Holy Papagayo!

Last night there were some crazy winds. It was kind of like a nor'easter in NH without the snow and wintery mix. There was no precipitation with the wind...woke up to beautiful blue skies. It seemed like the Fab4 all woke up for some reason or another due to the racket the wind was making. This same phenomenon occurred last year at the beginning of December. According to a tico, this wind is the official thumbs up from Mother Nature that the summer has begun. This region will probably not see rain for months. The green season ends pretty abrupt. For those interested in the scientific explanation of this phenomenon here is a description from Wikipedia.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Papagayo wind is a north to northeasterly wind which periodically blows through the gap in the mountain ranges of Central America in which Lake Nicaragua is located. It is named for the Gulf of Papagayo on the Pacific coast in this region. The wind is stronger than the trade winds which normally blow here. It is notable for causing a pronounced increase in upwelling of cooler, nutrient-rich waters on the Pacific coast which in turn supports an abundance of sea life. The wind and upwelling are together referred to as a Papagayo event.
The Papagayo is caused by a surge of cooler, drier air originating from the North American continent. Such surges are more common in the winter, but may occur at other times of the year as well. This air is denser than the tropical air mass normally present in the region, thus a strong pressure gradient is established which induces the wind. The wind is further accelerated by the funneling effect of the mountain gap between the Caribbean and the Pacific coastlines. The same conditions are the cause of the Tehuano wind in southern Mexico and the Panama wind to the south.

The fairies seemed cheery this morning despite the lack of a good night of sleep. They were all ready to head back to school this morning.
Here is a photo of Fairy2 putting the snacks in the school kitchen. The kids are empowered at the academy and really embrace their independence.





Fairy1 squeezing in some reading before school starts.





MomT and DadD enjoyed two back to back yoga classes together. The first class was Yin Yoga with Monika.....love you Monika. This type of yoga focuses on relaxing the superficial layer of muscle and targets deeper layers of connective tissue. Long poses and lots of breath work. AAHHHHH.

Next came the Aerial Yoga. This yoga was developed by a member of Cirque Du Soleil. Notice how the studio is set up. Silk hammocks hanging from clips attached to the rafters. Supposedly the hammocks can hold up to 2000lbs. This may be true but DadD's apparatus sure groaned when he first got in his hammock.





Here is MomT in one of her poses, she loves being upside down and has missed practicing inversions here in Costa Rica. This photo is dedicated to SarahT who had visions of MomT running away to the circus when she heard about the aerial yoga.




This is DadD in the "vampire" pose. Speaking of vampires, they would have loved all of the bulging veins in the yoga studio.





Here they are taking savasana.





So DadD and MomT both really enjoyed trying this practice. The weightless inversions were effortless but MomT definitely felt a little discomfort in some of the poses. The friction of the hammock can be a little pinchy which the instructor insured becomes unnoticeable with practice. Fairy1 would love being in one of these little pods.

The fairies were able to participate in yoga and zumba at school. This is part of the curriculum every week. Fairy1 skyped with her class in NH and taught them some more spanish. She also shared some interesting facts about the Costa Rican govt. Her female classmates seemed to really enjoy learning about Laura Chinchilla, Costa Rica's first female president.

Fairy1's buddy from home came over after school, they had a blast in the pool.





Magically floating bowls of pineapple, look mom no hands.





The icing on the cake for Fairy1 was to get some phone Skype time in with MEE before bed. It was hard for them to say goodnight.





Fairy2 enjoyed having DadD read to her while she finished her dinner.





The Fab4 will sleep well tonight!

Back Into the School Week Flow

It was another school day for the fairies. Fairy2 woke up saying she didn't want to go to school....she misses her school at home. She said she knows when we leave here she will be sad and miss Costa Rica. Guess she just needed to get some "stuff" out. MomT asked her what she needed and she said a pillow pet. LOL! MomT knows Fairy2 was a little homesick and didn't have a motive when the conversation started but since MomT asked....who could blame her?

MomT and DadD went to Super Nosara and located the last pink poodle pillow pet for sale and Fairy2 was delighted to receive it when she was picked up after school.

After the school drop off MomT and DadD went to the organic farmer's market to pick up the produce and gluten free bread they ordered via email. Pretty cool to be able to just pick up the box of food with our name on it. The market is located on the property of Naked Foods so of course they had to get some fresh juice and pick up some nut butter. They promised to return for a raw cocoa treat later in the day....they don't like to break their promises.

DadD went surfing, MomT stocked the fridge with some of her prepared meals and it was off to yoga. MomT has never had any desire to practice hot yoga. Her mat absorbs water like a microfiber sponge. Soon after the class started MomT realized the AC in the yoga studio wasn't working due to the electricity not working. This wouldn't be an issue in the other yoga studios because they are open air. This was a closed structure and it is quite warm once those bodies start moving in the jungle. Just when she felt like she was starting to not enjoy the class, the electricity came on, phew! MomT was grateful that this was the only glitch in her day. It ended up being a great class and a little sweat really never hurt anyone.

Today for probably the 5th time on the trip, MomT has been asked or is asks what is today's date? How wonderful to be in a store or at a class full of people and no one knows what day it is. MomT thinks this is so fantastic! Mission accomplished.

After school it was back to the house for some pool time!






Handstand by Fairy1.




Taking a break.





Fairy2 under the fleece blanket the pillow pet came with. It is at least 80 degrees out ... Fairy2 seems to not have a temperature gauge on her body. Notice Lucy the pink poodle pillow pet.





DadD really needs to take it easy and relax a little, don't ya think? Slow down mister!






Pesto pizza for dinner, Fairy2 was in heaven.

Bye Bye BB and AuntieL

This morning was time to say goodbye to BB and AuntieL. Everyone put on their sad faces as hugs and goodbyes were shared.






BB and AutieL flew to Florida to spend the rest of their day with Grandpa and have their bellies filled to maximum capacity. Grandpa likes to test the elasticity of the guts in his children and grandchildren (he is italian after all). Tomorrow it is back to Boston for the two perfectly golden browned bodies.

The fairies returned to Del Mar Academy for another week of school. This week they are joined by some friends from Waterford, VT. This family was partly responsible for the Fab4 embarking on this adventure last year.

Fairy2 was very excited to have someone else to play with. When MomT dropped her at school this morning Fairy2 had a group of kids she was frolicking with before school started. More security and familiarity is definitely even more comforting for her.

Fairy1 and her buddy from home worked on studying the metric system today. She was wondering why we don't use the metric system in the US. She said it was so much easier and it makes sense....ya think? MomT explained making sense might be against some US policy, just sayin.

This should be a fun week at school. Not only do they have their buds from home but on Thurs they will do a field trip to the library and on Friday they have a field trip to the lovely Playa Pelada for their Spanish lessons.

MomT and DadD were able to enjoy a nice morning together practicing yoga, having a nice lunch (I won't go into the details in honor of AuntieL who is probably detoxing from all of the fresh food), and doing a little shopping.

The fairies seemed to have a great day at school and welcomed the suggestion to hit the beach and get in the ocean. MomT and Fairy2 got a good workout jumping the waves as they roared in. Lots of happy shrieks from Fairy2. The tide was high and it was challenging to get past the break for the 2 surfers so after an hour at the beach the Fab4 called it a day and headed to the casa for showers and dinner. MomT whipped up some fried plantains, roasted chayote squash with garlic and some other yummy stuff.

Until tomorrow....

Under the Sea

AuntieL headed out to conquer her last day in Nosara. Two yoga classes took up most of her morning.

BB hung out with the Fairies. The plan was to do some surfing and boogie boarding. Hi Ho, Hi Ho.....





The path to the beach has lots of critter holes which were believed by some to be snake holes, thank goodness MomT saw a large sand crab sneaking into one of the holes today. If for some reason something other than crabs live in the wholes no one on this end wants to know.

There are some amazing HUGE tide pools and a very sheltered swimming area (great for snorkeling etc). MomT and the monkeys got sidetracked and spent a couple of hours exploring and ditched the surfing/boarding thing while DadD hit the surf.





Sometimes it is nice to have a break from the big surf. Fairy2 was in heaven.





This pool was quite deep and you can see the rocks guarding this area from the surf in the distance.

At first glance there doesn't seem to be much going on. A closer look revealed lots of sea creatures and life. Who is that peaking from under the rock?




Oh hello there Mr Puffer fish. He was a little shy.




Sea plants.




Perfectly hidden urchin. You could only see these urchin if you were looking South. They must be on the North side of the reefs due to sun the protection.







All of these photos were taken above the water which gives you an idea of how close all the creatures were.





Ooooo sea star.




Purple on one side and orange on the other.




Of course Fairy2 always gravitates towards the dogs. This little chocolate lab puppy was so sweet.





Of course there had to be some pool time.
Fairy2 said she loves to skinny dip.




Thanks to AuntieL, DadD and MomT were able to enjoy an amazing 3 hour Kundalini Yoga workshop at the Yoga House. Thanks again to Aykanna for sharing their wisdom and music.

Back to the US for BB and AutieL in the morning. Back to school for the fairies at Del Mar Academy.

Buenos Noches!

2 Weeks Down, 2 Weeks To Go

Wow 2 weeks! Time is sure flying for everyone. Speaking of 2, AuntieL and BB have their departure in 2 days. It has been great for the clan to hang out together in paradise again.

Organic farmer's market/swim in the horseshoe pool for the Fab4. Why is it so hard to get the fairies out of a pool?

Typical day....surfing, yoga, pool lots of great fresh food. BB had another surf lesson today. He is loving the surfing. If the sun wasn't so strong and the parents didn't make the rules, there would definitely be even more surfing.




Fairy1 is pretty much on her own at this point, she can't get enough.





This one prefers the calm water....for now.






Woohoo another little palapa on the beach. Shade is a very good thing if you aren't in the water, the sun here can be HOT!




Lunch at a little local tica spot. The fairies enjoyed sitting at the bar watching the three women run the whole place themselves. Fairy2 especially loves watching the bursting flames coming from the stove top.





Fairy1 has pretty much mastered multitasking while reading. Guess we all would if we read as much as her.




We only went to Naked Foods twice today:) when we walk in they ask "who wants fudge?". Who doesn't? The kids are getting spoiled on the complementary dried bananas dipped in homemade raw fudge.

The Fab4 ended their day going to a concert at the Yoga House. Pure bliss with Aykanna...thanks for the magical evening.

MomT with pool monkeys

We Are Not Alone

AuntieL and BB went on a SUP tour and explored some amazing tide pools with their host Spencer. DadD had a great surf session and the girls hung by the pool and lounged.

Speaking of lounging, MomT was on a nice comfy chair by the pool and felt something strange on her back. Yes, pool monkeys.


DadD was washing some dishes and looked out the kitchen window and noticed a different type of monkeys, howler monkeys. There were more than a dozen monkeys enjoying the leaves in the trees as they passed through.





Here is a closeup of some eye contact with MomT.










A short clip of all the action.

MomT and DadD were able to enjoy some time together due to the entertainment supplied at Cafe Paris. Jungle Mini-golf kept the kids busy for quite some time... a brilliant addition to the playground and pool which diners can utilize.





Showing how it is done




The peaceful pool before the novelty of mini-golf wore off.




Life skills taught by a gentleman in the pool. He was teaching 99 ways to splash someone in a pool. This guy had all 5 of these kids entertained for at least an hour. Fairy2 decided to be on his team because she realized he was the splashing king and a good person to have on her side. Pretty hysterical to watch. The parents of these children all agreed if they ever splashed their children this way the kids would all be bawling. This guy was a professional child whispered or maybe just a little immature himself.






Always time for food.





After dinner it was time to hit a rancho for a celebration. It is our favorite Tico, Nelson!! 25 years on the 25th. Feliz Cumpleanos. Wow what a great fiesta.....reggae music, skateboard half-pipe, and tons of smiling faces.
We aren't the only ones who love this person who radiates sunshine. Here is a photo of the birthday boy, his equally radiant gal Maggie and the fairies.




Watching the skateboarders...hmmmm Fairy1 is looking like she wants to get out there too.



Buenos noches!

Gobble Gobble (part 2)

YUM gelato!!





On a non-traditional note, fish tacos at the casa ended up being the Thanksgiving feast. On a traditional note the inflatable turkey got blown up and was hugged, squeezed and used as a soccer ball.










Happy Thanksgiving!