Pain au Chocolat

Hot coffee and fresh chocolate croissants

for breakfast.

Tres bon!

Happy Friday

Happy hour in the making.

A little wine & cheese before Darryl

heads to Mex. in the morning for a

few days.

Crazy morning

The morning started with tears from Logan.

He couldn't find this

finger puppet guy - ? Then more tears as

we tried to persuade him to get

his tooth out before school. It was

barely hanging on by a thread and making

it difficult to for him to eat. After a few more

tears, and much angst - success!

The tooth fairy

is coming tonight - yeah!

I don't remember crying and being so afraid

to pull out my baby teeth when I was his age.

I guess we were so happy to get a quarter, the

pain didn't matter.

Lunch today...

Salmon Burger Salad

I bought some frozen Salmon Burgers at Costco.

They are really good - I have bought fresh ones

at Trader Joe's before, but sometimes they are

really fishy - these are delicious!

I made up a little tarter sauce to put on top.

Delicious!

Fruit & Spice

Mixed up a batch of this yummy granola

yesterday.

*

Fruit & Spice Granola
4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup pecans
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
1/2 cup honey
2 cups mixed dried fruits such as cranberries, cherries,

currants, golden raisins, apricots, prunes, and/or dates
**
Preheat oven to 350°F.
In a large bowl stir together oats. coconut, nuts, and spices.

In a small saucepan melt butter with honey over low heat,

stirring occasionally. Pour butter mixture over oat

mixture and toss to combine well.
Spread granola evenly in 2 shallow baking pans and

bake in upper and lower thirds of oven, stirring frequently

and switching position of pans halfway through baking,

until golden brown, about 30 minutes. In large bowl

combine granola with dried fruits and cool,

stirring occasionally.

I just realized after writing this recipe,

that I left out the spice - duh! I forgot to

add the cinnamon & the nutmeg, but it's

still delicious! Guess it would be even better.

Next time...

Rain today

(view from my kitchen window)

It is supposed to rain all day.
Spending the day working on the computer.
Taylor made the star in his stained
glass class at school.

Costa Rica - Part 7

Early on this morning we went for a boat

ride through the estuary to look for monkeys.

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The estuary ran behind our beach house, for

miles. Not like what we are used to in Encanto.

Logan is ready to feed the monkeys.

Horrible picture of me, but

Logan looks so cute.

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We spotted some monkeys!

One enjoying his banana.

This was the first time we had ever

experienced wild monkeys. We all agreed they

were a bit scary. They were pretty scared of us

too, so they kept their distance.

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Overall - pretty cool experience.

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Later we drove to Manuel Antonio.

It was beautiful here.

Great waves - the kids brought the boogie boards,

so we played in the water for a few hours.

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We rented the lounge chairs and the umbrella

from a young local couple, who's business

was called "Mary's Chairs & Ray's Drinks".

Sometimes the simplest ideas are the best.

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We made tuna sandwiches for lunch.

Snow cone vendor. He shaved the ice right

from a big block of ice he had in his cart.

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Love this black & white shot.

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Chloe & Logan enjoyed a snow cone.

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Group photo.

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We came back to the beach house to

enjoy yet another beautiful sunset.

A gorgeous end to another fun day!

Costa Rica - Part 6

Fresh Papaya for breakfast with a squeeze of

lime - yes, it was sweet

and delicious!

Breakfast of champions - Zugaritas & Leche.

View from the ocean.

Happy girls.

Super boy & his super kitty. No, we don't go

anywhere without blankey & kitty.

Logan playing with his Legos - yes, he

brought some of those too...

Relaxing on the patio.

Our handsome boys.

Love this picture - this one is a framer.

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Brotherly love.

Super Bowl Sunday - "Go Saints!"

Game day snacks - tortilla chips with

fresh guacamole and pico de gallo and

carrot sticks.

Another beautiful sunset.

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We took so many sunset photos, I am not sure

if this was the progression of this day,

but all very beautiful.

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Isn't this one incredible! I think

I will print this one out and frame it.

Gorgeous!

Costa Rica - Part 5

*

After three nights in Monteverde,

we headed to the pacific coast. The

sand was black and super fine.

Tres Amigos - our beach house in
Parrita, just south of Jaco.
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The kitchen.

Pretty flowers left for our arrival.

The living room area.

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View from the patio. Miaor, the

homes caretaker, would put the chairs

and umbrella out for us each morning.

Amazing views of the jungle around

the property.

One of our little dog friends that

protected the house. We called

him "Tico".

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More beautiful views.


The boogie boarders are ready to go.
We all did a lot of boogie boarding. The
waves were really fun. The sun was very strong
though, we would put on 50 spf sunscreen and
would still get burned after only about 1 hr.
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The kids got to drink
fresh coconut milk,
right off the tree.
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Preparing dinner - we had Cerdo(pork)tacos,
with fresh sliced avocado and pico
de gallo. They were delicious! Oh, and a few
Imperials
to wash them down - yum!
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First sunset at the beach. Not very
colorful, but still pretty.

Ahhhh... the end of a another

great day!