The Loud Americans: Vacation Update

Tuesday, January 03, 2017

Vacation Update - Costa Rica!!

We had an amazing time with Tracy's family in Costa Rica. It was a once in a lifetime trip and so fun to have all 9 kids together (7 boys) with all the adults. We rented 2 houses on the beach, they shared a pool, and were next to a small boutique hotel that had an outdoor bar, pool table and volleyball/etc. It was kid paradise.

Every day the kids...

swam in the ocean
learned to surf (Kay insisted on going 1st and got up on her 3rd try, Billy went 2nd and got up on his 1st try, Ian, Jimmy & Tracy got up but couldn't stay up, Tom dedicated himself to the art of body surfing)
played soccer (football, volleyball, ball tag, world cup in the pool, billiards, Uno, left/right/center, sharks vs minnows
did daily trivia with Grandma
cheered on football (Packers, Vikings, Michigan, Clemson, etc)
ordered daily fruit smoothies from the bar
played with Emily and the other hotel dogs
threw a football into the surf and then competing for who could retrieve it 1st
daily walks on the beach with Grandma/aunties

We also did 2 major excursions - the Nat'l Park and horseback riding on the beach. Jimmy even saw 2 people he new at the Nat'l Park, a girl in his drivers ed and a girl that goes to many of the same bar/bat mitzvah's he did. Small small world

A few highlights/quotes:

Cedric notices - "Billy says "hmm" a lot vs actually answering a question"
Billy reading the directions for Mexican Train Dominoes "says you shouldn't look at other peoples tiles", to which Kay replies ... "it says shouldn't, not can't"
Tom found Santa Clos wine and dressed the part with Jeff photo bombing
Tom/Jeff cheering so loud during the Michigan game at the bar next door that we could hear them when we were in our rooms, with the doors shut with the air conditioner on
Dinners by crazy Julie. Mom and Dad hired her to cook, clean, serve 2 dinners so that we could relax. It was nice to be waited on!
Traditional carib dinner by Ronald's wife with his family and Cedrics surf sponsor family as guest of honor
Cedric winning 1st place in the surf competition at the hotel
Georgias 14th birthday!
A thai massage from Julie along with a watzu water massage - so relaxing!
A harrowing drive down, in 2 cars, getting lost 3 x's and then driving in the dark for 90 minutes, on roads that aren't lit, no shoulder and with bikers/walkers on the highway. Oh, did I mention it was through the mountains?! I thought I was going to loss my shit. Billy commented "its a good thing they dont get snow/ice here or these roads would be really treacherous"
A Toys for Tots party the owners (Mikey and Diana) put on for the local kids each year, including santa in shorts! (see a separate blog for these photos)