Cabana in Panama-Santa Clara Beach

We spent a great day at the beach. It was about two hours away from Panama and we saw about 10 people the whole time we were here. They had cabanas for rent for $10! The sun was hot and the only one who has a sunburn thus far is me! The boys had a great time playing in the waves, digging in the sand and hanging out in the cabana. I spent four hours laying on that hammock and reading!! It was paradise :-)

Panama

Panama is a tale of two cities. All of these were taken from inside our windows. I don't want to make our family a target with my camera. The first picture is some housing right below us. As you can see no roof. It rains a lot here. The second picture also out side our window is the entrance to the canal. You can see the boats waiting to enter. The canal saves them over 7,800 miles and it takes eight hours to get through it. The third picture high rises right next to the roofless home.

More pictures

Everyone dresses up for everything. Hiking 1,000 feet to a volcano heels yes!

Chris and the boys in front of the volcano

The boys in front of a coffee plantation.

The hydrangea's are huge!

Costa Rica -Volcano Paos

This is the back side of a leaf by Volcano Poas in Costa Rica.
We could not see the volcano too much fog but got to see the lagoon.

This is called a poor man's umbrella and our whole family could fit under it if needed. The leaves kept getting bigger the higher up we hiked.

An amazing waterfall on the side of the road about 30 minutes away from the volcano.

La Sabana Park and The Multiplaza Mall

We spent a lot of time yesterday at La Sabana Park which is the size of Lafortune Park in Tulsa. It was a great park with lots of trees and a big pond in the middle. This was my first time to see a Costa Rican squirrel and they more orange than brown and smaller. I tried to get a picture but it was fast and scared of me! I only saw one and it made me a bit homesick.

The mall was like the Galleria in Houston. It was huge and every American store possible. Also, the food court reminded me of stepping into the food court in Woodland except it was bigger and no authentic Costa Rican food to be found. The children were very excited about Subway. The mall did boast an impressive three McDonald's. The prices of everything were crazy. It was $40 for the four of us to eat in a food court. I was longing for a Costa Rican soda (diner).

It is getting chilly here which makes it hard to swim in the pool at the hotel. We are leaving for Panama tommorrow and the forecast there is 88 degress. It is bittersweet leaving Costa Rica, I really have enjoyed the natural beauty of the area but the children are very excited about seeing the Canal and checking out the beaches there.

Children's Museum

We spent the day at the Children's Museum. It was a great museum and occupies what was once a prison. They have converted the cells into exhibits. The children really enjoyed the avaition exhibit. They had a Boeing 737 cockpit the kids got to play in. They could have stayed in that thing all day.

Animals Everywhere

We have seen some amazing animals over the last few days including the vulenerable Squirrel Monkey. They are on the list because of deforestation, hunting and being taken to be kept as pets. They are adorable animals and full of personality but I'm not sure about a monkey as a pet. We were eating breakfast in our room and I looked up to see these little monkeys peeking over the roof right at us. They would peek over look at us then jump to a tree about 5 feet away. They had about 30 in the group and were very interested in the kids. The kids watched them jumping (first picture) around on the trees and on our roof for about 30 minutes. They were watching us the whole time. We also got to see two beautiful toucans. We stopped at a Costa Rican bar (I thought it was a restaurant) called Iguanas and there were two toucans who had taken up residence in a tree 10 feet from the tables. It was so much fun listening to 80's rock music with beautiful birds moving slowly beside us. They turn thier heads so slowly they look like robotic birds.

More Pictures

Just more pictures...

The Pacific Ocean

As many of you know Chris loves the ocean. We have spent several of the last days at the ocean. We spent a day a Manual Antonio which is a national park with two pristine beaches. There were lots of racoons and monkeys. We even had a racoon steal a power bar out of our backpack and watched as a monkey got within a foot of a lady laying on the beach and stole her whole bag. Wow! I always understood don't feed the animals but now I have seen it in action.

We also went to a locals beach and the waves were massive and I see surfing in my children's future. Chris was out in the water when I spotted a fin about 100 yards away from him. Who knows? It could have been a dolphin or a whale. He is sticking with that it was a shark. We packed up and moved to another beach and it was us and a Costa Rican family playing soccer on the the beach.

We ate a Soda which is a Costa Rican diner. It was the best chicken I have ever had in my life and for all of us it was $12.00. I only wish I spoke Spanish so I could ask them what was the recipe!!

Costa Rican Farm Day

We spent the day at a Costa Rican diary farm. We caught our lunch, collected eggs, milked the cows, rode horses and drank fresh milk. It was a great experience for the children and they learned loads of Spanish. The kids were hosted by the father's youngest daughter, Erica. She was just as spunky as Andrew. We had a great time.

Costa Rica Adventures

We have been busy and are having a great time. We miss you all and the children ask about friends daily. In the photo we are on a float trip down an easy river. We saw many animals including a troop of monkeys, bats, and a sloth. The people in rural Costa Rica are so friendly and nice. It actually reminds me of Oklahoma lots of cattle ranching and friendly people. The only thing I would have done different is pack lighter!!! More later....

Tabacon

We had a great time yesterday at the hot springs. My only regret I didn't bring my camera because I didn't want to keep up with it. We woke up this morning with massive raining. At breakfast this morning we saw a lizard shaped like a leaf. The boys were in awe but again I didn't have my camera. I am starting to see a recurring theme about being prepared. We are planning on hiking and visiting the hot springs again today. Hope everyone is having a relaxing weekend with family and friends!! Maybe next time we will have some pictures.

In the interim here is the link to the hotel (mom) http://www.tabacon.com/costa-rica-resort-thermal-springs-pools-and-waterfalls-1-3.html

Thanksgiving in an airport

The airport has very low traffic today which has been nice the children. We have had lots of fun people watching and speculating where everyone is headed. So many families traveling today. I am grateful for all the wonderful people in our lives. Now off to find some sort of turkey in the airport!! Yum! Yum!

Costa Rica bound!

Wow! We are all busy packing and getting ready to leave tomorrow. We will miss you all!! I have set this up to share pictures and keep in touch. I hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Sweetness