Costa Rica!

We actually both had time off of school, and it was the middle of the Michigan winter, and so we made our escape to the warmest place we could! Vamos a Costa Rica!

First of all- we rented a house in the jungle through AirBnB, and it was just amazing!

It was so private and beautiful. We were woken up by parrots flying by every morning, and had to drive up the gnarliest dirt road just to get to it. 

Exploring our house's backyard- we found mango, avocado, coconut, and banana trees.

And the outdoor shower!

There was an indoor one too, but this was just SO nice to use in the afternoons.

Favorite place to start the morning with a bowl of fresh fruit- outdoor patio.

Our first day we hiked a few miles through the jungle to see all the amazing animals.

Sophia had SUCH a blast seeing the wildlife.

We saw LOTS of monkeys (howler, capuchin, and spider), iguanas, bats, and sloths (3 and 4 toe-d)!

There were monkeys EVERYWHERE.

Lunch spot on the jungle beaches

The monkey that came and stole our Doritos right out of our hand, and then mockingly ate them right above us.

Sophia is still talking about "the sneaky monkey that stole my chips"

The beaches were just so dreamy.

The water was like 80 degrees and felt like a bath.

We explored SO many beaches- it was amazing

After a long hot day in the rainforest, we had dinner in this cool restaurant that was in an old WWII plane.

Nothing like fresh fresh FRESH fish

And the view wasn't too shabby either

Sophia got delicious fresh juices every meal, and was on cloud 9 about it.

Next stop was Monteverde Cloud Forest up in the mountains of Costa Rica

A much cooler, more lush, rainforest that get's it's moisture from the clouds passing through the mountains.

Rick's little tag along pal

Amazing trees enveloped by the strangling fig roots

Little Ms. Explorer

The cool rope bridges

Just living Pura Vida!

Tour of the butterfly house

Very friendly butterflies

Ready for the funnest part of the trip!

Zip lining! 

Up in the tree tops of the rainforest! 

No better way to see the jungle.

Sophia ran to be the first in line for the zip lines and was SO happy the whole time. She wasn't afraid at all, and encouraged the scared ladies in our group to "be brave"- haha. We had a great group and instructors that cheered her on the whole time.

Eating fresh sugar cane and pineapple through our jungle hike

Up in the trees!

Brave little girl!

Another amazing sunset.

And family surf lessons!

We each got our own instructor and got incredibly sunburned.

But we had SO much fun.

Surf break!

Right back at it.

Favorite way to cool off- Pepas Frios! Cold coconut that they slice the top off with a machete and put in a straw. Tastes sooo good in that heat.

And Rick didn't want to waste the delicious meat after we drank it up.

Where we got most of our breakfasts.

We snuck away to the this amazing pool for the afternoon, and Sophia loved the slide.

Another perfect view from the pool.

What's a vacation, except an excuse to drink huge tacky drinks with umbrellas in them??

This trip couldn't have been better.

The people were so kind, the place was so beautiful, and it was everything a perfect vacation and adventure should be.

As all the Costa Ricans say - "Pura Vida"