Geckos, frogs, friends, and more

 I love the tire shops.  There are a few on every block it seems!  There are so many random tires and the whole family just hangs around all day.

 Jade found her own tour company!

 There's a lot happening here...

 So many fun geckos and lizards to catch!

 This is the sunrise at 5 am at Playa Palo Seco.  So unbelievably serene and glorious.

 There were a few coconut trees in the front yard, so Adam would pick some every day to eat.  Brig wanted to break open the thick outer shell and get to the actual coconut himself, so he spent probably 3 hours working on it one Sunday afternoon!  He never gave up and finally accomplished his goal!  No wonder coconuts aren't cheap!

 Cute little Siamese Twins bananas!

 These sweet sisters.  Their relationship has grown a million times on this trip and they are finding things they have in common and how to work together despite their differences.

 And this guy is finding new faces to make....

 Isn't this the cutest little frog you've ever seen?!  Sooo tiny!

 I love finding random things the kids have used.  This is a flosser that someone creatively used to connect this blanket around Eliza so she could have a cape as she flew through the house singing, "Who's super brave and super strong?  It's super Liza super Lisa yeah!"  So precious!  I love that we don't have drawers full of supplies so the kids have to use their imaginations with what we've got!

 This guy was super cool.

Fun times at the store.

We had a super fun visit from some friends at home.  How cool! So fun to see them!

Rain Maker Forest Adventures

This place was a little off the grid and not as popular, which is what we usually like:). SOOOOO awesome!  We had the best time here!  There were so many hidden gems that turned an ordinary hike into a crazy adventure.

We ran into a guy who said, "You look like a hardy Utah family!"  Yup! (Was it the 5 kids that gave it away?)  He was also from Utah and could tell that these kids know how to live it up.  They aren't afraid of cold, discomfort, drinking out of a Camelbak, going to the bathroom in the woods, and hiking for hours with wet clothes.

We talked to another family with 2 kids and they were like, "Wow!  You guys are so brave to bring 5 kids to a foreign country! How in the world do you do it?"  And then they looked at the kids with their individually packed Camelbaks, complete with their own lunches, towels, and changes of clothes, and responded to their own question, "Looks like you've got it figured out pretty well!"  It took some trial and error, but we discovered that packing the kids backpacks the night before with everything they would need really helped to make the morning go more smoothly so we could just eat breakfast and jet.  The kids could then eat their food as they pleased and never bothered me about needing a drink.  Game changer!!!

  

These bridges were a little sketchy, but so cool!  The scenery was spectacular!

  

            

We hiked along multiple, beautiful hanging bridges and up and down steep slopes until we arrived at the first waterfall.  We all swam in the little pool and had a  nice time.  The waterfall wasn't that big and it seemed like nothing extraordinary, until Adam decided to climb the waterfall to see what was beyond.  I stayed with Eliza while Adam helped each of the kids climb up the slippery rocks and large log.  After a few minutes Adam excitedly returned and said, "You HAVE to come see this!!!  It's incredible!"  He boosted me and Eliza up, and though it was quite precarious, I'm so glad we made the trek.  We hiked through the river and came to the most stunning waterfall! It was huge and cut through the rock, making huge canyon walls. 

                 

What do you do when you can't quite reach?  Grab the foot, of course.

   

We hiked and swam up the river toward this gorgeous waterfall!

Super Dad right here!  So many people told Adam how awesome he was and how lucky the kids were to have him as a father.  SERIOUSLY!!! He took them on the most amazing adventures and helped them EXPERIENCE the world like no other.  We all got to see him at his best, which helped me remember why I fell in love with him in the first place.  Man, life gets heavy, so we are so grateful we've been able to have Adam without the burden of providing.  It's so fun to not have to work!!!!

The trek back down the river and down the super slippery log was scarier than going up.  We'd shimmy down the log and then jump off into the pool.  Is this really happening???

     

         

This was another pretty waterfall along the path.

And this was a little further down stream.  Adam saw that it looked like a nice place to hike up, so why not?  I stayed with sleeping Eliza and took pictures from the bridge above them while they climbed up the river to another beautiful pool.  Sooo awesome!

I LOVED seeing the kids help each other.  These adventures were difficult and took a lot of courage and a lot of work, so I loved watching how the kids would encourage and assist each other to make it to the destination. 

This is the pool they hiked to.  So pretty!!!

Then they hiked down stream a bit and came to a perfect waterfall to jump off!  Of course they all did multiple times and had SO much fun!

Brig is a little camouflaged, but you can see him in his wetsuit above the waterfall. 

To climb to the top of the waterfall they had to pull themselves up an old, ratty rope.  Adam was in absolute heaven.  Of course we had to stay till nearly sundown! It's always hard to end the adventure of the day.

I LOVE toucans!! Their song is so beautiful. This chestnut mandible toucan was right outside the park as we were leaving.       

And surprise, surprise, when we arrived at the van in the parking lot, the tire was flat AGAIN!!!  Adam changed 9 flat tires! 
To the right is this huge chunk of wires coming out of the middle of the tree, like it had been left there for a long time and the tree grew over it.

 
We stopped at the tire shop and the decor cracked me up!