Costa Rica

Yes, this is a wild toucan perched on the tree right outside our house in Costa Rica! We woke up to a few of these beauties every morning (the sun rises at 4:45am there; I know, I was up with Gavin.) This family trip has been in the making for 2 years. July 2012 was the only time everyone could come, so we made it count! I have a million pictures which will be posted in multiple installments, starting with the awesome house, views, plant and wildlife. It was an amazing 9 days and an adventure of a lifetime!

This house was unlike any other. It had 5 bedrooms in the main house plus a guest house. There was a nice pool, hot tub, and theater room. There was plenty of room for everyone. The windows upstairs on the right was our room, with panoramic views. The penthouse on the 3rd story is where Zach's family stayed with a 360 view. Incredible.

The main floor living area was open to air. There was always a nice breeze and the mountain view was unobstructed. We hung out there, ate meals (prepared by a cook so no work for us, yipee!), and watched the kids play. It was perfect for including everyone in all types of activities.

One of the two staircases leading to the bedrooms.

The front entrance. You can see right through the entire house (front to back) to the mountain view. Reception desk at left. The girls had fun playing here but still within sight of the adults.

Pulling up the very steep driveway to the house. Thank goodness for 4 wheel drive.

It was a long, steep, rocky dirt road to get to the house from the main road. The house just peeks out of the trees (right above the fence post). The house sits on 65 acres.

The view from the pool.

The view from the upstairs balcony and Anistyn. The clouds were always low in the mornings.

Balcony view with hovering clouds.

Pretty and unique flowers and plant life around the house.

The toucans were out almost every morning. Enlarge to see the green around his eyes. So beautiful.

A sloth even came to visit one day.

Unfortunately, the bugs are super sized in Costa Rica. That's a huge beetle and the other bugs were also abnormally and disturbingly large.

This bird looked like a mini toucan but had a red and yellow smaller beak and red on its chest. Worth zooming for more detail.

When we weren't out doing fun activities, we had fun hanging out at the house swimming, chatting, doing crafts with the girls, and playing games.

Puppets.

The guys playing Garrett's game, Up Rising. This went on for many hours.

We had so much fun just hanging out together at the house, but we did get out and do many fun things. Adventures in Costa Rica to be continued...