My First Official Young Men's Activity - Caleb

Last Saturday I had my first official young men's activity. I've been to some others before, but I wasn't 12 yet so they weren't official. The activity was a combined young men's and young women's activity and the overall turnout was two young women's leaders, one young men's leader, eight young women, and two young men. We went on a hike up to here:

Here are some pictures along the way.

The only other young man:

When we got there, we played a really fun game, but I forgot to take pictures. Here are some pictures of before and after the game:

Every one together; the blurry thing on the bottom is a stick that we used to keep the camera from falling over. 

It was a good first official young men's activity. (:

Parrots - Dylan

Today for the first time, I saw a parrot. I've seen them before but it's just that I couldn't figure out what they were. I didn't really see the green in them.

But this time I could. I saw them up in the trees by our house. It was the first time that I saw them in the wild. One of my friends named Eden (I'm pretty sure I spelled it right) has a pet parrot. But I can't figure out what kind of parrot it is.

I figured out that they're parrots because I saw that they were green and I saw them dipping their heads down like macaws. The parrots stay in groups and the sound that they make sounds kind of like a seal, except for a higher pitch.

Puppies - Hannah

This morning as I took the kids to school, we saw four little puppies wandering around by the side of the dirt road. There was no mother in sight and they seemed too young to be on their own. On my way home they were still there, and on my way to pick up Jonah a couple hours later they hadn't wandered far and were whining.

So Jonah and I decided to bring them some milk.

I was guessing somebody just dumped them by the side of the road, and I didn't want to leave them there, so Jonah and I decided to take them home, uncertain as to their fate. However, when we were rounding them up we couldn't find the little brown one--I'm guessing he went to sleep somewhere after having a full tummy of milk.

There are lots of dogs in Costa Rica, but from what I've heard about other Latin American countries, they tend to be much less mangy here, and there has also been a recent nationwide effort to get dogs spayed and neutered. But there are still lots of dogs roaming around, and I was worried we would have trouble finding these ones a home. Obviously, since we're leaving in May, we couldn't keep them.

We decided to take them to the pet store to see if they wanted them. Basically, they told me that if I would pay for their shots, they would take the puppies and give them away. It was $30 for the three of them, so despite Jonah's protests I got them the shots and gave them to the pet store. I hope they find good homes, though honestly, I think anywhere in Costa Rica is a great life for a dog--roaming the hills and enjoying the pleasant climate. 

I just hope this little guy is okay without his mom and siblings.

Have you seen me?

Happy Birthday Caleb! - Hannah

Happy birthday to my diligent, intelligent, kind-hearted  boy who has gone from being my chubby little chunk-a-boy. . . 

. . . to this handsome young man.

What an honor it is to be his mother. According to our tradition here in Costa Rica, we got fruit loops for breakfast. And for dinner tonight we'll have pesto pasta--I only hope the pesto is comparable to the Costco version that Caleb loves.

How Convenient - Hannah

I was making a salsa recipe that called for half a green pepper and half a red pepper. How convenient are these?

Birds - Dylan

These are all the birds that I've seen in Costa Rica. I really like to watch for birds, and I would really like to work with birds when I'm older. I found these pictures on the internet.

Scarlet Macaw: This is my favorite bird 

Keel-billed Toucan: This is my second favorite bird.

Rock Pigeon: This is my third favorite bird

Fiery-billed Aracari: This is the first toucan we saw

Blue-crowned Motmot: I like these birds because
they tick their tails like a clock

Lineated Woodpecker: I saw this bird for
 the first time a few days ago

White-ringed Flycatcher

Vulture

Cherrie's Tanager

Blue Dacnis

Magenta-throated Woodstar Hummingbird

Squirrel Cuckoo: It's called a Squirrel
Cuckoo because it walks around
in a tree like a Squirrel.

Blue-and-White Swallow: There's tons of these by our
house. I can hear one right now.

Montezuma Oropendola: This bird makes a
weird digital noise.

These are the Montezuma Oropendola's nests.

Gray-necked Wood Rail: We call these chicken ducks
because their heads move like a chicken.

Arenal Volcano - Hannah

This week we were able to visit Arenal, the most famous volcano in Costa Rica. Unfortunately there was a lot of clouds and rain, so we rarely got a good view of the volcano. Still, though, it was an impressive sight. It was different from our visit to Poas Volcano--Poas had steam and we were able to get a better view of the crater, but Arenal was a perfect, cone-shaped volcano that you see and think, "Now that's a volcano!"

A rare moment when the tip of the volcano came out from behind the clouds

This picture shows a prettier view, though the top was covered in clouds.
But it kind of looks like it's exploding. Notice the bare side of the volcano
where there is old lava flow, versus the greener side on the previous picture.

We arrived in the city of La Fortuna, near the volcano, on Thursday evening. After some dinner, we spent some time shopping. We really haven't spent much time doing that, and the kids (and okay, me too), wanted to buy some souvenirs.

The kids all had some money, but the trick was helping them see what was a good value and what was junk. They wanted a lot, but we have limited suitcase space for our return trip and we wanted them to use their money wisely. We decided to window shop that evening, and make mental note of what we really wanted. Then the next morning we went back to buy what we really wanted. And even after sleeping on it, Jonah decided he really wanted this $7 turtle--because everyone should have one of these.

After our morning shopping, the rain started to let up, so we went to our first stop, La Fortuna Waterfall. It required a steep climb down a set of stairs to get there, and an even steeper set up, in my opinion. But it was worth it.

After a frigid swim at the base of the waterfall--during which it started raining again--and the hike back up, we went to my favorite spot on the trip--the hot springs. There are a lot of hot springs around Arenal, where the water has been heated from the nearby volcanic activity. Most of the hot springs are at pricey spas and resorts. We opted for the free one, just downstream from a resort, almost underneath the road, and with only a slight sulfur smell. 

The whole river felt like a hot tub, and it was awesome. I could have stayed longer, but the kids were actually getting bored. We met and chatted with some nice people as well, a couple of guys from Prince Edward Island, and a Jehovah's witness family from Indiana. We tend to find that there are a lot more English speakers in the touristy areas than at home in Puriscal, and I've really learned to appreciate English-language conversations.

Under the road, the kids also tried some "watersliding."

The view downstream

And finally, this morning we decided to spend our last time in Arenal at a swimming hole that our friends at the hot springs told us about--also free :). It had a rope swing so Michael and the big kids had fun swinging out over the water and jumping in.

We also had fun trying to catch fish. We found that we could get a bunch of them swarming around by feeding them cheesy Ritz crackers. There was much cheering when we finally caught one using our bait and some clothes as a net--he was a little guy about three inches long, but he got away before we could take his picture. 

It was a fun trip, and I sure do love exploring with this family of mine.