Warheads.

I once heard that moving from the US to Costa Rica is like eating a Blow Pop.  You have to crack through the hard outer shell to get to the bubble gum center.  There are some hard things getting going, but soon enough you find yourself at perfect center, and then everything is worth it.  I don't feel that way about blow pops, but perhaps Warheads? 

So much has happened since I last checked in.

For example, Tatum said her first word:

"Dada."

It's undeniable.  

Scott is sooooo proud.

He also feels bad for me, so now we are both constantly working on "Mama" :)

 But, can you blame her when her dad is soooooo good to her?

We woke up in Samara yesterday, and since we hadn't yet been to the beach, we took a 6am walk.    It was perfect.  Me and my two loves enjoying life together.  

We sometimes wig out when we realize that this isn't vacation.  This is life.  In 4 days we return our rental car and we need a place to put our things.  There is no airplane to get on.  No town home in Pleasant Grove to return to.  This is it.  This is our new life.  

I think we will look back on this phase and realize that everything was fine and we had a great week exploring.  For now, it's a little nerve-wracking and we kind of just want somewhere for T to nap.  We expected there to be hard times, so this is no surprise, but we're excited for a little stability.  

In the meantime:

Bella knows how to say "Bella is a pretty bird!"

 Playa Samara is a big crescent beach with perfect sand and small rolling waves.  Great for swimming and sunbathing!

BTW, I had fun employing several of the photography techniques I learned in my UVU class last fall.  Lovin' Av (Aperature Priority) mode!

We stopped in Canas for casados (plate of whatever they have...)  It was very much local and very much delicious.  (Side note for John, they do bullfights in Canas on a regular basis!)

(We woke her up from her nap to go in for lunch... can you tell?)

 Delicioso!

We drove from Samara to La Fortuna.  95 degrees to 70 degrees.  Much more manageable for us Utah folk!  After getting squared away for 2 nights at La Pradera (due to Noelle's quick emailing skills) we went to some free hot springs below Tabacon (If you havent heard of Tabacon just go to pinterest and look it up.  You will be blown away).  Anyway, the river from Tabacon runs down into a free area.  We got there well after dark and didn't feel good about taking T down there so late with lots of partyers... so we came back at 6am this morning to a private river and perfect tranquility!

 This was hands down the best pre-morning nap activity of her life!

 Stay tuned for pics and stories from our waterfall hike and volcano swim from this afternoon!   And although it sounds like we've been doing lots of playing, I swear we have been house hunting!  We have about 6 realtors working on our case and we are following leads with Sergio, Rosanna, Miguel, Wendy, Paulina and Carolina.  We found a good option just outside of La Fortuna today, we are still deciding if this is the place for us.  By the plentiful amount of hot springs in the area, I think it just might be... stay tuned!