The girls found an oxe to ride outside of a steak house that we found in La Fortuna. All of the restaurants consist of a roof supported by poles, with no walls

We came back to our hotel and found a HUGE frog waiting at the front door for us.

The frog and raccoons were not the only wild life we discovered. Aaron and Dallin kept wrestling in the back patio area of our hotel room. And of course the day had to end with another dip in the pool in the rain.

DAY FOUR:

All in all, La Fortuna was a very wet place, that never quit raining until the morning we left. Here is the closest we came to seeing all of the Arenal volcano. We took one last trip to the natural hot springs and then off we went to our beach town on Flamingo Beach.
After driving ALL day.


I think everyone was tuckered out and it was a good chance for everyone - well almost everyone - to catch up on some sleep.
We got to our hotel, walked out to the beach and jumped into the pool again.

DAY FIVE:


Megan & Talie on the beach.

Dallin & Miss Kristy

Ashlynn just couldn't get enough sand! After a full day on the beach (where we got completely fried!), we went Jet skiing for a couple of hours, and then went and drove to a surfing town about 20 minutes away to eat at a Pizza Hut, boy was it time for good 'ole American food, and man did it taste GOOD!

DAY SIX:


We woke up early again and went on a fishing boat that took us snorkeling. Costa Rica is not known for good snorkeling, but on the boat we saw two Killer Whales and a huge turtle.
As we snorkeled, we saw some colorful fish and swam to shore and collected some very cool shells which we brought home. After snorkeling, we went back and forth between the hotel pool and the beach where we kept seeing these large lizards who were just trying to sun themselves, but did not like to be bothered by tourists - but of course, that didn't stop Dallin=).


Then we went to Conchilla beach which is known for its sand that is made up entirely of crushed shells. On the way to the beach, we stopped at a hotel entrance to ask an employee some questions and saw a bunch of wild monkeys in the trees.














Can you tell which of the monkeys is native?

That night we went to a sea food restaurant on the beach - again, which literally consisted of some plastic chairs and a plastic table under a make shift roof - they washed all of our hands in flower water, and gave each of the ladies a flower for their hair. The food was good and the atmosphere was fun and relaxing.

Then, 4 older gentlemen came over and sang a song to us with their banjos. Benson's birthday was the next day, so we requested a birthday song for him, and then they stood there until Benson gave them a $5 tip. They stepped a couple of feet away from our table and discussed something at length. Then a couple of minutes later one of the gentlemen returned and said, "Excuse me, do you have another $5 for us?" Benson told them that we were out of cash, and they just seemed to have no idea what to do, until Kristy gave them another $5.

DAY SEVEN:
This morning, we woke up early, ate breakfast at the hotel and drove South to Jaco Beach where there are many tourist shops, Crocodile tours, and Nature Reserves. We drove around Jaco, and spent the evening walking through the shops and relaxing in the hotel pool right off the beach.

DAY EIGHT:
We woke up early and drove up North to Tarcoles to get on a crocodile tour.
The beginning of the tour.

Our tour guide, getting up close and personal with a croc. that didn't seem very hungry. But it was no problem (that was the phrase that we picked up from Costa Rica. All the Ticos would assure us, "Aaahhh, Iss no problem.")

After wards, we drove back to San Jose to sleep at our hotel and get ready for our flight home in the morning.
DAY NINE:

Benson had started getting an ear ache from diving deep while snorkeling, so we went to find a local pharmacy to find him some antibiotics. Unfortunately his condition just got worse and by the time we got home to Denver, he was dying! Luckily we had some left over Vicadin at home and an urgent care close by. We returned home to a tired Grandma and Peyton and Kennedi, who had apparently partied pretty hard while we were gone as well. Good Bye Costa Rica!!