Memoirs of the Hansens: August 2023

Such a heavy rainfall

Back to School Mom Date with Isaak! We went to see the new Indiana Jones movie

This rainstorm was crazy, the storm drain was backed up, so this was the road on my way to pick Lila up from dance.

Porter loves fishing!

Traveling tabernacle! This was so cool, it is a replica the temple the Children of Israel had in the wilderness

All the YW!

We went and spent a day at the property with the Chapos. The Westovers weren't able to come, so we brought Gavin and Rylee

On our way to Costa Rica!!!!!

Crocodile bridge on our way to our house!

Alejandro! This spider was huge! We enjoyed watching him the whole week we stayed at the house. The kids started catching flies out of the swimming pool and tossing them into his web for him to eat.

The view from our casa

The day after we arrived, we went zip lining! Porter was so nervous, but he was a great sport and it ended up being his favorite thing that we did! Ernesto was on site at the house during the day, and his brother Diego was at the house at night. Ernesto was so kind to take us to this local zip lining place and assist in our adventure! We had a private tour just for our family!

The wildlife in Costa Rica was so fun! We saw several poison dart frogs

We enjoyed resting for a few minutes after our ziplining adventure before Ernesto took us to an amazing waterfall!

Back at our Casa! We named the cat Kimberly (but Nancy when she was naughty!)

This was crazy! The night we arrived in Costa Rica it rained a lot. (It's rainy season) The next day we went ziplining and to the waterfalls. After that we went home to rest for a bit and then Ernesto left us for the day. We decided to go out again in our car. The driveway to the home is about half a mile long. It is a private driveway with a gate at the top of a hill. The roads were still very wet. As we were leaving the driveway, I pressed the button to open the gate, but it would not open. Shaun stopped the car on the big hill as we waited for the gate to open, but the roads were so muddy, and the car was so gutless, that we couldn't get the car going without a running start. Shaun put the car in reverse and started to backup, but then the car started sliding and then the engine died. Shaun didn't want to alarm us, so he said "I've got to back up quite a bit so we can get a running start". The car slid allllll the way down the hill and stopped just before we went off a small embankment. Only 2 wheels were left on the road and the kids and I quickly got out of the back seat to safety. Shaun tried to get out of the car as well, but his weight was all the was keeping the car on the road and not rolling off into the embankment. We quickly called Ernesto, and he was there within minutes to pull us to safety. After that, we drove to Quepos and exchanged our car for 4 wheel drive!

Beautiful church in Quepos

I LOVE dragonfruit!! We stopped at many fruit stands to keep me supplied!

Cute iguana in our yard

There were so many palm tree groves by the house! Lila wanted to do a photo shoot

Lila made a Costa Rica bucket list when we arrived. One of her dreams was to drink from a coconut!

Manuel Antonio National Park beach! Shaun and I came here in 2003. It was busier than it had been then, but just as magical

Costa Rica rain is so warm and pleasant!

We had a private cook come to the home one night and prepare us a traditional Costa Rica dinner. So delicious!

Our backyard

the 2nd driveway after the half mile driveway. This place was BEAUTIFUL! They would often get monkeys and exotic birds at the home

We went to a chocolate factory one day and had a private tour showing us how they grow and harvest their coco beans. It ended with some hot chocolate and chocolate cake and a yummy luch!

Here's a coco plant

Coco seeds

Toucan!!

I loved seeing the different cows they have!

Our casa was the BEST!

Alejandro again

Kimberly

Surf lessons for Isaak and Shaun!

This was a beach that tourist don't normally know about and only locals go to. It was the BEST!

It was so fun watching them learn to surf!

Toucan right in our yard!

Baby Turtle Release! Our surf instructor lives right by the beach and will collect turtle eggs to protect them from predators. Releasing them was the coolest thing we did!

Quepos!!

Manuel Antonio National Park! Shaun and I came here 20 yrs ago. It was SO magical to come here with the kids!!

crabs

The needles on that tree are crazy!

Isaak left his mark at the top of the overlook in the park

20 yrs apart!

White faced cappuchins

3 toe sloth

We think this is the same house we stayed in 20 yrs ago

It's crazy how small their schools are. They only have a few students in these mountains

Jaco. We had fun eating lunch and going in all the shops!

Back at our favorite locals only beach!

The home that we stayed in had 3 horses. Ernesto saddled 2 of them and took us up the driveway and the road one day.

We REALLY wanted to see monkeys at the home before we went home, and on the last night there, right before sunset, we did!!! It was a whole family passing through. It was so cool!

Last night in Costa Rica dinner date alone

Fanning herself with a huge leaf was on Lila's Costa Rica bucket list!

Sunrise before we went to the airport

Porter kissing the pool goodbye

Lila wanted to feed a crocodile before we left, so we tossed some oreos of crocodile bridge. The crocodiles were not interested. I want my oreos back!