Saturday, March 16

As I watched the sunrise over the mountain outside my kitchen window this morning, I had an overwhelming sense of peace. This house and the beautiful landscape surrounding it are so calming. I worked on my computer in the living room for a bit before Andi, Tory, and Aden woke up and then the three of them whipped up a delicious egg & veggie scramble using fresh kale, carrots, cherry tomatoes, and herbs from the garden. The kids picked the veggies themselves which they thought was pretty special, and then they fed the scraps to the chickens after breakfast.

Nikki, the owner of this airbnb, told us about a butterfly garden down the road in Canaan de Rivas that also has a playground and serves gelato. Could there be a better combination? Not for our family! We decided to check it out. Nikki also recommended a bakery on the way, so first we stopped there. Sending Andi into a bakery alone is a dangerous thing! He returned with a freshly baked rosemary baguette, slices of carrot cake and chocolate cake, and a gooey caramel bite-size dessert we passed around the car to share.

Casa Alegria butterfly dome recently opened in December, and it can be seen from the main road driving through Canaan. If you’re keeping track, this is the 3rd butterfly garden we’ve been to in the past five weeks and that’s because our kids love them. Tory, our nature girl, could spend all day here. We paid the entrance fee and then Andi and I sat on a bench in the beautiful garden while Tory and Aden ran around the dome chasing butterflies.

It started to really heat up in the dome around Noon, so we walked over to the cafe next door to get some gelato. The owner told us how his daughter studied to make gelato in Italy, so we knew it was going to be good. They didn't have dulce de leche so Tory went with strawberry, her backup flavor. Aden picked his usual vanilla, but opted for a cone today, and Andi tried mango flavor. Just as we were paying for the gelato, Aden bumped into a man standing behind him and dropped his cone on the floor. I thought he was going to cry! I quickly ordered him another one and helped the man wipe gelato out of his shoe. All was right again.

The gelato was so tasty that Andi went back inside the cafe and ordered another scoop. This time, he picked Chiky cookie flavor and I couldn’t resist diving in with a spoon. It was delicious! Andi and I sat at a table outside the cafe and listened to a few hippies jamming out with a guitar and a drum. Tory and Aden were busy climbing on the outdoor playground a few feet away. It was one of those pinch-me moments of gratefulness we’re lucky to experience during our travels. Try as you might, you can’t plan for those special moments or recreate them. All you can do is be present and enjoy the overwhelming feeling of happiness.

The owner of the cafe also told us about the butterfly laboratory that we’d missed seeing earlier. We pulled Tory and Aden away from the playground and walked over to the laboratory together to see butterfly eggs and cocoons through a microscope.

A few of the butterflies had recently emerged from their cocoons so Hector, the self-proclaimed “butterfly man,” asked Tory and Aden if they wanted to be the ones who released the butterflies into the dome. Of course they said yes!

Before we realized, we’d spent over 3 hours at the butterfly garden. Tory and Aden didn’t want to leave, but it was getting really hot outside so we made our trek back up the mountain to our airbnb.

Back at the house, Andi re-heated egg roll in a bowl for lunch. We all ate and then hung around the house for a while. The kids fed the chickens and collected some more eggs for breakfast tomorrow. Andi picked lemongrass and another herb (not sure of the name?) that smelled wonderful to make tea. We saw Brad and Nikki in the yard, and they invited us to stop over to the dinner party they were hosting later. Andi and I knew that we weren’t “invited, invited” because it was a birthday party for their friend and we have two little kids, but we agreed to stop over later for a drink because we wanted to grill our food at their place anyway.

Around 6:00pm, we stopped over there for a half-hour or so. Andi grilled a pork loin for our dinner (which didn’t turn out to be a pork loin actually; it was really more like cuts of pork belly). One of the dinner party guests I met was from Polk, Nebraska which further proves my theory that you’ll meet someone from Nebraska no matter where you travel in the world. Nebraskans are easy to spot because they’re wearing Husker t-shirts!

The kids busied themselves playing when we returned to our airbnb, so Andi and I quickly ate a quiet dinner together before we invited them to the table. Today was a perfect low-key day.

Sunday, March 17

Our day was off to a great start. Shortly after we all woke up, Andi and the kids collected garden veggies for breakfast. We had another delicious egg and veggie scramble, right from the farm! I could get used to having fresh veggies for the picking right outside our door. Tory and Aden are enjoying it, too, so much so that they asked if we can plant our own garden at the cabin this summer.

After breakfast, Tory and I did some school. Yes, even on a Sunday! I’ve gone away from the idea of “traditional school hours” and now we do school when it fits into our schedule best. I’ve found that it’s easier to do a little bit everyday when Tory’s attention span is fresh.

Andi arranged for us each to have massages this morning. Nikki’s friend, who lives nearby in San Gerardo, is a massage therapist and is coming to the airbnb with our airbnb with her massage table. Yesterday, we agreed on a 8:00am start time, but we’ve come to understand that things aren’t always on time in Costa Rica. It was closer to 10:00am before the massage therapist, arrived. Fortunately, we were “home” so we just hung out until she arrived.

Andi had his massage first while Tory, Aden and I played outside. We visited the garden and drew up plans for Tory and Aden’s future garden at the cabin. Tory didn’t realize it, but this was an extension of her schoolwork. She drew the garden and labeled each plant, and then wrote a journal entry about what our garden will include. One of the farm dogs followed us around all morning.

The afternoon sun was warm, so the kids and I put on our swimming suits and went for a dip in the pool. It was refreshing!

Next, it was my turn for a massage. Andi took the kids back to the butterfly garden and out to lunch while I had mine.

When Andi and the kids returned, we followed a trail that leads through Brad and Nikki’s property to the Talari River. The massive, smooth river rocks were absolutely beautiful and better yet, we had the whole river to ourselves. Since it’s the dry season, there wasn’t much water flowing so we crossed a shallow part to a giant rock in the middle. The four of us sunned ourselves on the rock and watched as Tory and Aden tossed sticks into the current.

It’s amazing to think about what this river must be like during the summer rainy season. We could see the water lines high up on the rocks.

Close to dinnertime, we walked back to our airbnb to wash up for the night. We made a delicious steak salad with fresh garden greens and homemade croutons from the rosemary baguette we bought at the bakery yesterday. I think Andi snapped this picture because it’s the first time I’ve cooked dinner during our entire trip! Give him three ingredients and a few random cooking utensils, and Andi thrives in unusual kitchen settings. I’m the total opposite! I’ve had zero desire to cook anything on this trip without my pantry full of spices and usual rotation of recipes. All of these fresh vegetables and a decent kitchen had me inspired tonight though.