Cali

Friday, July 8th we packed up overpacked and drove to the Cities and met Cheryl and 'the girls' for a one night stay at a hotel since our flight left early-ish Saturday morning.

The destination?

Anaheim, California!!

Donald Duck was Ethan's absolute favorite....!

But of course he couldn't give Mickey enough kisses on his nose.

Austin and I took a cab back to Downtown Disney to Ridemakerz so he could build his own car.

A visit to California isn't complete without seeing the ocean. Huntington Beach, baby!

The pier at Huntington beach.


Loved Cali.

Loved.

We'll be back!

Dancin' & Slidin'

This weekend we packed up the truck and traveled 6 hours west to Fergus Falls, MN for Mike's cousin Rachel's wedding. At the church, after the ceremony, Austin met one of his 'cousins' Justin, who is just about the same age as Austin. Once they figured out they were close in age, they turned into BFF's for the night. They were pretty much inseparable. At the reception, Justin and Austin were dance partners....the bride and groom had a square dance reception - it was different, but fun. The band had a woman who guided everyone in the dances, and it was fun to see Austin and Justin out there dancing!

Then Sunday morning we woke up and went to the Big Splash Waterpark (round II) for a little over an hour...and the boys frolicked in the pools, Austin went down waterslides, and we all went down the lazy river in tubes.

North

About a month or so ago, I was sitting inside Sceeters with two other women that have kids...and during our conversation it came up that out of the six of us adults (meaning us 3 women and our husbands) 3 of us have summer vacations since we teach, and three of us didn't....but could and did have time off the first week in August. I mentioned something about Bayfield...beaches...and another mentioned biking...and from there the trip was planned. On the calendar. Booked. 

We took our much anticipated mini-vacation "North" (per Austin) with these two other families...the adults were outnumbered. Six adults, seven kids. The kids' ages? All the way from 10 down to 19 months (Ethan).

We stopped just north of Mellen to see Copper Falls:

We enjoyed walking down to Bayfield's marina, and having three delicious pizzas delivered to our hotel's roof-top deck. A quick change into suits gave the kids a nighttime swim down by the little beach near our hotel. The next day we boarded the ferry and with bikes, went to Madeline Island. We biked to Big Bay State Park where we enjoyed a picnic lunch and plenty of water, sand, and sun time:

We enjoyed a fabulous dinner at The Pier restaurant (which has been totally remodeled and is simply awesome - both physically and the food! I had gazpacho and Spinach-stuffed Tortellini with portabella mushrooms, and can't wait to have it there again!) I also sipped on a huge sangria....then the kids headed down for another nighttime swim. By evening's end, the boys were tuckered out, but didn't want to sleep. I hope nobody heard me singing a slew of "You Are My Sunshine", "Hush Little Baby", "Twinkle Twinkle", amongst other songs way out of tune and off-key for 30 minutes. Hey-who cares? It worked.

Marie brought a magazine with that she just had been happening to read, and it featured Bayfield....The Candy Shoppe (yes, I bought and ate my Wine Bread. Cherry this time. Divine....), Hauser's wine and jams....sampled and bought both)...

On the way back home we went to Bayview Beach for another picnic lunch, sand, and water time....

...and a snack:

Finshed Costa Rica update: Saturday to Tuesday

On the way to Manuel Antonio...I think this is Quepas.

Manuel Antonio Beach.....a little slice of heaven on earth.

So-o....

Saturday we woke up to travel to the seaside resort in Puntarenas.  It was a Double Tree Hilton...all-inclusive..which was nice, so whenever we got hungry or thirsty we could just pop on over to a food bar or a drink bar and ask for it.  I, however, did not like the idea of a 'resort' for an educational trip....on a beach that was, well, how do I put it mildly??  Shitty.  Really.  It was down right horrible.  The riptide was strong, so the kids were told to wade only.  The sand was black, which I didn't mind, but it was kind of dirty. Not in the sense of garbage, but just ocean debris that had washed up and no one bothered to go out with a 4-wheeler and rake it away.  So, I was glad that we were only really there for the remainder of the afternoon, and in the morning my group of 8 and another group of 3 were off to Manuel Antonio National Park.  The other 3 groups decided to stay behind and enjoy the resort...what were they thinking?  Why on earth would they fall back on that decision when one of the most beautiful beaches in the world awaits them?  Stupidity.  The beach was simply g.o.r.g.e.o.u.s.....blue sky, blue clear water...shells, coral, rocks.....lizards, crabs, a 'perezosa' a.k.a female sloth that was climbing up the branch of a humongous palm tree to find the branch bending ever so slightly so she could grab ahold of a branch of the neighboring tree....and we watched it all...with another tour guide doing a play-by-play.  Totally cool. We all got fried at the beach, collected shells, tried our hardest not to swallow the salt water, took pictures of lizards and crabs and the bay were in....wow.  I want to take another honeymoon!  Lots of my girls said that..."When I get married this is where I'm coming for our honeymoon."  Fabulous idea.  

"La perezosa"  - Female Sloth

A working ox cart....our bus driver hopped in for a short ride.

El Establo....hotel in Monteverde.  The view from my window.

On Monday, our last day in Costa Rica, we had a jam-packed itinerary for the day.  

First stop:  Elementary School visit.  We visited a school that put on little performances for us. Singing, dancing, and more singing.  Then they walked around with their notebooks and pens and had us sign our names....my hand was suffering from writer's cramp by the end of the visit. They prepared ice cream with jello and fruit...in the same bowl.  It was good. 

All the children...they were so excited to see us!

Second stop:  Ox Cart Crafts.  In Costa Rica part of their history is using ox carts, that can be decorated.  Decorated means painted ornately by hand. We got to practice by painting a wheel...the size of a CD.  I won a prize since mine looked so good.  He asked if I painted.  I laughed.

A painted ox cart.

Third stop:  El Torito at Tiquicia.  The kids got in lines and learned the steps for a dance, El Torito.  It was quite amusing to watch, considering the number of students to the one teacher who was going so fast...but they managed, and after they did their little stint to music without the teacher, it was time to watch the pros perform.  

Just when the kids thought the party was getting started with live music on the outside dance floor, us old, tired, cranky, no-fun-allowed-this-late decided it was best we head back to the hotel.  It was about a 40 minute drive (not so much because of distance, but in Costa Rica it's more about the winding, hilly roads), and we needed to leave the hotel at 4:00 AM for our 6:30 departing flight to Houston.

Luggage on the bus, we left in the wee hours to the airport.  Once there, we had to do a passport check with an official before checking our baggage.  My turn at the check in, my assumption came true.  "Mam, this suitcase is 7 lbs overweight.  Either you'll have to remove some items from it, or pay the $50 penalty."  Crap.  I knew I over packed.  A hairdryer and flat iron I never used since I let my hair be all curly and unruly the whole trip, and a pair of jeans I never unfolded as well as 2 tops and 2 pairs of shorts.  Crap.  I looked to my left and there she was....my victim. Actually, she is one of my students, and I saw that her suitcase weighed considerably less than the limit.  "Hey, can I put a few things in her suitcase? We're traveling together."  "Absolutely!" "Jen, do you have room? Can I unload a few things in your suitcase?"  "Sure, I'll bring it over."   Four items later we were set to go.  Then we turned around and didn't understand the excited look on people's faces and the camera crew resting on the benches 30 feet away.  A few of my group members saw it.  A couple, with red and backpacks, donning baseball caps, signing in on a sheet posted to the wall labeled: "Amazing Race", then dashing off while a woman came and snatched the sheet down, waiting for the next couple.  The Amazing Race.  Love that show!  And, they were in San Jose, Costa Rica the same day as us.  I wonder what little adventure the show is making them go on???????