She's a Famous Character

For a few years now we've been a part of Parents as Teachers, an organization that helps parents make sure their kids are on-track and provides activities to help them excel.  We've really enjoyed the program and are always looking forward to Mrs. Pam's monthly visits.  A couple months ago Mrs. Pam asked us if Brooklynn would like to participate in a special program, where a 6th grader who is attending a writing camp would write a book about her.  We instantly knew Brooklynn would absolutely love it, so there was no hesitation to agree.  

Fast forward a couple months - we were invited to the book ceremony, where Brooklynn would receive her book and meet the author.  We didn't know what to expect, so we didn't prepare Brooklynn, catching her a little off-guard.  As soon as we came into the room, the  cutest 11 year-old walked over, introduced herself, and told Brooklynn she was the author and would read her the book.  It was love at first sight for our Boo Bear.  After reading the book, Aleksi played games with Brooklynn, did some group activities with the other kids, and just hung out.  It was one of the sweetest moments.  The book was fabulous, since it was about Brooklynn the Princess.  Aleksi is an amazing kid who we had a great time with, and Brooklynn was so sad to leave her. I felt like she was Brooklynn in 5 years, as a sweet girl who loves kids and girly things.  For weeks now Brooklynn has been inseparable with the book.  What an experience for her!

Aleksi reading to Brooklynn

 How cute are they?

 Even Chandler was in love with her

 The girls with Mrs. Pam

Daddy's Day

I know I'm getting futher and further behind on posts.  This summer has been absolutely crazy!  We've been super busy everyday going to the park, museums, and zoo and have had hardly any days at home.  Not to mention I have two older girls who are starting to refuse to nap.  Oh no!  

Anyway, we did celebrate Father's Day a few weeks ago to say thanks for all our daddy does for us!  The girls were anticipating the day for a long time, because we checked out a Father's Day book from the library.  So when it was finally here they were ready to cater to daddy for the day.

Chandler was excited to make daddy breakfast in bed (she really cracked the eggs herself; she's really a natural)

 Even Bug was willing to help

After breakfast we went to "The Bay", which is a little water park near us that's great for the little ones, because they can do all the slides!  We had a great time until we got kicked out because of lightning.  Bummer!  After our much-needed naps we went to Magra and Papa's for some dinner and fun times.

The girls love to wrestle with their daddy

Steve's gift was tickets to a Rockies game.  We learned years ago to not go on Father's Day, because it's too crazy.  So we bought him tickets to the Mets game on June 27th.  Fast forward a couple weeks and we were ready to go!  Shirts - check!  Peanuts - check!  Lots of sunscreen for the hot temps - check!  We snuck into some seats on the 3rd base side for some much needed shade.

 Chandler just wanted a hot dog!

 But then insisted on eating our burrito!  This girl can eat!

 Rockin' daddy's shades

 She couldn't be outdone by her sis!

Even though the Rocks lost and there was no Tulo, we had a fun time!  We are so lucky to have a "super awesome" dad (Chandler's words).  

Ask and You Shall Receive

After numerous a few requests for the video of the recital I finally had a few minutes to spare to post them.  I guess it's also a good thing to be able to show them when they're older, right?  If you need a refresher of what happened please see this post.

Here they go for the 2nd time.......(I only downloaded one of the tries)

And the finished product (you can hear Adaley's meltdown during the show - thankful we have video to capture this so I can actually watch later)

Off to our treehouse!

We were really excited to end our trip at the Arenal Volcano - the only active volcano in Costa Rica.  When we were searching for hotels Steve stumbled upon a treehouses hotel, and we immediately fell in love.  We ended up changing our itinerary to accommodate their availability.  We made the long trek from Monteverde to Fortuna (the tourist town outside the volcano).  We arrived late afternoon and spent no time driving to the Fortuna Waterfall for a steep hike and a cool dip in the water.

On the way down

 Had to jump in!

 When in Costa Rica.......

 The locals "built" this Tarzan rope to swing into the river.  We spent a few minutes watching them and their sweet tricks.  Steve even tried it out.  It was much higher than the picture depicts.  I wussed out.......wah wah

 Finally we were on our way to our treehouse!  And here it is!  

 Pretty cozy inside, but who wants to stay inside when you have wildlife all around?

 We had to switch treehouses for the 2nd night, but they were both great.

 We spotted this mama and baby sloth on the hotel grounds.  So neat to watch!

 They even had a night security guard who took the guests on night hikes.  He spotted this red-eyed tree frog and let us play with him.  We had a great time!  Steve was so excited, because he really wanted to see lots of colorful, poisonous frogs.  This guy wasn't poisonous but definitely colorful!

 No drinking and frogging Steve!

 Trying to kiss my prince (Ok, I'm deathly afraid of frogs....strange...I know).  But when in Costa Rica......

 Then we went hiking on the grounds and Steve actually spotted this guy!  A REAL poisonous dart frog.  Woohoo!  They're actually really small!

 These leaf-carrying ants were everywhere.  It took awhile to get accustomed to seeing these large pieces of leaves moving at your feet, but it's pretty amazing they can carrying these leaves that are so much bigger than they are.

 The "waterfall" on the grounds

 The grounds were beautiful with exotic flowers.  Here's a few of my favorites:

 We wanted to do a sunset hike of Arenal volcano, so we hired a guide to take us there and then to the hot springs afterwards.  Unfortunately the view of the volcano is usually blocked by clouds and they haven't seen lava flowing in over a year.  So our expectations of seeing either were low.  A view of the volcano from the base:

 Even though it's only 5,300 feet tall, it looks very majestic in the landscape of Costa Rica.

 A lake in one crater on the hike.  This is where Will Smith shot parts of "After Earth", so the locals are pretty excited about that.

 I love love love this picture!  Our guide, Juan, brought his son on the hike.  One of my favorite things about Costa Ricans is their family values.  Since we ate at the local joints, we'd always see families together enjoying each other's company or parents walking their kids to school in the little towns.  I think this captures their family spirit!

 We ran into these cows on the hike, and one (with horns) starting charging us.  I actually screamed!  Who would've thought the scariest animal in Costa Rica would be a cow?

 Almost there.....

 View of Lake Arenal from the observatory point (as high as they let you go just in case.....)

 We decided to start our hike back before sunset, since there were so many clouds.  But we saw this over our shoulder and saw a little of the sunset.

 We woke up the next morning and said goodbye to our treehouse casa.  It was everything we thought it'd be.....amazing!  From the coffee delivered to our porch each morning, to the yummy homemade breakfasts, to the hiking around the grounds, we absolutely loved it!  We were hesitant to drive to our final destination - San Jose.  Since our airplane was leaving so early in the morning we didn't want a 3-hour drive at 4 a.m.  So we decided to book a room downtown and see what San Jose had to offer.

 Our hotel was charming and in a good neighborhood near the financial district.  Unfortunately it down-poured the entire day, so we only did a little sight-seeing.  This was the view from the hotel - definitely a disappointment after our previous destinations.  Oh well.  It was only a half-night, since we had to leave at 3 a.m. for the airport.

We were ready to get home and squeeze our babies!  We really missed them but are extremely grateful we were able to take this trip of a lifetime.  Costa Rica - we'll be back.....next time with the kids (in a few years).  We may just need to buy some property there!  Haha!

On to Monteverde.......

We were really looking forward to heading up to the mountains and visiting Monteverde, which is in a cloud forest.  Although we were forewarned about the terrible roads, we had no idea what we were in for.  Luckily we rented a 4 x 4 P.O.S. vehicle to get us through the bumpy, rocky roads.  We'd see a sign reading "Santa Elena 5 km", so we'd get excited, but when you're driving 5 km/hr it takes forever!  We finally arrived (after a few wrong turns) Thursday evening and checked into our hotel and went out for a nice dinner.  The next morning we headed to the Monteverde Reserve (the reason people come here).  We had a very knowledgeable guide that showed us all the flora and fauna this place has to offer.  So beautiful!

I loved the enthusiasm of our guide and his passion to conserve the forest.  It always amazes me the way the ecosystems work, and Costa Rica is a place they really care about the environment and conserving it.

Our own hike to the top of the forest.  The clouds just sit between the mountains, and it's amazing!

 A "strangler" tree that actually wraps itself around another tree and chokes it out.  I was in heaven learning all these unique adaptations the plants and animals here have!  Science teacher's dream come true!

 Waterfall in the reserve

 People come here hoping to see this bird - the Quetzal.  Costa Rica has been working on increasing their population, although they are the national bird of Guatamala.  Beautiful birds! 

We finally found some cool bugs

 Suspension bridge in the reserve

 So lush!  I don't think pictures even portray how lush and green everything in Costa Rica is!

After our day at the reserve we decided we'd try a night hike to see the scary animals.  Not gonna lie, I was scared!  They said most animals are nocturnal and being in a wooded forest with no sense of direction didn't seem like a fun time.  The noctural animals include jaguars, tarantulas, snakes, frogs, bats, and many more.  Yikes!  As the sun set I was nervous for awhile, but soon we saw quite a few other groups, so you never feel  very "alone".  

Bell bird sleeping in a tree (this bird's call is so loud and unique!)

 Hard to see, but that's a kinkajou (it looked much bigger in person)

 FINALLY!  A tarantula!  I expected we'd be dodging large bugs left and right, including tarantulas on our trip.  Not the case at all!  But at least we saw one.

It was tough to get the pics at night to work, but we also saw a green pit viper in a tree, a 3-toed sloth, and an agouti.  After our frightful night we headed to a great dinner at a local restaurant for some casada.  We left the next morning for Arenal - the only active volcano in Costa Rica.