Costa Rica Baby

Well folks, we just got back from a marvelous vacation to the land of Costa Rica.  Country numero 10 for me, and 11 for Dan.  We had a fantastic time.  All our activities were stupendous and my oh my was it beautiful!  We started out, leaving on Wednesday July 31st at 6 PM.  Dan made that gigantic neck pillow for the plane.  It was huge.  He tried to get me to use it, but it didn't even fit in the space between my chin and chest, so I couldn't.  But he said it was pretty cozy.  We arrived in Costa Rica on August 1st (it was a redeye flight) at about 6 AM.  We headed straight to our first activity:  river rafting the Pacuare River.  It was the rainy season for them, so the river was high and fast.  We rafted through class 3 & 4 rapids, and almost fell out a dozen times.  But it was a rush, and we survived.  Riding through the canyons and forest was amazing.  Some of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen.  We really enjoyed it.

After rafting, we headed to our first location.  La Fortuna - Arenal Costa Rica.  This is the home of the famous Arenal Volcano, but it was so cloudy we never actually got to see it.  We were bummed, but it was so green, we were ok with it.  We got to our hotel a little later that night, so we didn't have time to do much.  We went for a swim & had dinner, and then headed to bed so we'd be rested for the rest of our trip.  The next day, we went horseback riding to La Fortuna water fall.  We rode most of the way, but then hiked about 1/2 a mile to the waterfall through the rainforest.  It was a beautiful hike.  The waterfall was beautiful and pumping out so much water!  Dan tried to get close so he could swim behind the falls, but the water was coming so fast that he couldn't even get within 20 feet of the falls.  It was an amazing sight.  On the way back, it started pouring!  Literally pouring.  We were soaking wet by the time we got back to the horses and then continued to get soaked while we were riding back.  It was something though.  The rain wasn't cold, so it was kind of cool to hike through the rain forest while it was actually raining.

Later on that night, we went to the Tabacon Hot springs.  OH MY GOSH! These were amazing.  I've never seen anything like it.  It was literally rivers and waterfalls of piping hot water.  Sometimes even a little too hot to get in.  The spings are heated by the Arenal Volcano which heats 2 different rivers that flow through the area.  This place was amazing, and I'd go back to Costa Rica just to do this again.  We got there a little later in the day, so didn't have that much light, which was a shame because the grounds were simply beautiful.  I wish we could have enjoyed it a little longer in the light.  The dark was pretty romantic though.  They have dammed up some of the areas to form pools were you can sit (Literally like sitting in a river) and it is wonderful.  There were also waterfalls flowing into the rivers and pools that you could sit under and get a good massage.  It was so nice.  And once we got tired of one area or it got too crowded, we would walk from area to area and pool to pool to get a feel for the different pools & more privacy.  It was huge!   Most of the time, we were the only two in a particular area.  I can't say enough how cool this was. It was easily one of the coolest things we've ever done or seen.

In the morning, we were off to our next location:  Monteverde, home of the cloud forest.  We took 1/2 the trek by boat and the other half by van.  The boat ride was beautiful.  It was foggy, so it gave a really cool feel for the ride.  We stopped in a little city for a pitstop, and Dan got a coke cause he was starting to feel a little sick.  Can't beat sippin a coke in the middle of paradise.

Once we arrived in Monteverde, we headed to a butterfly garden where we learned a lot about bugs and butterflies.  We even got to release a couple.  It was very educational and cool.  The butterflies were beautiful!

After the gardens, we explored the little city, and had dinner at one of the worlds top 10 bizarre restaurants.  It was called Treehouse Restaurant.  It was actually built around a huge tree, so there was branches and a big tree right in the middle of the restaurant.  It was outdoors, with a roof (which was needed since it was pouring) and it was really fun.  We both had traditional meals called casados.  Basically, its rice and beans with a salad and protein.  In our case - chicken.  It was pretty good. That night we also headed out on a night hike to see if we could see some animals.  I didn't get any photos, but it was a really fun hike.  We didn't get to see many animals, a tarantula, and some pretty cool rare birds, but the environment was cool and learning about the different things that were hiding out there somewhere was interesting.

Day 4 we headed to the cloud forest to do some killer zip lining and walk through the canopy's.  I cannot tell you how breathtaking this scene was.  We were right in the middle of the forest, zip lining over the trees.  It was so green and lush.  The zip lines were amazing.  Most of them were over 500 feet, and there were 15 lines.  It was such a rush!  On the last line, they let us go together - it was also the longest line at 3000 feet long.  Again, it was probably one of the coolest things we've ever done.

At the end of the zip lines there was a Tarzan Swing, where we jumped off a platform about 150 feet.  IT WAS SO AWESOME!!

After we were through the zip lines and Tarzan swing, we headed to the canopy walk, where we walked over about 10 bridges above the trees and then hiked through the rain forest in between the bridges.  It was beautiful, amazing, spectacular, breathtaking, fun, exciting and exhilarating.

The next day we were off to our final destination: Manuel Antonio.  Finally, the beach!  I'd been waiting the whole trip for the beach.  I was throughly enjoying all of the other aspects of the trip, but I was ready for some sun, and relaxation.  The previous days were pretty cloudy and drizzly, but when we got to the beach, we had amazing weather and lots of sunshine.  We spent our first afternoon/evening eating lunch at a little shack right off the beach looking over the ocean, soaking up the ocean air and feeling the humid sticky on our skin.  I was in heaven.  I am convinced that I was made to live on the coast.  I love the smell, feel, and lifestyle of the coast.

The next day, we went to Manuel Antonio National Park.  It was so cool.  We hiked for about 4 hours through thick forest, and lush trees.  We saw lots of cool stuff, like creepy spiders. lots of monkeys, hummingbirds, grasshoppers, lizards, iguanas, raccoons, an anteater, and Dan's favorite, a couple sloths.  We also saw a beautiful beach.  I wish we had our suits on so we could have taken a dip, but we were in our hiking gear so we couldn't. :(  Simply beautiful.

After our hike, we headed out on a mangrove tour.  It was so cool!  I feel like I am saying that about everything, but everything we did was SO COOL!  We were the only ones on the tour, so we got a totally personalized guided tour.  We saw more monkeys, a possum, a silky anteater (one of the most rare things to see..) a few lizards & iguanas, lots of tree crabs,  and a basilisk lizard (the kind that can run on water).  Our guide also boated us over to some palm trees, macheted  off a few coconuts and we drank fresh coconut milk.  It was delicious.  Then, after we drank all the milk, they sliced open our coconuts and we ate the fruit on the inside. YUM.

And we finished off our night walking along the beach, and listening to the waves while drinking a fresh fruit smoothie.  Ah, the good life.
Our last day was spent relaxing at the beach and soaking up the sun.  We played in the water, layed in the sand, and did some souvenir shopping.  We were sad to leave this beautiful paradise, but our time was up.  We saw and did so many things, and we didn't even see half of the country.  Costa Rica is beautiful and we would go back in a heartbeat.

We were sad to leave this paradise, but were so excited to get home to our baby girl.  This was the first time we've ever left her, and it was a long trip.  I could hardly stand the flight and layover and just wanted to get home to squeeze her and kiss her cheeks.  I missed her like crazy.  Having kids makes it ok to have a vacation end.  I am feeling refreshed, and rebalanced.  It was so great to just have a week with my guy and to be able to spend some much needed quality time together.  It was a great vacation, and we are looking forward to our next adventure!

July

I've been pretty bad at blogging.  This summer has been crazy!  So here is a quick catch up of what we were up to in July.  Gwennie had her first candy necklace, thanks to her aunt Addie.  She pretty much loved it.  I mean, it's pure sugar, so how could she not?  We've been hanging out with our cousins.  Gwen learned how to put the toy bin on her head from her cousin Leo.  They like to copy each other.  It's pretty cute.  Mid July we went to the Postal Service Concert with Von, Ash, Jeff & Kat.  It was a really fun time.  The music was awesome.  It was definitely a good time.

We went to Tom & Darby's for dinner, they have a chicken coop, and Gwen was enthralled by it.  She kept going up to the chickens saying, "Hi chickens"  It was adorable.  Her cousins were taking pretty good care of her, and kept taking her back over when she wanted to go.  A few days later, Gwen and I "hiked" to Bridal Veil falls with my friend Becca and her baby Ellie.  It was a good long walk.  The girls were getting restless by the end, but they both did so well and loved playing in the water once we got there.

Gwen loves to dip.  Pretty much anything, but especially hummus.  Our pilot reached 100,000 miles, and i just happened to glance down at the perfect moment.  Pretty cool. My BFFs mom got married and asked if Gwen would be a flower girl.  We went the day before to rehearse and she was adorable.

The day of the wedding was great.  Gwen was adorable and did really well.  I did have to walk by her, but she did well considering.

She loves hangin' out with her dad.  She loves to wrestle him and lay with him whenever he lays on the ground, which is a lot.  He likes to lay on the ground...  At the end of July, we took a girls trip with the Schofield's to St George to see Mary Poppins.  We had a great time with cousins and aunts and grandma.

Whew! That was July in a nutshell. I can't believe it's August and summer is almost over!  I am so sad about it.  But, we are going to enjoy all we have left.

Colorado

On July 1st, me and Gwennie headed to Colorado with my sister.  She was out here picking up her kids and so we drove back with her for a little vacation.  We had SUCH a fun time.  We played, played, and played.  Tara spoiled us with delicious food, and fun outings.  Gwen loved hanging with the big kids, and Halle loved having a girl around to mix it up with those boys. :)  We went swimming, to the farmers market and played in the dirt.  And ate the dirt.  And then cried when we could eat the dirt anymore.

We decorated bikes for the 4th and went to the neighborhood bike ride.  Gwen and Halle had matching flag shirts that Tara and I made.  We enjoyed a delicious flag PB&J banana, blueberry sandwich for lunch.

For our activity that day, we headed up to Mt Evans and drove on the highest road in North America.  It was COLD up there!  We weren't planning on it being so chilly, but we had a blast nonetheless.

We flew home and the lady I sat next to was a complete witch.  Luckily she informed the flight attendant that she "would not sit next to that lady for the remainder of the flight" and got reassigned.  Gwen did well, I mean, she's busy and wanted to be wiggly, but really, she was a champ.  We came home to flowers and 2 new cars for Gwen.  We had a great trip!

June - Part 2

Well, June is over.  We've been busy.  We've been having a blast and loving the sunshine.  We took a little hike up Bells Canyon with Tom, Darby, their kids, and Jake & Olivia while Dan was at school.  Gwen loved the hike, but hated getting in the backpack.  She is kind of a scaredy cat. :)

Gwen is a pro shopper.  She loves walking through the isles pushing the shopping cart.  We've been swimming and playing with friends.  It's really been a fun summer.

We've been playing with cousins, making messes & going for walks while doing gymnastics.  We went to the aviary and Gwen loved the birds.  Especially the owls.

 In the middle of June, my niece Halle came out from Colorado and my mom took us all to the Princess Festival at TGP.  Gwen wasn't really sure what was going on, but it sure was cute.  Halle loved being with Gwen and we had such a fun time being treated like princesses the whole day.

 We washed the cars (about time) and Gwen was in heaven.  She thought being able to play in the water, squirt the cars and scrub them with us was just the best thing ever.  It was so cute!  She is our little adventurer.  She always wants to try new things and Dan is amazing at introducing her to fun things.  He loves doing everything with her and shows her the ropes of all things adventurous.

 Well - we thought she was in heaven when she was washing the car, but it was nothing to the joy she felt when she could "drive"  She kept grabbing the wheel and saying, "ive, ive"  So cute.  She was loving it.  She had a small tantrum when we took her out.  Dan also showed her how to get a drink from the hose.  She thought she was pretty hot stuff when she learned how to do that.

 While my niece and nephews were here, we all tie-died shirts.  They were so cute.  We had a fun time doing it.

This first picture is of Dan and Gwen after a day home together.  I got the flu and was pretty much confined to my bed all day, so Dan took the day off/worked from home and took care of G.  He planted a garden with her, taught her how to play in the mud, and showed her what getting dirty is really about.  They were so cute I had to wake up from my puking coma and snap a quick pic.  Then, there's just more of us at the pool, Halle loving on Gwen, and Gwen soaking up all the attention she can get, and a tired baby girl who fell asleep on my lap.  Life is good.

Fathers Day with the best DAD ever.

Fathers Day was great, but then again, how could it not be when you are celebrating the best dad in the world?  We had a yummy BBQ picnic of homemade ribs & twice baked potatoes.  Gwen is the luckiest girl to have such a great dad.  He always makes the most of their time together.  He teaches her things I would never think of teaching her.  He plays with her on her level.  He makes her laugh.  He lets her tease him.  She lights up when she sees him.  He sings her silly songs.  She tries to copy the intonations in his voice.  He always goes in an peeks at her before going to bed.  If she wakes up in the night, he jumps out of bed to go comfort her.  He sneaks her treats he thinks she likes when I'm not looking.  He goes to work every day to provide for our family.  He is the best dad and husband in the world.  We miss him every second he is gone, and the moment he walks through the door we are both following him around chatting him up and enjoying being in his company.  We sure love you, Dan!

Fathers day also marked Gwen's 16 month mark.  I can't believe how big she is getting.  She is so smart and funny.  She has more sass in her than I know what to do with.  She is talking up a storm and copies every word I say.  We love her more and more every day!

June - Part 1

Well, summer is off to a great start.  We've busted out the bike trailer a few times.  Gwen loves it for about 5 minutes and then gets bored of being in there by herself.  We've been going to 7 peaks every Monday with Dan's sister Addie and her girls Megan & Lizzie.  Gwen loves it.  She is definitely a water baby.  We also got her a little water/sand table that she thinks is the best toy in the world.  She will splash and splash and splash.  The only thing we didn't really think of is the sand.  It makes a mess, plus she tries to eat it. :)  SO, we took out the sand and made it just one giant water table.  Gwen loves to have baths and tires to climb in all day.  She's so tiny, it just looks like she's doing ballet.  

I love this first picture of her.  She's doing karate in her sleep.  Classic.  We went on a family bike ride with the whole Schofield Clan along the murdock canal.  It was a long ride, but it was really fun.  We took Gwen out of the trailer and traded bikes with Darby and she rode in the front in a baby seat.  She LOVED that!  She was saying "WEEEE" the whole way.  I think I need to invest in one of those.  We've been going to TGP to the farm with cousins Jack and Leo, and it's probably one of Gwen's favorite places on earth.  She loves the animals, the goats and just being able to run around free. 

We've been up to City Creek a couple times to hang out with Dan.  Gwen loves the splash pad there, and she could probably stay there for hours.  She didn't even mind when it sprayed her straight in the face. We shopped around a little, and Gwen always goes for the shoes.  She especially likes the sparkley ones...she is definitely my daughter. 

 We've been trying to get out and spend as much time out of the house as possible.  This winter really took its toll on us.  We have a little farm themed splash pad about 7 minutes from our house and we've been hanging out there a bit.  It's really fun, and on hot days is great.  Gwen just tromps around splashing and putting her fingers in the holes for the drain.  She sure is cute!

Summer sure is flying by!  We've been having a really fun time, and Gwennie girl is just as sassy and sweet as ever.  Being her mom never gets old.

Endoscopy

Poor little G is just having some rough times.  She's never really quit spitting up and the Dr decided it was time to get a better look at what was going on.  so we headed to Primary Children's Hospital and had an endoscopy done on her to get a look.  We are still waiting on results as they had to do a few biopsy's but are hopeful we'll be able to figure out what's going on with her.  It was kind of a scary day.  She had to be put under general anesthesia and have an IV & breathing tube put in, so I was kind of a wreck.  But she did great and was back to her sassy self practically the minute she woke up.  It was so sad to see all the babies there and all of them in their tiny hospital gowns.  Sick kids are no fun.