When we decided that we wanted to really start traveling with our kids, meaning not just Disney and the local beach , we decided that we would make sure to take them some place special for the very first time. After polling some friends, we settled on a 10 day excursion to Costa Rica.
Our trip did not start off so great. Let’s put it this way, the start of our trip made me wish I was doing ANYTHING but that. Seriously, it was so bad that I would rather be stuck in a hurricane or snow storm, waiting in the longest line getting my license renewed at the DMV, all while listening to Snooki sing the Star Spangled banner on repeat.
It started out with 4.5 hour delay in Newark airport that basically resulted in us being routed through a random country for the night, we were told it was that or not leave for another 2 days when the snow storm settled. We finally landed in Panama City at midnight, after being herded like cattle through customs, put on a bus and driven 30 minutes outside our airport—at one point I questioned the sanity of it all—only to finally get into our hotel room at 3am. After laying our heads on a pillow, in the same clothes we started out in, we were forced back up 2 hrs later (I was screaming an insane amount of profanity)—caught that same bus back to the airport, only to be told that we had been BUMPED again. Sigh. At this point, do any of the details even matter?
24 hours after we officially departed NJ—we arrived at our first destination in Costa Rica. Si Como No in Manuel Antonio. We were warmly greeted by the friendliest staff on earth and met up with some truly AMAZING friends. I won’t bore you with too many details of our trip but instead will inundate you all with photos. We are still dealing with some serious crankiness/behaviors with our kiddos and maybe one mama (cough, cough) but the magic of this place is settling in, we are finding our groove, exploring, adventure, making new friends and lots of celebrating with old ones too.
Pura Vida baby!
These photos are a combo of my 5d Mark III, iPhone, and underwater camera.
And for bonus and proof that I am still “living la vida loca” after 40.
I decided that I should flip before I zipped. And cliff jumping–there are 2 depths to the cliff jumping. The one you see of my kids and honey do and then the one that I (and a few others) did at 25 ft. We have an insane amount of video that we plan on editing down into an awesome keepsake for our kids!
Yes, I am pretty sure I get felt up by a guy who spoke zero English but self dubbed himself Rambo–at about 14secs. 🙂
We are starting Round 2 of our trip (there are 3 total)—and it already had an insane crazy start—more adventure to come.