I truly believe the greatest way to educate your children on the world around them is to just go out and experience it. Whether it's your back door or across the ocean, children will rise to the challenges of travel. What better snippet of life than to be prepared as you can be for an adventure but still be surprised with things you never saw coming and to do it with those you love is just icing on the cake. My tiplets carry the sad mark of being the oldest in our family (except for my dear hubby)to take their first flight. Where the rest of them started at just a few months old, the triplets will be four. Don't panic, I feel they will make up for their shortcomings with enough time. Just look at Beau proudly sporting her American made stamp of approval.
For those who don't know me, I'm a planner. I grew up traveling in a home with no planners and vacations were something near boot camp at Ft. Something or Other- no hotel reservations, no car reservations, no tickets or agendas for the day. If we needed to check for hotel availability it consisted of the family car driving up to the hotel, my getting out and going to the desk clerk in any given langauage to ask for a room. This would happen about a dozen times before my parents agreed on a price then we would drive to the lucky hotel. And maps, what were those? But don't get me wrong, I am forever grateful for the ability to have traveled young. I learned a lot and I hope my kids are well on their way to enjoying the adventure of life as much as I do. And special thanks to my darling husband who has so selflessly stepped out of his comfort zone for me time and time again to have some of the funnest times a girl could ask for.
Ready to fly!
On our last trip to Costa Rica we just had the older two so we travelled the entirety of the country which was amazing. With the expanded crew, I thought it best to stay in one spot and really get to know it. The choice was simple. We would go to Manuel Antonio and stay at La Mariposa. In a book I have called "A Thousand Places to See Before You Die," this hotel is listed and I have no reason to disagree. The staff, as they were the last visit, were exceptional and personable. We packed up our belongings (and our M.I.L) and headed on one of two flights to get to Central America.
The Itinerary went as follows:
Day 1: Land in San Jose and spend the night.
Day 2: Take a dip in the pool followed by a short flight on Nature Air to Quepos Airport.
In thirty minutes you will traverse the mountains to the coast with the most amazing views. I said the plane was so small that when the pilot sneezed I handed him a tissue. The flight in the matchbox is all worth it when we arrived at the hotel.
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| The view all day, every day |
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| Never got old |
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| A man and his women |
The day was spent mostly getting re acquainted with the pool and relaxing in our apartment. It wasn't long before we were greeted by one of the many hundred friends that one tends to meet in the jungle. Every day monkeys, our personal chicken nugget eating iguana and R.U.S (Rodents of Unusual Size- Princess Bride anyone)were literally in our faces.
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| So many babies I could have died. |
This guy was such a ham, he would lay there and swing his tail and look cute. The trips tried ( and I think successfully captured) to be as cute as him.
Day 3: Zip lining
This is always my favorite here. These guides are amazing. They do these trips 2-3 times a day but are as pleasant and funny the first time as the last. The triplets were such gamers, they even went in a triplet tandem down the 1 mile zip. The guides were eating them up. Eva and I even went upside down on a few of the 14 zip lines. (I couldn't let her out do her mom)
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| All the guides were enamored with Beau. I can't see why |
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| Mike and I raced but as you can see, he won the mile long zip |
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| On lowering me at the end, the guides told me to jump and immediately after I did, they screamed "No". I'm laughing at their little joke here but my pants are a little wet from the fright their little joke gave me. |
When we were done zipping (if that's a thing)we were seated again, in the middle of nowhere with a makeshift stove and treated to a typical Costa Rican lunch of vegetables, chicken and rice. I always ask the ladies for their recipes because if they can make it taste this good in the jungle imagine what it could taste like at home. (Their's is probably better. Your right.) Again, a group of monkeys and a sloth came by to visit while we sat amongst them reliving our adventures.
As soon as we arrived back to the hotel we do our usual afternoon activity of heading poolside.
Even from our last trip here, the poolside bar is always the highlight for my kids. The fact that they ate here every day was a testament to the food. And there is something quite fancy about having Ernesto see me and nod to let me know he will order my usual. No words needed.
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| Did I mention how much I love this man |
