CR 2014 Day 11: We Didn't Get Arrested

Today was nothing but travel. I will be honest. It was miserable it involved a 4 hr drive from Samara to San Jose which had us leaving at 6am. The kids were pretty horrible in the car. Smile.

I won't repeat the horrid experience at the airport. I had it typed out and then realized some things are better left untold.

Get me on the plane.

FINAL THOUGHTS

1. Ten days with your family is a long time. Don't let this blog fool you. We had moments where I was pretty sure we wouldn't make it and all four of us had our meltdowns. But getting to spend that much time with my family is something we have never done before and I wouldn't give any of it back. Ok maybe a few "special" parts.

2. While I spent a lot of time planning all the best stuff - places to stay, activities, restaurants, etc most of our best memories will probably be the people we got to know and the unplanned moments.

3. One of the most surprising observations for me was the reaction to my son and his perception of it. He got almost no attention when he had his braids in. My daughter got it all. As soon as his hair was back we had locals wanting to take pictures with him, talking to him, etc. He has cool hair, I get it. But it was a bit shocking for me to observe.

4. My daughter became very observant with the animals and their babies. Which animals have eggs and which don't was a new game. By the last day that turned into the dreaded question of "how do babies (people) get out of their mommy's tummy". My answer of "with the doctors help" only held her over for 30 minutes. If anyone would like to take that one for me...

5. If you can't tell by my blog, La Carolina is my absolute favorite place in CR. It's a short drive from the Liberia airport. We are talking about a plan to get the kids down there annually and to watch flight prices. The beaches are pretty but to us Pura Vida is about the land, animals and people.

6. If asked to compare traveling with the kids to just the two of us - different. Better in many ways but much more exhausting. We didn't lounge and sip wine at night. We slept! I don't think we sacrificed one ounce of fun and we still put our own adventurous spin on it.