Costa Rica 2011

In August we took our last family trip as a family of 3 to Costa Rica. It was so fun and relaxing and I am so happy that we got to go before The Gill family returns back to the states! First thing first, we got Charlie his very own passport (which was a beating in itself and required many forms to be filled out and re-filled out and many trips to the passport office before making it offically done, but all well worth it!)
Charlie's first airplane ride (since he was 5 mths old, at least) was an OK success. He didn't sleep, but did pretty well watching his movies and not wanting to walk around the plane... there was a lot of moving seats and at one point he acted as if he might throw up, but all-in-all pretty well.

We arrived in San Jose and spent the night at the Gill's fabulous home. Thanks to their hospitality, knowledge of CR and the language, and the use of their cars our trip was made pretty easy! Early Sunday we hit up a local Farmer's Market for all sorts of CHEAP veggies and fruits. The assortment was truly amazing!!


After the Farmer's Market we loaded up and drove the 1.5 hrs. to our destination for the next few days, Los Suenos. It's close to Manuel Antonio (where the Gill's used to live and where Patrick and I visited last time we traveled to CR) but is really a posh resort... perfect for kids. The Gill's had friends of friends who owned the 3 bdrm, 3 bath condo we stayed in for a measly $200 per night. Unbelievable bargain, right??? The best part was the pool:

The not-so-best part was what happened the first day we had gotten there. Myself and Mary Katharine had gone to the grocery store to get groceries for the week while Patrick and Martin where to take the 3 boys, Wilson (4), Miles (3), and Charlie (2) swimming. Somehow or another both Charlie and Wilson where trying to get water from the water fountain at the same time and Charlie ended up falling and hitting the back of his head on the corner of a wooden step. He had a pretty deep gash in the back of his head and it was bleeding pretty profusely. So, after some inspection it was determined that he needed stitches. Seeing as how we were 1.5 hrs. away from the closest hospital, our next best option was basically a Costa Rican Primacare (or doc-in-the-box if you will). The tragic event ended with 3 adults holding Charlie down while he got 2 shots in the head and 3 stitches and who vomited all over himself and momma due to the histerical crying. The doctor was concerned with infection, so we loaded Charlie up with antibacterial spray, infection-fighting antibiotics, and pain pills and where sent off with strict instruction to not let him swim for at least 2 days. (Trip ruined, right?) Well, we decided to get him this "awesome hat" and pool it anyways.

Charlie took to the hat very well and did not complain once that his head hurt due to water. And, because of all of the antibiotics I felt reasonably sure that we could still ward off any infection.

Another perk of traveling with locals is that they know where to dine. We went to a small beach-side restaurant and had the best food for a super reasonable price.

One morning, we loaded up the boys for a quick "monkey hunting" expedition. We didn't find any monkeys (as we were about an hour too late), but did see some amazing views and other wildlife. We also had 2 massage therapists come to the condo for couples massages one afternoon. Again, such a great deal at $35 per massage!! And one night, we took a walk down to the marina and fed the fish as a group. This night, the Gill's were kind enough to watch Charlie so that Patrick and I could have a date-night, which was super lovely!!
A HUGE thank you to the Gill family for all that they did for us on our trip. We seriously couldn't have done half of the things we did without you guys!
Cute pic of Charlie and Patrick
Charlie waking up from a nap with all of his bed-head glory.
The views were amazing!!


As were the iguanas. Huge, I tell ya! Charlie was fascinated.
The beach was just OK, but we still went in the ocean just to say that we did it!

(Please excuse the 6.5 month pregnant lady in the photo below!)
All good things must come to an end! On the last night we were in CR, we left the boys with a sitter so that Patrick and I and the Gill's could have an "adult" night out. It was so fun seeing where they live in San Jose and eating where they eat. It makes me excited to have many more nights out with them when they move back to Dallas in October!
The plane ride back was much better than the leg there. Charlie slept for a good portion of it and watched his movies for another good portion. He was pooped! (And, not to worry- the stitches came out when we got back home and we seemed to have avoided any infections! Thank goodness!) Weird to think that our next family trip with include baby Allen!