It was a long two days of flying, with an overnight stop in Dallas for the boys, but we all made it through in one piece. The kids did amazingly well for how long we were on the airplane. Gustavo and his brother, Meynor, met us at the airport and drove us to Gustavo's house, just a little ways outside San Jose.
Silvia and Gustavo live in a great house with an amazing view. This is the view from the back deck upstairs. Gorgeous! The humidity has taken some getting use to, especially since the Seguras do not have air conditioning, but after a day or two, it just feels pretty normal. We are lucky this isn't the hot season.
They have all kinds of fruit trees growing in their yard -- lemons, pineapple, mangos, and more. This is one of the green lemons we had with our sea bass on Monday night. Yum!!
They have an acre of land that slopes steeply after the pool. Bennett thought it great fun to climb the mountain. Paxton tried but was not quite so successful. Just covered with mud.
Monday, our first day, we drove in Meynor's mini-bus with Gustavo, Siliva & Santiago (their 3-month-old) to the Atlantic Aerial Tram. The first animal we saw we a very poisonous viper. He is the tiny pretzel looking thing in the middle of the photo (a little out of focus). Later there were two of them sitting side-by-side. We kept having to remind Sarah that they were dangerous and she didn't want to hold them, even though they were little and "cute."
Next we saw a sloth high up in the tree. They had a telescope so you could get a closer view. He was in the same spot almost the whole time we were there so you could get a really good look at him. In this picture, he is the brown blog in the upper third of the photo. You may have to click on the photo to enlarge it to really see him well.
Here he is a little bit closer here but still hard to pick out in the picture. About 1/4 of the way in from the left. His right arm is up in the air. He looked right "at" the telescope when I was looking at him.
His outline is clearer here.
The star activity of the day was an aerial tram that carried us through the rain forest layers. It started lower to the ground and then climbed higher and higher until we were in the canopy. It is hard to see animals in the wild because they hide for protection, but the vegetation was amazing and we saw some beautiful birds. Gustavo, Siliva, and Meynor were in a separate tram and they saw an anteater. Bennett was really scared but, as usual, Mark was able to talk him into trying and he LOVED it.
Paxton loved everything, except for having to sit still in the tram. Once he got to stand in front, he had a much better time.
Incredible flowers.
"Broccoli" trees.
"I'm not scared at all anymore!"
The humidity is a challenge for anyone with curly hair. I just put in a bunch of product, pin back my bangs, and let it go. There is nothing else to do. I have never seen my hair so curly. It was drizzling much of the morning. But with our light jackets, we were fine. It seems so strange that it can rain and be warm at the same time.
It is impossible to capture the beauty and dense richness on camera.
Jackson, the scientist, was interested in everything - plants, birds, animals -- soaking it all in.
Gustavo and Silvia. Santiago is under the blanket.
Looking at an enormous spider on a huge web. Yuck!
All of us with Meynor. He and Sarah have become good buddies. She held hands with him while we walked to butterfly garden. She even shared her Oreos with him (AFTER she licked the cream out of the middle) -- so kind!
Paxton was exhausted, so Mark walked him around in the backpack until he fell asleep while the rest of us ate lunch. We had a typical Costa Rican lunch of rice and chicken with plantains in honey for dessert. They had a juice of guava and cas, which is a Costa Rican guava -- so delicious! The food was all really good, although Bennett did not enjoy it all!
Jackson, Mark and Gustavo went on a great zipline tour. They all loved it!
Meynor and I took the other kids to the butterfly garden while Silvia rocked the baby to sleep. One of the butterflies decided he really liked Meynor. We had a difficult time keeping Sarah on the trail. One time she fell in the mud. Another time, she almost grabbed a bullet ant, named so because of how it feels when it bites you. Freaked us all out! We decided we would not go on a longer hike through the forest without her in a backpack. (I was already carrying Paxton.)
But she was totally enchanted by the butterflies. She was thoroughly in love.
Driving home took a very long time. The traffic in San Jose is amazing, as well as the tiny roads that we had to maneuver. I was so glad Meynor was driving. We were so thankful for the DVD player so the kids were patient as we crawled back home. When we finally got home, we quickly fed them quesadillas and put them to bed. Then we had a nice "grown-up" dinner (including Jackson) of sea bass and mashed potatoes. Gustavo is a good cook!
Tuesday was a much quieter day at Gustavo's house. The kids swam in the pool for hours. They are squinting in all the pictures we took because none of us are used to the sun.
Thankfully Gustavo has internet access at his house so we are able to communicate with family back home. Here I am showing Silvia pictures of my beautiful niece, Genevieve, on Amanda's blog.
There were lots of butterflies in the garden and Sarah was enchanted with them all day. She also picked most of the flowers she could find. I put sunscreen on her part so she wouldn't get burned which makes her look a little like a skunk in this picture.
Gustavo and I eating breakfast on the patio while I downloaded photos from the camera.
At lunch, Gustavo and Mark left to go to a soccer game -- Costa Rica versus Spain. Very exciting, since Spain is considered one of the best teams in the world. They had a great seats and really enjoyed the game which ended 2 - 2, even though it poured rain on them. We enjoyed the rainstorm too. After quiet/nap time, we played soccer under the cover of the patio, sat and chatted with Silvia, flirted with Santiago, and then went for a swim during the rainstorm -- so fun and unforgettable, for everyone except Paxton who did not like it at all. A very pleasant relaxing day. Gustavo and Silvia are amazing hosts. Natalie would be proud of me and all my Spanish speaking. Silvia does not like to speak English (for the same reasons I don't like to speak Spanish) so I've been trying really hard to speak Spanish a lot. She has gotten more comfortable with us and now she tries to speak English with the kids, but she and I usually speak mostly Spanish. Between the two of us we are able to have a pretty good conversation. The kids just love them, and that has made the trip so pleasant. Paxton says, "Mommy, I need you" whenever he wants something. And he'll repeat it over and over again. Meynor started teasing him, saying "Paxton, I need you!" Paxton responded "I can't need you!" again and again, while laughing and smiling, totally getting the joke. It has become a running mantra between the two of them, and makes everyone smile.
More photos and details to come....
