Okay, although this blog is titled "A Spanish Adventure" I have thought about it for a while and decided that I am going to keep it and routinely update it when I feel the urge to do so. Although it will not be about Spain or Europe, it will be about what is going on in my life or the thoughts I have. So, I hope you will read and it and find it useful. I like to blog a lot so I just decided I needed to keep it and not get rid of it. Anyway, with all that said here is a little summary about my wonderful trip to Costa Rica for Christmas break.
So like I said in the previous post, I got back to the USA Friday, December 18th and got back to Macon Saturday, December 19th. Well the family (all 21 of us) left Atlanta Sunday early in the morning and headed on the flight to Liberia, Costa Rica. After 4 short hours of flying, we arrived in Liberia to nice 80 degree sunny weather, a big chance from just a few hours ago when it was like 30 in Atlanta. We got ALL of our bags and met our drivers. After about an hour of driving, we arrived at the J.W. Marriott at Guanacaste. I must say, this hotel was so much better than Los Suenos (the other hotel we previously stayed in in Costa Rica) and I just knew we were going to have an awesome time. As soon as we got there and got settled in our rooms, we headed to grab an afternoon snack and cocktail and watch the sunset over the ocean. The view was priceless. I have a few pictures, but it was so much better than the pictures.
Just a few of the 21 enjoying the sunset
Pura Vida
Another group
I don't think it gets any prettier than this
After we watched the sunset, we cleaned up and all 21 of us headed to the "fancy" restaurant at the hotel for dinner. Dinner took FOREVER with 21 people and after 3 hours of waiting for dinner, our food came. At this point, my body was STILL recovering from the time difference and I was like dead around 9 PM. By the time we got our food it was about 11 so I ate and quickly made it to bed.
Monday, our first full day in Costa Rica. I slept in (till like 8:30), ate at the fabulous buffet and then headed to the beach and pool with my cousins for the day, grabbed some lunch. The next night we ate at the restaurant with the buffet since Costa Rica can't handle 21 of us. We decided it would be easier and quicker. Here are a few pictures from Monday night.
The Heard Family
Ann, Finn and B
The Holt family
The other Heard Family
The Sullivans
The 4 oldest in the family: Carl, Mia, Curry and Me
Tuesday morning I slept a little longer, went to breakfast and then headed to the Spa for a few hours. I got a much needed pedicure, manicure and haircut. It was so amazing and probably one of the best days in Costa Rica. After the spa, Tuesday was just another typical day at the resort, I laid on the beach for a while and got some sun. Tuesday night, we tried the other restaurant in the resort which was a mix of asian and seafood. Even with a prefixed menu, it was awesome. We got these sushi rolls for appetizers that were served on these cute little boats. Definitely the highlight of the night. Here are some pictures.
Curry, Mia and I at the bar before dinner
The 4 big kids
Curry and Mom (two of the Kappas in the Fam)
Curry with the Sushi boat
Isabelle and I at dinner
Wednesday morning was the same routine as all of the other days, however Wednesday afternoon, we did something so exciting. My aunt Carla and uncle Charlie had been on several mission trips to Costa Rica to a town called Brasilito, which ended up being really near our hotel. Well Thursday, Christmas Eve the whole family was going to bring gifts to these kids at this school. We all were in charge of bringing things from beanie babies, granola bars, to toothbrushes and q-tips and much more. We prepared to make 50 gift bags, but realized it was only 30 that would be at Thursday's party. So with that said, we decided to just drive out to the village where my aunt's church helped out and bring stuffed animals and candy with us. We planted ourselves at the soccer field and within 10 minutes there must have been 50 or so kids there. It was so cool to see this kids and give them candy and a stuffed animal. It was such a humbling experience to see the thankful look on their face when you give them something as small as a lollypop. Obviously these kids don't have much and are very thankful for what they receive. It was also super cool to be able to speak and converse with them since they don't know English. They absolutely LOVED getting their picture taken and seeing it. Here are some photos from that exciting day. We finished up the day with a nice family dinner at the buffet restaurant.
Two of my friends
Curry, Mia and Isabelle with some of the girls
Mia and two more of the girls
Curry with our cutest friend ever, isn't she adorable?
Mia and I with some of the kids
The interesting Christmas tree at the resort
Curry, Mia and I watching the sun go down
The 4 big kids again
Curry and I 
Some of the others
Thursday, Christmas Eve was like a normal day, but after lunch all 21 of us met the bus to head to the school for our Christmas party we had planned. My aunt had set this party up at a school in a town near our hotel and although it was close to the town we were in the day before, it was a whole group of different kids. The teacher had selected 30 children from poor families to come to the party. Although only a few of us can speak spanish, me, my aunt and 3 of my cousins, everyone interacted with the children. I did do a lot of translating, but that was some of the fun of it. The party lasted for 2 hours and first we all painted all of the girls' toes and nails while the boys built paper airplanes. Then everyone came inside and we did a craft and then my uncle read the Christmas story in Spanish to them and we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus and had cake. Lastly, we gave them their bags full of stuff that we had all brought. It was so awesome to give gifts to these children who don't have anything. They were so grateful for us and I wish I could have brought so much more. It's amazing what kids can teach you and being someone who has a huge heart for children, I have learned a lot. God was totally evident in that school room among all of us and it was so cool to see him not only work in the children's lives, but ours too! Just remembering that day brings tears to my eyes. We all walked out of there with tears in our eyes from the joy these costa rican kids brought us and wishing we could bring and do more for them.
Three of my favorite girls doing crafts
Some of the boys getting tattoos
Uncle Bill telling the Christmas Story
Opening their presents
My favs. showing off their beanie babies
Showing off their new hats
Dad with one of the boys
My Favorite child ever!
After the Christmas party, all 21 of us headed to a famous bar to watch the sunset over the ocean. When we got there we were sad to find out that it was cloudy and you couldn't see the sun, but we enjoyed the view, got a couple of drinks and hung out.
Ceci, Me and Ann
The view from the bar
Dorothy, Me and Sarah
The 4 big kids with the greatest grandmother ever, B!
After the sunset, we went to dinner in the town which once again took FOREVER and then headed back to the hotel and headed to bed. I spent the following day, Friday, Christmas day playing in the ocean all day with my brother and cousins Curry and Mia. It was probably the best Christmas ever, although I got a little sunburned. The 4 of us had so much fun together. We ended the day with a photo shoot of the ENTIRE family on the beach and then ate our last dinner in Costa Rica.
The Family on the beach
All of the Kids
Crazy picture
The beach at sunset
The 4 cool kids
All of us once again
Unfortunately, we awoke early on Saturday morning and headed to the airport. Although I was not ready to leave Costa Rica, the beach and the warm weather, I was ready to get back to the USA and get in a better routine. Flying the day after the attempted bomb in Detroit, I felt very secure, but the security line at the tiny open-air airport was ridiculous! After going though security, we were searched once again right before we got on the plane and they opened every single on of our bags. I guess this is the price you pay for more security, but that wasn't the craziest part. Once we were all aboard the Delta flight back to Atlanta. The pilot stepped out in the isle and proceeded to tell us that when we get an hour away from Atlanta EVERYONE must be seated and may not get up for whatever reason AND you cannot have a blanket in your lap, an ipod in or anything in your lap or hands, including books. We changed around seats and I sat next to a cute family from Alabama. They had 3 kids under the age of 5. I know right, I love kids so I was so excited. Not only did the pilot tell us before the plan took off that we couldn't get up an hour before, but he gave us a 30 minute warning and let me just tell that EVERYONE was up and in line for the bathroom. Talk about unsafe... like 30 people gathering in front of the cockpit in line for the bathroom. So the hour comes and the flight attendants come around and make sure everyone has there hands free. They even told the 2 year old next to me he had to put his juicy cup up. So I spent the last hour talking about what Santa brought him and how his Christmas was. So yea, although TSA tried to be more strict with their safety regulations the rules were crazy and someone could have probably done something to the plane before the one hour. I don't know, it was crazy, but I am just glad we made it safely back to the USA. Well, that sums up the Heard 2009 Christmas trip to Costa Rica. Hope you enjoyed it!
-Mo
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