I am almost embarrassed to still be writing about our trip to Costa Rica. Since then I have been to Atlanta and I am now in Norfolk. It has been that crazy, and I still have a trip to Austin Texas all before Nolin turns 2 in less than two weeks.
To pick up from where I left off…we realized that a pack n play is the world’s greatest gift for traveling parents. Everyone got a great night sleep. We didn’t have a lot of plans for our second day in Arenal, but Jenn and I were excited to go to the Hanging Bridges.
So we got up, ate breakfast and made our way to the park. You could take a tour group or take the three-mile hike by yourself. We opted to go by ourselves. Not because it was cheaper, but because we figured that at some point, Nolin would try to take over as tour guide and other people may not find that as cute or funny as we did. Besides, we like to be able to explore and enjoy on our own.
We kind of intermingled in between several tour groups along the way. There was one Costa Rican Irish Tour Guide who was a big fan of Nolin and he kept giving us little “free” tid bits of information and point things out along the way. He was a great monkey howler which Nolin loved. At one point he came up and asked us what Nolin’s name was, after we told him he replied…that’s funny, he looks like a Carlos to me.
So much for political correctness.
The bridges were amazing (so was the workout). We did luck out and get to see several monkeys (and a snake that I think may have been put there to wow tourists in case they don’t see any other wildlife).
Towards the end of the trip we ran into a guy by himself who asked Jenn to take a picture for him. She did, and he was not happy with the picture, after a little more direction from him on how to take the picture Jenn informed him that I was better with a camera, so I got to take over. Next thing I know this guy is pulling out an America’s Next Top Model Photo Shoot, and keeps telling me that the image was too soft and to try again.
It was a picture of him in front of a tree…not a whole lot to work with. After about 30 minutes I was finally able to leave. From now on if I see someone with an expensive camera I will know to pretend I don’t speak English.
We arrived back to our lodge, so that Nolin could take his nap and Jenn could partake in her complimentary facial. After her facial, Jenn stopped by the natural hot springs on site and when she came back I had a chance to go.
After Nolin woke up we took him to the hot springs and then headed downtown to explore the city and just walk around. We met a few friends for Nolin. It was so much fun to watch him play with the other kids his age and communicate even though they spoke different languages. That is until he started trying to take their toys and run off. The kids didn’t mind, but Jenn and I had fun trying to get them back without a major meltdown.
We ended up eating at a little street cafe and the food was exactly what we were looking for. We thought it was super authentic, but it was probably the Costa Rican version of McDonald’s. Regardless the food was really good.
We headed back and put Nolin to bed. Jenn and I sat on our patio both feeling very relaxed and realized how lucky we were to be experiencing such an amazing adventure and to be able to share it all with our son who I am pretty sure has caught the travel bug too.
Our Modern Family 
Beautiful!