Visitamos nos Nietos en Costa Rica

The night we arrived was Shira's birthday. Cookie and Maya
made this wonderful cake.

We flew to Costa Rica on 12/20 for a week with our oldest son Josh's family. They have been living in Costa Rica for the past year and the kids have been attending a Spanish speaking school. This is their third language as they were bilingual in English and Hebrew before.
We rented a condo at Reserva Conchal on the Pacific Coast just north of Tamarindo. It is a beautiful gated complex with many condo developments (and a Westin Hotel) sharing a Beach Club.
After one night at their home in San Jose, we drove down to Conchal for six nights. We pretty much hung out at the beach and pool there although we did go into Tamarindo and enjoyed Playa Grande one afternoon (big waves!).
After one more night with them in San Jose, we flew to Guatemala to rejoin Scott Free. The next day Michal and the kids moved out of their condo in San Jose and flew back to Tulsa. They are all moving to Dallas, Texas on January 3.

Which we devoured! It was so good.

The Harry Potter "adult" coloring book we gave Maya was so
much fun that I joined her and Cookie working on it.

This and the next shot were taken from our "living room"
balconey. What a view.

The beach at Tamarindo. 

Daniel jumps over a small stream.

Shira enjoyed some ice cream.

As did Maya and Cookie.

My oldest grandson Daniel - now 14!

Michal and Shira

These beautiful birds made the railing of our balcony
their home whenever we ate out there hoping for handouts

We're a board game family. Generally Daniel wins - here at
Carcassone.

Lighting the Hanukah candles

One morning Maya and Shira joined us for an early breakfast
at the Beach Club,

A view of the pools

the jacuzzi at our condo was a popular
place after returning from the beach!
Here Jonathan "Uzi" gets to enjoy it by
himself (for a change).

Our last night in San Jose was Daniel's birthday!

Cinco Nietos!

Our last night Hanukah candle lighting

Happy Hanukah!

La Paz Waterfall Gardens

We spent most of a day at the La Paz Waterfall Gardens about 1.5 hours from San Jose and loved it. We hired a very knowledgeable guide, Raphael, had an early lunch and then started on our hike through the property. First we visited the bird sanctuary, then the butterflies, monkeys, cats, reptiles, orchids followed by a hike down the canyon with 4 different waterfalls. There were so many things to see and the animals, all rescued from illegal ownership, were in natural environments and seemed very well cared for. Our grandchildren, aged 4 to 13 loved the place and so did we. At the end there is a shuttle bus that brings your back to the starting point.

La Paz is on the way to Volcano National Park although we
took a different route.

And as yesterday we saw lots of cows

At a stop to take a break the girls decorated
the barb wire fence with flowers!

Maya and myself pose at the La Paz Gardens restaurant

Josh & Michal cuddle

Father and son look alikes

There were endless stairs up and down the valley. You had to
be in good shape for this hike.

The flowers were lovely everywhere

Everyone got a chance to hold the
Toucan - here Maya,

A spectacle owl spies on us

There were a lot of Scarlet Macaws. These beautiful
birds live up to 75 years in captivity and mate for life!

The butterfly conservatory was amazing - huge with
thousands of butterflies that landed on us everywhere.

Maya shows off one lovely one

And Daniel gets a kiss!

Orchids are just so amazing

Shira has a twin leopard

But Uzi bonding with the mountain lion

This is the traditional oxen cart beautifully decorated. It's
in front of a hacienda built without nails like it would have
been a hundred years ago.

Cookie pumps some water

Shira with a green pepper and our guide Raphael inside
the hacienda

We sampled cinnamon rice milk and coconut corn
pudding - traditional treats

Posing at our first of four waterfalls.

These walkways and staircases were built hanging on to the
steep walls of the canyon where a series of waterfalls drop
down thousands of feet.

Our handsome oldest son Josh

Looking up at the misty hills dense with vegetation

Uzi and Michal stand in the spray of another waterfall

Shira looking adorable, as usual

The waterfall looks smaller here but it is actually much taller. It's the perspective. 

Daniel's Bar Mitzvah in Costa Rica

My wonderful grandson Daniel! He has a cast on due to
a broken thumb skiing in Taos.

I now have proof that Daniel actually does eat. He is a
notoriously picky eater.

It's been too long a time since my last blog post and I apologize! I got caught waiting for the final pictures of Sean and Will's wedding and then I never got caught up. SO - I'll finish up their wedding photos later and meanwhile bring you up to date. We are now in Costa Rica. Our oldest son Joshua has moved his family; my wonderful daughter-in-law Michal and their five children, Daniel, Ariella "Cookie", Maya, Joanathan "Uzi" and Shira to San Jose, Costa Rica for probably one semester of school. We found about this in late December including plans for Daniel's Bar Mitzvah at the Orthodox Synagogue there last Saturday the 9th of January. This is big deal for Daniel and all his family but they had found it hard to make a decision as to where it would be. In addition they were very interested in having all the children learn Spanish and have international experience. Costa Rica fit the bill in many respects - not least of which was the very old established active Jewish community.
 So we made sudden plans to fly from Guatemala to spend the week with them before getting down to our boat. We flew in Friday afternoon and after only a brief pause at our hotel, joined them for Shabbat services at the temple. Daniel had a little experience meeting everyone that night and reading briefly part of the service. The next morning he was absolutely awesome (and this is not just his grandparents speaking). The congregation there labeled him the "Wonder Boy". He read and sang from the ancient Torah (with no vowels) ALL the 9 parts of the service. This is basically unheard of. And he sounded so great. Then he gave his speech, a discussion of that week's Torah portion. Josh sponsored the luncheon following the service. It was all wonderful. Unfortunately I couldn't take any photos as it was Shabbat, sorry. Afterwards we enjoyed ourselves in their new apartment. It's on the 12th floor of a very modern high rise overlooking the national stadium at the huge park in the city. That night was a big soccer game and the fireworks display lasted for 20 minutes - what fun.

From left; Deborah, Shira, Ariella, Jonathan, Scott, Maya & Daniel

Scott's first wife Deborah Garren with Daniel at the luncheon
following the Bar Mitzvah

The next day we were ready early for a trip up to the Poas Volcano National Park, about 2 hours from San Jose. It was a long pretty drive through pastoral landscapes with lots of dairy cows. This area was obviously settled by German immigrants and has a European flavor. The summit is 8,900 feet and lovely trails connect the 3 craters with the visitor's center. We spent several hours hiking to 2 of them. The main crater is quite active although the last big eruptions were in 1952 - 54. We also took the uphill trail to the Botos Crater, now occupied by a beautiful green lake in dense vegetation.  We had been advised to start early as the clouds and mists roll in later and obstruct the views. But on this day and the next we had perfect weather.
We were all hungry when we finished our exploration of the volcano and happily we found the beautiful Quieres Restaurant with a huge local buffet, "all you can eat", down the road. The views were extensive and the food good, with lots of choices for everyone.
I'll cover our next day's adventure in a (quickly) following post.

A timed shot in their new apartment in San Jose, Costa Rica

Dancing around the kitchen

Jonathan "Uzi", Maya and Shira

Maya, Ariella "Cookie" and "Uzi" on the way

"Uzi" and Shira under the Umbrella Leaf

Walking up to the Volcano Crater

Steam rises up from the thermal vents at the main crater

Cookie and myself pose

Daniel looking over the view

II 

This is the second crater, reached after a good long uphill walk and really spectacularly beautiful

Our way was lined with flowers

Scott, Maya, Shira, Michal, Uzi, Heather, Cookie and Daniel\

Cookie pauses on our way up to the Botos crater

The view from the Quires Restaurant where we had lunch