Days 1 and 2

Hey.....we made it! We landed in Costa Rica about 9:47pm because we were an hour delayed in Dallas. Immigration and customs were a piece of cake. We met our driver and hauled our luggage to a van. Thank God we had him because the exit was crowded with people trying to give the tourists rides. One man tried to help Quinten with his bag (but he wouldn't let go) and finally helped Jenna and Abbey with theirs. We paid him $2 for the help. The trip to the hotel took about 20 minutes along a bumpy road. The kids would not stop talking! They were so excited! Albert and I were tired and would have liked a little but of silence. Our driver's name was David and he is very nice. We arrived at the hotel after everything had shut down so David helped us to our room with the help of two other men. The villa is very nice but different from what we are used to. There are bugs everywhere! Ants that are an inch long and are sturdy so you need to step on them a few times to kill them! Spiders too! The kids were very unhappy about having to stay in this room. Jenna was crying...I WANT TO GO HOME!...after she found a spider in the bed she was supposed to sleep in. We finally killed all the bugs we could find, sprayed the kids with bug repellent, and tried to get everyone into bed. Kasondra and Quinten were going to sleep together as were Albert and I. Jenna and Abbey had singles. Because of Jenna's fear of her bed, she slept with Albert and I slept with Kasondra and Q. Abbey crashed without a word.

Wednesday morning, July 9th

Everyone slept in and I woke about 7:30am and started checking the place out. The view is gorgeous! I went looking for more bugs to kill so the kids wouldn't freak when they awoke. Killed 5 spiders near the standing shower (one really gross big one!) and a few of the ants and some other bugs but when the kids woke up, they didn't see any. Took my shower and then Kasondra took one and then Albert. Everyone dressed and we made it to breakfast just in time (10:15am). Breakfast was good....fruit, eggs, bacon, juice and Jenna had a muffin. It was so pretty sitting among all the green. The staff is very friendly and all speak English! Yeah!

After breakfast, we walked around the grounds and down to the stables. The hotel has 4 horses and the horse caretaker let Q, Jenna and Abbey get on the back of one of the horses. Q wants to ride more now! After that, the kids wanted to go swimming so they got their suits on and I went to the reception to see if I could try and get the boxes I shipped (apparently they are still at the airport where everything goes that doesn't have the correct paperwork). After a bunch of work and help from the hotel staff, Albert and Kasondra went off the David (the driver from the night before) to try to get the boxes. They arrived at 4:30pm and the place closed at 4pm. Just our luck! David took them into San Jose to a mall and Albert got hair gel (because he forgot him) and some water along with a few souveniors. Kasondra was not too impressed with the city of San Jose. She said it looked kind of run down. While Albert and Kasondra went to San Jose, the kids had finished swimming and as it had started to sprinkle, we went back to the villa and each took a long bath. Quinten was actually shivering in the pool. The weather is very mild...cool but humid. After their baths, Abbey took a nap, Jenna watched a movie and Quinten made a huge mess with the play doh while I was napping.

Kasondra and Albert returned at 6pm and we had dinner reservations for 7pm. Oh...I forgot! When it started to sprinkle then it really started to rain. It rained all afternoon and evening, sometimes very, very heavy! The sound on the roof of our villa was so peaceful I couldn't help but fall asleep. I just love that sound! Okay, we went to dinner and it was really good. Albert had sea bass and I had chicken filled with ham and plantains over mashed potatoes. Abbey and Q had chicken strips, Jenna had pasta with butter and Kasondra had a hamburger. I had creme brulee for dessert and everyone else had white chocolate mousse. It was a great meal!

Well, I better go now as I have a very busy day ahead! Wish us luck!

Tomorrow we are going to visit a volcanoe and will be able to swim in the hot springs. We need to leave really early to go to the airport and try to get the boxes again and then we will be off. David will be driving us. The drive is 3 hours one way and Albert is very unsure about it. He says we should have stole some barf bags from the airplane. I think it'll be fine. We can stop for lunch and dinner. There is no schedule. Unfortunately, we also need to pack up our stuff because we have to move to another room tomorrow because someone else had already reserved our room for Thursday night. Bummer!