Still Here!

We're still here, I just took a little break from blogging after our vacation!

Here's a little Valentine's Day love from our Sweet Adeline:


Addy is working on taking up a new "sport". Maybe "activity" is a better way to say it. We bought her a little golf set. She picked it out herself. And she does not want any instruction on how to use the equipment! She's a funny girl, she prefers to make up her own way of using the clubs. Sometimes they make good walking sticks, and sometimes it gets frustrating when the ball just won't balance on the end of the club. :)



And of course, half the fun is just getting them out and then putting them away again!

Costa Rica, Day 7

Unfortunately Saturday was our last day! We really didn't do anything except get packed up. Addy took walks with Grandma and Papa while we packed. Here's our little car rental with all our stuff in it!



And here's Steven and me outside the gates of the condo. Addy was already buckled in her car seat!


And our airplane, that I wasn't supposed to take pictures of!


We had such a great time! We would have loved to stay longer. This is one of those trips where we weren't ready to leave! We can't wait to go back some day. We really loved Tamarindo. Thanks to Pete and Sarah for inviting all of us on their anniversary trip, and to Grandma and Papa for letting us stay with them!

Costa Rica, Day 6

Friday was the day we went to Avellanas, another beach close to Tamarindo, where we were staying. Avellanas was beautiful! We started out by having some lunch at Lola's. We had some fantastic pizza. Steven and I both loved the pizza here the best! Of course, this lunch included another pineapple orange juice for Addy!


After lunch it was time to play on the beach!





Here's a video of Addy on the beach. Warning: it gets a little long because she gets distracted by people playing with a soccer ball!



We stayed to see another gorgeous sunset.


This picture makes me laugh because I was trying to get a picture of Addy with the sunset, and I kept telling her to say, "beach" and look at the camera at the same time. She was quite annoyed by this request because she was trying to eat a snack, but she did say, "beach", but she was not interested in looking at the camera!

Costa Rica, Day 5

Thursday turned out to be a much needed day of rest for Addy! She'd been waking up at 5:30 in the morning since Tuesday, which is not her normal! I think she does normally wake up at that time, rearranges her bed buddies (pillows, Pooh Bear, etc.) but then goes right back to sleep until about 8:00 am. But, on vacation when her pack-n-play was right next to my side of the bed, she'd sit up and see me! Then we'd hear, "hi"! "up"! And when I tried to ignore her, she'd get louder, "MOMMY, UP". And did I mention that 5:30 am doesn't really work for Steven or me, either? We'd bring her into bed with us, and she'd play. We'd try to fall back to sleep, but it was impossible! So, anyway, back to the day of rest for Addy...

We decided to stay close to the condo and not go to the beach in the morning. We'd let her swim in the pool and then take a morning nap.



That worked like a charm. She took a nice 2 hour nap! Steven and I walked toward the beach to do a little shopping and ended up in a tour sales shop! We found a snorkel cruise that sounded really fun, but we really only had today to go. So, we went back to the condo and checked in with Grandma. She wasn't feeling very well anyway, so she encouraged us to go on the cruise and leave Addy with her! Sweet. So we went on the catamaran snorkel cruise, and had a great time!


We cruised for just over an hour to the snorkel spot, and along the way we saw a whale! It was awesome! The pictures don't do it justice, but the whale was putting on a nice show for us, spouting and rolling over!



The snorkeling was rather unimpressive, the fish weren't very plentiful or colorful. We actually enjoyed swimming in the ocean more than snorkeling!

After the snorkeling came the food. OH MY, the food. Unbelievable! It was so so so good. Seriously. Good! They served a simple pasta dish, but it was so good! Then the chips and salsa and guacamole! And the fruit! It was all super good!

Then it was time to sail back!


And enjoy the beautiful sunset!



We had a great time! We met some really fun people on the boat, too. We met people from Buenos Aires (one of which used to work at Opryland Hotel), Finland, Canada, TX, Washington D.C., and San Francisco. One of the ladies from San Francisco is a radiation therapist! Such a small world.

We got back in time to hang out with Addy for a little bit before bath time and bed time. She had a great day, too. She got to play with Grandma and Papa and even the neighbor kids for a while!

Costa Rica, Day 4

Wednesday, Day 4, was pretty much more of the same...breakfast, beach, lunch, nap, dinner! A perfect day for vacation in my mind! So, here's some beach pictures:



Today we found our way down to Capitan Suizo's for lunch. We had a bird, a Costa Rican blue bird if I remember correctly, that stole some sugar packets off the table next to us. It kept looking at our table to see if there was any good loot to steel from us, too. We tried leaving some pieces of a hamburger bun for it, but that's not what it wanted. Eventually we put a french fry at the edge of the table, and that was exactly what it was look for! This is the best picture I could get of the action, the bird was very quick!


Then for dinner we went to an Italian Restaurant that was on the 4th floor of a building, which was perfect for another sunset viewing!

Costa Rica, Day 3

Today, Tuesday, we started with breakfast outside!


Then it was back to the beach! We played in the sand and looked for shells!



We also went to a fun restaurant on the beach called Witch's Rock. They had the BEST pina coladas! The fruit waffle was really good, too! One thing we really loved in Costa Rica was pineapple orange juice. It was so good. Any time I'd order a pina colada, Addy would think it was pineapple orange juice, so we'd order her a juice since she couldn't share "mommy's juice"!



After we wore her out at the beach, Addy took her normal afternoon nap while we lounged at the pool! Then our evening plans included celebrating Uncle Pete and Aunt Sarah's Anniversary. We all met up at Season's Restaurant to celebrate. Here's Addy with the guests of honor:


After the delicious meal, Addy was pretty restless, so Papa got up and walked around with her. Of course, the steps was all she needed! You can tell by looking at her how tired she is in this picture! It was a late night for her, but she handled it well!

Costa Rica, Day 2

Another beautiful day in Costa Rica! We are loving these 90+ degree days! Today we ate breakfast at the condo and then Addy and grandma swam in the pool for a little bit. After that she played with the kids that are staying next door. They have a 4 year old boy and a 3 year old girl. Then it was beach time! Our plans changed a little. We didn't go to the white sand beach today because the one restaurant we planned to eat at was closed today. So we'll have to go another day. No problem, we just walked more of the beach we went to yesterday!

We walked along the beach and found a restaurant that we thought was the one we were looking for, Capitan Suizo, but turns out it wasn't, it was actually The Langosta Beach Club. It was really good! We even had an iguana join us for lunch! Addy kept saying, "lap". She really wanted to chase it and have it sit in her lap, but we held her back!


After lunch, it was time to play in the ocean!



Like yesterday, we went back to the condo after playing at the beach so Addy could nap. The rest of us hung out in the pool with the monitor there just in case. It was wonderful!

When Addy got up, we headed out to watch the sunset. It was pretty, not really as colorful as some can be, but very pretty nonetheless! We got some fun pictures, too.

Addy waiting for the sun to set:


And a couple pictures with the sunset:



For dinner we went to a really good pizza place. It was delicious! Then we got a smoothie for dessert. Addy loved it and probably drank half of it herself! We've been loving the fresh juices here! Pineapple orange is our favorite so far. When we got back to the condo it was time for a shower and then bed. Looking forward to a different part of the beach tomorrow!

Hola, From Costa Rica!

We made it and we're having a fantastic time already! Our flights went well. The first flight was only 36 minutes and the second flight was 4 hours. Addy was a rock star. She did so well! The people that sat around us just kept saying, "what a good little traveler you have there!". I couldn't agree more, especially since she didn't nap all day! We had a 3 hour layover in Atlanta that was right at her nap time, but she just couldn't settle in. There was way too much going on around her!

We walked off the plane in Costa Rica and were welcomed with an awesome tropical breeze! We loved it! And let me tell you, going through customs with a toddler was so easy! They took us straight to the front of the line. Perfect! We got our bags and then Grandma & Grandpa E. and Pete & Sarah's flight arrived.

Addy and Daddy with all our stuff. Keep in mind, Steven and I can only claim the big suitcase...the rest is Addy's!!!

Today we went to breakfast by the beach and then played at the beach for a while. Addy LOVED it! She loves the sand, water, shells, everything!

Our little beach beauty all set to go:


Riding in style to the beach:


Addy with mommy and daddy at the beach:



After we played at the beach, we headed back to the condo to swim in the pool for a little bit. Here's Addy sitting with Papa.


After Addy's nap we went to a bbq restaurant to watch the super bowl through the half time show. Then it was back to the condo for a shower and bed time. All the fresh air and sunshine has worn us all out! We had a great first day at the beach and we're excited for the rest of the week! Tomorrow we're going to a white sand beach!

Our Week in Review

It has been a busy week around here! We had good intentions of getting ready for our trip to Costa Rica all week, but we managed to procrastinate as usual and found some other fun things to do! We're better under pressure anyway, so packing the night before a trip is very typical of us.

On Tuesday, Steven and I went to the Predators game. We were unexpectedly offered the tickets for the game on Monday night! Cailin, our only teen babysitter was available, so off we went. Unfortunately, the Preds lost in a shootout 2-3, but it was a really fun night anyway! We had fantastic seats...7th row in the double attack zone (aka the goal the Preds shoot at in the first and third periods). It was awesome.



Oh, and did I mention I was a little star struck? We sat 6 rows behind Vince Gill and 5 rows behind Dave Ramsey! By the way, I was star struck by Dave, not Vince! We are huge Dave Ramsey fans! I was too chicken to go talk to him, but I easily could have. Next time. Maybe. I was happy to just take pictures from a few rows back!


Addy had a great night with Cailin, too. They did a lot of coloring and reading books. Cailin said Addy was really good all night and they had lots of fun, and she went to bed really easily. Guess you can't ask for much more, huh?

Wednesday night I needed to make some cookies to take to work for a potluck, so Addy helped me make Valentines Day cookies. And by help, I mostly mean she ate as much dough as she could get her hands on! She liked rolling the dough out, and pressing the cookie cutters down, but as soon as I would pick the cookies up and place them on the cookie sheet, she took that as her cue to eat the remaining dough!


It was really fun, though. Addy's at a really fun age where she likes to help, so I'm sure we'll be doing more baking. Cooking? Not so much. I prefer to bake! The cookies turned out pretty good, too. They went over really well at the potluck and at home!

Then tonight, well, Friday night, it's now Saturday as I type this, I painted Addy's toenails! I painted them the summer after she was born because it was easy to do and so cute on a 3 month old! We didn't paint them at all last summer because I couldn't figure out a way to keep her feet still! But, I thought it would be fun to try and paint them for our trip. It helped that I have my toes painted! I was lucky and got to go with my friend, Jessica, for a pedicure last Saturday! That was awesome. My first one! Anyway, when I came home, Addy was very interested in my toes and noticed them right away. So I successfully painted her toes tonight. And by successfully, I mean with only a few of them smudged! She'd have to inspect the job I was doing after each nail! She likes it, she kept saying, "pretty"!


Other than that, Steven and I spent the night packing what seems to be our entire household for this trip! This is our first trip we're going on with Addy where we have to bring everything! All of our other trips have been to visit people, and they've had all of the big items! We are bringing a pack-n-play, stroller, carseat, diaper bag (backpack),regular diapers and swim diapers, and 2 suitcases. Seriously, 3 people for a week, but 2 of us fit everything in one suitcase! At this point, we really don't know how we will fit it all in our car rental! It will be an adventure for sure! We are super excited to get to the beach. We're meeting up with Steven's parents there, too! His brother and sister-in-law are also going to be there celebrating their 5th wedding anniversary! They were married in Costa Rica, which was the last time we were there. We're definitely excited about going back now with Addy!

I'm not sure if I'll do any blogging from the beach, but I sure will when we get home!