Paradise

Do you want to go on a vacation to Paradise?

Well then...

I've got the perfect place for you!

The chauffeur will pick you up at the airport...

Take you on a scenic drive along the ocean...

Allow you to play on the beach...

Take you to the zoo...

And the park...

Upon arriving at the bed and breakfast, you'll check in with the receptionist (who works very hard)...

You will then be provided a delicious meal...

Live entertainment...

A hot shower...

And after a long day, a nap...

My trip to Santa Barbara was amazing!  I'm sure you noticed that Amelia kind of dominated the itinerary :-)  I do have plenty of pictures of William, he's either smiling or sleeping, such a sweet baby! 

At the beach

On the boardwalk with William

Piggy back ride...Amelia holding onto Andrew's ears :-)

William, so cute!

Andrew and his stuffed animals :-)

Hummingbird at the park

Building a sand castle with Amelia

Enjoying my birthday...Chocolate Beet Cake...it's actually very delicious!

Amelia's first haircut!  She did so well and she looked good without a mullet :-)

At the zoo with the monkeys...

 

Amelia fitting right in :-)

The zoo was cool, most of the animals were real close.  And from the lion exhibit, you could see the ocean, pretty neat!

Love this picture!  William looks so cute in this little outfit!

The beaches were incredible.  There are so many, we could visit a different one everyday!  And we saw all kinds of animals, dolphins, starfish, sea otters, and crabs. 

These pelicans were SO cool to watch!  Now, this isn't the best video, but you'll get the idea.  They would circle around and then all of a sudden dive into the water and grab a fish! 

Here's another pelican...

Sunset walk, Andrew and Amelia

Moon picture

Because Santa Barbara IS paradise, not only does it have beaches, it also has mountains :-) We didn't get to hike too much, but the small parts we did see were beautiful!

University of Santa Barbara, where Andrew works

And the view from the University...I don't see how anyone passes their classes!

The flowers that were waiting for me when I got home from my 2 week trip!  I have such a sweet husband :-)

Costa Rica (Part 2)

After rafting, we went to the Caribbean Coast and stayed near Puerto Viejo.  Our hotel, Banana Azul, was located right on the beach and was such a cool place.  

Banana Azul

Our room with a balcony, hammock, and ocean view

Snorkeling.  The fish were brightly colored and we saw a bunch!  We saw a lion fish, I think that's what it's called, anyway they are poisonous but really cool looking.

Sloth in a tree!  We were cruising down the road when the driver pulled over and pointed this sloth out to us, it was the first sloth we had seen on our trip and we were really excited.  Once you know what to look for, they are actually really easy to spot, just blobs hanging out in the Y of the trees all day.

A blue crab

Our guide showing us the pincers on a army leave cutter ant.  He let it pinch him to show us how the native people use them for stitches.

Termites!  They live in huge 3-4 foot nests in trees, they don't bite so our guide showed them to us and told us that you can eat them if you ever need to....

I guess Matt was feeling the need to....

Huge iguana hanging out in a tree.

South American Whiptail Lizard

This sloth was really cool to watch because he was trying to change trees.  He would reach real, real slow for the tree next to him, decide it was too far and then scoot down the trunk a little farther and then reach again...we didn't have the patience to wait and see if he ever made the transfer!

These beaches had super clear/blue water that was so pretty!

Can you see the crab?  Pretty good camouflage, eh?

Video of Matt catching that little crab

Sunset

Big Costa Rican bug!

At night, we played cards on our balcony and the hotel cat came up to watch the game...

Then he decided to join in the game!

We met several other couples and had a campfire on the beach.  Of course I couldn't get a good picture, but it was super peaceful to sit there in the semi-darkness and listen to the ocean.

Beautiful hibiscus flowers were everywhere

The beach near our hotel was filled with sand dollars, my favorite!

While Matt swam in the ocean, I got to relax on the beach :-)

Ocean kayaking.  Once again, we lucked out with having a private guide, so we were able to explore a lot more areas.

Caves we kayaked into

Kayaking up a river that connected to the ocean

Monkeys playing in the trees

Blue and green lizard

And back out to the ocean

Punta Uva, we landed our kayaks on the beach and then hiked to the tip there where you have an awesome view of the ocean.

View from Punta Uva, water so clear you can see several reefs.

Along the hike back from Punta Uva

This is that lizard that can run across water (they call it the Jesus Christ lizard...)  We got to see him run and it is SO cool!

The fresh fruit is absolutely amazing!

Colones, about 500 to $1

Hanging out with a sloth

He was pretty cute!

Just cruisin' around :-)

Caiman crocodiles

Hanging out with the monkeys

Playing with the monkeys :-)

The black sand beach of Puerto Viejo.

View from Puerto Viejo towards our hotel, about a 20 minute walk down the beach.

We were just walking down the beach when I saw sand flying.  Turns out it was a crab digging a hole and it was super funny to watch because he disappears and then just chucks the sand out... :-)

So ya, we had an awesome time there and would go back in a heartbeat!