Eleven

Keely celebrated her 11th birthday with a bang. She had many celebrations, and was sung to many times leading up to, including and after her birthday. 

News and noteworthy from this birthday:

-I made 48 cupcakes - for both her class and her soccer team. Since her birthday was on a Thursday, it was also soccer practice day and it was fun to share the celebration with those friends as well as her school class. This is the last time I will be making birthday treats to bring to school because she will be in middle school next year!

-She chose chinese food for dinner for her birthday, and we decided to eat in at one of our favorite new spots for takeout, Rice Pot. It was even better in the restaurant, and Keely's favorite continues to be lo mein :)

-She had her very first friend birthday party (aside from smaller gatherings in past years). We invited 6 of her friends to join us for a spa party. We started at our house on a Friday evening with drinks and appetizers, then headed to a spa for manicures. Afterwards, we came back to our house for cupcakes, presents and games. It was really a fun evening. We even made cute little favors to hand out to each girl...themed with spa and manicure stuff of course. For someone who is not at all crafty, I was very pleased with how they turned out. Each favor cost under $5!

-She got a karaoke type machine that can play music through speakers from any device (phone, tablet, computer). Many songs have been sung, and she loves performing (mostly for herself in her room). 






I think that's about all from this edition of the birthday news. Reaching higher ages doesn't feel as dramatic for Keely as it did for Quinn, but I still can't believe my baby is 11. She is still a sweet fun loving girl and I love the time we spend together. She is the girl I never I was or will be so I am grateful for the help she provides me almost daily, and she loves to be by my side whether that be doing nails, hair, shopping, or just hanging out. I wish I could freeze time, but since I can't I will try to enjoy every moment!
  

Teenager!

Quinn celebrated his 13^th birthday, and with that he officially entered the teen years. That’s a pretty crazy thought, but it’s our reality now so I have no choice but to believe it’s true. His birthday celebrations started with his actual birthday, when he chose dinner out at Five Guys. Traditionally, we let the kids pick their birthday dinner that is made at home but this year, Keely had dance class that would have made a normal dinner at home difficult to fit around so we decided to go out for dinner. After Five Guys, we had marble cake with buttercream frosting at home (all made from scratch by James) and he opened his presents from Mom & Dad, Keely and a few others that were mailed from our family farther away. He got a new Kindle Paper white and saxophone stand from us and a cool t-shirt (this is what awesome looks like J) and a pack of Root Beer gum from Keely. The following weekend, we traveled to New Jersey and celebrated with the grandparents. Quinn chose lasagna for dinner, ice cream cake for dessert and he got some art supplies from Nana & Papa and a 3 month t-shirt subscription from Aunt Annie.

The last hurrah to ring in his teen years was probably the best part…on Columbus Day weekend, we traveled to Kings Dominion with Quinn and two of his best friends to ride the coasters and scream at the Halloween Haunt. We opened up the park at noon to overcast, chilly skies. Luckily, there was only a little rain throughout the day and the cool weather probably made the crowds lighter. Our bad luck with coasters getting stuck seems to be following us as we were one ride away from being stuck on the first coaster we waited in line for, and the kids were one ride away from being stuck at the top of the Drop Tower. Aside from that and one of the coasters being closed for the day, we had a pretty fun and successful time riding anywhere from 12-15 coasters and never had to wait more than 30ish minutes but mostly just walked on each coaster. 

We also let the three boys ride the Extreme Sky Flyer, which pulls you up about 150 feet and then drops you to freefall and swing in midair like a pendulum until you are lowered back to the ground. Quinn actually was the one to pull the cord, so to speak and release them to soar 60mph. We have a video of them flying, and it’s awesome but they all screamed pretty loud. Keely thought Quinn was going to throw up because he had his hands over his face, but he was just cold (thank goodness). It was definitely a once in a lifetime experience for them, and I know they all had fun with one more adventure!

At night time, the park becomes ‘haunted’ and that was pretty scary (for most of us). There are many mazes to walk through and there are areas of the park where scary people jump out at you, then sometimes follow you until you walk out of that ‘haunted’ area. I have not screamed so much in a very long time, if not ever. We only did two of the mazes, but Keely would have done more – she is so not scared, and my little daredevil. The boys were a bit scared, but I think they tried to play it off to be cooler. After all, what 12-13 year old will admit to being scared?!?! So not cool. I, on the other hand, could scream all I wanted, and scream I did. I’m not saying I wouldn’t do it again, but it was a little much for me.

We almost closed the park at 10 PM but left about 9:30 PM and were completely and utterly exhausted (some more than others). It was a long, tiring but fun day…Quinn and friends had a blast, which was our goal so that is all that matters!

So now we have entered the teen years. I never imagined we would be here so quickly, and I know that these next few years will most likely fly by. I am trying to enjoy every moment, tough as that is, with Quinn as he grows into a smart, funny, independent young man. He has his moments of independence, but I know he loves us and appreciates the support we give him as he tests these waters of adolescence. I don’t know what kind of road lies ahead, but I trust that we can be strong parents and raise a strong, happy, healthy teenager and give him the preparation he needs for the ‘real world’! 

New School Year

Here we go again...this time, we begin 7th and 5th grades! This year was no big thing, really because it was the same as last year for the most part. Same schools, just a different grade. Next year, we will have two middle schoolers so that will be a big step. But let's not get ahead of ourselves...

Keely is so excited to be the 'top of the school' as the oldest. The one big thing is getting to sit in the chairs at assemblies! I guess that is way more comfortable than sitting on the floor :) She is also happy with her teacher...although she did not get the male teacher for her main teacher, she is going to his class for advanced math each day. The teacher she did get was her top female choice, so in Keely's world this is a win-win. I haven't met Mrs. A, but Keely seems thrilled with her approach so far and that is what counts. She is also a bus patrol for the first time, an honor that she is happy to fulfill. She gets to wear her special patrol belt and help the little ones on the bus - even having to referee some arguments while traveling to school. So it's all good for Keely. She is doing well in school and has hooked back up with her friends from last year. She seems to be maintaining a good balance between the social and educational aspects of school, and that's a good direction to head as we begin our last year of elementary school. As for extracurricular activities this fall, she is playing soccer with the Cheetahs (one game and two practices a week) and taking a Hip Hop dance class once a week. It's fairly busy, but it's how she likes it!


Quinn settled into another year of middle school fairly quickly. He continues to manage his time well and not have to be reminded to do homework, study for tests/quizzes and practice his saxophone. I met all of his teachers at Back to School night and I think he's got a good group again. All of his teachers seem fair and nice, and I think he will do well with them. He is in all honors classes again, with an added challenge of High School Algebra 1 for math. He also has Art Foundations for the first half of the year, and Home Economics (not his first choice, but I think a good learning experience for him!) the second half. Band is his other elective and it will certainly keep him (us) busy this year. Lots of performances and competitions...and he has also chosen to participate in Jazz Band as well, so that adds another few performances and practices after school each Monday. He seems to have done well with the switch to tenor saxophone and it continues to be a passion for him! He's not doing any extracurricular activities on top of school and Jazz Band...but he plans to play basketball again this winter.

Another point to note...we switched to another church, St. Philip's, this summer and enrolled the kids in their CCD program. It's on Sunday mornings at 8:45 AM so that means we only get 1 day a week to sleep in...but it's good to get back in routine with CCD as Quinn prepares for his confirmation that will be in Spring 2016. So far, I like the new church much better but it wasn't hard to beat the old experience. I do miss Blessed Sacrament a lot, and we just haven't found that place we feel comfortable here in Virginia so I hope that St. Philip's can be closer to that feeling for us. 

Six Flags

We finally checked an item off our summer bucket list. We had this on last summer’s list but it didn’t happen. It might have been better because Keely has now grown tall enough to ride every single ride with no exceptions, a fact that makes her so happy and makes it easier for us. We arrived on a Sunday right after opening to almost no lines on the coasters. We rode 8 of 9 of their major coasters in under 2 hours, some of them more than once because there were no lines. It was dizzying and a lot of fun, but it’s hard to keep up with the kids who seem not to be bothered by motion sickness at all. James didn’t fare so well, having to sit out for a few coasters but I continued to ride with the kids. 

We even let them ride one together by themselves, something that now makes me cringe because of what happened later that afternoon – that same coaster was stuck at the top of the ride at an angle for over 5 hours with 24 passengers. It was a high angle rescue that required many fire trucks and police and medical support. Luckily, no one was hurt but I can only imagine how I would have felt on the ground as my kids were stuck up on the coaster. Luckily, that wasn’t the case so our only affect was that they closed many of the coasters because of the trapped riders – understandably. We were mostly done by that point and so we headed home happy and having had a lot of fun. Our next amusement park is King’s Dominion; a little further away but a lot of fun from what I remember when I visited each year in college.

New Jersey

Summer wouldn’t seem complete with a trip to New Jersey. This one was in early August and was timed to coincide with Lois, Ryan and the girls traveling there for a week to see Grandma and Grandpa. We drove up on Saturday morning and I came home early Tuesday morning, but James and the kids stayed until Wednesday evening. There is not much to do in New Jersey, but thanks to the purchase of some slip and slides the kids had enough fun right at the house. They also took a trip to Allaire State Park where they rode the train, and we took the kids to Clark Mills and Milford Brook – our old stomping grounds from Manalapan Rec and the site where James and I met some 22 years earlier. It’s crazy that 22 years later, we were there with our two kids and Lois’ two kids playing on the same (loosely) playgrounds where we met and started to get to know each other. It was actually quite surreal. We also went to church at OLM almost 15 years to the day of our wedding, and it was again quite surreal to sit in the pew with our children and expanded family. I had no idea where life would take us, but we have been very blessed and I can’t wait to see where the next 15 years, 30 years and hopefully more (God willing) takes us.

Our anniversary itself was celebrated back in Virginia when James and the kids returned home. We went to dinner at Matchbox - very yummy - followed by ice cream at Boardwalk Ice Cream. Keely made us her own handmade gifts and it was very thoughtful. She wanted to have this hanging in our room when we awoke, but instead it was hung during the day. Notice the artist peeping out the closet door :)

Costa Rica Trip Days 4-5: Monteverde

The trip from Arenal to Monteverde can take up to 3 hours by car or van, or you can choose another option to break up the trip – a boat ride across Lake Arenal, followed by a van ride straight up a mountain. We chose the second choice but it still took us about 3 hours (maybe a little less) to get to Monteverde. The boats were quite hilarious, and we wondered if we’d even make it across the lake. We were one of the last to arrive to the boat and because of that, our party was split up between two boats – one larger and one smaller – because of both limited seating at that point and distribution of weight (between luggage and people). Anyways, James, Keely and I ended up on the larger of the two boats and Nana, Papa, Annie and Quinn were on the other smaller boat. I joked that they let the smaller boat go ahead so that we could pick them up if it sank. Joking, I think but these boats were pretty dinky! In any event, we made it across to the other side of the lake where there were 6-8 vans lined up ready to take parties to Monteverde based on various hotels. This part was again quite hilarious as they tried to fit all of the luggage into the back of these vans that were packed to the gills with people and two staff members. Let me tell you, these guys are talented to get that many bags into these vans…and also that most Americans (most of the tourists there were from Texas, it seemed) overpack. Our group’s luggage was tame compared to what others had with them. In any event, we were told that it would be 1.5 hours until we could stop for a siesta…err, bathroom break…so James decided to use the facilities of nature J Luckily, no one seemed to care! The road up from the lake is so curvy, and so narrow. I can’t stress that enough. I was quite shocked that the vans didn’t fall off the side of some these steep hills, or break down as they seemed to labor up each hill. It was crazy! At one point, we reached a larger road that had actual concrete shoulders for drainage – but even that would have been a minor road in the United States. 

When we reached Monteverde, we were dropped off at the Hotel Fonda Vela. It was true to its photos, think Swiss Family Robinson. And the weather was quite different! We went up about a mile in elevation…and instead of summer, it felt like Fall. What a change. For many reasons, Monteverde was my least favorite part of this trip and I think the weather was one. But you can’t go to Costa Rica without experiencing the cloud forest (at least on your first trip) so we had to do it, and I don’t regret it. It actually provided the most fun experience of the trip with zip lining. After our morning, we took a bit of time to settle in and explore the very lush grounds. There was a pool and hot tub – honestly the only thing you could do was the hot tub because it was so cold. And it was always misting in the cloud forest…you are literally up in the clouds! So cold, and damp. Not a great combination, but a very unique environment that is a can’t miss experience.

Later that afternoon, we set out for the Don Juan Coffee Tour which was a most enjoyable experience. We learned all about the process of growing, roasting and selling CR coffee and also had some of the most delicious bananas and chocolate I will ever eat. The bananas were fresh off the tree, and you will never eat another banana so sweet. Quinn loves bananas and must have had 4 at least. After the tour, we enjoyed the free coffee and picked up some gifts to bring back home. A word about CR coffee…it is all Arabica now, they do not allow any other coffee to be grown and exported because they chose quality over quantity. They are a small country and they have to be judicious about what they export so that it is successful. They also serve coffee to small children (starting at age 2) and Costa Ricans drink their coffee black or with warmed milk and sugar. The milk is warmed so that it doesn’t cool the coffee before you drink it. Quinn had some coffee each morning, and really enjoyed it (he’s not had it since we have been back in the States, though…when in Rome, I suppose).

The next morning we set out for our experience on the hanging bridges and zip lines. First, we did the hanging bridges with a guide. The guide was very helpful…even if we didn’t see wildlife or exotic birds (I never did see the infamous quetzal) he was informative about the plants, trees and cloud forest environs. There were eight bridges in all, some more than 300 feet high. In between, there was walking on trails that connect the bridges. A good bit of walking, and in some very damp conditions. On the last bridge, Nana had a spill and sprained her ankle. We were worried but she persisted and managed to push through to do the zip lines. Papa was a maybe for the zip lines, but I think male ego chipped in when he saw that Nana was going to do it, he couldn’t chicken out! That may or may not have been the smartest decision, but he made it through the whole zip line course. The kids loved the zip lines! I was a little nervous about the heights, but really it was pretty exhilarating. To be on top of the tree cover, flying through the air at relatively high speeds is a pretty good adrenaline rush. We also did the Tarzan swing, which was probably the most outside of my comfort zone. Imagine stepping off a platform in free fall…not knowing when the rope will catch you. All of us did the swing besides Papa who gratefully watched from ground level. Again, the kids loved it! If you ask them what their favorite part of the whole trip was, they will most certainly say the zip lines! Our guides were also great here, and they really made everyone feel safe. They took special care of Nana with her busted ankle, and they always made sure the kids and Papa had a guide with them on the longer zip lines. After that exhilarating experience, we had our driver drop us in the town and we ate lunch at the Tree House Café which literally had a tree growing through its two levels.

That night, we set out on a night tour of the forest with a guide. It was actually a bust…we only saw a couple of creatures roaming the night including a coati (raccoon like animal), agouti (large rat type animal), tarantula, and the leaf carrying ants. No sloths and no monkeys. It was quite windy and when that happens, animals head out of the trees and down for cover making it hard to find them. Another point of interest here is that the internet lines went down for a good portion of this day, making it impossible to pay with credit cards for anything. We had to borrow cash from Quinn to pay for the night tour! It’s something that you can never imagine happening in the United States, and something we take for granted but in a small country you need to be prepared for all kinds of things.

The next morning, we were set to leave for our last destination and final four nights on the Pacific Ocean in Tamarindo. Insert ominous sound here…dum, dum, dum. The exit from Monteverde to Tamarindo might also have contributed to my dislike of Monteverde although most likely it had nothing to do it. On the van ride (about 3-4 hours) I suffered from what I call Monteverde’s revenge. I don’t know if I drank some bad water, ate something bad, had car sickness (the roads were once again quite curvy and we were traveling at high speeds), had reverse elevation sickness (we were now descending from a mile high to sea level) or was overheated (the weather now was changing from the 60s to the 90s with beach humidity) – or a combination of the above – but it was a bad, bad combination. I started to feel bad right before we made what was supposed to be our one and only stop – I thought I was just hungry so I ate plantain chips and drank a Coke to try to calm my stomach. It did not help, and we had to stop for me to use bathrooms every 20 minutes or so. Our driver was wonderful, always finding a bathroom just in the nick of time. I would feel slightly better after each stop, but get progressively worse. In the last 20 minutes or so to the hotel, I threw up in the van. Not good! When we arrived at the hotel, I could barely walk because I was so weak and I was still needing to use the bathroom every few minutes. The hotel staff was so nice…bringing me homemade tea and a fruit tray (for when I could stomach the idea of food). I don’t remember exactly what was in that tea, but it did wonders for my tummy. They said they see this type of thing a lot so they knew exactly what to do for me. And they were right…I was able to keep the tea down, and even venture to the pool later that afternoon. When I walked through the lobby, I was like a celebrity because they were so glad to see me up and walking! I was worried it was a 24 hour thing, but whatever it was – it ended as quickly as it started and for that, I am so grateful. It only managed to ruin part of my travel day, and I even managed to eat a light dinner that night. Next up, our last 3 days in Tamarindo on the Pacific Coast. 

Costa Rica Trip Days 1-3: Arenal & La Fortuna

We awoke before the crack of dawn, and departed Newark early in the morning for the five hour flight to San Jose. The flight was smooth – I slept a good portion of it – and we landed on time and were greeted by our driver immediately after leaving the airport. Our driver was very nice, although a little limited on English. Because of our limited Spanish and their limited English, our interactions with drivers and others in the country were somewhat limited. That said, all of the people we encountered were very nice – of course, they are in tourism so I guess that’s their job. In any event, despite being very hungry at this point our driver said it was easier to eat on our way to La Fortuna, which is about a 2 hour drive. This meant an hour or so before we stopped to eat, but when we arrived we were refreshed with some typico almuerzo – typical Costa Rican lunch. Beans and rice are the typical staple, and normally a protein is added (chicken, fish or beef) and accompanied by plantains and salad. We also had some patacones – plantains sliced very thin and served like tortilla chips with pico de gallo or guacamole and some excellent ceviche. This interaction was funny though with our waiter – I think we confused him by ordering some appetizers first – and then ordering main dishes. In Costa Rica, they are used to ordering everything at once.  We also got our first taste of the traditional CR beer – Imperial. The kids had their first of many, many sodas…typically Coke for Quinn and orange for Keely. After our lunch, we browsed the adjacent souvenir shop and then headed down the road. While I’m on the subject of roads, they are not much like what we are used to in the United States. The roads are windy, curvy and can be narrow. In many parts of our trip, they were rock and not paved. There was no curb and gutter or shoulder, and in the mountainous parts of the country you literally felt like you could fall off the side of the mountain. Actually, they were similar to Ireland. CR is a country the size of West Virginia yet it takes between 2-3 hours to travel from place to place, even though the mileage is typically under 100. It takes some getting used to, and quite frankly I was in awe that they do the amount of tourism with large buses and plenty of vans traveling the roads day and day out.

We arrived at our hotel for the next three nights, Arenal Manoa and settled in. Settling in mostly means checking out the pool. We ate dinner at the resort that night and explored the grounds a little. It gets dark in CR between 5:30 and 6 PM so it was quite strange for us considering at home in the summertime we’re used to that between 8 and 9 PM. What it did for us though was mostly keep us on Eastern Time. It’s only a two hour time difference – but we were getting up early because it’s light out at 5 AM and going to bed early because we were tired from the day’s activities. It made for a very smooth transition back to home.

The next morning, we decided to venture off on our own to the national park and hike to the La Fortuna Waterfall. While there were tours to do this hike combined with other activities, we didn’t think it was worth the extrea cost and we were right. We were able to do this excursion for just the price of a taxi each way, and the cost to enter the national park. The hike is mostly on a set of stairs down to a gorgeous waterfall where you can swim and relax. That means you have to walk back up the stairs afterwards, but I would say it was worth the trip. We didn’t swim in the main waterfall pool because it is very deep, cold and the currents from the water falling can be strong – so they do not advise children in that section but we did swim in one of the downstream areas where the current was less strong and the water less deep. It was refreshing to say the least.

That afternoon, we took a trip to tour an adjacent farm. On the walk, we saw a family of baby armadillos right off the bat. We also learned about the no-touch-me plants (they curl up in a ball when you touch them to protect themselves) and the leaf cutter ants (they carry leaves to build a home for themselves – we will learn much more about them later in our trip while in Monteverde). They are red ants which means they bite – a la Tucson – so we avoided them but watched them with curiosity. We also saw one of many perros (dogs), milked a Costa Rican cow (well, me and Keely did) and saw the cleanest pigs ever. No joke, they were really clean and I have never seen a pig’s eyes that clearly. They actually look a lot like human eyes. Why do they keep them so clean? Because they are selling them.

That night, we took a trip down the road to Eco Termales Hot Springs. I should mention at this point that this little town sprung into existence because it sits at the foot of an active volcano. Arenal was active over 500 years ago, but recently because active again in 1968. Once that happened, tourism started in earnest and the town used the volcano to become a hot spot (pun intended) for eco-tourism and activities a plenty. What also springs up because of an active volcano is hot springs. The ones we visited consisted of 5 pools, one super hot pool (which was the source of the spring) and one cold pool. We spent 15-20 minutes in the hot pools and then a few minutes in the cold pool to keep our bodies from overhearing. For me, hot water is wonderful and I personally really enjoyed the pools. We spent almost four hours at the pools, including a wonderful Costa Rican dinner served family style with the most delicious rice pudding for dessert...I may have finished any unfinished portion at our table and stuffed myself with that pudding but it was worth every bite!

Our last full day in Arenal was spent doing a morning tour of two local rivers by kayak and then relaxing poolside in the afternoon while watching the Costa Rican soccer match. The kayaking tour was very fun and ended up being our best chance at seeing animals in their natural habitat. I went with Quinn, James went with Keely and Papa was with one of our two guides. The guides were both very informative. My favorite memory of this trip is Pablo shouting ‘family, come over here’ and then having to paddle upstream as fast as possible, sometimes cursing Pablo a bit because I thought, this better be worth the effort! We saw howler monkeys, a sloth (our only one!), a crocodile, bats, rattlesnake, Jesus Christ lizard (so named because it can walk on water) and lots of birds including the laughing falcon, kingfishers, tiger heron and the flycatcher bird. We also stopped about 3/4 of the way down river to visit a local farm and visit with the family that owns and cares for it (Peter's family) where we were served fresh Costa Rican coffee and sweet treats.  

That day, the Arenal volcano was finally visible. Fitting since it was our last full day, and thus last chance to see it in its full glory – but also fitting because (in our guide’s opinion) it came out for the Costa Rican soccer match. A word about being in Costa Rica during (a) the World Cup and (b) one that their team made it to the Round of 16. It was really quite awesome to be in a country that embraces and loves their futbol. Even after their team lost (a quite heartbreaking loss in penalty kicks where they were duped by a ringer of a Dutch goalie who was brought in specifically to defend those final five shots) the whole country was still very into the rest of the Cup. Everywhere else we went, they were watching the remaining games and enjoying the high quality of soccer. They were so proud of their team for making it as far as they did, the only team in the CONCACAF (North American countries) to make it that far. Quite an accomplishment for a country so small…and one that was missing their best player to injury.

That night, our last dinner in Arenal we took a taxi downtown and first visited the local church to donate a vestment that was gifted to our family when my grandmother passed away. I am glad my parents took the trouble to pack it, because I believe it was a gift much appreciated and I know it would please both of my grandparents to know that it was given to a country that needs for so much. After that we tried a restaurant that our first driver recommended and it was really good. Also very affordable – though not as affordable as we first thought upon conversion from Colons. A word about money. They will almost always take American dollars, in fact I think they prefer it and they probably end up getting more from you because they claim not to have change. One US dollar is equal to about 500 Colons. So it was quite interesting to see a bill of 100,000 C (about $200 USD). We figured it out most times and often the bill was presented in both Colons and USD. Tipping was also interesting – it is not as big as it is in the US. So we tried to be respectful of that and tip about 10%. It’s hard though when you know it’s a poor country and the tourism is so much of their economy, so you want to be generous.

The next morning, we awoke and had breakfast in the hotel – our last at Arenal Manoa. I should say at this point that this was a great hotel, I would highly recommend it. The pool and hot tub, and hot springs pool were very nice and the staff was always friendly and helpful. Breakfast was included and it was good every day. Each day, we were served the traditional Costa Rican breakfast – eggs, gallo pinto (rice and beans mixed together with some spices), queso blanco, and fresh fruits including papaya, mango and plantains.  There was also a serving station where they would make pancakes, waffles, and fresh tortillas. One of the classics from a breakfast – question to our server, how do you say pancake in Spanish? Answer – pancake :)

After breakfast, we packed up and departed for our next destination where we would spend two nights – Monteverde. I will cover the boat trip and van ride in that next summary, because it deserves its own story.