Maya is one of those kids who can't keep clean. Sure, all little kids are messy. But Maya's the type who, at any given time, and despite my best efforts, has ketchup on her cheek, peanut butter in her hair and dried yogurt all over the front of her shirt.
So far, Jane doesn't seem to share this trait with her older sis. In face, I often forget to use a bib when feeding her because she so rarely needs one. And if you've met Jane, you might be wondering, "If she's so neat, why is all of her clothing stained?" Because they're all hand-me-downs from Maya.
So, a vacation to an outdoors-y, rugged place like Costa Rica is pretty much perfect for Maya. As for Jane, if she wants to keep up with her sister, she'll just have to embrace getting dirty.
And embrace it, they did. Mud, sand, dirt, juice, beans, rice, you name it. They were in it.
Three months later, I'm still finding sand on her head.
Best Christmas Day ever.
One of the highlights of our trip was a visit to Rincon de la Vieja, one of the country's many volcanos. We did a hike through the national forest there, and got to see a different kind of mud — the hot, bubbling volcanic variety.
Sign translation: Don't touch.
One creator of hot, stinky gas meets another.
Smoke monster.
The hike at Rincon ended with a visit to the area's hot springs, where the no-longer-bubbling volcanic mud is slathered on your skin, before taking a dip in the naturally heated springs.
At first we weren't sure if our 3-year-old would enjoy or appreciate this spa-like experience. Then we remembered that it was, at its core, mud and water. It might as well have been Goldfish and grape juice.
You missed a spot.
I really needed this.
And speaking of water, there's sort of a lot of it in Costa Rica. Who knew? I'll tackle all things H2O in my next post.
Leading up to our big trip to Costa Rica, we studied up on all the sights and activities and amazing things we'd likely see. We got Maya excited with books and puzzles about rain forest animals -- jaguars, sloths, red-eyed tree frogs, macaws, and the like. We figured we probably wouldn't see most of these creatures, but we thought educating our 3-year-old about them couldn't hurt. (And as a result, she's still obsessed with sloths.)
So we were all excited, and everything was good. And then I made the mistake I've made too many times to count: I kept researching — in books and regrettably, online. And then I freaked out.
Did you know that in some areas of Costa Rica, mosquitoes carry malaria? And dengue fever? Did you know that there are poisonous scorpions in the beach areas? Did you know there are sharks in the ocean? We're all gonna die!
Recognizing that I was probably overreacting, I hit up a few regular CR travelers for intel. They all told me I was overreacting.
Still, I packed up loads of bug spray for the trip, and I was sure to shake out every piece of clothing, and every sheet, towel and pillow before allowing the girls to touch them.
And in exchange for my efforts, I never saw a scorpion. Not one.
As for the mosquitoes, no amount of bug spry prevented us from getting bit. All of us were covered in bites when we got home (side note: having itchy mosquito bites in January in Chicago is very odd). But thankfully, no malaria or dengue fever to speak of.
Fortunately, our encounters with wildlife wasn't limited to mosquitoes. In fact, we saw all kinds of creatures big and small.
We started our trip to Costa Rica with a week in Playa Grande, a somewhat remote beach community on the Pacific side of the country. We rented a two-bedroom casa within a small six-casa development, about a 15-minute walk to beach access, and a 5 to 10-minute walk to a tiny grocer and a handful of restaurants. In other words, total paradise.
Our casa, guarded by topiary.
Sign translation: Do not feed this girl after midnight.
On our first night there, I was walking back from dinner holding Jane and chatting with another American couple staying in the casa next to ours. As I was walking along this bumpy, gravel road, guided primarily by moonlight, one of my new American neighbors yelled, "Watch out!" I swerved, still holding Jane, and looked down to see that I came within inches of stepping on a boa constrictor.
A few minutes later, a huge tarantula walked by.
They're more scared of you then you are of them, right?
That was day one. Over the next 6 days, we saw more lizards than we could count,
I can see you.
Lizard yoga.
I can see you, too.
monkeys everywhere,
We'll call you George.
You can be Marcel.
birds of every color,
This is getting to be like Where's Waldo.
and these little guys:
After our week on the beach, we headed for the rain forest and stayed at a hotel in the mountains near Arenal, the country's most-famous — and still active — volcano.
Here, there was no shortage of the lizards, monkeys and birds like we'd seen on the beach. In fact, there was even a macaw that was a regular on the hotel property, but I never managed to catch it on camera.
Because we were in the rainforest, we also got to meet different types of animals, like the famous red-eyed tree frog,
Arm hair makes for easier climbing.
and another friendly frog who took up residence in our bathroom.
Who smelled it dealt it.
We also observed some species that are less-exotic but still fun to see for a few Midwesterners in late-December, like these industrious ants:
and this slug that threatened to swallow Janie:
Roly poly x 2.
Next up, we explore just how muddy we'll let our children get.
In my attempts to catch up on my little girls on the move, I now rewind to November when, after four months on the ground, the Wunder girls returned to the skies for another visit to North Carolina. And unlike the previous trip, the girls had not one, but two parents on the plane, which made for a happier Mom. But then again, who can help but be happy around these two jokers:
The most interesting baby in the world
Brobee gets around.
In addition to air travel, Maya also had a chance to travel by boat:
People will seriously let her drive anything.
Being on the water gave her a chance to try fishing with something other than a magnet on a string.
Grandad was nice enough to let Maya borrow his fishing pole.
They all got away.
Meanwhile, Jane stayed at GiGi and Granddad’s and did what she does best: Rolling around on the floor looking cute.
Cute, pink overload
Like we do every Thanksgiving, we took advantage of the free photography services to get in a family photo. Sadly, this was a first one sans dog. And surprisingly, even without a dog, getting everyone to look at the camera and smile at the same time was just as hectic. But we still managed to eek out one good one:
Don’t let the infrequent updates on this blog fool you: the Wunder girls have been on the move. They were last spotted preparing for a trip to the most family-friendly place on Earth: Las Vegas. But before we can even think about 2013 travel, we need to use the next few posts to recap some of the girls’ big trips of 2012.
First, we’ll rewind to September, when the girls visited Mom and Dad’s alma mater, the University of Missouri-Columbia.
Brobee was a Tri Lamb
This wasn’t Maya’s first trip to Missouri (see first and second flower-girl gigs, as well as a few Super Bowl-party trips to KC). But it was Jane’s first stop in the Show-Me State.
To give the girls insight into how we spent our college years (as well as Dad’s high-school years; he moved to Columbia when he was 14), we tried to recreate as many college moments as possible:
First, we visited the house where Mom and Dad met, where Mom used to live with Uncle Chase, and where a night of drinking led to Dad accidentally breaking Uncle Chase’s arm:
No arms were harmed in the making of this photo.
Next, we visited a soccer field with Uncle Scott. And to ensure the girls had the full mid-MO experience, the visit included heavy farm equipment and a motorcycle:
Maya thought this was a tractor. We didn't correct her.
Three wheels; one for each year
And finally, we took in a football game, where Dad relived his old glories as an athletic supporter, and Mom fondly remembered her days with the band geeks:
Seriously, Mom, you stink of nerdom.
It didn't take long for these little budding tigers to learn to love college football. Or at least how to spell it.
M-I-Z...
Z-O-U!
And of course, no college experience is complete without passing out in some random place.
Such a lightweight.
Next up, the girls make their return North Carolina, followed by their big international debut.
Maya and Jane have been busy little travelers this summer. Most trips were quick weekenders that didn't involve seeing much other than a relative's home or the inside of a hotel, so I didn't bother teaching them about their destinations. But the trips did have a few firsts.
In July, I took the girls to Charlotte, North Carolina to surprise their grandma for her birthday. The trip was Jane's first plane ride, as well as my first trip solo with two small children. (Chris stayed home to work.) Surprisingly, it wasn't as stressful as I imagined, thanks to an iPad pre-loaded with Dora and Yo Gabba Gabba:
Maya always gets the window seat.
While in Charlotte, Jane got to meet her Aunt Lizzie for the first time:
Think they're related?
and Maya received her first chair massage:
It's hard out here for a shrimp
A few weeks later, we drove to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for a wedding. Once again, the iPad came to the rescue and made for a somewhat pleasant 8-hour drive each way:
Say backpack.
While in Pittsburgh, Jane got to meet her great-grandmother for the first time:
Jane Patricia meets great-grandma Patricia.
and I got to experience my second Pittsburgh wedding cookie table:
Totally didn't share any with the kids.
We rounded out the summer with a trip to South Haven, Michigan, with my extended family. The weekend consisted of endless hours of sunshine, open fields, playgrounds, the beach and lots of small children. Maya was in heaven:
Maya and her cousin Aubree. Yes Michigan!
Aubree teaches Maya about big kid swings.
Cinda and Maya being too cute
Even cuter
The cutest
It was pretty heavenly for the rest of us, too:
She really needed to get away from it all.
Janie and her Abuelita, watching the sunset.
Same lake we always see; so much prettier on this side.
Don't you hate clothes?
We all has so much fun, we didn't even need the iPad on the way home:
Success!
As much as we'd all love to take a few months off from travel and gear up Costa Rica, we'll be on the move the next few weeks, both with and without the kids. As far as family trips go, we have some Missouri football on the horizon. Time to teach the girls about where and how mommy and daddy met, minus all the cheap booze.
