Crocodiles and Black Sand Beaches

We're Back!  Sorry we haven't posted in a couple days.  Friday just drained us and we used Saturday to catch up on some much needed rest.  But we are bloggin' today!

Friday morning, day 12, we woke early to head for the beach, an hour and a half away.  The forecast called for storms in the afternoon, so we wanted to make the most of our day by leaving early.

Our first stop was to look at the Tarcoles River.

We had to walk single file along this narrow bridge, that at times did not have a railing provided.

The kids did a GREAT JOB listening and held on tight!  What for?

Can you see them yet?

CROCODILES!  REAL LIVE CROCODILES!

We counted 10 in all.  It was pretty amazing to see crocodiles in the wild.  It was also freaky to think that if we dropped anything, there was no way to save it.  Cool Experience though! 

After the crocodiles, we drove to the beach, Playa Hermosa.  At first the kids didn't like the look of a black sand beach.  I didn't know if I would like it either.

But after a few test runs in the ocean, we decided to stay.  It is actually a famous surfing beach.  It wasn't busy at all that day and I was definitely the only adult there with kids.  Even though there was a lot of surfing going on, we were there to have our own kind of fun . . .  BODY SURFING in the waves.  The kids couldn't get enough of it.  I had fun too! 

I also wrote messages to the kids in the sand.

Then G gave it a try.  Way to go G!

E had fun building a castle and village.

K had fun just playing in the waves.

L wanted NOTHING to do with the water and stayed on higher ground.  I asked her why she didn't want to come play with us in the waves and she said, "BECAUSE, the water will come up over my ears and hair.  I DON'T LIKE THAT!"  Poor kid, last Saturday's trip to the beach really upset her.

But L did enjoying playing in the sand "next" to her brother G.  This is how little kids play together.

And this is how BIG kids play together.  E and K almost look like twins from afar.

After a yummy lunch, we started to pack up.  The storm clouds were rolling in and we didn't want to get caught in the rain at the beach.  We made a make-shift shower at our car, got dressed and headed home.  On our way home, we decided to see if there were any other beaches to come back and visit.  At one of our stops, the kids noticed the car parked in front of us.

It had two chickens (a white and a black) sitting in the trunk.  The kids thought it was the funniest thing to see.  I just said, "It is no different than us leaving our groceries in the back of our car."  The kids thought for a moment and then laughed again.  Pretty strange for us but pretty normal for Costa Rica! 

On our way home, we did get stuck in MASSIVE TRAFFIC in Santa Ana.  It was not fun traveling 1 mile in 30 minutes, but we did it.  We had Paul meet us at the fresh fruit and veggie market, so he could do the talking while we bought our produce.  We then headed home for left-over salsa chicken taco salads.  After dinner, we all took showers and that is when we realized how BURNED we were.  Poor K got it the worst.  Lesson learned, ALWAYS SUNSCREEN, NO MATTER WHAT!

Love you  ~  Wendi