Lily 17th Birthday

Lily had such a great time on her 16th Birthday in Little Tokyo LA that she wanted a repeat this year. Her Birthday fell on a Sunday so we picked up Agnes and Ellie and headed to LA.

They are all big Anime fans so they were excited to shop. First up a trip to Kura Sushi. It's our fave. We wish there was one in our town. 

The girls shopped till they dropped. More like they shopped until they were broke. Then we headed back home for cake. Lily chose chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and raspberry cream filling. It was a great choice!

Her birthday present was a ticket to the Anime convention at the LA Convention center on July 4th. None of her friends could get it together to buy a ticket so she and I went together. 

I had no clue it is the largest anime convention in the world! I have never seen that many people on one place before. 

There were showcase rooms with every show imaginable and shopping halls with individual artists selling products they designed. 

We spent over 8 hours there! Checking out all the booths and then attending a show premiere and panel from the artists. She had a great time! Happy 4th of July!!!

 

Costa Rica Playa Hermosa

After leaving Arenal we drove that fun 3 hours back to Liberia and then past to Playa Hermosa. Our little Air BnB wasn't quite as fancy but everyone still got their own room. We also had a little patio with our own dunking pool.

We walked around the property after arriving to check out the ocean views. It was stormy looking but we didn't get rain. 

We walked down to the beach and along the shore there were lovely little restaurants. 

We got a great meal right on the sand with a view of sunset.

The biggest entertainment was the local variety of beach cats.

The next morning was blue skies!! Alex and I went to the next beach town over to grab some take away breakfast.

Lounging on the Lanai waiting for sleepy teens to be ready.

We went back down to the beach to swim and soak up the sun. Of course as we were walking on the beach path we heard a HUGE thud next to us and saw this GIANT iguana had fallen out of the tall palm tree. If you had been standing under it you would have been so injured. 

The day was gorgeous and the water was ridiculously warm!

They also  had a really good sea shell collection on the beach.

To wrap up our last day we had a great early dinner at another beach front restaurant we found. This poke bowl was out of this world!

Sadly we had to fly home the next day. We got packed up and out of our condo. Our flight wasn't until later afternoon (and delayed by several hours then as well). We went to the beach town for a last breakfast. 

Alex treated himself to a frozen blended coffee drink.

Lily got a really glorious acai bowl.

The sad torturous airport wait. Spending our last Colon's on chocolate bars.

Even though there were huge thunder and lightning storms and we were stuck for hours we were just glad to be able to get home that night. 

Costa Rica - Canoa River Boat, Ecotermales Hot Springs and Hanging at the Casa

Sunday morning we had a river raft tour planned. Not the kind with raging rapids but more nature exploring. 

Nothing cuter than a life jacket and an oar. 

We rowed down the Peñas Blancas River. It was just our family in a raft and our guide.

We saw lots of wildlife but most of the time our cameras were in the dry bag. We did really enjoy the capuchin monkeys.

At the end of the boat ride all surviving members were treated to a snack of home made tortillas, cheese, plantains and coffee. 

Then an unexpected treat! A little mini chocolate lesson with some tastings!

The kids really liked this since they did not go on the chocolate tour.

Overnight that night we had HUGE thunder and lightning storms. It really poured with rain. 

The next day even through the rain we had a clear view of the Arenal Volcano.

We knew we wanted to go to a hot springs while we were there. It was just hard to choose which one!

We ended up deciding on the Ecotermales hot springs. You pay a daily admission and you can stay 10AM-4PM. Luckily maybe the rain scared everyone away because it was very quiet that day. Maybe only about a dozen or so other people.

A little pool side refresher. I love that they have fresh passionfruit!

A sweet little vibrant green friend.

There were various pools all with differing temperatures. All of them were lovely and warm. 

Lily is usually opposed to any water swimming activities. It turns out it is not really water she despises. It is just cool water. If you give her a hot spring she will be a happy camper.

Our last morning in La Fortuna we took it slow. There was sleeping in, packing and we sitting on the patio with coffee watching for wild life. I did spy something odd way up in the top of a tree.

With my binoculars and the zoom camera I caught this guy sitting WAY up top of a tree.

We checked out and went to this organic cafe for breakfast. Look  at the beautiful presentation of Gemma's acai bowl!