More Costa Rica

Friday night we ate at the Taco Bar in Jaco, which was a favorite from last year.  They have swings and a bar you can eat at.

Izzy loved the swing and her smoothie.

Izzy loved having Mami and Papi around.  I love her curly hair in this picture.  It was so curly while we were in Costa Rica-little ringlets; I loved it.

On Saturday we drove about an hour south near Quepos where Manuel Antonio is.  It's a national park with wildlife and beautiful beaches.

The monkeys are my favorite.  I love watching them play in the trees.  They are little thieves though, they'll jump right down and steal food out of your bag.

Loved the beaches, so pretty.

Having fun with our good friends, the Myers.

You can't really see the beautiful view behind us, but it was nice.

The whole gang.  Izzy was sleeping peacefully away in her stroller.

On Sunday we laid low in the morning and then took a tour with a local, Franklin, who we met at the crocodile bridge.  He showed us to the local beaches and local homes, we were searching for macaws.  We weren't having much luck so we went in the back entrance of a park and there they were.

You can't really see the colors here, but these birds are beautiful and so so colorful.  There were six of them hanging out--we loved watching them. 

We went walking through the park because Franklin spotted a sloth.  He said to stay together because there are snakes, but not to worry because he had carefully scanned the area and didn't see any.

The sloth.  This one was unique because of it's color, usually they are black.

Izzy checking out the sloth.

Izzy was trying to take pictures.  She has a princess camera at home so she thinks she is a pro.

After the tour we went to a local tico.  Mike, Louise, and Richard split this seafood platter.  They said it was awesome, I'll take their word for it. 

Monday we hung around the pool, went to the beach, and did some shopping in Jaco.  Izzy was loving her pool time with her shades and hat. 

Time to swim!

Family picture

Headed to go horseback riding.  Izzy's favorite day!!

Tuesday we went horseback riding on the beach.  It was an hour ride so we figured Izzy would ride for 15 min and then play with Mike on the beach.  Izzy had a different plan--she was not getting of the horse.  She rode for the whole hour and loved every minute of it.  She would kick the horse and say, "Come on boy, go faster," and off we went trotting along the beach.  She LOVED it and that's an understatement. 

Izzy giving a wave.

On our way back. Notice I'm not holding the reigns?! Izzy kept telling me to get off and not touch the reigns.  She wanted to do it all by herself!!

We had a few minutes left so Louise let Mike ride her horse.  Mike was entertained by Izzy's enthusiasm; it was pretty funny!

That night we went to a hotel at the top of the mountain to see the sunset; it was gorgeous!

Beautiful; I think I'm moving!!

Really?  Does it get any prettier??

Wednesday we went to see the volcanoes at Paos.  We got there 10 minutes before the clouds rolled in and then you couldn't see anything.  Glad we barely made it.  We stayed in a hotel in San Jose and flew out at 7 AM Thursday morning.  It was such a fun and relaxing trip.  Can't wait to go back!!