Costa Rica: Baldi hot springs and Los Nenes Restaurante

Macaw on a wire - so excited.

Baldi Hot Springs

The lovely view of Arenal - completely misted in.

Loved these chairs

Waterslides - they were some of the fastest small slides ever!

Lovely view...

The rain was swirling mist as we awoke this morning. It stung our faces as we walked the short distance down the hill towards breakfast. The view of the birds was brilliant, but Arenal volcano was a mist-ical illusion.

Today was a perfect day to go to the hot springs. So, we got our bathing suits and heading down the mountain to the thermal hot springs at Baldi. I have heard that Baldi is where you go with children, while Terracon is where you go to relax with no children. We took the advice and went to Baldi.

You will need $6.00 for a locker and they give you towels for a $10.00 deposit each. They offer you the price with a meal included. I would suggest you don't take that option. We ate our meal at the snack bar and including alcoholic beverages, we spent way less than the $22 per person that they wanted at the gate. Instead, one kid was half price and the entrance was $34 each. The other thing they don't tell you is that you can exchange your towels once during the day. This I would suggest you leave until you are getting changed at the end of the day. Our towels never did dry and I changed ours too early.

This place is incredible. They have water slides and pools of varying temperatures. I would suggest you head straight up to the spa and book evening appointments, or late afternoon. We did that and it worked well. We then started at the top pools and worked our way down the hill, sampling all the pools. By the time we hit the bottom, we were at the snack bar for some of the best pizza. I indulged in  a very yummy crazy monkey too. From there, we were able to go back and find our favorite pools.

My favorite was the hot volcanic steam room and hot pool. The kids liked the water slide pool and the pool that contained a mixture of hot and cold. The water slides are very fast, but they even enjoyed the large bucket that spilled water over their heads. This place is amazing....did I say that already?

The day ended with massages at the spa on site. These were some of the best massages we have had in a long time. The treatment was royal from start to finish and for the children, they were allowed into the private pool area while we finished. The lady doing my massage was exceptional. The pools in their private area are also incredible as you climb stairs into a large deep pool that has a view of the entire space, great for bird watching. The spa gives you soft robes, and you finish with a serving of hot tea and biscuits. Pampering took on a whole new meaning.

The  day ended with more soaking and then driving back into La Fortuna to have another meal at Los Nenes Restaurante. The time we went simpler. Ute the food was still some of the best we have eaten. This restaurant was our eldest child's choice too, that is how good it is.

I forgot to mention that on the drive in we were fortunate enough to find a red macaw preening himself/herself on a telephone wire. That made the daywesome from the get go. We also found two sloths cuddling in the trees. Apparently that is also rare. I have loved it here in the highlands. Tomorrow, we head out for the beach.

Alajuela Province on Dwellable

Costa Rica: Zip Lines, Horses and La Fortuna

After the washing of rain that soaked the mountain last night, we got up to a leisurely start. Breakfast was included at our resort so we made sure to eat plenty, so that lunch could be a snack. The breakfast was delicious with my favorite omlettes made fresh to order. You could see the tropical birds playing in the garden and watch the clouds swirl around the Arenal volcano.

Today, we opted to do the zip lining tour offered through Arenal lodge. They take you straight to the canopy tours. I had thought we were doing 15 lines, but it was only 8. They were very lovely and the sunshine peaking through was delightful. The girls were able to manage the lines on their own, even doing the monkey crawl hand over hand when they didn't make it to the end. They loved it! Watermelon and pineapple greeted us on our return and we quickly sucked back some water before our next adventure.

Next was walking around the corner to the stables where we mounted horses and then climbed the outskirts of the volcano to reach a green lake, and closer views of Arenal. The horses were very frisky so make sure that you know how to trot and post. I have never seen horses that quick to run uphill. The lake views were as magnificent as the volcano.

The tour bus brought us back to the hotel, but after some thought, we opted to drive to La Fortuna for supper. However, it was still too early for supper, so we walked the butterfly garden trail at our resort. It is a one mile trek around the property. We stopped in the garden and then melted our way through the humid gardens and undergrowth. Despite the warnings, we did not see one poisonous snake. That was a relief I might add. After cooling off, we drove down the cobbled track to La Fortuna.

We chose Los Nene for supper after two guides recommended it. It is traditional Costa Rican food.  Quite frankly, why would you eat anywhere else? The specials came lit by fire, and were cooked to perfection. The kids ate spaghetti and were pleased with that. The specials were fish and steak and you can't watch those platters coming out of the kitchen without wanting one. Despite being ridiculously full, the girls wanted ice cream so we wandered up the street to Pops. Pops is a ice cream chain and it was delicious once we got there.

We did get distracted on the way by an artist shop. Everything in the store was locally made by a Costa Rican artist. Since there were still some gifts to buy, we stocked up. Now that we had parcels to carry, now it was time to eat coconut and chocolate brownie ice cream. Yummy. We have tired kids who are insisting they aren't. It makes for yet another great day in paradise.

Note: tours were booked through jacamar naturalist tours. You may do better booking in La Fortuna.

Miss K's first zip lining adventure - she was a pro from the get go.

The leader was as camera happy as me!

Butterfly Garden

The road less traveled aka the path through the woods behind our hotel room. Note, there was a poisonous snake warning in effect at all times and I still wandered the trails with the family. Crazy.

La Fortuna on Dwellable

Failure: Warts and all

Failure. It's a negative word with a whole lot of negative emotion behind it. Mistakes. Good intentions gone wrong. Misunderstood. Didn't try. Not good enough. Not focused. How many times have you heard it? How many times have you experienced it? Are you honest enough to own your own "failures?" Epic fail...it's a term that has come out of my mouth. So, maybe, just maybe, it is time to seriously THINK about it.

I have often said that I do stupid things with good intentions. That unwitting judgment call that I think will turn out positively and comes back with a truck load of hurt feelings and others jumping to conclusions that I never meant. I have experienced it several times and I wind up with my own hurt feelings back. I own those and learn from them. I learn who takes things differently than I do and I learn to apologize and move forward with new growth and understanding. At 42, that isn't any easier than it was at 12. It just happens less often. I have also learned to appreciate the friends in my life that love me "warts and all" who will accept me for who and what I am.

As parent though, this develops differently. I want the best for my kids. Doesn't everyone? I have signed them up for all sorts of activities over the years trying to find things that work for their personalities and fit the schedule and the budget. I get told that my kids are over programmed but I have some solid reasons for that. First, we live north. I can't just tell them to go outside to play in minus a million degrees. They swim and dance so we work the mind, memory and body. My youngest does music and voice as she has shown a strong aptitude for it. My eldest does art for the same reason. The toughest part is that not everyone is good at everything. It seems that the things I really think they would shine at are not even offered here. No track team. No dive team. No syncrhonized swimming.

Add to that, my eldest child continuously takes criticism for a "lack of focus." Her fault (read genetic make-up and escapism here). At 12, she already has issues believing that she is not good enough and that no matter how hard she tries, there will be fault assigned to her. She has been requested not to participate in several activities (soccer, highland dance, less dance, no more music) and recommended to take more art. Have you ever tried to get an art teacher? We have been so blessed by ours but she needs more and it just isn't offered consistently. She tries so hard to please and always seems to fall short of other peoples expectations. Further to that, sometimes she just isn't given the chance because people assume that she will fail without even giving her the chance to try. How damaging is this? And as a parent, how do I support this?

I keep trying to find new avenues for a start. I maintain honest communication with her and let her know where she is succeeding and where people need more from her. I teach her how to manage her "failures" and that is OK to cry. After a wonderful music meeting last night, I gave her the opportunity to choose to try again. *note that I have NO idea what she will decide, but I was delighted to find a music teacher that understood her straight off the bat and made the room safe for her. I show her that I am willing to invest in her, whether her teachers believe in her or not. I tell her to prove them wrong, do her best. I will continue to try and find new avenues for her to be active and creative. I understand that not all learning happens in the classroom. She has a heart of gold and a soul to match. One day, one day soon, I hope that she will realize how much she has to give to her world.

"Failure" comes in other forms too. I see it in my youngest who gets so frustrated and angry when difficult learning opportunities are not perfect the first try. She worries about the imperfections and worries further about people. She struggles to work though it and have faith in her abilities. Comparing herself to others, she feels that she is not "good enough." At 9, how is the pressure acceptable? I ask for her best efforts. We work on tool boxes of reasoning and tool boxes for friendships. She sees herself as the peacemaker and hates conflict so teaching her to understand her relationships is key. Do I get that right all the time. Ummmm...no. Do I understand her all the time? No.

The thing with failure...is that sometimes we have to hit rock bottom in order to learn. It isn't fun, and definately isn't my favorite place to be but somehow, through the bad times, I learn more. I have experiences to share with others. I have new direction and places to go in my world. The best thing that I can do is to learn to change what the word "failure" represents in my world. I need to turn it into an opportunity to do better and to be the best self I can be moving forward. I need to change how that translates to my children so that they can know that being last is OK. That being less than perfect is OK. That their best efforts are indeed, enough. Not everyone can be a star, but everyone, absolutely everyone, better know how to be a good cheerleader and be a good support for those that are stars.

The world without people in it would be meaningless. What good are the mountains and the rivers without animals and people to enjoy them? Life is for living, full and flat out. If you fall, get up? If there is a fire, there will be regrowth. It is how it works and isn't it beautiful? We cry when happy and when sad. Poignency. Let's make failure translate to success. Let's be poignant.

I share this with my children and teach them to be stronger within themselves. They might not be the bright shining stars of their world right now, but I bet you anything they will make adults worth knowing. Just please, give each other a chance and experience the wonderful people that we all are. "Warts and all."