Tamarindo, Costa Rica

For Nathan's high school graduation present we decided to go to Tamarindo, Costa Rica.

The temperature is consistent year round, 80s-90s during the day, 60s-70s at night. Sun up is at 5:30 am, sun down is at 6:30 pm. Definitely not something we are used to in Dallas. Their currency is Colones, 1000 Colones= $2.

MONDAY:

After flight delays, missed flights, flat tire on an airplane, we finally got in the air. We flew DELTA, which stands for Doesn't Ever Leave the Airport! Our schedule was to fly from Dallas to Atlanta and then to Liberia, Costa Rica. Our actual path turned into DELTA from Dallas to Atlanta, DELTA from Atlanta to Houston (we are back in Texas :)), then CONTINENTAL finally got us to Liberia, Costa Rica.

Mom and I

Mom and Dad on the train in between the terminals

Nate and I

Stacey and Jason

Mom and dad in the plane

Lunch at Pappadeaux in Houston, Texas

Arriving at el aeropuerto en Liberia, Costa Rica

Stacey, Jason and Nate are so glad to have finally arrived in Costa Rica after a 19 hour day of traveling!

Dad, Me, and Mom going through Costa Rica Customs

Nate and I are so sad our luggage didn't arrive

but we didn't mind for long, Nate was able to buy alcohol and I was rich!

Two thousand colones and change

One thousand colones= $2

Me, Nate, Stacey and Jason getting settled into our room

We went to Aqua Lounge, it was a discoteque and the most americanized (AKA - it had AC)

Mom taking a picture of the family at the bar

Do not let this sign fool you, it's not really a shot. Costa Ricans are CRAZY!

Mom taking more family pictures :)

TUESDAY:

We hung out by the beach all day and our luggage finally arrived.

Our front desk, it was entirely open to the outdoors

Me, Stacey and mom in the hallway outside our room

The hotel had a buffet style breakfast every morning

Mom and I eating breakfast with the ocean behind us

Stacey's "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" moment

Me, Mom, and Stacey laying out on the beach listening to the waves crash

Horses were everywhere

These were some water statues in the main pool

Dad bought Cuban cigars on the beach

Jason and Nate collecting seashells

For lunch we ate chicken, fish and shrimp tacos from a cute little taco restaurant on the beach

They were so yummy even the iguanas liked them

Our view from the room

Another one of the pools

Nate caught sea urchins

Me, Mom and Stacey cooling off in the main pool and getting water massages

With the sun beating me down and the sound of the waves, I took a nap everyday

Our hotel from the ocean

Me, Nate and Stacey hanging out in the clear ocean

Family dinner at our hotel

View from our room at night

Stopping by mom and dad's room before going out, Stacey wasn't ready for this picture!

One of the bars we went to that night

Nate and I made friends with two Cali people- Ari and Chanell

Nate and I also went to La Barra for some Salsa Lessons, this is Nate's intense salsa dancing face

WEDNESDAY, JULY 15TH:

We woke up this morning, went to the buffest breakfast and then went ziplining through the jungle!

The whole gang before starting

Stacey was so scared!

Dad being crazy....typical!

Nate ziplining upside down

The group waiting on one of the 11 platforms

Jason really enjoying the ziplining.

Mom ziplining upside down

Zipline instructor (Eddie) and I

We ate dinner tonight at an outdoor restaurant called, Copacabana

THURSDAY:

The boys woke up very early and went deep sea fishing, while the girls got hour long massages on the beach.

Dad caught lots of fish!

So did Jason

As well as Nate

Nate also got very sea sick!

Dad's BIG catch: a Marlin

Our hotel restaurant during the day

After the boys returned with their fish we hung out at the bar for a little bit and sipped on Mojitos (Mom's favorite)

We took a walk on the beach as a family

Our future CONDO! Ha ha I wish.

My favorite picture of my parents!

Our hotel cooked up the guys fish for dinner, it was the best fish I have ever eaten

Mom and I at dinner

Stacey and Dad....this pic was after multiple attempts at getting a picture with their eyes open...they are one in the same!

Nate and Jason

Family picture :)

Champagne toast to Costa Rica and our dinner the boys caught

Stacey, Jason and I went to Babylon this night and we ran into our Cali friends Ari and Chanell and our Boston friend that we met while ziplining, Brandon

This was the night I met a surf instructor from LA (Todd) and he told me he would give me surf lessons the next day!

FRIDAY:

My surf instructor, Todd, actually showed up! I couldn't believe it. So we went out there and he taught me how to surf!

The waves aren't much but at least I can mark "Learn to Surf" off my bucket list!

Jason and Stacey

Nate and I

Nate practicing

Our hotel was filled with all kinds of statues

Nate and I went on a walk to collect more seashells with my mom

There are dogs and cats running around everywhere, this one did have an owner though, the puppies name is Tango

Pura Vida is a Costa Rican saying that everyone says, it means "This is the life" or "Pure Life"

Tamarindo is not as "Americanized" as Cancun or the Bahamas is.

Costa Rican residents played soccer on the beach everyday!

PDQ= "Pretty Damn Quick" Taxis, and they are not joking. They drive very fast and pass other cars on small two laned roads.

We went to lunch at an Italian Delicatessen

We ordered pizza and subs

Mom and I couldn't resist Italian Gelato!

Later that night Mom, Jason, and Dad went to Pizzeria A La Lena for burgers. Stacey was at the hotel with a 24 hour stomach bug :(

Nate and I went to the Crazy Monkey

SATURDAY:

Mom, Dad, Stacey and Jason woke up early to go souvenir shopping around town

Their guard at el banco

Then we went on a catamaran!

*=We are waiting for a small boat to take us out to the HUGE catamaran

After getting to our destination spot we all jumped off and went snorkeling. We had to wear these wrist bands to stay at our hotel and mini jelly fish got wrapped up in my wrist band and I broke out in a bunch of little bumps and it burned so bad! And no I didn't let anyone urinate on my wrist.

 

This is mom and Nate not getting stung by jellyfish!

We found a sand dollar

I'm lounging on the front of the boat

Nate and I

The family eating lunch (bar-b-q chicken, guacamole, chips, salsa and fresh fruit)

Nate and his Titanic moment

All the girls on the catamaran

Stacey and I controlling the sails

Dad controlling the....side of the boat and beer

Lovebirds

Cheers!

We were able to stay on the catamaran until sundown, but this was taken another day when I was on the beach, of our catamaran at sunset

Stacey and I were very sad that this was our last night

Mom, Dad and Stacey ordered the Red Snapper and this is what it came out looking like!

Stacey's fish and my fish (Shrimp)

We wanted our last night to be a lot of fun after dinner, but we were so tired from the catamaran trip all day we only went out for a little bit. One of the places was Voodoo.

SUNDAY:

We woke up and left our hotel by 5:30am. Arrived at the Liberia aeropuerto around 6:30am and jumped on a plane to Atlanta at 8:30am. We were all very sad to be coming back to Dallas.

Liberia Airport :(

We had to pay to leave their country!

Then we had to fill out some paper work at Migration

And unfortunately we have to board a DELTA flight!

I'm not sure why we are smiling so big we were all very sad at this moment