Day 2: COSTA RICA!!!!

"May the Lord bless you and keep you.  May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you.  May the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace."

For the last year, Tim and I have prayed this blessing (taken out of Numbers 6) upon our kids every night.  But after having experienced my first full day in Costa Rica, I couldn't help falling asleep on Thursday night feeling as if the Lord were making His face to shine upon Tim and I as well.

Phoebe breezed through the 5 hour overnight flight like she was an experienced world traveler.  I normally get a little uptight in situations like the customs experience, but I managed to get both Sweetest P and I, the stroller, the carseat, our two suitcases and our two carry-ons through as if I had spent my whole life practicing.  It couldn't have gone more smoothly.  Tim told me that he expected to meet me immediately on the other side of customs and "rescue" me from an over tired Phoebe, and do whatever he could to get me some sleep.  STAT.  He was totally unprepared to see me breeze through the doors, calm, cool and totally together.

The rest of the day is a little bit of a blur (because even though it did all go super smoothly, between holding a baby and an uncomfortable airplane ride, I didn't get much sleep between Denver and San Jose).

I can tell you that I spent the ride from the airport to our lodging totally soaking it all in.  The sun, the air, the architecture, the people, the traffic, the landscape, the insanity of it all.  We got to where we were staying, and it was nothing that I had imagined.  The sun was shining, it was greener than I've seen since I left Minnesota, but everything was WET.  And I learned a new phrase.  "Cat hair rain."  Most of us would call it mist, but it's slightly more than mist.  Somewhere between mist and very light rain.  And here in Costa Rica, I guess they call it "cat hair rain."

Our activity for that first day was a tour of Cafe Britt, where they make coffee.  We learned all about the coffee process- from the picking of the beans to the packages on the shelf in the store.  And we found out that the adults in Costa Rican coffee store are the same as kids in a candy shop.  And why wouldn't I be, after I had just survived an overnight, international flight with myself and a baby?

That night, as I lay in bed, I feel like I spent hours jabbering to Tim about how I really felt the Lord's blessing upon our trip and our time in Costa Rica.  So thankful to be here.   


*PS- pardon the quality of these pictures.  We have Tim's work computer with us, rather than our own, so I have edited all the pictures in our online albums, rather than on the computer, as I eventually intend to transfer them to our computer at home.  As a result, you are seeing the unedited versions.

Posing with these crazy statues outside Cafe Britt- waiting for the tour to start.  Man, do I look old.

They had all these crazy trash cans around the yard.  I wanted to take pictures of more of them, but they all kinda represent evil spirits, so something told me it just wasn't all that appropriate.  I guess they put on masks like these and chase little kids through the streets to chase the evil out of them before Christmas.

We were told that we would get all kinds of good prizes if we volunteered when they asked, so Tim jumped at the chance.  He's getting ready for a professional coffee tasting experience.

Stirring the coffee before he tasted it.

Tim showing off his "great" prize.