Chad and Collin went back to Jaco on their own. One of Chad's favorite surf spots, Escondido, can only be reached by boat.
Collin had fun playing in the tide pools while Chad surfed. He even saw a puffer fish.
On the way back they stopped at our favorite restaurant at the top of the mountain. The food is great, authentic Tico, but takes a while to cook so Collin had fun imitating the locals while they waited.
Even when a crazy parot decides he want to eat Collin's hat.
And when a crazier toucan thinks he's like to nibble on dad's toes (you should see the video - pretty funny stuff.)
He got to see, and hold, many different kinds animals: tree frogs,
macaws, (notice they always stay in pairs - how romantic :) 
and his favorite - the toucan!
And of course Collin made more friends. He even exchanged e-mail addresses with the girl working in the snake house.
There are 5 beautiful waterfalls that you can walk by after seeing all the local animals and insects.
Crazy Monkey-boy
On the way home they stopped by a little restaurant that was closed for a employee party. That didn't stop Collin from playing with a little 2 yr old who ended up being the owner's grandson. Once the owner was done eating he made Chad and Collin some great food for cheap then motioned them to follow him across the street. In the backyard of his house a friendly dog came up to welcome them ... then a friendly deer did the same thing. Seems they have a semi-pet deer that they feed. So Collin got a chance to hand feed him too. 
Cute picture, though I am curious what my six year old is doing in a bar :) I'm as curious as you are to hear the story of this one... The boys were only home for a day before they left again so I didn't get all the stories yet. 
They were able to swim in a warm river that was heated from the volcano. Chad had warned Collin not to swim too close to the waterfall under the road just before Collin disappeared from sight. Chad found him at the bottom of the, luckily little, waterfall. He was fine except for a few scratches on his stomach.
At Arenal there are dozens of bridges transversing the many rivers (they don't call it a rain forest for nothing) Chad informed me that right after this picture was taken Collin's foot slipped under the fencing - not to worry though, it was only a 200 foot drop into crocodile infested water...
On their way in a man stopped them to point out a cool snake... a eyelash viper - yep, very poisonous.
I'm sure Collin is much further away than he seems in this picture... I hope! 
In order to keep Collin busy Chad created a game where Collin got points for finding cool things - frogs (which are hard to find since they're nocturnal) leaf cutter ants, butterflies, insects longer than my finger, monkeys, more poisonous snakes... 
In Sarchi there's a Ox Cart Factory that uses no electricity (Ok, I think there are 1 or 2 light bulbs) All the machines are run by a water wheel that turn rods that power the machines.
Downstairs you can watch the artists paint the intricately painted carts.
This is the one on display in Sarchi... I've seen pictures of when they bring it out for parades... you should see the oxen - jk
Chad & Collen on the yoke.
Collin was a trouper. He's get in the car and just ask, "So, where are we going on an adventure today? He & his Dad had a great time. Chad likes to keep busy and they found things that few tourists do. They had a memorable vacation!
The girls wanted to play dress up... I think Karissa's princess dress looks familiar.
I guess not all princesses want to be kissed
Kelsey was so excited to hold baby Addison
Addison is too small to stop K from kissing her :)
Kelsey wanted to dress up like a 50's style house wife...
I'd show you a picture of the "after" shots of her hair after the curlers - but it pretty much looks like the "before" pictures. But this is a "before" we cut her bangs...
We walked over to IZ's house and Jessica trimmed K's bangs and french-braided her hair.
Even though Kelsey normally runs the whole way, she still takes time to stop and smell the wild flowers.
Kelsey played some pioneer games
Kelsey, Micah, Avarie, Duncan & Simon
After a fabulous tri-tip dinner K played with her cousins.
K saw some kids rolling down the hill and tried it... It took her a while before she got the hang of it. Duncan was coaching her, "You have to be more vertical..." I'm sure she knew exactly what he meant.
The whole time they were trying to get her to give them hugs. She finally did when it was time to say goodbye. Duncan even got a kiss or two.
We went to the park with Kelsey's buddies, Ethan and Isaac.
Kelsey decided to take a nap in my clean laundry... no wonder it takes me so long to get it all folded and put away...
Kelsey helped mom go to the cemetery and take pictures to upload onto findagrave.com ... ok, it's a strange hobby but I'm not the only one - most of the top contributors have submitted over 50,000 names! Way to go!
Kelsey attempted to put her shirt back on... she did ok but somehow when she was trying to put her arms it the shirt got turned upside-down and inside-out.
So, We're missing the boys but I know they're having fun. Kelsey and Collin have still been able to talk (yell) to each other on the phone every night so far which they've both enjoyed. I've enjoyed that it's only for a few minutes then all is quite and peaceful again ... everything has a silver lining, eh.
