!Pura Vida!

Did we have to come home?! Actually, Darren and I were ready to come home after a week away. About 6 weeks ago, Darren and I decided to take a vacation and get out of the cold for a week. So, we booked a trip down to Costa Rica for a week minus the little one. Thankfully, we had family and friends who were willing to watch Caleb for the week (THANKS TO ALL OF YOU!!!). We were very adventurous (for us) while down there. Our first full day there, we went on an adventure tour - we went zip lining, rapelling, rock climbing and river rafting.

We had the guide take some pics while I was rock climbing - there were way too many of my rear-end (and those harnesses are not flattering to that body part).
Then we were super adventurous and made a crazy 4 hour each way drive to Monteverde Cloud Forest (one of the top tourist attractions there). Considering that things are not well mapped in the area and the drive was mostly on very primitive dirt roads, we were proud of ourselves for actually making it to the right place. This area is known for its canopy zip lines and hanging bridges and we now know why. The hanging bridges are crazy high over the rain forest. The tour we went on has the longest zip line - about 3,000 feet. It was amazing - the video doesn't do it justice. At the end of the zip line tour, they give you the option to do the "Tarzan Swing". (both our videos of the zip line and tarzan swing are experiencing technical difficulties so check back later for those :) ) I was a big wimp and opted out, but Darren grabbed the bull by the horns and went for it!!

We did an afternoon catamaran sail or "booze cruise" around the coast. It was pretty funny being the only sober people on the boat. . . other than the crew (hopefully). We met some pretty funny people and we just hope they all made it home safely - I'd say 8-10 mojitos is more than enough. Just so the crew would leave us alone and stop offering us a beer or mojito, we drank plenty of virgin strawberry daquiries - gotta blend in with the crowd! During the cruise, they stopped in a little bay and let us swim around - one of the crew guys hopped in and caught these 2 little guys - and we saw jellyfish. Needless to say, once someone mentioned jellyfish, Darren and I didn't get back in the water. We actually really enjoyed it, drunk people and all! Our last day there, we went to a mountain resort near an active volcano for a fun day of horseback riding, waterslides, and hot springs. Unfortunately, we didn't get any pics of the horseback riding except for one of me which I refuse to post because it is a HORRIBLE picture. And there's really no way to photograph a waterslide, so there is no picture of that. Just know that it was an insane waterslide through the middle of rainforest - it was was so much faster and crazier than we expected. Any waterslide where you have to wear a helmet seems to scream "slightly dangerous"!! Then to the hot springs. Ahhh . . thank you Rincon de la Vieja volcano!! First you go sit in a natural sauna for a few minutes, then you get to rub volcanic mud all over you, then after rinsing off, you get to sit in natural hot pots of water.
It was a great way to end our vacation!

Now that Darren and I are back in the country, its time to get some wheels in motion. Time for us to start working towards getting Caleb a sibling. Ahh adoption - good times ahead.