Costa Rica - Part 1

So, we are back from Costa Rica. It was fabulous. Our hotel was right on the beach. It was also the perfect Wilde family beach. Beach chairs in the shade for me, a long beach (with no pokies) perfect for sand castles for Hazel, and excellent body surfing waves for Geoff. He would have also liked to do some skim boarding but we didn’t take his board and we didn’t see any to purchase. In fact, we didn’t see much of anything to purchase. Costa Rica is pretty remote. Barely any restaurants, almost no stores, one paved road, that kind of thing. I hear other places are more built-up, but not where we were staying (Playa Flamingo). But, the beach was fabulous. Our hotel was fabulous and the pool was, what else, fabulous. The kiddie pool had a thatched roof over it, so even though Hazel spent every waking moment swimming, she didn’t get a sunburn.

Aaaah. The joys of Photoshop. But, I liked this picture and our faces were in the shadows. Now we just look crazy. But not shadowy.

The Costa Rican people (Ticos) were probably the nicest people I have ever met. Without exception everyone was friendly and helpful and nice to my baby. Which is all I ever want on a vacation.

Sunday night: We took the red-eye to Atlanta. Or as I like to say, “The Midnight Plane to Georgia.” The flight went from ‘no-problem’ to ‘our-we-going-to-get-on’ in hours. And it was nerve-wracking, and sucked. But, we made it on. The last three, not sitting together, seats. But, we made it. Hazel slept a little and kicked the lady next to us repeatedly (not so much kicking, just stretching out in her sleep).

Monday-Part 1: We arrived in Atlanta at around 6:00am Atlanta time and then had to hang out until our flight to Costa Rica at 10-ish. I don’t remember the actual time of anything… Hazel did NOT sleep in the airport. Geoff and I both took turns doing the head-bob. It was miserable. However, the Atlanta airport had these fascinating displays of contraband items. Like a polar bear rug, a snake in a bottle, a stool made out of an elephant foot, and, best of all, a narwhal horn. NARWHAL! Seriously, this was the best part of Atlanta. I guess we have never been in that concourse before because I don’t remember seeing the displays before. And then we ate some grits and then got on our plane. And it was blessedly empty. We all got some “sleep” on the plane. The only one who was really invigorated was Hazel. Because she is little and can sleep anywhere.

Monday-Part 2: I think these need separate sections because they are so vastly different. We left ATL and it is a giant airport, with a train. And air conditioning. And 3.5 hours later we arrived in Liberia, Costa Rica. LIR is little. With no air conditioning. We got to walk down the stairs from the plane, no jetway. Then we hit “customs”, there were two lines. The first one the dude just looked at us and stamped our passports. Then the second one, some guy grabbed my suitcases for me (I had two of the suitcases and Hazel) and then cut me in line, had the guy stamp something and then we were through. Seriously, we didn’t talk to anyone. **Remember this story when I get to the return trip in Atlanta** This was the first of many times people would be lovely and nice to us.

Then we got our rental car. We had a Kia Something. 4WD. Diesel! The guy showed Geoff how everything in the car worked. (not that he remembered) And then they gave us directions to our hotel (stay on the only road, basically) and directions to a delicious restaurant. (see picture with Hazel drinking her delicious blackberry smoothie) And we had food. And it was delicious. And we saw cows and a dog. So that was great. And then it started raining. Not a light drizzly but RAIN! Buckets and sheets and cats-and-dogs. And it rained almost until we got to our hotel. And then it let up. And we probably did something like swim or nap or whatever. But I don’t remember. I think it was nap. We were really tired.
I had to take a picture of Geoff's awesome volcano chicken. It was beautiful and delicious.

But now it is late and Hazel is still awake. She spent the evening with Aunt Jenni and Nova while Geoff and I helped move Auntie Michelle. And Geoff is grumpy. Which means I better get off the computer and help.



More later. Maybe tomorrow. We have a lot of pictures.

Argh, Matey!

If only you could really see how blinded she is by the eye patch... And without the eyepatch.

Playing with the neighbors' puppies. Oh, how she loves the puppies.

And the joyous running away.
Oh, and my team dominated, once again, the City Chase. We are the May-Walsh of Salt Lake County Corporate Games City Chase. And by that I mean, we haven't lost a gain in four years. Because we are awesome like that.

Hazel and I did a little bakin' on Sunday. We made breadsticks and pizza bread. Which was really just dough rolled out with cheese (string cheese that had been strung) and then some tomatoes. It was delicious. We are excellent bakers. And were very impatient for the dough to rise. But look how beautiful our breadsticks turned out. We are going to a wedding next week. Well, the wedding isn't until August 31, but we fly out August 24. Thus, no updating for a week. Ha! Like I really update that often for anyone to notice. Anywho. I need something to wear to the wedding. Let's just say that I am not the ummm..fanciest gal ever. I wear a lot of khaki pants. And polo shirts. Fine for a boy to wear to a beach wedding, not for me. So, I need something to wear. Which brings me to my point, Hazel was trying on dresses too. And she looks adorable. And almost shows as much cleavage as I do.
And that is all I've got. For now.

November? Already?!?!

Hazel and her lion.
She put this sweater on all by herself. Mom helped with the pigtails.
Hazel is getting really good at signing. She knows way more signs then we do, and likes to show them off. A couple of days ago I was taking pictures of Hazel and she asked me to take pictures of various toys (see the lion above). Today we are going through pictures and she sees this picture of a penguin:

This was the result (hard to tell in a still photo but she is signing penquin and it is darn cute):
Oh, and she has discovered the joy that is Oreo. Oh-wee-oh.

Obviously, she was quite embarrased by the mess she made. And some random stories without photos:

• Hazel has been having great fun playing with dolls singing, “Rock baby, rock baby” over and over again. Also, tucking in the doll, or bunny, or kitty, or alligator, etc. in and kissing it goodnight.
• She also has taken to riding the rocking horse crazily saying “yee-haw, yee-haw”, again with much chanting over and over again. Actually, it is probably closer to “ee-aw” like what a donkey says. Also, sometimes animals get to ride too. Right now it is a bunny.
• Early today she was rocking so crazily that she flipped the rocking horse over. She got up and said "WHOA! Big ee-aw!"
• She will ask for “pia-cy” (privacy) when using her potty. Not going to happen.
• She also insiststhat mommy gets a sticker for using the potty. For, you see, Hazel gets a sticker for using the potty. It is only fair that mommy gets one too.
• When she wakes up, she will sometimes alert me by saying, “Mom, I wake.” This is greatly preferable to her waking up cranky.
• She claps and cheers when we finally get what she is saying/signing. Like, “Way to go, you idiot, I have been saying cheese for like an hour here.”
• When I ask her what she wants for breakfast, I usually get one of two responses. The first is, “food”. If I ask for clarification, as in “do you want eggs?”, “No! Food!”. The second response is, “candy”. She does not get candy for breakfast. I counter her candy with let’s say eggs. “No eggs. Candy?” And so on and so forth. Both of these can go on for quite some time. Eventually we just end up eating oatmeal.

Breakfast of champions

This is what Hazel ate for breakfast this morning:
1 scrambled egg with cheese
1 cup sliced strawberries
1 half of a mini-bagel with cream cheese
1 half of a slice of provolone cheese
1 cup of milk

I am just saying, it was a LOT of food. I even checked her pants, she is not hiding any of the food, she actually ate all of it.