Costa Rica-part 1

When we arrived in Costa Rica we did not know what to expect. All we had were some pretty obscure driving instructions and this really awesome 15 passenger van. So we headed off to Nosara!
The 3 hour drive was all dirt roads with very large pot holes and bumps. We were laughing so hard. Dylan was in the very back bouncing all around. It was a big adventure to find this small town. When we arrived and found our house it was amazing. We had our own pool & out side dining room with a huge wooden table that sat at least 20.

This is the street in front of the house that we rented.

On the way to Nosara the kids kept asking if they would see the Rain Forest?

Our if they would see any cool bugs/spiders?~Dylan with a scorpion

They wanted to know if we would see iguanas?

or Howler Monkeys swinging in the trees

I was hoping to see a beautiful waterfall. We could have never imagined that we would see it all and soo many amazing things in one trip!

The Rain Forest was even more beautiful than I thought. We were constantly mesmerised by everything that we saw.

Lazy days at the BEACH. You can never spend too much time at the beach in my book. It is my favorite place to be. We had endless hours of fun. Looking for shells, finding over a hundred sand dollars, drift wood, digging, making sand castles and of course feeling the sun on your face.

We ate Christmas Dinner at this wonderful restaurant with the most incredible views. It was a beautiful sunset.

We came up with a very unique way for the cousins to exchange gifts this year. We picked names and each child had to hand make something for the cousin who's name that they choose. Everything had to be hand made out of nature. I don't think that any of us could have predicted the talent that would come out. All the kids were so proud of the gifts that they made. They worked so hard on them. We did take a trip to the local hardware store to get a few items (glue, rope, tape etc.) It was quite a sight. No English was spoken so it was hard to communicate (to say the least)

We were so proud of the kids. They each got one small gift from Santa. They actually did not even care about that. They just wanted to be with their cousins, aunts and uncles, and grandparents.

Our 1st Waterfall hike. We walked up a river bed to a beautiful waterfall. The older kids even jumped off. The kids hiked and climbed around. We ended the hike with a stop at a small market to get a trit. This is the most amazing treat we found in Costa Rica. It is vanilla ice cream with a small amount of chocolate sauce in between two cookies. YUM

We all went on a canopy tour (aka Zip Line) It was very intence. The kids (and Jason) were in Heaven. These cords are hung hundreds and hundreds and hundres of feet above the rocky, steep rainforest. It was awesome for the kids. Not so much for me.

Uncle Ben getting Camilla excited!
All the cousins geared up and ready to go.

Zach said this could have been our last family photo!

In the truck on the way up the moutain. Lots of howler monkies were around on our way up.

Grandpa Buehner and Camilla ready for the zip line

Getting ready to take the giant leap

The 1st of 8 or so zip lines. They got faster and steeper as we went

Everyone had a great time SURFING! The kids got up bright and early for a few mornings and took lessons. After about 3 days the boys were catching every wave. Camilla was sure a natural. Isaac was not old enough to take lesson, but that didi not stop him from surfing. Gramps sat out in the water helping him catch several waves. Camilla also got one on one attention from Uncle Paul. Camilla & Thea

The cousins coming in after a great set of waves.

Gramps and Isaac waiting for the perfect wave.

Uncle Paul giving Camilla surfing advice