Hathaway Family Visit

So, like I said in the last post, we had a whirlwind week with the Hathaway family!  We did the best of La Fortuna in less than 24 hours, then drove to our new place in Samara.  Sunday morning came and Scott ushered us to the car for a "weekend trip" to the tip of the Nicoya-- Mal Pais.  We ended up taking the shorter coastal road, with 3 river crossings and a stretch of drive right on the sand! 

We found a nice hotel (more on that later) and spent 2 nights and most of 3 days relaxing there.  Then back to Samara for a home-cooked meal before they left this morning for LA.  

We are so grateful that they made the effort to come!  It was so fun to be with them and very refreshing for us to have friends to talk and travel with.  We really miss friends.  

T is really getting into the whole beach thing.  She LOVES the sand and never even flinches when we don't lift her high enough from the oncoming wave.  Seriously, she has gotten salt-water to the face 3-5 times now and she just rolls with it!  

 Auntie Beana with the little bug.  Huge thanks to Christina for bringing the cute hat and outfit (along with lots of other supplies) and of course SueAnn as well for going to 4 different stores in search of T's favorite flavor of Gerber puffs.  Wow.  That is commitment!

 We don't have a bathtub anywhere, so T is getting used to bathing in the tub.  What a cutie!

 She is not so good at regulating her body temperature.  There have been a few times I've gotten really nervous because she is so so hot and it seems there is nothing more to do to cool her off.  She rarely takes a bottle of water (she likes milk!) but this day she was so desperate she even did that!

 Look at the two loves.  Wow, I am totally the luckiest!

(Aren't those shoes to die for?!?)

This is the morning when T took her first steps!  She has been taking 1 step for a few weeks now, but then suddenly Scott was sitting outside with her and she found a rock.  In efforts to keep it out of her mouth we repeatedly say "Thank you! Thank you!" so she will hand it to us.  Instead of throwing it or putting it in her mouth she seriously took 8 steps toward Scott to hand it to him!  We were both there watching and shouting abruptly "She is walking. She is walking!!!" trying to summon the rest of the fam!  This was one of those moments that made this whole -Scott-quit-his-job-and-we-move-to-Costa-Rica ordeal worth it.  We were both there to see our baby girl walk.  How fun!

 This was the day of the long drive down the coast.  We found this COMPLETELY deserted beach that was just beautiful!  A highlight for sure!

Have you ever seen a cashew fruit?  Well now you have! The nuts are poisonous before they are dried, releasing the toxins.  John Jr and I tasted the fruit.  It wasn't good at all :) Now we know why cashews are so expensive!  Each one is picked individually and then sent through the drying process. Intense!

 (See how I am wearing a wedding ring?  I ordered a fake on Amazon and had SueAnn bring it down.  I love it. And I love wearing a ring here.)

 Uncle John is instilling his love of surfing in the baby girl.  BTW, John is a really good surfer!! 

 She is just too much cuteness!  Maybe the next post will include a photo of her eating the sand!

 Yet another bathing situation for T.  This is the outdoor shower at our hotel in Mal Pais.  This one worked out quite well!

 We had 2 nights in Mal Pais.  The first night was really rough.  The toilet was clogged, the air conditioner broke and almost everyone was up all night.  It was so hot the boys went to ask teh security guard out front if we could call anyone to come fix it right away.  The security guard was filling in for someone and it was his first night on the job... he didn't know a thing! The second night (discounted due to the previous night's inconvenience) found people too cold.  It was a mess.  Luckily I am a hard sleeper and managed to get some rest through it all.  It's always an adventure when 5 people share a room!

Our little beach bum!

Costa Rica is really beautiful!