Our First Weekend

After our first week of school, we rented the mission's car and took off for the beach.  We chose to head to the Caribbean because it is closer and less touristy.  As in Europe, when driving in Costa Rica, people follow signs toward cities rather than directions.  For example, instead of looking for 36 South, we looked for 36 Chahuita, which is a town off of that road.  Fortunately, we fared pretty well and only got minimally lost twice. 
Along the way we stopped for breakfast and had a fun coffee experience -- the coffee was served fresh at the table in a wooden contraption that held a cloth sack over the cup.  Boiling water was poured into the sack, and viola!, we had delicious, fresh coffee. 
The beach was amazing!  We found a little hotel right off the main drag and a few yards from the beach.  Because there was a coral reef, there weren't any large waves; we essentially spent most of our time in a pool-like-ocean environment.  The water was relatively shallow and a perfect temperature!  The kids had fun looking for fish along the reef and exploring tide pools created by coral near the water's edge. 
Our hotel accommodations were minimal -- three twin beds (we put them all together at night and created one huge bed for us all -- fun!), a shower, toilet, sink, and three towels.  It worked out just fine, and we all got a great night's sleep.
We started the second day off with breakfast at Chocolate y Pan, a well-known restaurant that makes their own chocolates and bread.  Yum!  Some people from the Netherlands sat next to us, and we had fun visiting with them.
Some locals mentioned another beach about a kilometer down the road, so we decided to check that out, too.  It was a more traditional beach with a long stretch of sand and big waves.  H, L, and I took surfing lessons.  H and L popped right up and were great!  I was a different story . . . my instructor got so mad at me and would yell things like, "You just stand up surfer style!  That's it!!" and "Why you be so crazy?"  I did surf in a few times and was completely satisfied with my progress, despite my teacher's disappointment :).  While we surfed, J and E boogie-boarded and got really good at body-surfing.
The waves ended up being pretty exhausting, so we decided to hike along a path through the trees growing near the water and then decided to head back to the other beach.  We spent the rest of the day enjoying the peace and quiet.  Great vacation!

The first day was overcast, which made it not too hot.  The kids loved the beach!

Hiking along the beach

After church on Sunday, we joined the mission director and another family for a hike near our house.  The mission recently started a coffee farm, and we hiked up to the property and down to a river.  All around us are beautiful rivers -- shallow and filled with rocks -- and this one was no different.  We hiked to a waterfall, and the kids enjoyed splashing around in the cold water.  The director, J, E, and L decided to hike further down the river and had an amazing time rock-climbing, sliding down small waterfalls, swimming in deep pools, and crawling through overhanging trees and vines.  Pretty awesome!

La primera catarata (first waterfall)