Japanese shirts

E and B got their T-shirts from the Japanese program yesterday and wore them to school today. B was directed to wear his shirt today by the Japanese teacher and E has to wear hers tomorrow at the Japanese Festival when she's working. B is supposed to go the Japanese Fest, but just to enjoy it. His time to work the festival isn't until he's a junior.

More Costa Rica

At a restaurant along the drive to Tamarindo for a bathroom break.

Beautiful sunset from the catamaran.

Holler monkeys in the wild. Our driver, Eduardo, stopped the bus and our guide, Ollie, had everyone get off so they could take pictures.

Some of the Costa Rican roads weren't even paved.

Taking pictures at the hummingbird garden.

Our cruise on Lake Arenal.

A cooking demonstration at the Mountain Paradise Hotel. I can't remember what he cooked, but he wrapped it in a corn tortilla and it was OK. Can't say I was impressed with the Costa Rican food. They don't use ice and most of the food is served cold. Whether that's on purpose or because of slow service, I'm not sure.

A caiman (related to the crocodile) on our rain forest cruise.

The captain, Geudy, pulled the boat to the side of the river to give Cindy a Pachira flower. She even got a kiss!

After that we had lunch in LaFortuna. Cindy ordered a salad and nachos. At least she had a "light" Coke to go with all that food. I call this her light Costa Rican lunch.

Here's mom at the central park in Zarcero.

Arriving in San Jose on Monday afternoon, we went to the National Theater. We stayed that night at the Wyndham before flying out Tuesday morning.

We sure packed a lot of sightseeing into a seven-day tour. I'm still tired. Goodbye, Costa Rica. And if I never have to travel with a bus half-full of pushy Canadians again, it will be too soon.

Whirlwind Costa Rica tour

I got back home today after a trip with Mom and Cindy to Costa Rica. We left St. Louis on Jan. 20 for San Jose, Costa Rica, toured the entire country and returned to St. Louis Jan. 28.

Our first stop on the tour was the Doka Coffee Estate. Mom had to try her hand at raking coffee beans.

It was pretty interesting to see parrots sitting in the trees. We also saw monkeys in a tree beside the road.

Our first hotel (for Tuesday and Wednesday nights) was the Tamarindo Diria Beach Resort in Guanacaste. The location was on the Pacific Ocean and in a city so I was happy with the shopping. The bathroom in our room left a lot to be desired. The shower drizzled down the wall and water came out from around the spout, and water was leaking from our bathroom sink. The pool was nice and we took a ride on a catamaran Wednesday afternoon and saw whales and stingrays. It was a little challenging getting from the boat onto the catamaran, but it was worth it. The sunset was beautiful. Drink and lunch (BBQ chicken) were included. The captain said the cooler held "beer and Budweiser." Guess Bud doesn't count as beer there.

The bad part of the catamaran was my "injury." I stubbed my toe on the metal rim of the boat's bathroom door. It turned blue immediately and I was limping for the rest of the trip. I was surprised I was able to get my gym shoes on for the Cloud Forest part of the trip and all the walking/hiking we did.

Here's the bus (a Mercedes) we took to tour the country and luggage for 37 people waiting to leave Tamarindo Thursday morning. We were headed to the Monteverde Cloud Forest and our second hotel (for two nights) in the mountains.

Here's the three of us in the Cloud Forest on Thursday afternoon before arriving at the hotel. Way too much walking and climbing there for me.

Cindy and I walked all eight of these hanging bridges in Selvatura Park, a cloud forest reserve in Monteverde on Friday. We also saw a hummingbird garden and a butterfly house. My legs and little toe were really hurting when we got down with the bridges. Mom and I went with the group to lunch while Cindy and mom's roomie stayed at the park to zip line. We went to the Tree House restaurant and I ordered a chicken quesadilla which turned out to be one of the tastiest lunches on the trip.

We left the mountain hotel early Saturday morning and took a boat tour on Lake Arenal, the largest lake in Costa Rica. This is a view of the Arenal Volcano.

Here's the three of us Sunday morning at our final hotel, the Mountain Paradise Hotel. The volcano is in the background. In the morning we could see the top of the volcano and it was smoking. Too bad I didn't get a picture of that.

That morning we went on a rain forest cruise through Cano Negro.

Our boat captain was really good at finding the animals camouflaged along the river. This is a white-faced monkey who ended up getting a little mad at our group. Guess he doesn't like having his picture taken.

And here we are at the hotel before leaving for the trip back to San Jose Monday morning.

Along the way we stopped in Sarchi to see a factory where they paint ox carts. Here's me giving it a try, although they told me not to touch the wheel with the paint. We flew out of Costa Rica early Tuesday morning, caught another flight in Dallas and returned to St. Louis that night. I headed back home early this morning.

Workroom

The kids were home from school today because of the cold and E decided to clean up Andy's workroom. I wish she had taken a "before" picture. It was a disaster.

Homework

Not sure why, but E and B have always preferred to do their homework in the morning. Here's E sprawled out in my chair doing her math before school ... before she's even dressed for school.

A cat's life

L got a hold of August and put a bow in his fur. It didn't stay in too long. He looks embarrassed.

Just like August?

L recently bought this new case for the old iPhone Andy gave her. She thinks it looks like August.

An earlier Sunday

I wanted to post these photos earlier, but couldn't find where I had saved them on the computer. Better late than never, I suppose.

In the midst of a snowstorm Jan. 5, the middle school youth group took off mid-way through the service to drive to Medieval Times for lunch and a show. L had a great time. I thought they were a little crazy for driving in the horrible weather, but everything turned out well. Don't they look ridiculously cold and a little miserable?

Meanwhile, the rest of us had to stay for fellowship hour after church. It was hosted by all the people who have January birthdays so Andy brought sandwiches to share. Interesting, a woman brought an identical tray of sandwiches and since the weather kept a lot of people at home, we were able to bring some home to snack on throughout the day.

Here's B and E chatting with a friend. Because it was so cold, we had fellowship hour in the parlor instead of downstairs where it was believed to be even colder. Notice, though, how many people have their coats on. Brrr.

Go, Bulls!

L will be sporting her new Bulls jacket when she goes to her first professional basketball game tonight with Andy, E and B.

Birthday lunch

Andy had to wear a suit to work on his birthday because of a client visit, but he got lunch and a birthday cake!

And his present

Andy told us on Tuesday he was going to wait until his actual birthday Friday to open his present, but last night he decided it was time to be opened. It's a Bulls polo shirt! He has tickets to go to two games this season so hopefully he'll put it to good use.

Early birthday dinner

E plans on having a friend or two sleepover on Friday, Andy's birthday, so we thought we'd take him tonight for an early birthday dinner. Too bad E didn't get in on the birthday picture. After getting a nice picture, I asked them to make silly faces. Guess this proves who's the silliest in the family:

Sitting pretty

Muffles must have cabin fever. He loves to sit in the sun and watch the birds play outside. His favorite new perch is on top of our computer tower on the back porch.

Not the tree!

Muffles likes sitting under the tree and, apparently, climbing in it as well. When we took off the garland and ornaments today, he seemed OK with it. However, when we started taking off the lights, he crawled inside and even scratched at B when he tried to get him out.

They worked around him as long as they could. Finally, B pulled him from the tree. Muffles now has to look for a new hiding spot.

Rainbow Loom

L was perfectly happy making her rubber band bracelets and necklaces using two pencils, but after she learned what patterns could be made using the Rainbow Loom, she was sold. She bought one today with her Christmas money and watched YouTube videos to try to figure it out. She says they're a bit more complicated than they look.

Oh, yeah

I had to add this onto my last Amazon order so I'd qualify for free shipping. Guess what we'll be listening to in Costa Rica, Cindy? All your favorites from the '80s.

Changes

Well before Christmas break I told B we would have to get his hair cut before he headed back to school in January. Between having his friendds over, him going to their houses and the weather, it just didn't work out. He actually suggested we get his hair cut after school today. Guess he was tired of it falling into his eyes. It's much better now. E picked up her new glasses today. They're similar to what she had before. She wasn't ready for a big change. She picked these frames because of the colors inside. While we were there, we also ordered her prescription sunglasses that she can use while driving and golfing. I tried to talk her into getting contacts so she could have a whole wardrobe of sunglasses to choose from, but she doesn't want them.

It's still cold

When I drove Andy to the train this morning, the car showed the outside temperature at 15 degrees. When I got back home, after driving maybe eight blocks, the temperature showed -3. And I wasn't out that long.

The elementary school is closed again today and the high school closed today too. B had his friend, B, come over last night and that turned into a sleepover. One last hurrah before going back to school tomorrow.

E spent her afternoon going out for about a half-hour at a time to carve Darth Vader into the snow bank by the garage. She said quite a few cars slowed down to look at it as she was working on it. A cab driver gave her a thumbs up. It did look pretty good when it was done.

I just had to get a picture of E under the drift that formed on our garage roof. It's going to fall on someone, someday, but so far it's holding steady.