Back to "the real world"

Well, it's back to the real world today. Laurie's mom and a friend have been visiting us since Christmas and we have been living in the "tourist world" for awhile. It was a nice break for us, and we got to visit some beautiful parts of this country, and it was a vacation / Christmas present of sorts for our family.

We visited Volcano Arenal for a couple of days. Arenal is one of the top ten active volcanoes in the world. It is constantly spilling lava and bellowing. While we were there, the thermal clouds created around the mouth of the volcano kept us from seeing the lava flow. On our last day, it was looking much clearer, but still never totally unobstructed.

Also while at Arenal, we went on a horseback ride (or we THOUGHT we were going on a horseback ride). When we arrived at the stables, we found out that our friend who booked the ride for us had actually booked us for a horseback ride TO THE ZIPLINE PLATFORMS! Are you kidding me!!!??? Pat and Laurie are both afraid of heights, and Sarah is 4 years old! How are we going to do this?! It was actually amazing and everyone had a great time, conquered some fears, and had a fabulous day - although we were all VERY sore the next day.

We took Pat to see the sights of downtown San Jose... shopping in the markets, visiting the National Museum, the National Theatre, and the Museo de Los Ninos (children's museum). We did way too much for one day!

We also took a drive to the cloud forests, visited a coffee plantation, and hiked to several waterfalls.

But now, it's back to the real world. School starts back up this week, which means studying, early to bed, increased stress levels, etc. Miles goes home to Texas to live with Pat this week, which means packing and cleaning and getting proper documentation for him (guardianship), buying a vehicle "long distance", etc. We're definitely not in tourist mode anymore... Billy is cooking hamburgers for dinner on our homemade grill - a tire rim with a grate on top! It sure was nice to have Mom here for awhile!!!