Costa Rica - Beach

Costa Rica continued....

 The beachfront was public, so that was different than the other resorts we've been to. 

 The beach "sand" is actually billions of crushed shells.  Right in front of our resort it really looks like sand because it's a high traffic area.  But if you walk down the beach a bit, it becomes filled with tiny, whole shells  In those areas, it actually hurt to walk on it barefoot.

 The water was clear, blue and just beautiful.  I bit chilly for me, but Lance did take a dip.

 On the weekend, the locals flock to the area.  It was fun to see the kids enjoying themselves in the natural "wave pool" and making sand castles.

 We walked down the beach to a town.  I finally had to drag Lance away after he tried to make small talk with a local who only spoke Spanish.  He had the guy confused, and he thought we were lost so he did manage to get out "Taxi?" 

Sometimes even through the loud, craziness around here, I can see hear the crash of the waves.  And they're calling my name.  This momma is still kinda running on vacation high!

Costa Rica - Resort

Lance and I got the amazing opportunity to go to Costa Rica with his company.  It was definitely a refreshing break for both of us.  We honestly get so caught up in the craziness with 3 young kiddos, that we forget we are husband and wife - not just Mommy and Daddy.  So it was a great time to reconnect with each other. 

Our resort was awesome!  It was a bit different than any we've ever been to.  It was called the Westin Conchal Golf Resort and Spa.  The property was large and fairly spread out.

 The building we stayed in was a four-plex.  Our room was up the stairs to the left.

Lance enjoyed a cup of coffee in the mornings on our patio.

Because the property was spread out, you could call a "taxi" to pick you up.  But most things were within 5-10 minutes of walking.

 

This area was different than any other we've been to because it is a dry area (currently in a drought also).  So the scenery wasn't real colorful but still beautiful and unique. 

 

This picture doesn't do the pool justice, and there was to way to capture the entire thing in one picture.  It was the biggest pool I've ever seen!

Can you spot the iguana?

I can't remember the name of these creatures, but they're in the raccoon family.  They were everywhere!  Our neighbors were eating on their patio, and one came and snatched their hamburger right off their plate!

 

 

 

 

 

How about this iguana?

The food was delicious!  Lance ate a lot of seafood.  One of my favorites was the fried ice cream!

 

 More pictures of our excursions will be posted soon....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Micah's 3rd Birthday Party

Micah's favorite thing the last few months has been tractors, so it wasn't hard for him to decide what he wanted on his birthday cake.  We took a few pictures with Grandpa's tractor.

 

 He definitely wanted to help put together party favors for his cousins.  He made sure to let me know which one was for each of them - even though they were all identical.  We gave them a pot, soil and seeds, so they could have some fun in the dirt. 

 

 

"Guess how many is in the jar" is a game Great Grandpa M started long ago.  Can you believe he was the one who won at Micah's party?  He's had lots of practice I guess. 

 

Micah made it very clear to Grandma Da that he wanted 3 tractors on his cake - green, blue and red.  Green and blue are his favorite colors, and I guess he added red since he has tractors in all three of those colors. 

I am so thankful Grandma Darcy takes care of making the kids' birthday cakes.  She does an amazing job!

In case you weren't sure about Lance's drawing, he added a caption.

Micah was very upset that I was randomly placing his tractors around the house.  I had to wait until he took a nap to finish because he kept picking them up behind me. 

birthday love from Great Grandma P

 

The kids even got outside to play.  I'm sure that won't happen every year in January!

And he was spoiled with gifts like always by his family.

 

We are so thankful for all of the family we have to celebrate with!  It made his party extra special!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Micah - 3 Years Old

Our little man turned 3!

Lance and I flew to Costa Rica on his actual birthday, so we pretended it was the day before.  I felt guilty.  At least he didn't know.

He got to make and decorate his own birthday cake the day before.

The birthday boy had a hard time going to sleep the night before his big day.  Although the sleep issue had nothing to do with his birthday.  It's an every night occurrence.  He may be headed to no naps soon, so we can get him to sleep before 10 PM.  He ended up sleeping on our floor because we were in bed and he was still up playing in the living room.  He slept in because he went to bed so late.  Lance wanted to see him before he went to work, so we all wore party hats and went in and woke him up.  He loved it.  By the way, isn't his smile contagious?  I may print an 11X14 of this to look at when I'm in a bad mood!

birthday muffins for breakfast

 The one thing he asked for, a cowboy hat.

We celebrated with cake after lunch.

A couple more presents to open when Daddy got home from work.  He informed Mara right away that she could help.  That's him in a nutshell.  Sweet, kind, always thinking of others.

His choice of restaurant for birthday dinner - Pizza Ranch.  Perfect.  There have gluten free pizza crust for Sis and there's one on the way to Grandpa and Grandma's house.  He got to spend the night at their house.  Pretty cool birthday if you ask me.

Mr. Micah, you bring a smile to my face all the time.  You're so happy and care free.  You dislike conflict and usually avoid it at all costs.  But you are getting better at standing up for yourself with your big sister especially.  Sometimes I worry about you getting pushed around when you get bigger, but I know you'll grow into the little boy God created you to be.  You're a huge sponge soaking in everything around you.  Conversations, people's actions, song lyrics, bible verses.  And then you randomly spew out things you observed, learned or heard days or weeks later.  It amazes me.  My favorite is when you randomly start singing, "Bless the Lord, o my soul, ooo my soul, worship is all we need!" (The lyrics are actually "worship His holy name.")  So cute.  You're smart, funny and extremely handsome.  Your wife will be one lucky lady!  Happy third birthday!