Well, we arrived at our “home away from home” on a Saturday.

We left Alberta ten days before that and first flew back to the Bahamas for a reunion with some of our cruising friends. They very graciously allowed us to stay with them on their boats and we split up our time between Oh My and Celebration. We went into town for lunch and shopping, spent some time at the beach, played games and caught up with our friends. The weather was hot, sunny and windy, just like we remembered it!

We also spent a couple of nights at a great little resort, called Hideaways, just outside of Georgetown. The boys thoroughly enjoyed the swimming pool and having regular television again! It was a great way to wind down our time in the Bahamas.

Two relatively short flights later we landed in San Jose, which is the capital of Costa Rica. Our host and homeowner, Steve met us at the airport and he and a neighbor drove us to our final destination, our vacation rental by owner property near San Isidro.

We are living in a very comfortable and spacious three bedroom, two bathroom house. The kitchen is fully stocked, we just needed to purchase groceries. The house also has a pool table which we have actually used once and now it functions well as a Lego table and the boys have lapped it several hundred times already, playing around its edge.  The property has a gated and fenced yard so we have been able to run around, play bums up, our version of bocci ball and other games.  We also rented one of Steve’s cars so we have wheels!  We are a little out in the sticks, which makes it quite private and quiet, but we use our little four door Subaru almost every day.

Front corner of the house. You can see the entrance to the sunroom on the left.

Front entrance and a shot of the outdoor grill area.

Pool table / Lego play table

Sunroom / School room. We can get a great breeze in this room!  We play games out here and sometime have dinner here too.

When we first arrived, Steve had very graciously agreed to be our tour guide and we have discovered a little chocolate cafe and factory called Sibu, where we tried some handmade truffles and homemade hot chocolate. Yum!  We walked through the beautiful grounds at the Bougainvillea Hotel and enjoyed lunch at the hotel restaurant. We also sampled the 2012 World’s Best Coffee at a little shop and let me tell you, they make delicious cappuccino!

So far, we have stuck rather close to home, but we are gearing up for longer day trips and perhaps an over-nighter to explore some jungle and volcano national parks.

Our little Subaru. It came complete with car seats that Steve purchased for us. Costa Rica is very strict on its child safety laws.  You can also see the dog, Manchez, lazing in the background.

For now we are enjoying the house and the surrounding area. We went back to school this morning and the boys have their Lego spread out all over the house, which is nothing new!  We even continued with our Friday pizza and a movie tonight.  We can access Netflix here with our high speed Wifi!  

The property  also comes with a guard dog, Manchez and a cat named Domingo, which means Sunday. He has figured out how to get the screen doors open!  Smart kitty.

Costa Rica is not the third world country that you might be imagining in your head.  Stay tuned for some fun and interesting facts about this beautiful place!  

L  

P.S.  As always, the blog is a few weeks behind.  Today’s date is Saturday, May 2, so we have been here for two weeks already.  The featured image is the back of the house.  It is the entrance to the covered back porch and laundry room.