Carrillo Beach

One of our favorite parts about living here is having Carillo Beach day with our friends. We pack up a lunch, chairs, plenty of SPF, and head to the beach just south of Samara for a whole day of relaxing and playing in the sand. We have a great group of friends: Anna and Maurice with their two boys (Billy 4, Romeo 2), Angelo and Cassie with two girls (Harlow 3, Gwenna 1), and Lauren and Jeff with their kids (Surra 3, River 1). Also our friends Jim and Jana have been coming. It's open invitation to anyone so we meet lots of new people too. 

Being together on a beautiful beach without anywhere else to go is such a great way to really get to know people. It reminds me of camping: something about being away from home in a beautiful place with great people makes you slow down and enjoy life and learn new things. Everyone is there all day and there's a feeling of  openness and appreciation that gets us chatting about life and the things we love (interspersed with interruptions by kids asking for Helado!) We have learned so much about love from these friends. They all welcomed us into their group and have been so loving and accepting. They truly love life, they show such love to their children and each other. And Sean and I really feel like we have learned to love people more sincerely because of their example. These days it's so easy to have many surface relationships, to stay connected to tons of people. It's much harder to build a deeper relationship with a select amount of people. But I want to focus on that more: deepening my love and understanding for my family and close friends. That is what is truly important to me. Luckily our Internet has been working a little more consistently so now I can keep in contact with my peeps a bit better. 

It's so amazing to see how creative the kids get with just sand, water, and random ocean wash-ups for toys.  They find little sea creatures (sand-dollars, mullosks, sand bugs), rocks and sticks, funny plants, etc. and set about entertaining themselves for hours. What a great playground! 

Here's a beach story: We were all together at the waters edge, chatting and watching the kids play on a huge washed up log. Suddenly, Anna yells to Maurice in Swedish and points frantically to the sea. Maurice grabs his boogie board, and with amazing speed and Baywatch dude focus, dives into the waves. The rest of us searched the water for what looked like a floating person. It was far away from shore and hard to spot. We all had bricks in our stomachs as we imagined what Maurice might find. From the beach it looked like a dark skinned man floating face down. My mind raced, what should we do with all these kids? I didn't want them to see something so horrifying as a dead body being brought in from sea. There were other people to who were noticing and gearing up to jump in the water as well. Then keen-eyed Angelo, who has saved many drowning people (including yours truly AND Sean's mom), said, "Wait! I think it's a log!" We all watched, holding our breath. The dark object bobbed in the waves, and after a minute, it was clear that it wasn't a person. WHEW!!! We all watched it for a couple minutes more just to make sure, and by that time two more guys had begun swimming towards it. We all started out "No! It's a log!" The man who had swam out farthest didn't have anything for flotation and then I started worrying that Maurice would have to save a life after all! One thing I've learned for sure: never try to save someone in deep water unless you have something to keep you both afloat. SO, then we all watched this man who would swim towards the log, and rest while floating on his back, then swim again. The log was quickly being carried with the current, and by the time the guy got there (surely having realized by then that he was a Log-saver instead of a Life-saver!) he had swam much farther than he probably wanted to. He seemed to be doing just fine, and began swimming in with the giant log. What a relief that it wasn't a body, and that this man was a good swimmer. I thought that was really noble of him to bring in that log because I'm sure some other Brave Beach Knight would have gone after it later thinking it was a person. Once the log and the Log-saver were safely to shore, we got a good look at the Deceiver. This handsome log was about 6 feet tall, nicely tanned, about as big around as a man, and had a big smile carved into where the face would be. Not really, but wouldn't that be amazing! What a lucky log to have been saved that day. Maurice and the Log-saver showed extreme bravery and selflessness. We'll all be keeping a sharp eye on our children and their arm floaties. 

Here are some pics of the kiddos:

Elora is a pit-sitter. You dig a pit, she will come plop her chubby buns into the hole. You dig a new pit, and here she comes! It's a favorite game of ours.

She's already got her foot in the hole while Jackson's working on it.

She still looks pretty clean...

Anyone want a sandy baby kiss?

Waterfalls, bug bites, and a visitor

Hello to our family and friends! We miss you all! We are still enjoying life here in the boonies of Costa Rica. We have our ups (beautiful days on the beach ) and our downs (too many bug bites to count) but overall we are so happy here and are enjoying living a more simple and focused life. 

I have been doing homeschool with the boys for about a month now. It is going SO well and we all love it. I have a very laid back approach which is necessary because I also have a little baby and an unpredictable schedule, so we work school time into our days when it fits. We have been focusing on how the body works lately and I drew very rudimentary charts of the digestive system, skeletal system, etc. These little kids are like knowledge sponges, ready to absorb everything they can learn. 

We have a little library here in town which has been a great resource. They actually have a great selection of books, so we use that resource a lot. Another great resource is this blog written by a mother of 4 who travels and homeschools. I love her philosophy and ideas. Another great resource we use is the "Teach Me" apps. Jackson is doing "Teach Me Kindergarten" and Peter has worked up to "Teach Me 2nd Grade". The apps focus on reading and math and teach the kids in a really practical and fun way.  

We had our first visitor!!! Sean's mom Nora came to visit for a few days. We had such a great time with her and are so grateful she could make it here. She was a joy to have around and the kids really loved being able to spend time with her. She taught them music, sang lots of songs, jumped the waves with them, swam a lot in pools with babies, cooked and cleaned for us, made us delicious M&M cookies, and even defied death! Seriously...this lady's amazing. Here are the pictures to prove it.

 Swimming party at Cassie and Angelo's house after our homeschool co-op class.

 Teaching the boys about music

 Cooking our own style of bruschetta/pizzas

Dancing at the Layenda pool

 Elora loves hearing Nana sing!

 Hiking down to the waterfall of near-death. I'm not going to tell the story. It's too scary and gives me anxiety to recount what happened, or what COULD have happened. Let's just say that I'm sure glad Angelo is a good swimmer and that we are all alive and well today!

Nora was here for about 5 days and we were sad to see her go, but happy that we had such a great visit. Hopefully next year she can come back with Sean's dad too!

 We met some new friends who have two kids and one on the way. Elora really liked playing at the beach with little (or shall we say Big) Phoenix. What a nice little guy! It's so fun when kids play well together.

 Peter reading a book to Jackson. They're such good little buddies! I love watching them play and learn together. I'm so glad they have each other.

 And this little bug is getting so big! She stands unsupported, says lots of baby words (Mama, Dada, Haaa (for Hi), etc.), she loves to make up games, she has 4 little baby teeth, cute curly dark blonde hair, and such a sweet disposition. Her 1st birthday is in 2 days! We are not ready for our baby girl to be a toddler, but we are enjoying so much watching her learn new things. What a sweetie pie!

 Pretty eggs. All of the eggs here are un-bleached and it's fun to see their speckles and different colors. I'm not sure if they are free-range/organic or anything. But sometimes I have to wash chicken poop off of the shells before I store them...fun! We're so close to nature here :)

Another aspect of being close to nature: bug bites! Sean was fixing the car and must have laid down on the gravel on an ant colony or something. These little black ants look very harmless, but they are carnivorous and vicious. Poor Sean! Luckily Nora had brought a Therapik with her and that helped a lot! We get a lot of mosquito bites on our front porch, so anytime we want to go outside we have to spray down with OFF. There are also these awful biting flies on the beach (Purrujas) that give the worst bites. They itch for days and days and get really red. Poor us! We've been trying to find solutions. Let me know if you have any great ideas to bite prevention that we haven't tried yet...

One favorite activity at our house is buying baked goods from the German Bakery Truck that comes around. They drive right up to the house and have a whole truck full of sweets and treats. They aren't actually that good (excpet the Apfel Strudel), but it's fun anyway! The kids are good at tasting each other's treats and sharing with mommy. (yes, Jackson is in a diaper. Don't judge. We're working on it)

Here's a beautiful shot of the trees in our front yard. I look out my window every morning and think, "Wow! I live here!" It's so beautiful and peaceful. Like I said before, we'd love to have more visitors! Let me know if you want to come and we'll give you a comfy bed and some good Gallo Pinto. Pura Vida!

Firsts

Elora took her first steps a few days ago! She has been standing up alone for about a week, and she's getting really fast in her walker, so we knew her first steps would be soon approaching. We were at a beautiful swimming pool with some friends and she walked from Sean to me with three little steps and a huge smile on her face! What a doll! We were so excited and then she got this expression on her face like, "What's going on?" What a big day. She also has 4 little teeth coming in! Her first b-day is in a couple weeks and I can't bring myself to believe it.

Jackson learned how to hold his breath under water! We were playing in the waves and he said, "Look Mommy! I know how to breathe under water!" which scared me at first, I really don't want my kid breathing in water! But he meant "put my head under water" which he has been scared to do for years. So I'm really proud of him for being so brave and learning to hold his breath. Now he doesn't get as anxious if a wave knocks him over. The down side is that he's more confident in the ocean, so I'm extra careful to keep an eye on him now! The ocean is a very unpredictable playground. Usually the kids don't go in above their waists though, so that makes it easier to make sure they're safe and having fun.

Peter learned how to swim! He just figured it out one day and we were all so surprised! He does a really great doggy paddle for about 2 meters and then yells, "OK! HELP ME NOW!!!" It's amazing. I'm proud of him for being brave too - these kids used to be really freaked out of the water. The boys have learned to overcome their fear of the sensation of floating, having their head underwater, and standing their ground when being pulled back and forth by waves.

I have a "first" too: Homeschooling. I will write more about it later, but the kids and I have been absolutely LOVING it.

Yoga in Paradise

My love of yoga began about 8 years ago. 

When I was 17, I was diagnosed (that sounds so serious!) with Degenerative Disk Disease and had a herniated disk in my lumbar. A few years later I was in college, going to class all day, carrying heavy textbooks, sitting for long periods of time, and all this (plus the extreme lack of exercise in my busy life)  contributed to severe back pain. It got so bad that some days I couldn't sit through a 50 minute class. I'd sit as long as I could until my back hurt too much, then stand until my back hurt, then repeat. It was so stressful to be in so much pain when I was trying hard to focus and do well in my classes! 

Luckily Sean and I found out that the indoor rock climbing gym we had new memberships at held Yoga classes in the mornings for free! So, I started going in hopes of strengthening my back and abs so I could have less pain. And guess what? Within 3 months of going 3 times a week, I was almost pain free! What a huge blessing and a relief. I loved going to class at the Quarry. I would drive over there in the cold of winter while it was still dark outside, and we did sun salutations as we watched the sun rise over the mountain tops. It was so wonderful to have my body and mind strengthened and I felt I also learned how to focus better mentally. So I've tried to do yoga as much as possible throughout pregnancy and motherhood so I can keep my back strong. I'm hoping to end my sporadic yoga practices and make it a more consistent exercise in my life. Yoga helps me feel more at peace on the inside, helps me with balance and flexibility, increases my ability to focus and teaches me how to be more intentional and mindful. And of course it's a great workout! 

The classes I go to are here in town at Casa Coba and are taught by a wonderful lady named Carina. She's from Switzerland and has a lovely accent and a soothing voice. She's my favorite yoga instructor that I've ever had! And she has created a beautiful space for her classes with lush gardens and a peaceful open-air studio. I'm so happy to have found this class! Maybe next time  you see me I'll look like THIS! (Is surf board yoga really a thing?)

 On my way to class. My Dad got me this fantastic yoga mat for christmas a long time ago and I've loved having a really nice mat all these years! Thanks Dad!

 We walk through Carina's beautiful gardens to get to the yoga studio at the back of the property. It's a nice little journey over a bridge that makes me feel more removed from the outside world and better able to focus. 

 It doesn't look very big in this picture, but it's a good sized area with huge yellow curtains and bamboo dividers. 

 Isn't she amazing?! Carina is so kind and helpful, she always goes around during class and helps people. She also has really beautiful music to go along with our practice (like songs from Snatam Kaur and Krishna Das)

 And after class is over, it's wonderful to walk home along the beach in the sunshine and feel so peaceful and energized at the same time. Sean is so nice to watch Elora so I can go exercise. Life is good.

 You know you want to come visit me! We'd love to have visitors! 

Baby Elora

Elora is 10 1/2 months old!!! I thought I'd give her a personal blog post since she is growing and changing so quickly. She is such a joy and we love having this sweet baby girl in our family. She is discovering so many things nowadays since she has become more mobile. She crawls all over and pulls herself up to walk along furniture. She loves to taste everything and figure out how things work. I love just watching her explore. She'll crawl around and find a tiny piece of paper, inspect it closely, tear it in half, taste one half, shake the other half, and then crawl on to explore something else (usually it's something the boys don't want her to touch like their lego creation). 

She's a very busy girl! She's also really easy going - people always comment on how happy she is because they never hear her fussing and crying. I'm so glad that she's a happy baby because with those two big brothers around she has to fend for herself. She is very patient with Jackson who loves to hug and squeeze her and plays with her like she's a toy. I always have to be on guard to protect her from his rough love! Probably 15 times a day I say, "Jackson! Be soft! Please be gentle with the baby!" I feel so bad for her, but she doesn't even seem to mind, so I guess she isn't getting hurt. How do I teach Jackson to love her in a more gentle way? It's an ongoing struggle for me. 

The boys have been in school from 8am-3pm, so I get lots of one on one time with Elora and it's been so wonderful! Today she did yoga with me, we shared a kiwi, learned how to open a coconut, and figured out how to cook a plantain. She's such a fun little buddy. 

 Eating a lime from our backyard tree and a Mamone (pronounced mah-moan-ee) fruit.

On our way to a birthday party

 I told Sean to take pictures of me because I'm always the one behind the camera. 

 This is Elora's first ride in a forward facing car seat. She had a grand time! Her infant car seat needed the mold washed and cleaned off it, so she took a ride in Jackson's chair. Things get moldy really quickly here with all the humidity. 

 Elora crawls around on the beach tasting sand! She loves playing in the water too. When the waves come ashore she gets really excited and wiggles her arms up and down really fast. So cute!

 Little Miss Sandy Buns has learned that if someone has food, she can crawl up to them and they'll usually share something

 On the porch in her birthday suit eating more Mamones

 watching the downpour 

 She has these adorable little curls above her ears. Isn't she beautiful!!! I can hardly stand it. I must kiss those cheeks at every possible opportunity I get.

aaaaaaaaaannddd.......she discovered how fun unraveling the toilet paper can be! this is not good. Especially since she always hangs onto the toilet. Yuck! I love the look on here face here though, she knows she's not supposed to and she looks like a deer in the headlights. 

Let me know if you want me to kiss her soft baby cheeks for you!

Happy Birthday Peter!

Peter had his 6th birthday last week! It's amazing how quickly 6 years has gone by. I'm so happy that I get to be Peter's mommy. He is such a loving, playful, inquisitive, deep thinking boy. One of my favorite things is driving around with just Peter in the car and talking with him. He makes observations and then asks a million questions and really thinks about what you say. It's amazing how much he remembers! He's also really fun to play with because he's so imaginative. He makes up fun games and can play for hours with whatever objects are around. It's really nice that he plays so well with Jackson and that they are just fine without many toys because we didn't bring very many with us! I feel so lucky to have Peter in my life and I'm excited to keep watching him learn and grow. Sean and I are very proud of him for making good decisions like being patient and sharing with people. 

Happy Birthday Peter! We love you so much! 

Peter had a Pirate Party and invited all his friends. He made up the whole plan for the party and was in charge of the activities. We had some games for the kids like walk the plank (on a large log in our front yard), making paper hats and boats (we made one and then Peter said he didn't want to anymore), and a treasure hunt on the beach which the kids loved! We buried a container of candy in the sand and then made a treasure map for them to follow. 

Peter asked for a chocolate cake, so I went to get the supplies, but it's somewhat hard to find things like baking soda and cocoa powder. So I had some help from Pillsbury! I added sour cream to make the cake moist and some sprinkles to make it pretty. The cake turned out really well! I also made some homemade decorations out of construction paper because I knew it would be hard to find what I wanted at the stores in town. I made a really cute birthday banner and blew up a bunch of balloons. The party was a great success even though it rained. Every time we host a get-together at our house it rains! I guess I should have planned on it, but everyone still had fun! 

Road trip to San Jose

We took a trip to Costa Rica's capitol, San Jose last week. It's a long drive (about 5-6 hours) but we needed to get Peter's passport renewed, I had an appointment with a back specialist, and we needed to get our 4 wheel drive fixed. So it was a jam-packed two days! We headed out of Samara equipped with nothing but our credit card, phones, diapers, fruit loops, and an iPad for the boys. I was nervous about going to the US Embassy thinking that it would be really stressful, or that we had forgotten some form or whatever. But it was really fun and went smoothly. 

During our long car ride to the city, Sean and I talked about whether we are glad we came, and about what things are different and difficult about living here. There are lots of great things, but there are many things also that make adjusting to life here frustrating at times. Not knowing the language, not being able to buy food/stuff that I'm used to having, not knowing where to find anything, and just feeling homesick all contribute to me thinking, "Why am I here?" But it's definitely a learning curve being in a new place, and I know it will get easier the longer we are here. We are really glad we came and are very happy to be living in Samara, but we probably won't live here for 2-3 years like we originally thought! Then again, maybe we will, we just don't know yet. It's good for us to just evaluate our decision and weigh the pros and cons. 

Well, once we got to San Jose, we took care of Peter's passport and found a German restaurant for lunch! We had weiss wurst and kartoffel salat :) It's really fun and unexpected to find that there's so much German food around here. 

We went to the Clinica Biblica and met with an orthopedic surgeon. I've had back pain problems since I was about 17, and after having 3 babies it just isn't getting better because my core muscles are just shot. And ever since Elora was born my back hasn't been improving at all. So the Dr. took an x-ray and told me I have a bit of scoliosis and I need to swim a lot, do back exercises and go to physical therapy. Then if it isn't better after 3 months of doing that, we'll have an MRI done.  It made me feel sad to think that my back is in such bad shape, but also helps me be more determined to get stronger. I've got a big ocean to swim in, but it really freaks me out to go swimming in it! So I'm planning on asking the hotel next door if I can pay them a couple bucks to swim laps in their beautiful pool. Hopefully I can strengthen my core muscles enough and won't have to go back for the MRI!

We decided to also have our car fixed while we were out of town, but that meant staying for an extra day. We weren't prepared with anything so we went to Wal-Mart (yay!) and got Sean some contact solution and a few toothbrushes. We went out to eat at Denny's and stayed at the Holiday Inn - all of which made us feel like we were still back in the USA! It was really nice to go to Wal-Mart because usually we can't find things like that here on the beach. 

We had a really fun time staying at the hotel. The kids loved having a warm bath! The typical houses here don't have bath tubs, so that was a treat for them. 

We got our car all fixed up in Grecia and arrived home safely. What a relief to have a car that works well! 

Here are some pics from our San Jose adventure:

 fruit loops and iPad, what more do kids need?

 Sean the race car driver

 Walmart! The prices are in colones - exchange rate $1USD = 500 colones. So if something says 5,000 it costs about $10

 Luckily the hotel had a baby bed. Elora slept like a rock after such a long day. 

 Sleepover! I LOVE to have the whole family in bed and hug and talk. It's one of my most favorite times of the day! Luckily the boys like it too :) 

 Rub-a-dub dub, three kids in a tub. Elora is like a fish - she gets so excited to play in water and she does a great job fending for herself with those two big brothers around. 

 This was our Choo-choo train at the hotel. Our kids are such great little travelers, I'm so thankful that they are so patient with all the traveling we do. They make it really fun. 

We discovered these delicious fruits called "Mamones". They are beautiful and sweet and exciting to eat. We like to call them Mormon-ies, hehe! 

                       

The sunset was beautiful as we crossed the bridge from the main part of the country to the Nicoya Peninsula. What a great trip we had. I'm so thankful for my sweet little kids and my amazing husband. We love to be together and to discover new places and have cool experiences. It was so great to have a potentially stressful road-trip turn out to be so pleasant and fun. 

We miss our family and friends back home! Write us emails, send us messages, Skype with us!