Costa Rica!

I know it has taken me awhile to get these pictures posted, but it has been a little crazy around our house! My sister and neice just left after almost 2 weeks at our house... and we got home the same day they arrived! Here are the girls on the flight to Costa Rica...
It was an amazing trip, and we LOVED our company! Dan's boss (and one of our BEST friends) Mark, and his kids are officially our favorite people to travel with! Not only do the kids get along GREAT... but I love each and every one of them! I had someone ask me on this trip if they were all my kids (our 2, plus his 4) and I said no, but I probably should have just said yes! I love them all! I hope you enjoy the pictures... this was definitely a trip of a lifetime!
The huge "International Airport"... it didn't have walls!!! It was "open" and "airy"... should I be concerned about the flight out of here? Weird! Here are the girls enjoying all that "air".
Here is the road leading to where we stayed the majority of our time in Costa Rica. The area was called "Penisula Papagayo", and our resort was "Poro Poro"... It was gorgeous!!!
This was one view we had of the ocean from our house. We had our own private pool that you can see in front... I don't think I can stay at the Holiday Inn or Best Western again... We were definitely spoiled!

On Sunday afternoon and evening, we spent our time getting settled, checking out the "club" restraunt and the beach. I thought we might starve... you never know how the food is going to be in a foreign country... but it was great! (I even packed some emergency peanut butter and mac-n-cheese!) Here are a couple of shots of "the fam" in our golf cart.

Courtney LOVES dessert! She can be "so full", but if she sees dessert she suddenly has plenty of room!Courtney and Kenna ready for a day at the beach and pool!Liz, Tiffany, and Preston at the pool...

Dan was ready for some sun... He doesn't get much at the office... all he's missing is a virgin Pina Colada with a little umbrella!

This is one of my favorite pictures of most of the gang... McKenna, Dan, Mark, Liz, Tiffany, and Preston. It wasn't planned...Me and the girls on the beach... The kids playing in the pool... I didn't know you could even do that with your hair... I thought it looked really cool... glad I could take the picture fast enough...Everything was gorgeous in Costa Rica! I couldn't believe all the different flowers...beautiful!The kids ready for a tour of the area. We headed out for dinner in a small town called "Coco"...This is it...It was a beach town... I was able to get this picture just before dark...Our dinner was fantastic...Time for a "road trip"... we headed out on Tuesday for the "Arenal" Volcano. The drive was beautiful... the drivers were CRAZY!!!!!!This is Lake Arenal. It was HUGE! It took us 4 hours to drive from where we were staying on the coast inland to Arenal.Me and my girlsThis is the Arenal Volcano... they told us that most of the time it is covered with clouds! Lots of tourists never even see the top... and we got to watch it erupting the entire time we were there!Dinner at our hotel that night...Jake is so cute!!! He is one happy guy... I think this began the "spoon-on-your-nose" competition...Nice work Courtney!Wednesday morning we began our adventures... First it was the "Sky Tram and Trek".... code for frightening "Zip Line" 600 feet over the TOP of the rainforest. There were 8 different lines with platforms where we stopped in between them.The Bond's...I don't think you can really see my face... but I was scared to death!We could see everything on our way up... That is Lake Arenal... and we aren't at the top yet!Getting ready for our descent...I was almost ready to puke! I don't think I have ever been this scared in my life!The volcano was erupting in the background... Courtney went first... Tiffany on one of her lines that she didn't make it entirely across... she had to pull herself in hand-over-hand... Courtney our little adventurer!This is me on one of the lines... I am the small dot about half way across! There were some that were a Half Mile long!!!!!My kids have no fear!!!!It ended up being one of my favorite parts of the trip! What I have learned about myself through this experience, is that I really can do ANYTHING! I can't let fear keep me from trying something new, even if the fear is overwhelming! Our next stop was the National Park for the volcano... They warn you that you are entering under your own risk... the kids are pretending to be scared!This is my favorite shot of the trip... this is Liz up on top of some volcanic rock next to a sign that says "DANGER" don't go past this sign!! That is the volcano erupting behind her... The cute Bond Family...These pieces coming out of the volcano are actually about the size of a car...Heading back...This is what most of the homes looked like. It sure made us all appreciate home and all we are blessed with.Next stop... The "La Fortuna Waterfall". First we had to descend down these "stairs"... if you can call them that! We had no idea what we were in for... or how worth the pain it would be! There were almost 600 "stairs"... and we had to come back up the same way we went down! Us at the waterfall...Mark and the kids...This was the river from the waterfall we got to play in... Did I mention it was full of fish?...Dan and the girls...Courtney loves to pose for pictures... you can see her ribs through her swimsuit... she is hilarious!This is one of my favorite pictures of the Bonds... they all look GREAT!Can you believe this view?! It was incredible!Another shot of the volcano... this time you can see the jagged peaks... very cool!That night we finished off the day of adventure at the Talacon Hot Springs... You literally climb in and out of pools and the river that is heated by the volcano. It was really amazing!On Thursday morning before heading back to Poro Poro, we went to the "hanging bridges" in the rainforest. There was a waterfall here too....It was really weird being on suspended bridges... I kept expecting a guy from "Indiana Jones" to jump out of the follage at the other end with a huge knife and cut us free... The Bond's making funny faces... I love that they don't take themselves too seriously all the time! They know how to have fun and make every moment one to remember! The rainforest below us...This parrot was on the building out front...On our way "home" we had to stop at this Swiss village for lunch. How could we not stop!? It was so random... and it even had great food!This was Thursday night as we headed out for dinner. The beach was gorgeous... and we got to watch the sunset...Friday morning before heading out to play at the beach and pool the "gangsters" put on a show for me...This is Dan... I will be making Christmas ornaments of this picture if any of you would like one...A game of volleyball on the beach...Dan boogey boarding...The Monkeys were EVERYWHERE! We got woken up every morning to the sound of them in our trees! It was really cool to see them in the wild...Time for our last dinner in Costa Rica...Liz wasn't thrilled with this particular item...Time to go home...Sad faces on our stairs...This is the "Poro Poro" sign...Back to the Costa Rica, Liberia, International Airport... no walls...In Dallas Ft. Worth, we had to change planes... this is a tradition the Bond's call "Monorail Surfing"... it's not as easy as it looks... No hands!!!Our girls just before landing in Salt Lake... completely worn out from FUN!!! What a great trip!!!