Costa Rica

Passports renewed - Check. Bags Packed - Check. Lots of Hugs and Kisses for the little ones - Check. And Jody and I were off to Costa Rica.

This was an incredible vacation! The first place we stayed was the JW Marriott Guanacaste Resort. Costa Rica has volcanic black sand on most of its beaches. In Guanacaste, the sand is white. Both were brilliant and beautiful.


We saw a large amount of the country during our week's stay. In order to see so many sights - we spent hours and hours riding on this tour bus.




Best Nachos Ever. I'm a little nostalgic just looking at this picture.





I met this friend at the Animal Refuge we visited.


This is our mud bath. (Apparently good for the skin.) It was all natural, so when it was all said and done - we didn't smell too good!

Jody and I played Frisbee on this beach. Such a fun day!!


We celebrated Jody's Birthday while we were in Costa Rica. We hung out with an interesting crowd that day.


We saw dozens of crocodiles, and they were all about 16-feet-long. Yikes.
The locals name them. Meet Osama.


And his cousin: Tyson.


With the lovely tropical weather, we kept forgetting it was December. But the locals did some creative decorating to get us in the Christmas Spirit!!


We went horseback riding - getting a better look at Central America. We'll give my horse the benefit of the doubt and say he was having an off day. We took the detoured route. (Through lots of off-trail bushes.) But eventually I met up with the rest of the group at the Zip-Lining Platform. The Zip-Lining was SO fun!


I had such a wonderful time with Jody. The scenery in Costa Rica was unreal! This was a business trip for Jody, and I was lucky enough to come along. It was a bit surreal to be on a trip without the littlest members of our family. Every time we left our hotel room, I felt like I was forgetting something. "Do I have the diaper bag? Where is the extra pacifier...or fruit snacks?" The girls were definitely on our minds! Thank you to our parents for watching our little ones so that this trip could happen.