Day 8 - Manuel Antonio Beach

Tody we went to breakfast at our favorite coffee shop, Cafe Milagro. Stace and I went here quite a bit on our honeymoon. Then off to the main beach...

On the patio having breakfast.

This is a snow cone cart. The continuously pushes this thing around looking for some customers. Pretty rough, but we have seen much, much, rougher in our first week.

The kids and I went to play in the rocks/tide pools while Stace sat in a chair. They had fun finding crabs, shells, etc. Brody had an especially good time climbing on the rocks. See below...

The rain came in early and it suddenly got really dark overhead. It started to rain on us around 3 pm. It was so warm that we didn't care, but we eventually got pretty wet.

This was taken right before we got in the car. I don't know if you can truely see how wet everyone. It's been fun.

Day 7 - Another mellow day at home

Today we saw monkeys in our yard. They kids were VERY excited! They watched them play in the trees for a while in the am and them they disappeared. Otherwise, just another trip to the market and a lot of time in the pool. These pics are ones the kids have taken to document their view of the trip. As you can see we have a waterproof camera that the kids have enjoyed using.
This is Katie taking a pic of herself. We have seen LOTS of these.

No wonder Brody's eyes often hurt after swimming. They are WIDE open!

This was taken either by Stace or self-timer by Katie.

This is a pic of Alex's favorite dog next door. They have 4 dog but this is her favorite. He is pretty old. He only has one eye and recently had tumors removed from his right thigh (you can see in the pic). Although the dogs are well loved they are definiteley not treated the way we treat our pets in the U.S.. The family went out of town for a couple days and the dogs are just left out front...it's safe, but very wet and lonely since it rains everynight.

Day 6 - zip-ling, part 2

More fun pics. Picasa will only let me Blog 8 pics per blog..thus the multiple parts. Sorry.

After we got out equipment off there was a butterfly garden on-site. The kids had a great time holding all the different types of butterflies.

Afer a realing long day zip-ling (joking) we swam in the pool and eventually waited for the rain to come in like it does just about every day. The sunset was beautiful and we actually saw bright flashes of lightning through the pink clouds. It was pretty cool. Brody says it looks like a camera!

This is us watching the sunset. We had to move som furniture around so we could all have our own rocking chairs on the patio.

Day 6 - Zip-lining!!! , part 1

The kids and I went zip-lining today! I was originally afraid that Alex or Brody might get really scared and want to go back or want to go with someone. Boy was I WRONG!! Throughout the tour they went on 10 ziplines, 2 repel lines, 1 tarzan swing and 1 hanging bridge, and all 3 wished the ziplines were longer or scarier. Although they wanted more they still had a great time. The guides were pretty entertaining and pretty informative about the local area, plants, etc.

We at breakfast under a large palapa with the whole tour group. They served "typico" foods of rice and black beans, eggs and fruit.

They pulled the bus over to teach us about some local plants. There was a giant leave on the roadside that the guide crushed and proceeded to paint on warpaints/tatoos on the kids. They loved it.

Me and the kids right before we started.

Hanging Bridge. They all liked it...but Katie said she could do it with "no hands", and she did.

This was the platform for the tarzan swing that was over 30 feet to the next platform.

Day 5 - Nada mucho

Today we did exactly that...not much. Stace and the kids we at the pool by 9 am and I went to the grocery store. We had a very relaxing day. The kids set up a "kids club" guest room with coloring books, food, etc. We ate all our meals here and just hung out. No pics taken.

Day 4 - El Avion Restaurant

After a fun day at the national park, we showered and went out to dinner at El Avion. The restaurant is an old airplane that was part of a big scandal. The plane was used to ship arms down to the Sandanistas during the Reagan administration. The plane was sent by boat and turned into a restaurant here in Manuel Antonio. The cabin of the plane is a bar at night and looks pretty fun. There is nice patio above the wings. We sat at a corner table and had a great view. Alex ordered nachos that were bigger than her! Check out the picture!

Day 4 - Manuel Antonio National Park - part 2

Part 2...The kids got their monkey fix today! They have been asking about the monkeys since the moment we arrived. They all touched/pet a white-faced monkey and I actually got a pic of Brody and the monkey "giving five". I have a new favorite animal...the sloth. They have so much more personality than you might think and were moving a lot faster people say. Check out my close ups below. I was only about 5 ft. away from it. An amazing creature.

Day 4 - Manuel Antonio National Park, part 1

We had a great time at the National Park. Stace tried to gimp his way through but was too tired to hobble back out so I had to ask security if I could drive into the park (generally NOT allowed) to pick him up at the beach. We saw tons of animals and ended up at the beach. The ocean water was warmer than our pool and Brody enjoyed chasing the iguanas around the beach and all 3 kids had fun collecting/harrassing hermit crabs!