Super fun week!

Nov. 28

So I have done some pretty cool stuff this last week! Wednesday we all went horseback riding on the beach! That was fun, but hot, I had to ride with KK during the first half and ZZ during the second half! It was really beautiful, we went up to the top of a hill and were able to see to the next beach over!
Thursday we went to Las Muertas Beach (yes it's the beach of the dead! It's right on a cemetery!) THen for Thanksgiving dinner we went to a huge mansion on the cliffs over looking a private beach! We saw whales breaching and dolphins jumping right in front of the house! Wow AMAZING!!! Even though I didn't feel incredibly great because I have strep throat and an infection it was still pretty cool! THe house was insane, it was completely open and was so big it could be a hotel! The infinity pool over the cliff in the living room I think was the best part!
Friday we went zip lining and had so much fun! Coco got super scared when we first started and didn't even want to go, but we convinced her to go on the first few and after about 4 she was having a blast! She now wants to go again! I had tons of fun there too! The guys that work there were really funny and gave me the new nickname "kitty kitty" can't say that I really love that one, but it's funny! I went upside down on most of them and on the last one I went upside down with no hands!!! THat was awesome!!! That evening we went to The Sayulita Cafe for dinner and I had the largest mango margarita of my life! The golf cart ride home was super fun! even though I got a little beat up buy it!
Today (Saturday) we went on a boat trip to the Marietas Islands! It was a beautiful trip and so much fun! THe guys that worked on the boat were super cool and took us to these awesome caves on the island! THe kids had a blast and really loved it! It was super cruise and we got to see whales and dolphins!

SUper fun week!

Long Week!

Nov. 23

So it's been a long week! Well I guess last week it was! I have now been in Mexico for over 2 weeks and am really feeling like I'm at home! Sayulita is a fun town and I'm really getting a chance to experience life here! Even though I work a lot, I still get to experience so much. I have found some really cool shops with great stuff in them (like my super cool new shoes!) and awesome people! I'm starting to meet all kinds of people who are really fun, so on my time off I'm not just hanging out completely alone! So I'm sure you all want to hear another funny story about the kids! Hmm...so the other night I was off but hanging out at the house, when I hear the kids start screaming! THey are yelling that there is the biggest bug ever and it just flew right over Coco and KK's heads! So of coarse I grab my camera and head outside only to see the most massive beetle I have ever seen! It was so big I thought it was going to get me! It was awesome! Another funny story...we are potty training ZZ, and the other day I took his diaper off so he would try to use the potty that he has. After like 10 minutes he comes running to me saying KATIE I just went pee pee!!! I was of coarse very excited, only to find that he didn't use his potty, however he did use the rock right outside my door! And it's not a rock that goes down to dirt or grass, it goes onto the cement right outside my door! YEY I love potty training! Hope you all get some laughs out of that one! Anyways time is flying by here and I can't believe we are on our 3rd week here! Can't wait for all the cool stuff we are planning to do!

Ojo Negro!

Nov. 19th

Okay so the last few days have been a little crazy! Since Monday we have really been getting settled here in Sayulita. We were just hanging out and trying to figure out this little town! Everything was going pretty good, with the exception of some dehydration for some of the kids. There are some really great shops here in town and lots of cool people to hang out with! I’ve just been relaxing on the beach during my time off and shopping! Now that we are settled however thing are getting really crazy! Yesterday I was with KK and ZZ in the morning until about 12:30, that went well! Ha, ZZ got super mad at me for having his Lolo and head butted me! I now have an awesome black eye! After I got really mad at him and he had a time out! Later I was given some time off, so I took KK shopping for her bday and then went back in to town to hang out for a few hours on my own!
Today was better or at least until tonight! We had a great morning; we started out with a drive to the end of the beach and visited the Sayulita cemetery. Since Dia de los Muertos was two weeks ago all the graves were decorated and you can see them in the below photos! Then we went to the beach for the entire morning, because our power was out and we figured it was better to be gone then home! Also L mom and Coco had a surfing lesson so we figured the beach was the best place to hang! So I hung with Emi, KK and ZZ and swam while L mom and Coco surfed! Later we all got to do a little surfing, which was nice although the waves were pretty small! Tonight we went to a turtle talk down at the beach and got to release about 100 baby Olive Ridelly Turtles into the ocean! That was pretty cool especially because those are the same turtles I released in Costa Rica! You can see a bunch of my cool pictures of the turtles below! Can’t wait for what tomorrow brings!

turtles!

Sayulita!!!

Nov. 15th
So we finally made it to Sayulita yesterday! It’s beautiful here! Our house is over looking the ocean and the whole bay! Today I spent the afternoon at the beach and walking around town, which is much bigger than I expected! There are so many people in town and it looks like a really fun town! I’m excited to get some real time off to really explore. For now mi vida es tranquila! Other than chasing around 4 kids! Our house is pretty cool it’s a split level and separated! You have to go outside to get to any other room, which is kind of weird and a little hard with the little ones but oh well it’s an adventure!

Oh I love curious 2 year olds!

Nov. 13th

Well the last few days have been rather boring, just hanging around the pool and the beach and relaxing! Not today, it was a whole different ball game today! It started out like every other day, morning off, beach playing in the sand with ZZ and swimming! After lunch however everything changed! We had way too much excitement for me! ZZ decided he didn’t need a nap (which by they way he woke up at 4am and didn’t go back to sleep until 6am only to get up again by 8am!) So he really did need that nap! But while I had my back to him (playing with KK) he ran downstairs and into my room, where he found my purse and decided he needed to go through it! He found some lose change and took some out and brought it upstairs to play with! When he came back upstairs he went outside to play on the lanai and hid in the outside bar. Luckily I was watching him (because he likes to hide and do things he’s not supposed to do) and I was able to get to him right as he started choking on the change he put into his mouth! Thankfully I’m a lifeguard and knew how to give him the child’s Heimlich maneuver to get it out! Which I have no idea how much he put into his mouth so I have no idea how much he actually hate! After getting him to cough it up, he started vomiting everywhere! I rushed him to his parents outside shower and rinsed him down only for him to vomit in the shower! At least he was in the shower at this point! Thankfully he is okay now, and we will see if he actually did swallow some of the change in a day or so! So that was my awesome day!
Tomorrow we head to Sayulita and will be there for the rest of our trip! I’m excited to get there and relax!

Beach, beach and more beach!!!

Nov. 11th

So I know it’s been a few days, but we really haven’t done much! Just the usual relaxing on the beach and swimming in the pool! Monday we did have a little adventure and that is what the pictures below are from! The girls swam with the dolphins and zz and I got to watch in the super hot sun! Even though we didn’t get to go in the water we still had fun, the location had all kinds of things! The first place we went to had sea lions and exotic birds! Those are the birds pictured, though I’ve seen most of them in the wild in Costa Rica it was still fun to hold the scarlet macaw and get a kiss from it! Lets see what else have we been up too…really nothing except the beach and the pool and dinners in the evenings!

my room in mexico!

more pictures

pictures

I'm Back!!! Now I'm in Mexico!!!

Day 1 the travel period!
Nov. 7th

Today was one of the longest days! We were all up early, me, and the L Family. We ate breakfast and made sure all the kids had everything they needed, loaded the car and hit the road! Our month long vacation has begun! Well maybe not…after our hour drive to Portland from HR, we get to the airport to find that we have to pay for all 10 of our bags! Since there are 7 of us we have a lot of luggage! After 30 minutes of trying to minimize our stuff and 4 children crying we get checked in! We now have to brave the line at security, which takes us another half hour to make it to our flight. By the time we finish we have to run to our gate! That is tons of fun with a 2 year old and a 4 year old! When we finally run the entire length of the airport we are the last ones on! Ok so we made our first of two flights. It’s 2.5 hours and they have almost no food! We cleared our their snack selections and tried to keep the kids quiet! Ha! Easier said than done with a 2 year old! L mom and I have to move around 4 dimes to finally get ZZ settled..well actually I had to put Finding Nemo on my laptop to get him calm! God Bless movies! After we get to Phoenix we decide we are going to get to our next gate before we get some real food! So we begin our journey to the opposite side of the very large airport! Instead of all staying together we get split up because the kids HAVE to get chewing gum and MnM’s So I take ZZ to catch up with P (because for some he reason he doesn’t see that we have stopped) and head to our gate. When we finally get there we check-in and grab some food. Next flight begins, a very long 2 hours are to begin! We are on the smallest plane I have ever been on for a flight that long! I get to sit with ZZ (oh joy!) Luckily I have already learned my lesson and immediately put Nemo on and read my book. I hope he will nap but don’t hold my breath because he has had so much candy! (Can’t wait for tonight!) Once we get off our plane we must go through customs…not so easy with 4 kids and 3 adults! When we finally make it through we weave our way through to baggage claim.. This is where the fun really begins! We find out that there are no luggage carts and we must now carry our 9 large bags as well as backpacks! I love customs!!! NOT! We put our checked bags through the x-ray only to find out that we have to put our carry-on bags through. After we get them together and head towards the doors! Ha! I now hear KK crying that she can’t pull her bag anymore and is taking sooo long! Since we are in the middle of a walk way filled with people and I am carrying my big backpack as well as my carry-on backpack and purse I can’t help her! Great now we are about to have a full fledge tantrum on our hands! Awesome! Not to mention we have ZZ on a leash! Which he is very successfully trying to get out of!
We are hopeful that our rental car will be easy to find. No suck luck! L mom can’t remember what company we are with! We then have to sit in the “Welcome” hall and find which company we are with. Once we find the name we then have to find the desk! That took another 5 minutes! At this time I now have my bags as well as ZZ’s bag and KK’s bag! Fun! Once we get checked in with our car company we must head outside to get a van to get it. Hoping that it will be easy we head out…of it’s NOT! I have way too much stuff and everything goes tumbling everywhere! I now have lost the family because they didn’t see me! Luckily they are inview and I can catch up! When we find the van they jam us in and take us to the company to get the car. When we pul up it looks like a joke…like the driver is taking us to a place to just drop us off and leave only to be murdered! Luckily (the only luck we’ve had) he hasn’t! When we finally get the car packed and all the kids loaded we head towards our house! Yay, it’s only been 1.5 hours since we got off the plane and we still have a 30 minute drive (or so we think) to our house! 30 minutes turns into an hour because we can’t see the resort sign and are now lost! After asking for directions twice a security guard finally shows us where it is! We’re here!!! This place is AMAZING!!! And it’s dark! Once we finally get beds situated and a snack instead of dinner we are ready for bed! I am so exhausted I crawl into bed read for a few mintues and pass out!!! Once again THE LONGEST DAY!!!

Getting Home

Hey everyone!
Well after a 6 hour bus ride from Cabuya to San Jose,getting lost in Alajuela, two 3 1/2 hour flights and a 5 hour drive from LA, I'm home. I had a great trip and am not really upset that I couldn't afford to stay in Costa Rica. As it turned out my job was going to be off for 2 1/2 months which meant that I would not be getting paid for that long. Unfortunately I didn't have enough money to afford to live in Pavones, so I packed my bags and headed for the north for two weeks and then home. Now that I'm in Fresno, I'm jobless and just about out of money, so I'll be getting a job and living here for a little while. Costa Rica was great but I'm happy to be back in the US!

Canopy Tour Pictures!!!