TGIF

The Fairies have almost one week of school under their belt! Fairy2 now sings spanish songs instead of xmas carols all day.

After the morning drop off at school MomT went to a yoga class at The Harmony. Being an outdoor studio anything can happen in the jungle. The yoga class was invaded by a swarm of army ants. They were looking for a new home and were carrying their larvae in their mouths across the studio floor and walls. They moved really fast so the class headed to the studio next door. The ants showed up in the next studio so everyone picked up and headed back to the original studio. MomT had phantom itching but was relieved when she realized the ants would not crawl on her Jade mat...must not like the natural latex. It was amazing how fast they disappeared and appeared. Those ants were on a mission!
MomT had a massage scheduled 30 minutes after her yoga class so she stopped by the bar for a pineapple, mint & ginger smoothie.
Now rumor has it Tammy the massage therapist will make you cry. MomT didn't understand completely why this was until she had her own massage with Tammy. This was the most intense massage MomT has ever had, deep tissue with lots of pressure and actual pulling on the muscles. It is a type of chinese massage but stay tuned on the actual name of it. It really puts all other massages to shame.
So MomT wandered down the street to find DadD and hang with him before he had his own massage with Tammy.
DadD surfed for a couple of hours in the morning and had no idea what he was in for. When DadD got home, he and MomT talked about their experiences.

Next it was time to pick the fairies up and celebrate their first week of escuela with some super yummy ice cream from Robin's. Fairy1 is sure she wants to spend next week surfing, Fairy2 is thinking she wants to go back to school.
Here is a picture of Fairy2 all dirty from a hard day at school and ready for her ice cream.



It was obvious Fairy2 had been thinking about ice cream all day long. She had decided which flavors she wanted and how much of each. Blackberry & chocolate chip for Fairy2 and mango & chocolate chip for Fairy1.



Fairy2 even eats her ice cream with enthusiasum.



Next it was off to surf for Fairy1 and into the pool for Fairy2.






Here is Fairy2 giving herself a "shower" under a rain spout during a sun shower.


The day ended back at Harmony for a delicious dinner. AuntieL is going to love the fresh healthy super tasty food they serve.
Fairy1 catching up on one of her favorite pass times.


Fairy2 getting a little reading time in with DadD



The entire family is tuckered out and going to sleep extra well this evening. Good night!!

Thurs Nov 17th El Sol (The Sun)

Last night and this morning we had more of the crazy rain. It is hard to describe how hard it rains and then immediately stops like nothing even fell from the sky. This caliber of rain would flood our town at home in a matter of minutes. Here it just drains and rushes down the landscape towards the ocean. There is a lot of mud this time of year but the air is warm and it really does dry up amazingly quick. Soon the roads will need to be sprayed with molasses to keep the dust down. We are on the arid side of the country and it turns from the green season (which is a more desirable way of saying rainy or wet) to super dry in a matter of weeks. We witnessed this transformation last year (that is another reason the rain isn't bringing us down).
The Fairies had a little time to read before school.



By the time the Fairies reached school the rain had stopped and the sun showed it's face. There substitute was a young lady from San Francisco and guess what? She was nice. MomT and DadD were allowed to leave without any fuss from Fairy2.
MomT and DadD hit the juice bar. They attended an awesome yoga class together and went to Robin's for lunch. Lunch was as tasty as last year's.



Homemade corn tortillas stuffed with potatoes, onions and peppers and drizzled with some yummy creamy sauce. Side of chayote squash, salsa fresca and black beans. The magpie jays love to eat at Robin's as well.



They were polite enough today for this table to be unoccupied by people. If you have bread on your plate sometimes they are a little more bold. Another good reason to not eat wheat.
After lunch....a little shopping at a boutique MomT had been dying to visit.
DadD got all geared up, including surfing hat, and was kind enough to pose before he hit the surf with the "Surf Betty".



MomT went to pick up the Fairies and once again they had a great day at school. Fairy1 got to skype with her class back in NH. Her favorite part of skyping was getting to see her buddy MEE. She is excited to report back to her class the assignments she has been given for the upcoming weeks. Fairy2 had a great day except for when another student leaned his arm on a tree and got numerous ant bites. Ouch! Fairy1 said she heard him scream and she wasn't even outside. Fairy1 said it was the part of her day that made her sad.
On our way home, Fairy1 was able to see her beloved favorite Tico of all. Nelson! He was the first person to introduce her to surfing. They will be reunited in the surf this Sunday for a lesson.
And then into the pool!



The Fairies love the pool after a day of sweating and getting dirty at school, good thing the pool guy comes 3 times a week.

Nov 16 Wednesday

Today started off with the Fairies heading to school. It was another morning with torrential downpours that stopped as abrupt as they started. The Fairies didn't want to get their wings wet so MomT dropped them off in the drop off circle at school. They have someone open your car door, greet the children with a hand shake, and send them to the outdoor covered area where they eat lunch until classes begin. The children are made to feel really important at this school...because they are important.
MomT has been stopping at a raw juice bar after drop off and starting her day off with the some green juice. The guys that own the place are super friendly and entertaining. Here is the Pura Verde.



It is a potent as it looks and carries MomT through yoga and up till lunchtime.
DadD was a little worn down so he took the opportunity to do not much of anything (this is rare for him). The on and off rain allowed DadD and MomT to do some yoga, walk on the beach together and just hang out and chill. Thank you Mother Nature!
Most people that know MomT probably know she isn't really fond of rain. There is just something healing to her about rain in the jungle. Nosara will soon have months without even a spit of rain so there is lots of value to the plants, dusty roads etc.
After a pretty low key day MomT and DadD went to pick the Fairies up at school. Fairy2 expressed she did NOT want to attend school the next day. After a little digging MomT realized Fairy2 was worried because her teacher had to head out of town for a couple of days to work on an environmental project she had won an award for. Her parents assured her they would hang out for a bit at drop off in the morning to make sure her substitute was nice.
At the casa there was lots of book reading and lounging. Fairy1 reviewed her spanish journal with DadD in hopes he would pick some of it up himself. Let's just say DadD doesn't pick the language up as quick as the fairies.

Espanol anyone?

We all woke up early morning to some pretty intense rain. It sure can rain hard in the jungle, the metal roof really makes it sound like the sky is falling on the house. Fairy2 woke up thinking the ocean was crashing on the house:(
We repeated our get to school drill with ease and had lots of little ponds and gushing streams to drive through...the fairies really enjoyed the bumpy exciting ride. The fairies eagerly started their second day of school.
MomT got some fresh veggie juice and hit the organic farmer's market on the way back to the casa. Next she got to work on the bloggin. Her IPad needed a complete update so she had a couple of days worth of the blog to catch up on. DadD is great at all of the computer stuff his family needs, he can be very handy. MomT headed to yoga afterwards.
DadD went out to do a little surfing but the conditions weren't great. He realized this when he looked around and realized he was the only one out there. It was good for him to just get his body in the ocean.
When the fairies arrived home from school their parents were amazed at how much Spanish they are already picking up. Both fairies are going to have a very solid grasp of the language by the end of our trip.
Of course the pool was a welcome sight after a long day at school. The fairies were in the pool till around dinner.

Here are some random photos






Most building have spouts or chains to direct the rain away from the building without too much splashing.

First Day at Del Mar Academy

The fairies had their first day at the wonderful Del Mar Academy. This school is a bilingual Montessori school and along with their school year program they have their Splash program which we have enrolled in. The girls spend the first half of their day learning Spanish with the other Splash kids and the rest of the day they are interacting with the full year students and working on their studies from home. Check it out www.delmaracademy.com
Here is a picture of the fairies with their teacher Jess....love her (and all the other staff at the school). Notice their school uniforms.





The fairies had their backpacks and clothes ready to go in the morning. Fairy2 was sooo excited and was not sooooo patient (go figure) waiting for her parents to fill out the paperwork before her school day began. MomT and DadD showed up a little early to pick them up and felt like they were spying as they hid behind the trees and watched them interact with their new environment. Fairy1 was out on the field for PE and Fairy2 was taking out the compost with her teacher and some classmates. They both had a great day. The staff commented that they were easygoing and outgoing. The director told us she thought Fairy1 probably already had 10 new friends.
Fairy1's favorite thing about the school was the fact that she could eat the food. The woman preparing the food has the same gluten/wheat intolerance as Fairy1 and they receive amazing meals everyday. MomT is so excited to not have to pack lunches yipppee!
Fairy2's favorite thing about school was working on all of the school work she brought with her. Thanks to Miss Cindy at home, she has tons.
MomT and DadD enjoyed yoga at the Yoga Institute at their Treetops studio (it is what it sounds like....in the jungle, open air and at the top of the tree line). There is something right about doing yoga in the jungle.
After yoga DadD picked up some surfboards.

We all celebrated the first day of school by going out to an early sushi dinner. The monkeys greeted us as we walked through the gardens of the Harmony on our way to the restaurant. Don't worry Cindy J we said hi for you in our best howler monkey howls.

Sunday, Day 1

MomT woke up Sunday morning to the sound of howler monkeys, exotic birds and pool monkeys. What, you haven't heard of pool monkeys? They look like this, they get up at 6am and have a burning need to immediately get in a pool.







Now these pictures were actually taken later on in the morning after their first bathing suit change. Thank god for Garnet Hill employee sales....we are equipped in the bathing suit category.
The monkeys loved having their first papaya in almost a year on the veranda.



We headed into town to thank Joanne for our tasty arrival meal, drink some water out of coconuts and eat some gluten free pizzas (yes Fairy1 is in heaven being "gluten-free") and tasty salads. The cocoas were beautiful and provide us with the most important food group, chocolate!



Back to the house and then a quick walk to the playa. Fairy1 was in the water so quick and so far out I couldn't really get a picture of her. She and DadD body surfed and MomT and Fairy2 explored the shoreline for treasures.
Fairy2 always finds a dog to pet.



She also made friends with a Tico who didn't understand a word she was saying in English. She insisted he spoke English but it didn't matter because she likes doing all the talking anyway. He isn't really smiling in this picture but he did keep asking me to photograph him.







So so great to return to our little Paradise.
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Location:Paradise

The Departure

Thanks to Mother Nature we didn't go from brutal North Country dreary frigidness to tropical. We had beautiful unseasonable weather before we left NH, sun and warmth. Got to give credit where credit is due.

So....we drove down to Boston on Friday in order to be able to pop out of bed on Saturday morning and hop on our plane. DadD dropped us off at our hotel and headed to AuntieL and UncleP's place to park our car for a month. UncleP and JB drove DadD back and we were able to have dinner with them on the North End Boston. We filled our bellies and headed back to hit the hay.

Saturday morning at 6am we called the bellman to come grab our bags as we were ready to head to Logan Airport. Just as DadD hung up the phone his we received a call letting us know our flight had been cancelled due to mechanical problems. Our connecting flight out of Charlotte was our only chance for reaching Costa Rica on Saturday with US Air.
MomT was happy not to get onto a broken plane but we also really wanted to start our adventure. So as Fairy1 put it, this blip was an adventure. We worked it out to fly to Providence (in a cab with our cab driver Tong who had only been in the state of RI 2 times in his life). We made it to the airport, had a smooth flight and made our connection in Charlotte.
Just a side note....the Charlotte airport was the most service oriented place we have experienced. We got better service and smiles in the airport restroom than we have gotten in swanky restaurants.
We reached Liberia in Costa Rica on time and as we walked off the plane Fairy2 said she smelled Costa Rica. Customs was easy and the agents were playful with our children. Here is a picture of the fairies waiting on line to officially enter the country. We were seasoned travelers and had warm weather clothes packed in our carry ons.




Our car rental company found us and we headed to get our buggy for the month. As we unloaded our bags MomT noticed DadD had someone elses bag so DadD raced back to switch with bags with Ulga from RI. Fairy1 said DadD's blunder added adventure. Ulga was a good sport and we all had a good laugh afterwards.
We started our trek to Nosara in the light and ended the most windy knuckle clenching part in the dark with Fairy2 reminding us she was hungry every 2 minutes....she is excellent at reminding:) DadD and MomT tried to act as adult like as they could .....but we were all tired after all. Ahhhh the joys of logistic traveling.
When we finally reached Casa Concha (which took a while because there are no real addresses or street names in Nosara) and were welcomed by an awesome Thai curry prepared by the lovely Joanne from Zen Cafe. Thanks Joanne!!!! It was pretty much dinner, some settling in and then bed. We were so grateful to have arrived. Pura Vida!!!
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Location:Boston/Providence/Liberia