We spent Labor Day weekend up at the cabin. It was our summer finale. We knew we wouldn't be back for a while, so we packed up the kayaks under the deck when we were done. We made sure to play with everything one last time - the rope swing, the zipline, the paddle boards, the hammocks in the yard. Summer went by too fast, but I tried my darndest to get us up to the cabin as much as possible. I love it up there in summer so much.
Jack has gathered up a crew to cheer at Hazel's volleyball games a couple of times. They add a fun energy to the cheering section. Todd bought pom poms and distributed them through the crowd.
Hazel and I had a sweet girls night going to the Train concert in Mountain View. Todd spoiled us with 9th row seats. The opening band did a ton of cruise-tone seventies covers, which was chill, and then we heard from REO Speedwagon, which I was excited about.
The people-watching was absolutely prime. There was someone to giggle about everywhere we looked.
The show was delightful. My favorite was sneaking glances at Hazel and seeing her beaming smile as she sang along. Worth every penny to see that and spend that time with her.
Gemma and Jack are participating in Cross Country. Gemma is so excited to be in her first school sport. She is really locking in at the meets. She told me she was feeling anxious before the race, and then her mind went calm as she ran. I have never experienced that, but it was a familiar description for Todd. She is a real runner! Jack is in it to move his body and hang out with friends, and I admire him a lot for that. Running is no joke.
We had a primary talent show, and I convinced our presidency that we should participate. I found a simple choreography for Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off" and we dressed up silly and made a thing out of it. It made me happy.
Gemma continues to spoil Ginger. They often have secret sleepovers.
My mom flew out to take care of the kids and the house while Todd and I spent a week in Costa Rica celebrating Larry and Ellen's 50th anniversary with them and Todd's siblings. It was so much work to get ready to go, so it was a relief to know I was leaving the kids with my mom, who was sincerely excited to spend time with them. I wish I had been able to visit with her more.
We took a red-eye flight out, which was absolute torture. I brought an eye mask, a neck pillow, ear plugs, and melatonin, but I still spent most of the flight agitated and crying, rather than resting. It's been over a decade since we did that, and I'm writing about it now to help burn it into our memories so we try to never do that again.
We met up with Larry and Ellen, Laura and Tyler, and Missy and Burke at the LIberia airport, rented a couple of vehicles, and made it to the Mistico Arenal Hanging Bridges before they closed. It started raining right after we bought our tickets. We walked through the rainforest and across multiple hanging bridges, looking for wildlife and soaking up the lush green views. Todd found vines to swing on and jumped on the bridges to make them swing wildly. It was delightful to see him so playful and relaxed.
We lucked out with a really clear view of the Arenal Volcano as we came out of the bridge trail. And we had a lovely sunset drive along a lake as we headed to our lodging.
Julena and Adam took a later flight and arrived at the Tabacon Hot Springs resort late that first day. We all enjoyed a nice breakfast the next morning - including our new favorite fruit, rasputin, I mean, rambutan.
Our adventure for the day was waterfall rappelling. I was way out of my comfort zone. Ellen stayed back at the resort. I'm glad I went, but I was uncomfortable for a good portion of the day. We rappelled down four waterfalls. The area we were in was gorgeous, and I loved soaking in the views. We hiked from one spot to another, then made our way down each waterfall.
The last waterfall was a serious finale. Serious. Our guide waited until after we had hiked up, then said it was going to be really intense. This waterfall was significantly taller than the others we had rappelled, as well as much more full of water. We should be prepared for a period where the water was hitting our heads (we were wearing helmets) and we would want to panic, but should stop and get our bearings before continuing.
He was NOT exaggerating. This rappel was intense. I had to stop and control my panic multiple times. The water was spraying hard like it was coming from a fire hydrant. I couldn't see any rock to know where to put my feet. I literally thought I might die and said a last prayer. It took me four minutes to get from top to bottom, and about ten minutes for my arms and legs to stop shaking from the adrenaline coursing through my veins. It was one of the most stressful things I have ever lived through. I hated it! Oh, but it was the top highlight of the entire trip for Todd. Top.
We stopped at a rope swing on the way back and let everyone who wanted to try it. Todd and Tyler were doing flips
We spent a couple hours at the hot springs that evening. We'd been the night before in the dark, but it was fun to see it in the light because it was gorgeous. The resort owners had taken the natural hot springs and directed it into multiple pools, and created several waterfalls which you could sit under and get shoulder and back massages. The water was around 100 degrees, so it was a perfect temperature to stay in for a long time. It was super relaxing.
We got McFlurries at a rare McDonalds and thought the kids would get a kick out of the fact that we ate there. Todd had to order for everyone in Spanish at the drive thru.
We woke up crazy early the day we went to the Pacure River for white water river rafting. We took a three hour bus ride there and back. Missy captured this great shot where she's the only one awake on the drive. Erika joined us at the river.
Super unfortunately, we don't have any of our own photos from this adventure. Missy brought her Go-Pro on the water and hasn't been able to retrieve those pictures. I scoured the internet for stock photos that triggered memories for me, and that'll have to do.
The rafting was my absolute favorite part of the trip. It was the perfect level of excitement for me, and the scenery was stunning. Our guide cut open a fresh pineapple for us to eat on the water, and it was soooo good. There were multiple waterfalls cascading down the canyon walls. We jumped in the water to swim a couple times in the calmer areas. Once, we were in a breathtakingly beautiful canyon while the rain pounded down on us. It was other-worldly.
After our three-hour bus ride to raft, and our three-hour return trip, we had a three-hour drive in the other direction to move from our rainforest location to our beach house. It was an insane amount of time on the road in one day! Everyone was exhausted when around 10:30 that night, as we rounded a dark corner on our bumpy road, the headlights caught the glint of water. Tyler hit the brakes, and we all groaned as we saw that - presumably due to the days' heavy rainfall - the road was flooded. We got out to take a closer look and try to figure out what to do. Todd offered to wade into the water to see how deep it was, which seemed like a reasonable idea until Erika reminded us that there were crocodiles in the area. We got back in the car and tried to find another route, but the other road was gated off for the night. Our last chance was to retreat quite a ways back and add an hour and a half to our already long drive - when we were only fifteen minutes from our destination! We were just about to do that - because everyone was freaking out - when we saw a local guy outside and stopped to ask him about crossing the river. Todd was the only one whose Spanish was really useful enough to communicate clearly, and he may have - ahem - adjusted the guy's words to fit Todd's narrative. He came back to the car claiming that there were no crocodiles to worry about, that the locals cross the river all the time, and that as long as the water was only a certain height, we would be fine. We went back, Todd took off his pants and waded across the river, and we did, indeed, slowly but surely, cross the river safely. A hundred yards later, there was another river crossing - I kid you not! - and Todd checked the water levels there as well before we all proceeded safely across. It was high drama!
The next day was my birthday. Todd woke up early and hunted down groceries so he could make me and everyone else a nice breakfast. I slept in, did some yoga in my room, and came out to not only sausage and eggs, but a chocolate cake already baked as well.
We were disappointed in the lack of wildlife we'd been seeing outside. Hunting for something to do, we discovered a monkey refute not far away, so we headed over for the afternoon. The monkeys housed there were abandoned pets. The wild monkeys come by at feeding time, and the caged monkeys throw food out for them, so we saw some of both while we were there. Todd tried to get friendly with Chancho, who only seemed to want to throw bananas at us.
Our beach house accommodations were very comfortable. Every couple had their own bedroom. Our yard had a pool and cabana seating, and the beach was just beyond the yard. The water was the perfect temperature to spend hours floating around in, although the waves were pretty small for body boarding or anything adventurous.
We returned to the river crossing with renewed confidence and found many excuses to drive across it in the daylight. Turns out it was not due to the recent rainfall, but is actually usually water-covered, and the alternate route is a road through private property that the owner charges you to drive through and gates closed at night. It's nuts that the government hasn't built a bridge or anything. Depending on what type of vehicle you have, this could be a serious impediment for getting around town.
Our time at the beach house was much more loose. We didn't have any planned excursions, so there was just a lot of relaxing, swimming, and game playing. We lucked out and got several sunny days in a row, even though it was the rainy season.
Todd and I wore matching shirts and didn't even notice. Twinners!
There were animals at pretty much every restaurant we ate at - either cats or dogs or both.
I got a surprise birthday treat and song. It was only mildly embarrassing, because there weren't many other people in the restaurant other than our group.
This enormous grasshopper landed on my back and startled me. I could feel its claws! We wondered for a while if it had been a bat or something before we found this guy nearby.
Todd, Burke, and Missy went out crocodile hunting one night (I was too tired and stayed behind). Although they didn't find any crocs, they did discover this shark head and tried to pry its teeth out as souvenirs for the kids.
Todd did not drive on the trip, but he did do a lot of navigating. Once, he convinced Tyler to take a 10-minute detour to drive through some farmland, and it turned into an hour-and-a-half side trip instead. We hunted for guavas, monkeys, and sloths, and didn't find any of them, but the scenery was enjoyable.
Sunday night we had a catered dinner and celebrated Larry and Ellen with games and gifts. Todd and I were responsible for picking out a present from the group, which was stressful, but I like the family tree we ended up ordering through an Etsy artist.
We squeezed in an early morning peek at "Monkey Beach" for one more attempt to find monkeys in the wild. No dice. The beach was beautiful. We could have stayed there for a good half day and really enjoyed ourselves, but we were on our way to zip lining, so we just popped in and out.
The zip lining was fun, especially the "Superman" line where we were hooked up in flying position instead of sitting up. It was a really long line with views of the mountains and the ocean, and we got to ride side by side with someone, although I did zoom way ahead of Todd and he had no chance of catching up.
Our last afternoon, I got sick. I had chills and could not warm up, so I took a nap outside in the heat. Probably a bad idea, as that sucked all the moisture out of my body and I think I ended up dehydrated after that. We went out for dinner as a group one last time, and I just brought a can of Sprite with me to sip. I was not feeling well at all. Before long, I felt lightheaded and my mouth started to salivate. I told Todd I thought I was going to throw up. He stood up with me and we took a few steps away from the table before my vision closed in and I passed out. When I came to, my legs were elevated on a chair and a server from the restaurant was spritzing alcohol in my face. I slowly sat up and our waitress brought a ziplock full of ice cubes, which Todd placed on my neck and back (that felt amazing). After a few minutes, Larry drove Todd and me back to the house and I spent the whole night tossing and turning in bed, fighting off a high fever. Todd did his best to try to keep me cool. He turned the air conditioning as low as it would go and wouldn't let me wrap up in blankets, even though I was shivering uncontrollably and could not warm up.
We traveled home the next day, which was pretty miserable for me, but I'm glad I wasn't sick for more of the trip. I was feverish and faint all day, and pretty much just tried to sleep whenever we were on a plane. That was a bummer of a way to finish off the trip and it took me a few days to be able to reflect realistically on it and remember all the good times.
When we got home, we only had one more week to get Jack all set for his student ambassador trip to Japan. He has to wear a Halloween costume at one of the gatherings, so he packed the koala onesie. We bought a bajillion gifts to give to everyone he meets over there.
We went to his final planning meeting and got to get a preview of the skit/dance the group is going to do at the welcome party. It's been fun to see him making friends with the other kids heading over.
Hazel successfully invited Nate to be her date at Homecoming. We are excited for them. The dance is in October.
