time took us 2 hours and 30 minutes. It was really hard going up but we booked it down.
I made the mistake of doing my laundry 2 days into the week. I washed everything I had (which was just like 2 pants and 3 shirts and underwear) but since we were in the more humid part the clothes never dried. Not exaggerating everything I wore for the remaining days of the mini-trip was damp. And you would think that all this moisture would make your hair softly hydrated, but no, the salt, sun, and swimming has taken a toll, and I could really use some coconut oil. Nonetheless I am LOVING all the water action.  Swimming in Rio Celeste was way neat, and surfing has been muy divertido. Its really hard but I just want to be good. Conclusion: the rainforest is remarkably pretty but I am decidedly a coast person.

AveryBabe- Hands down, the worst thing about Costa Rica is bugs. Big Bugs. Huge Bugs. Ginormous Bugs. But other than that, I could live here forever! One of the coolest things That I think we have seen is Rio Celeste. It was AMAZING!!!! The water was literally blue! One of the most fun activities we have done (besides the beach) was the zip line tour and Tarzan Swing. I also LOVED Selvatura!! We did a cool cloud forest jungle hike over high bridges that stretch above the canopy, went to a butterfly garden, went to a hummingbird garden (where the hummingbirds actually landed on your finger and drank the sugar water), and Dad and I went on the zip line tour! Back at the beach house it is hot and dry. As rice and beans have slowly inched more and more into our diet I am becoming more and more desperate for Hershey's chocolate and Panda Express.

cmorg- My favorite part of the trip is relaxing all day. I love not having to get up early. We have gone to many beaches but favorite has been Playa Avellanas. Sydney, Dad and I went on a hike and I was dying the whole way up, but it was super cool and I was thankful going down was much easier. One of my favorite things we've done so far was when Avery, Sydney and I went on the ward youth overnight activity. It was at leaders houses and it was fun meeting new people and the food was very good. Also on the youth activity we went to the beach. It was an amazing beach and the girls took us to this amazing lookout place and looked over the whole beach. Today its our third Sunday and we went to church and its okay.

Kyra-  I am so glad to be in Costa Rica right this second! I definitely never get sick of going to the beach! But seriously, it's so hot here only the ocean is a cure. Or sometimes water in general. The river in Rio Celeste looked like someone took a huge bucket of blue dye and just dumped it all in! Swimming in it was cool, too. We also swam in a waterfall once, which was awesome. There is a beach by our beach house (hence the name) that is about a 5m walk. sometimes we go down there to see the sunset, which is always beautiful.
On a normal daily basis, we get up, have breakfast, hang around for an hour or two (sometimes more and sometimes less; it depends) and then head to the beach (eating lunch right before), a new one almost every time. We stay there for a while (also depends) and then go home, do schoolwork, and eat dinner. Somewhere in those meals there is always beans and rice. Sometimes more than once.
We have gone on a couple of hikes, which are cool and . . . plant-y. Lots of greenery. Yep. The Hummingbird Garden was amazing, because all you have to do is stick your hand under the feeder thingy, and  . . . voila! They land on you! It's only been three  weeks, but it feels like it's been going by in a blur.

Stacia-  These weeks have been great.   My love and appreciation has grown for my kitchen and Winco.  I love air conditioning and washing machines.  I appreciate the inexpensive prices for readily available food that I can get in the US within 10 minutes at multiple places.  And what a selection we have!  Fruits and veggies galore.  As we are "living" and not merely vacationing, daily tasks are still a part of our lives and are all more difficult here.  So far we have yet to be entirely comfortable anywhere.  We are either fighting windy conditions while cooking, hot and sweaty when outside, itchy outdoor couches, or damp and moldy in the jungle.  Yet, that is what makes this all so great too.  We are living outdoors with just two bedrooms and a bath inside.  It's all an adventure. 
What is cheap?  Bananas, watermelon, pineapple, melons, rice, & beans.  All of which have been a consistent part of our diet.  I love all the bananas and melons.  What a treat to have good watermelon every day in February!  Now, if I could just find a good chocolate chip cookie......
I am glad to know as much (or little) Spanish as I do.  I am able to translate decently in primary because the language is so basic.  So I sit in a little huddle around the English speaking kids and try to translate.  One part of my vocabulary that is lacking are "churchy" words.  I learned the word for commandments today, which was hard to figure out when they were explaining.  It would be nice to know more though so I could really talk to adults.  Part of the magic of traveling is getting to know the people, which is difficult if you can't speak to them.   The mission president spoke in church today and was so animated.  It was fun to see such emotion from the pulpit.  I understood about 20%... 
Perhaps in New Zealand we can "meet" more people.
We went on a four night excursion last week to the jungle/cloud forests.  It was funny for the kids to say that is "felt good to be home" when returning to our beach house. 
Cannon and Kyra are getting more confident in trying to say a few things in Spanish.  They raised their hands in primary today and would say the Spanish words our loud if I told them what to say.  That's some progress.  Kyra seems to be understanding a little too.
It's been fun to get to know Kristin & Jeremy Thelin and their family (Max, Ike, Brek, and Layla).  It's fun to have a friend to look forward to seeing at church.   I wonder if we will ever cross paths again in life?

Paul- truth or sugar? How about tactfully honest. The blog is something I enjoy doing but somewhat time consuming: formatting, uploading pics, electronic glitches, lost data, poor internet connection... We'll keep at it the best we can! Family vacation is rarely that "brochure picture" vacation. Pictures give the viewer a posed perspective, not the reality of the rest of the day. One of the biggest challenges is keeping 7 tummies happy and not spending a fortune: what to cook each meal that they will eat, loading the cooler with snacks & drinks, the smashed bananas that nobody will eat except me & the constant cleanup... OK, I'll switch to more positive vibes.  We are having a grand adventure! The experience is worth every penny & complaint. We are bonding as a family like never before. Some of my favorite moments are being out in the jungle or on a remote beach without other people around, just enjoying the beauty of God's mighty creations. Going to church & visiting with the local people is great, probably because it feels like those missionary days of long ago. For me, the driving around is sometimes just as fun as the big activities: the iguana or monkey jetting across the road, the beautiful trees & thick green scenery, the old couple waving at us, the remote towns with school children walking in their uniforms, the herd of cattle on the road, or the bull just outside our gate! Our beach house has provided some hardship but with just enough comfort. I loved surviving a day without running water, the occasional scream from exotic bugs, hand washing our clothes & cooking our own meals. We are that much more thankful for the AC inside the house which has always worked, our mattresses which are fairly comfortable & when the fridge is full after a grocery run & of course, toilets that flush.