On Our Way to Volcano Arenal

A week ago I had the whole week off from Spanish classes, so we took our first official "vacation within a vacation" and headed to the town of La Fortuna to see the popular active volcano Arenal.  But before we arrived, we had some fun stops along the way.  Our first stop was in the town of Zarcero, where they have a garden of sculpted plants.  It was a great place to find some ice cream and homemade bread.  Second and super cool was the restaurant Las Iguanas just outside of La Fortuna.  I bet you can guess why it is called Las Iguanas?  There are iguanas ALL over the place.  It was amazing to seeing these prehistoric-looking creatures all over the place.  We all got to pet them and watch them for a long time while we ate lunch.  I was fascinated!  Next post will include pictures from our three-day stay at the base of an active volcano. 

Chicken Spiedini and Good Friends...doesn't get much better than this!

A few weeks ago, along with the Sears clan, we headed out to spend a beautiful Sunday afternoon at the house of our good friends, Eduardo and Paola and their two boys, Andres and Jacob.  We had a great time sharing and laughing and enjoyed a delicious meal of grilled chicken spiedini with alfredo and spaghetti sauces and noodles, not to mention some classic homemade chocolate chip and M&M cookies.  It was a perfect day!  Sure felt like a spring day in KC.

                        Jarrett takes on the job of hammering the chicken.  yay, since i don't like this part.

                                                            it's grilling time....feels like home

Charlie and Jude climbing in a cool mango tree.  Our boy ended up with a allergic reaction on his body from the mango sap that needed a heavy dose of medication to get rid of, but I think it was worth it.  :)  Same thing happened to Jarrett in Bolivia.

                                                        gotta love sidewalk chalk art

a great place for hide and seek!

happy bellies = happy husbands

Snow Day in Costa Rica?!

Hey everyone, a few weeks ago I posted about a unusual change in weather here in San Jose and getting a snow day right here in the city.  A few of you actually thought it had snowed here.  Sorry to fool you.  :)  But we were all so jealous of the mountains of snow you were getting in KC back then and just had to have a snow day of our own.  So we called off our homeschool while I played hookie from my school, so we could  go "sledding", Costa Rican style, which we'll just call "cardboarding".  It was a great day for us to laugh and have fun as a family.  Since you are all getting snow, AGAIN, I thought I would finally post these pictures to share our snow day with you.  Hang in there!

When Clouds Hide the Sun (A Bright Promise Undiscovered) By Caroline Meek, age 14

When Clouds Hide the Sun  (A Bright Promise Undiscovered)
by Caroline Meek - 3/3/13

A shade of color, undetected,
before the light shines through.
A certain ray of light unseen
lurks in front of you.

Not all rainbows have bright colors,
and clouds can hide the sun.
But swift can come the realization
once the happening has begun.  

Before the reflection can be seen,
the waters must be found.
And often you can only find them
when you look up from this ground.

You have to look past this storm
to the faint outline of a star.
A gleaming beam of light that shows you
where to go and who you are.


................................................

What does this poem mean to you?? Are there any parallels that stick out?

Costa Rican Mountain March

Several weeks ago, we had opportunity to go hiking up in the mountains at the house of a friend of Edwin and Zeidy's.  What we thought was going to be a 1 1/2 hour hike, turned out to be a 4 hour hike up and down steep mountains.  I thought I wouldn't make it and was amazed at how incredibly positive five-year old Lucy remained the whole time.  It certainly was a character-building experience for all of us.  Lucy especially taught me a lot that day.  We had a blast laughing and encouraging one another to keep pressing on and stopping along the way to enjoy God's incredible creation (and catch our breath).  We have been so very thankful for times like these that we have been able to share new memories with our dear friends while at the same time building new friendships.  Eduardo, Edith and their three girls, took great care of us and fed us a delicious feast of grilled meats, chimichuri salsa and tortillas at the end of the hike.  We rewarded ourselves by topping off the day with a platter of brownies!

                                          Before the hike begins...fresh and full of energy.

                            No, the girls aren't sunburned, just had the camera set on a funky exposure.

                                                            The big hike begins!

         Annie always seems to find a baby to care for, wherever she is.  This is a baby iguana.

                            Jarrett, Eduardo (our wonderful host and fearless leader), Seth and Edwin

                        The halfway point and popsicle break at a small grocery store along the way.

                                      Our KU fan club!  ROCK CHALK, JAYHAWKS!

                                   Two buddies and some beautiful flowers.  They are still smiling!

                                               A view down into the San Jose valley.

                                        A view along the way, up and down and up and down.

The final pass through...this was the rockiest part.  The rest of the road was a smooth path, just not a flat, smooth path.

                                                             We did it...almost...

                                        Yay, three cheers for crossing the rocky pass through.

                                   Three BFFs...they did AWESOME! and they are still smiling!!

 We had an incredible feast to reward ourselves...grilled beef, chicken and sausage and the most delicious   chimichuri salsa I have ever had (of course I got the recipe!), AND some yummy brownies.  It was all worth it.  

                                                      These girls were tuckered out!

                                                         Seth and sweet Michelle

                                        All the kids chilled out and watched a movie after lunch.

                        These are our wonderful hosts, Eduardo and Edith, and their three daughters.
                                                    They took such good care of us.

                                                        Some sweet and silly girls.

                                                                The whole gang.

Baseball and Basketball Loving Boys

This sabbatical has been a wonderful bonding time for Jarrett and Charlie.  Four days a week, while the girls practice piano at the institute, the boys head to the park for an hour to play baseball and basketball.  Both of them have loved this time together as Daddy (coach) and son, and Charlie has improved a lot in his athletic ability.  He has especially been practicing his pitching, throwing and catching to get ready for the upcoming season with the Phillies and the KCK RBI baseball league.  What a gift this break has been for them to have so much extended time together.  Charlie has an awesome Daddy!