Serious catching up, again

2019 was the year of surgeries in this household.  Guillermo had 3 surgeries and I had two.  In December, on December 2nd, barely two months after my hernia surgery, I had another surgery to have my gall bladder removed.  That went well also and recovery always takes longer than I think it should.  I actually thought I wouldn't be able to go to Costa Rica at the beginning of January because my recovery was slower than my expectations wanted it to be.  But it was probably two and a half weeks after my surgery that I started becoming hopeful that I'd be able to make that Costa Rica trip after all.

So Fernando, Eva and Leo left for Costa Rica on December 27th.  They left a week before us so that they could spend a little vacation time together before starting their actual work there.  All the Christmas stuff came down on the 27th and 28th and on the 29th, it was all put away.  Having to deal with putting all that stuff away after our trip was not something we wanted to do.

On January 2nd, Guillermo and I left for Costa Rica.  Our flights there were really good and we were fortunate to have an empty middle seat on the Houston to Liberia, Costa Rica leg of the trip.  Sure made for a more comfortable flight.  We got our rental car and drove to our hotel (Boyeros) which is where we met Fernando and family.  We had dinner at our favorite restaurant there in Liberia - Tierra y Mar.  Their Patacones are just so delicious!

The next day, Fernando and Eva went to the park where they do field work and we stayed at the hotel with Leo.  Fortunately, there was a kid in the room next to us so Leo and Joaquin played with toys together outside our room and splashed around in the pool for almost three hours!  They played so well together.  Joaquin didn't speak English but the two boys managed to understand each other very well.

The next day we drove to Cuajiniquil and checked into the Santa Elena Lodge.  That night we enjoyed a good fish dinner at their restaurant.  No hot water at this hotel so thankfully the weather was good and hot.  The nights were a little trying at this hotel.  The first night, a very loud alarm went off for several minutes from somewhere near the hotel.  The following night, same thing - a loud alarm coming from somewhere that lasted way too long when you're trying to sleep.  The third night, there was no alarm but the power went off during the night so there went our fan and the air conditioning.  The worst part is that the power would come back on for a few seconds and then go right back out.  So it was a constant hearing the fans shut off, then the power would come back on, manually having to turn the fan back on and then the power promptly going back out again.  That probably went on for about two hours or so.  Not much sleep that night for sure. The good part about this hotel, we had a good dinner that first night and it was right next to a grocery store.  So it was so easy to just pop over and pick up whatever we needed.

So while we were in Cuajiniquil, we took Leo one day to the beach at Puerto Soley.  My goodness it was windy that day and although we had fun at the beach, the wind whipping up the sand into the air was rough.  When it was time to go, we barely had enough water to wash all the sand off of Leo, but we got him clean enough to put in the car.

The following day, Eva went with us to Junquillal Beach.  Again, the wind was vicious but we found a better place to stay out of the wind so we weren't sprayed with sand as much.

Having lunch at one of our favorite lunch places after doing some exchanges with rental cars.  After lunch, we were on our way to Bijagua with Leo for 3 nights while Fernando and Eva went to places that they needed to check out as possible research sites.

First night we spent at the Heliconias Lodge.  Such different weather here than where we had been that last few days. After checking in, we decided to walk the trail to the first hanging bridge just in case it started raining or the weather wouldn't let us do it tomorrow.  At first Leo was a little leery of being on the bridge but he did make it all the way to the other end.

By the time we finished exploring this bridge, we needed to head back because it was starting to get late and with no sun it was starting to get darker than we liked.

It started raining during the night and pretty much rained for the next 3 days.

Dinner at our hotel

Relaxing on the couches after dinner

 Enjoying watching the exciting birds eating the bananas just outside the windows during breakfast.  

We had to wait for the rain to lessen before we could leave our room to go have breakfast.  Then we were pretty much "stuck" in the breakfast area because it just kept raining.  Below is Leo taking advantage of a little window without much rain to get back to our room.  You can't tell in the picture, but it was EXTREMELY windy.  Leo had to hang on hard to that umbrella.

At around 10, the weather cleared and the sun actually came out so we took advantage and walked the trail again to the first hanging bridge.  This time Leo loved being on the hanging bridge.

Having lunch in Bijagua at La Semilla.  That cute little restaurant became our go-to restaurant for 3 lunches!

Lounging around after eating.

Then we went to a store for some food items to take to our next hotel, and Leo enjoyed an ice cream while watching all the big trucks drive by.

So this new hotel was a nice find.  We actually met the owners of this place back in 2017 when we were walking down the road near Bijagua.  We saw the property and wished we could walk around on it.  As luck would have it, the property owners were also out walking and they invited all of us to walk around on their property.  The lady walked around with us and we enjoyed her company and really enjoyed looking at all the plants on her property.  The only structure on the property back then was their home.  Back at home, I found her facebook page and enjoyed keeping up with her.  About a year ago, I noticed on her page that they were building some cabins on the property!  So we made a reservation at one of the cabins and what a gem it was!

They had a drawer full of games just for kids.

It had a well stocked kitchen with good appliances and cookware.

Each afternoon Eliette brought us a tray full of breakfast stuff for the next morning.

 So many beautiful birds came to eat these bananas

The cabin had a wonderful deck but we actually didn't get to enjoy it much at all.  It  rained most of the time we were there with strong winds so the deck and chairs were always very wet.  We did enjoy it for a little while right before we checked out our last day.

We took Leo to a park in Bijagua one afternoon.  

He made friends with this little girl and they had a blast together.

 Having lunch again at La Semilla.  Leo's favorite part was when we were finished with our meal, they would bring out a little dessert for us.  Free.

Having dinner in our cabin.  We had just been out looking for frogs.  Leo loved our little frog hunt.  Unfortunately, I forgot my phone so didn't get a single picture.  The frogs we saw were the Red-Eyed Tree frog.  That was so exciting.  We'd be standing out there by the pond, and we'd hear a croak behind us and we'd spin around and say oooh, there's one on these leaves somewhere.  So we'd shine our flashlights around until we found it.  Leo found some also and loved it when they jumped around.

Finally enjoying the deck a little before leaving.

After 3 days, we drove from this nice cool (and rainy) weather, back down to where it was hot and dusty.

At least this new place had a pool and air conditioned bedrooms that we could escape into.

Our first visit to Playa Hermosa with Leo.  Sure was windy so there were lots of leaves on the beach.

These drinks, a mango and a passion fruit smoothie were just delicious!

The next day we took Leo to a nearby playground.

Showing some paper object that he made.

Now we're in the National Park where Fernando and Eva study the capuchin monkeys.

Eating at my favorite restaurant - Mar y Tierra

Our second visit to Playa Hermosa

Leo wrote this in the sand.

 \

He thought it was hilarious that he fell down in the sand and got a big spot of sand on his nose.

Back at the hotel - fun in the pool

Trip is over.

Serious catching up needed

Guillermo had hernia surgery the day after Fernando and family left for Sweden.  That went well and he recovered quickly.  Maybe too quickly because he was out digging in his garden I believe it was 3 days after his surgery!!

Fernando and family had a good visit in Sweden this past summer.  The bonds were strengthened with family members over there and Leo came back speaking so much Swedish.

We drove to Austin on August 20 to pick them up from the airport there.  It was decided that I should drive Fernando's new car to go pick them up because after much juggling around of possible scenarios, it seemed all their luggage would fit the best in his car.  I had never driven his car yet, so it was a little worrisome using it at first - especially taking it on I-35.  That highway can be so crowded with big trucks!  Anyway, it turned out to be no big deal driving up there.  We stopped in Kyle to get a burger at Whataburger and then parked at the airport to meet them at their exit gate.  Leo ran right to us.  To them it was probably about 10pm but Leo seemed the liveliest of them all.

The drive home was a disaster.  Traffic became a problem almost immediately upon leaving Austin.  It would clear up slightly at times but it never got really good.  At first Leo was taking it all in stride.  But the closer we got to New Braunfels the more distressed Leo seemed to become.  For him it was about 11pm and I'm sure he was exhausted.  Then the big traffic jam where traffic was basically stopped.  We decided to take the detour that Maps suggested and as we are about to exit the highway, Leo gets sick in his car seat.  Fernando and Eva, fortunately, could tell that was coming and were prepared.  So we're all distressed now and hopefully doing the right thing by following Maps' suggestion of how to get around the traffic jam.  Of course, we're on this detour with others trying to get around the jam so it wasn't smooth sailing.  Then we get stopped by a train!  What ELSE?!?!?  But finally the extra long never-seen-such-a-long train finally passes and shortly we are back by the highway.  We decide to stop at a gas station so that Leo's clothes can be changed.  Leo seemed happy to get out of the car for a while - tired as he was.  We found out later that a semi truck had rolled over on its side on the highway and was blocking the entire road.  They were diverting all traffic to the access roads so it WAS a good thing we took that detour.  Back in the car and back on the highway past the roadblock, traffic was moving but not by much.  Leo got sick once more in the car but our mission was to just get home at that point.  We actually had rush hour traffic practically all the way to our house.

In the morning, after a good night's rest, Leo was back to his old self and it was good having them all back home.

At the beginning of September, we went to a Marriott resort here in town to celebrate both my and Eva's birthday.  We had a LOT of fun and now we want to make this an annual event!

Floating down the lazy river on the hotel grounds.

We loved the sandy beach at this resort.  Not sure how they deal with all the sand that makes its way into the pool at this beach.

They had lots of water slides at this hotel so we all had a good time.

I also had hernia surgery at the beginning of October.  It's been 11 days since my surgery and things have gone well so far.  It's so true what they say - those first three days after surgery are very painful. If I could do it over, I would take it a lot easier than I did in the first week after surgery.  Guillermo says the same thing.  But we both felt not that bad so that made us think we could do more than we actually should have.

Latest trip to Tucson and Fernando and family off to Sweden

Today Fernando, Eva and Leo left for Sweden.  We drove them up to Austin where their flight was going to leave from.  They will return in mid-August!

Going back to the month of June, Guillermo and I left for Tucson on June 28th.  It's a long drive over there but it's kind of a nice drive.  We've been doing it so frequently now so, as we drive along, it's nice to see the changes to the landscapes during the different months we go.  As usual, we stop in Mesilla, New Mexico for the first night.  We used to do the trip in one day, but we find it's just more leisurely to break the trip up this way.

It's been a nice tradition on our trips to Tucson to stop in Benson to have lunch with Roy.

It was perfect weather to enjoy Rebeca's pool.

Scotty with one of his magna-tiles creations.

 He can still fit in this little bin! (but barely)

Enjoying water play at the Children's Museum

Snack time at the museum!

He's loved getting on this police motorcycle since he was about one year old!

With his Lego creation he made at Lego Time at the local library

We had so much fun at the Marriott Starr Pass Resort one weekend.

 They have a lazy river there on the grounds!

The view from the patio

 Enjoying dinner on the patio

The next morning Guillermo and I walked on a trail a little.  It was already hot at around 8:30 so we didn't go far.  But we were excited to see several Mule Deer!

Guillermo and Scotty playing tic-tac-toe at El Charro after leaving Starr Pass. 

Scotty loved creating scenes with dinosaurs and playdough.

We went back to the library another day and saw they had put the Lego creation he had made on display!

One of our big goals this trip was to get Scotty into swimming classes.  Here he is on his first day of class.

And here he is on his third class!  The instructor said he is a fast learner!

Scenes from the drive back home.  We are looking out over Las Cruces from a rest area.

Nice roadrunner at the rest area.

We got back home on July 14, and on July 16 we drove Fernando and family up to Austin for their flight to Sweden.  It's now July 17th and they are spending the night in Stockholm.  The hardest part is over for them and tomorrow comes the fun part spending time with family.  They'll be there a whole month.  Our house sure feels empty and quiet...

Big Rig "Petting Zoo"

Funny name for an event.  But it was pretty impressive.  They had just about every piece of construction equipment any kid would be happy to see up close and several other vehicles like this police car...

this fire truck...

and a city bus.

The only hard thing about this event was that there were so many kids and each kid just had a few seconds to fantasize on the equipment before reluctantly getting off and letting the next kid in line on.  As you can see in this photo, that girl on the left was just itching for Leo to get off.  Most kids weren't that blatant and waited patiently.

 We ran into Rebeca's friend Laura there with her daughter Madisen.  Here they are both on the same forklift.  

It was also very loud at this event as the sirens from the police cars were constantly going off and all the equipment had horns that every kid was more than eager to punch.

Leo was fascinated with the garbage truck but at the same time, a little nervous about being so close to such a loud thing!

Happy Birthday to Guillermo - yesterday actually!

It was a low-key day, but a nice day nonetheless.  Guillermo and I went out to lunch at Beirut Mediterranean restaurant.  The food was very good and we enjoyed that lunch.  Later that day, we celebrated with cake and pie at home!

I love it when little kids are around birthday presents.  They are in charge of opening them!  So precious!