Pura Vida

From June: Pics from our Visa run to Granada, Nicaragua On the road again Like a band of gypsies we go down the highway We're the best of friends Insisting that the world keep turning our way and our way Had to pay a toll here before crossing the border. Very professional, that hand-written sign and rose tablecloth. Left our Costa Rica rental car at the border (the Galloper is in the shop, surprise, surprise)  Passport checkpoint on the way in Another passport checkpoint, and fee station But we made it! This restaurant was really cool. We were the only ones there and it was like an art gallery. No more monkeys... oh, forget it. Our hotel lobby In front of the hotel Breakfast across the street, very proper, quite, hear, hear. The restaurant is in a courtyard, the top of the cathedral is right there in the background We asked for them to go easy on the chocolate syrup A little side trip for

From June: A few pics of Jose Pina and me on his moto -- we're headed to Tamarindo for a rental car (Galloper was in the shop, again):

In June, the kids graduated from Educarte, the private school we enrolled them in after pulling them from Villareal public school. The school was good and the kids enjoyed it, for the most part. It cost around $1,000/month and the education was pretty equivalent to a free, public school in the U.S. That, combined with Sadie and Tessa's refusal to go back, convinced us to try our hand at home school again.  Here are pics of the graduation: Tessa's Graduation Day It was so hot and, after sitting in the heat listening to boring speaker after boring speaker, one of the main school administrators decided she needed to get a few words in. She was the best and most charismatic speaker of all the others but we were so done that it was just painful. I guess we didn't hide our emotions very well b/c Tessa asked us on the way home why we were so mad at the last lady that talked. I guess we were stabbing her with our eyes. Oops. :) ---------------  Autumn watching th

Just a quick entry to note that we were here during the 2014 World Cup. Costa Rica made it further than it ever has in its history, and the Ticos were out of their minds happy about it. The whole country shut down anytime there was a game. Everyone was driving around with flags hanging out their windows or pinned to the hood of their cars. We became real familiar with, and starting singing too, the song: "Oooooo-way-ooo-way-ooo-way-ooo-waaaay-Ticos, Ticos! Jack saw his janitor rip off his shirt and start swinging it around his head. At church, in the streets, in stores, it's all anyone talked about. When the National team (La Sele) arrived home they were greeted as National heros -- all non-essential govt. employees had the day off and entire streets were closed for the parades and partying. The kids starting collecting stickers for all the players on all the teams. We would watch every game as a family. At one point, after a bout of whooping and yelling by Jodi and I, Jack an

Surfboard kayaking in the pool Zucchini boats We ran out of zucchini, so Jack made Tessa a cucumber boat. While Kevin was in the U.S., the kids and I went to visit one of my favorite beaches at sunset one night. It is still one of my absolute favorite things in the world, being at the beach at the end of the day as the sun goes down. When we got home, I decided to do a little search for a beach home along this beach. We’ve done many searches in the past and contacted many landlords in hopes that they’d give us a reasonable offer to rent their home long term. But, every time we try, we get turned down or offered a monthly rate way out of our budget. This time, I guess my timing was finally good and we landed the coolest house I could have ever hoped for. It’s right on the beach. It has 3 bedrooms on the main level and then the upstairs is just for Kevin’s office. While Kevin was gone, I canceled our old contract, signed our new contract, and packed all our stuff.