Laying Low at Home and Adventures in Uvita

Vacations are great, but it’s always nice to be back in our own space after being away. There is also something about being reunited with your favorite window in the house. In my case, this is the second floor east-facing window with the most perfect white shade to filter the light that I so adore! (Yes, I have a favorite window in my house. I swear, if we ever purchase another home, I will be making my selections based on windows and light. I promise you that.) You can imagine my excitement when both girls decided to plop down on their PBK chairs and brush their teeth next to my favorite window during my favorite time of the day. It was like a “welcome home” gift to me. Thank you, sweeties. I always have a hard time debating between a color or black and white edit. I ended up going with the color version for this one, but I still LOVE the black and white. Which do you prefer? 

The next couple of days were pretty laid back. We played at home a lot and got back into our normal routine. Here are a few of my favs. 

Costa Rica celebrates its Independence Day  in September, so Maddie’s awesome little school had a celebration and asked the kids to dress up in traditional Costa Rican attire. Luckily for us, I didn’t have to spend 20 mil colones (about $40) on an outfit — our sweet neighbor let us borrow one that her daughter outgrew. It was a little big, but it did the trick. My little blondie ALMOST looked like an authentic Costa Rican. Almost… 

School was closed on Thursday and Friday because of Independence Day, and we were invited to a friend’s birthday party on Thursday. Maddie and her friends had SO much fun — so much that she actually took a nap that afternoon. This NEVER happens. It must have been a really good party! I’m glad she was able to rest, because she had a fun weekend ahead of her. We were heading to Uvtia for vacation with the Bloomers! 

I have to say, I’ve enjoyed many of my vacations here in Costa Rica, but Uvita was by far my favorite! We stayed with our friends who have two little boys, Caleb (5) and Jacob (3) that Maddie and Kenzie equally adore. For Maddie, life is about the “Bloomer Boys.” “When are the Bloomer Boys coming over?” “Can we go to the Bloomer Boys’ house?” “Can the Bloomer Boys sleep in my bed?” <—— Umm, I wasn’t prepared for this so soon! Lisa, mom to said Bloomer Boys, coordinated everything for this trip and it was out of this world. We stayed at this beautiful property called Manoas. If you ever go to Costa Rica, please do yourself a favor and say there. The property is pretty much in the jungle, for real though. There is a river in your backyard, monkeys on the property, the landscaping is just amazing. My pictures are better than my words, so I will just show you.

The first night, we took a short trip to Playa Hermosa just because we were craving some beach time. The water was way too rough to swim in, and the beach was kind of rocky, so it wasn’t my favorite but it sure was beautiful! 

Day two started out as kind of a bust, but it worked out for the better in the end. Lisa coordinated a whale watching tour for the entire group (more friends came with us on the trip, they just stayed at a different place). We got up early, eager to see some whales but it was raining and really choppy. When I went to pay the guy, he saw how young Mackenzie was and recommended that we not go on the morning boat. So we went back to the house and swam and played, wondering what we were missing. Well, apparently not too much because 5 hours later our friends arrived home and informed us they spent most of the trip with their heads in their lap trying not to throw up. Thank you, kind man, for warning me beforehand! That evening, we walked down the path of the property to the river. Maddie was a little scared, since the massive amount of rain they had a day prior to our arrival caused the river to be raging. She held on to my hand for dear life, and I sort of loved it. (Although, it’s quite challenging to take a photograph using back button focus with one hand.)

Day three, our last day of vacation, was amazing. We went to the Parque Nacional Marino Ballena. It was low tide, so we decided to take the long walk to see the whale tail at the very end of the beach. It was a long walk and it was very very hot, but it was by far my favorite beach I have been to in Costa Rica. So breathtaking. 

After the beach, we went back to the house and packed up to head for home — little did we know the Turrialba volcano would be going off and would ruin the rest of our week. In more ways than one. For starters, the ash really gets to Maddie, so we have to pull the inhaler out and limit outside play, but Scott was supposed to fly to the USA on Tuesday and the airport closed and delayed tons of flights. Scott was sitting on the plane when they cancelled the flight, spent hours trying to re-book his flight, ended up having to get up at 2:45 the following morning to catch a flight to Panama and then a connection to Orlando. He ended up making it there safe, but it was quite the journey. Thankfully, he had no issues coming home, because we all missed him. 

OK, this post is getting way too heavy on the words, so I’ll close with just a few more pictures. We played, picked berries in the rain, Maddie started gymnastics, Kenzie started swimming and I tried (and failed) at some macro photography. 

Ahhh, I’m caught up on blogging. I feel amazing!!!!!