Day 3: Araucaria Lodge

Day 3:  Araucaria Lodge

Wow! Did we die and go to heaven?  This place is incredible!  There is a full time gardener who cares for the 12 acres of land, the pool, the volleyball court, the long, steep dirt road down to the house, the hiking trails to waterfalls and the river, and the fruit trees. There are butterflies all over, birds constantly singing, iguanas, coatis, monkeys...and some other surprises you'll see later:).  The house itself is darling.  Four bedrooms, two bathrooms, and quaint decorations. This shot had to be recorded of Lily wearing blue in her blue bedroom and Brig wearing green in his green bedroom!  I've loved watching how the kids have learned to entertain themselves.  Here they are reading their scriptures, but I've caught them playing games, exploring, finding bugs, singing silly songs, and generally enjoying each other.  We have no internet and feel totally disconnected from the rest of the world.  It's AWESOME!!!!

The pool is filled with crystal clear mountain spring water! 

  

  

  

  

  

 

Monkeys!!!  They are so adorable!  They came to steal some fruit from the trees right by our house and kept their eye on us as we chased them to catch some pictures!

  

 The sandbox is genius!  These 2 cute kids spent a lot of time digging here.

 The grapefruits were too beautiful to resist!  Adam whipped up some refreshing grapefruit juice - better than any I've ever tasted!  They are so sweet here!

  

We ventured out to explore the many trails through the forest and were constantly in awe at the incredible beauty of it all.  The songs of the birds, the breeze rustling every kind of leaf, and bugs buzzing a harmonious blend of chirps, clicks and hums.

  

It has been difficult to remember that it is December without all of the traditional Christmas symbols, but we found one!  Wild poinsettias!  Merry Christmas!

  

There are cutter ants everywhere! They make these long trails through the brush and march single file with their large pieces of leaves.  We have been singing, "The ants go marching one by one" ever since! 

 

  We found the river and nearly all fell in as we attempted to cross!  These kids are so adventurous and always have to be testing the limits - climbing up the vines, crawling through the moss covered river rocks, and exploring every inviting crevis.

There was so much to do around the property that we didn't need to go anywhere.  We were perfectly happy to be exploring and being together and not having any obligations!