April 2011 in Costa Rica

We were so excited to have our first visitors come, all Lowder's: My Uncle Jeff, Aunt Nancy, Cousin Chris, his wife Brenda, and their young daughter, Arden.

Brock, Arden, and Gracie at "Monkey Breakfast"

Uncle Jeff and Brock grill steaks for Jeff's 64th birthday party!

YUMMY dinner of steak and shrimp... Happy B-day, Jeff!

Grace, Nancy, and Austin swimming in the ocean off the boat on our 4-hour boat excursion.

Jeff, Chris, Austin, and Britton finding little critters hiding on the shore of Turtle Egg Beach

Nancy, Chris, Jeff, our boat guide, Victor, and Austin at Playa Hermosa Beach

Swimming with Jeff and Nancy in the pool... our favorite past time!

A week later, my aunt and uncle, Jodi and Reed Hamblin came to visit! Here Jodi is admiring Gracie's shells at Casique Beach.

Jodi admires Gracie's shells

A howler monkey and her baby in the mango trees at Casique Beach

Brock jumping from the boat.

And Britton...

And Gracie...

Brock made a beautiful coral discovery!

A crab hides in a crevice in the ocean cave on Turtle Egg Beach.

"Whoa... the water went way high inside the cave, Jodi... come see!"

Britton and Jodi bonding

Jodi, Reed, and the family on the boat... SO fun!

We found bottleneck DOLPHINS!

Love this pic of Gracie!

We found a sea turtle!

The ziplines were GREAT! Reed loved it!

A picture of all of us, minus Grace, as we worried she was too young and small. What an AMAZING day at Guachepelin, at the Rincon de la Vieja Volcano!

I loved the ziplines... and all the more amazing with the family.

Brock

The missionaries came and taught our cute friends, Lhylla and Naber, the first discussion.

Guachepelin... love this pic of Jodi and Reed

The fam tries to find the courage to jump off the waterfall.

And everyone did it! Here is Brock...

And Jodi!

We rode horses in Guachepelin... Britton LOVED it!

Brock was a natural...

Britton and Jodi love 'muchother'

Hot Springs at Guachepelin

Trip to Nicaragua

This is a picture of our family crossing the boarder into Nicaragua. In order to renew our Visa, we had to leave the country for a few days and decided to make a trip of it. As I took the kids to the bathroom and to get a snack, Jason witnessed a policeman chasing a criminal and shooting at him; quite the excitement!

We made it across the border... on our way to Granada.

In front of Lake Nicaragua, the largest freshwater lake in Central America. An active volcano is in the background. The lake is full of the only freshwater sharks in the world, which are frequently eaten in Nicaragua.

We took a boat trip in Lake Nicaragua through 'isletas,' which are mini-islands made by volcanic eruptions. A lot of unique vegetation grows there and here are some flowers our guide picked that were growing up from the bottom of the lake.

Each of the isletas have mansions built on them, and most are owned by the rich and famous.

One of the isletas was full of monkeys and this monkey, 'Lola', loved Grace and climbed all over her! She didn't want anything to do with our bananas, only our Ritz Cheese crackers and fruit snacks. Grace loved it and was laughing SO hard.

Lola and Grace smiling for the camera!

A darling family in Nicaragua full of smiles.

Brock and Grace on a swing in the open garden in our hotel, Hotel Corazon.

Britton and Austin play chess at the hotel.

We all agreed that our favorite historical place in Granada was the fort in the center of town. Dating back to the 1700's, it has served as a military fort and prison. This is where they stored all of the ammunition.

Jason is translating what the guide said to Brock. This is a very deep well that has served as a torture chamber for prisoners, and in the 1980's, where many prisoners of war were tortured and killed.

Looking down the well.

From the top of a watch tower looking down.

Brock and Grace with darling little kids who come clean up the leaves and get paid in Mango's from the tree growing overhead. They were darling.

I just thought this little girl and her dad were so darling. Her name is 'Dulce,' which means candy.

Our horse carriage ride through Granada to see historic sites.

Austin and Jason in front of sculpture that was found in the 1500's, made by Indians that were in Central America before Columbus discovered America.

Britton in a hall full of the statues found; they were absolutely incredible. The museum is in the oldest monastery in Central America... built in the 1500's.

Grace in front of one of the sculptures. The sculptures are all sitting, which means they lived in peace and were 'thinkers,' not 'fighters'.

The cathedral in the center of town.

SO many bikers with multiple riders all over town...

Playing cards at the hotel... so pretty and peaceful there.

Looking into the mouth of the Masaya Volcano

Austin carrying Grace up the tall steps to the lookout at the volcano.

The cars were to be faced toward the exit in case the volcano started erupting in a big way.

Instructions on what to do in case of a big eruption... including climbing under the car if necessary.

Looking into the mouth of the volcano.

In front of the inactive 'Catarina' volcano, now full of rain water. So pretty!

A wall very close to the Catarina volcano, that was a military base in the 1980's and now a restaurant. These are bullet holes from the war that have not been repaired... pretty eerie.

We found the missionaries on their P-day... had a great visit.

Mahi-mahi... my favorite dinner in Nicaragua. So fresh and it melted in my mouth!