Oh Man Gawd!

Temperature outside: 98 degrees.

Temperature in my living room: 108 degrees.

Yes, we have a problem with our AC. And by "problem" I mean we came home from two weeks away only to find that our central air  (which is less than 18 months old and has only been used about 10 times total) for some reason decided to shit the bed. Why it chose the hottest week of the year to do so is beyond me.

Given that this was a holiday weekend,we have been living on the face of the sun for about 36 hours now (and by living I mean barely surviving.) Someone came by to look at it earlier today, and assured us that it is easily fixable, and we will be up and running after he finishes some "errands."

That was 6 hours ago.

To quote my Little Man, "Oh Man Gawd, Momma it's hot in here."

I never thought I'd say it, but I long for last week when were cooler and living on the equator. File that under things I never thought I'd say.

Stay cool out there my East Coast friends...

Things I Learned From My Summer Vacation.

Right now we are quickly packing up, and in a few hours we will begin our two day trek back to  the States. I figured that this was the perfect time to reflect on a few things that I have learned from my Summer vacation.*  

1. Traveling with kids under the age of 2.9 is pretty much hell. Traveling with kids over the age of 2.9 is actually really fun. This is the little man's 14th trip, and 5th out of the country. This little fact will absolutely be remembered when we have baby number two. I.e.We aren't going anywhere for the first 2+ years.
2. Speaking of baby number two, I am no longer in any kind of hurry to get that ball rolling. Sure, we will still move forward with our plans in the Fall, but having only one almost three year old is a lot of fun (and to be honest is pretty damn easy.) I plan on savoring every minute of it this Summer (and traveling as much as humanly possibly considering #1.)
3. 13 days is about the longest that I can spend 1 on 1 with my family before they drive me bat shit crazy. We are now on day 16, you do the math.
4. I will never again (NEVER) fly anywhere that is not a direct flight. The 9 hour layover in Miami on the way down nearly killed us all. From now on, it's one flight or no flight. (It is important to note that I also never again will fly American Airlines.)  
5. Running in the sand without shoes is freaking hard. My calves have never been this sore. I must find a way to copy this feeling when I get back.
6. My kid is nowhere near ready to be potty trained. That or I am nowhere near ready to clean up a thousand puddles of pee. We gave it the old college try when we got down here. Accidents 15, successes 0. We'll try that one again never at the end of the Summer. 
7. Both the Little Man and I really, really, really miss our friends. Even though we are having a blast we keep talking about them at least 5 times a day. He misses his buds... and I miss their Momma's. I can't wait until a play date is again one phone call away! I also miss my daily phone calls with my sisters (yeah I'm talking about you auntie em and holly.)
8. My little man is a fish. He's also a pretty good swimmer. This kid has spent at least 4 hours a day in the water. We do go swimming at home (almost every day) but I think we need to step it up a notch. I may have to bite the bullet and get a private instructor when we get back, for at least the rest of Summer. I think he could be pretty good on his own with some real lessons. This would lead to a lot less "almost" heart attacks on my end.
9. I don't know how I missed this one, but the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo series is absolutely unbelievable... like really good. Okay, I'm even going to say like Twilight good. I am about to start book number 3 and am already feeling sad that there aren't going to be any more to read. 
10. Kids like to dig holes. Lots of holes. Lots, and lots and lots of holes. If this Stay at home Mom thing doesn't pan out I will go back to work; as a professional hole digger. 

I wish all of my American readers a wonderful long holiday weekend, and the rest of you the same. Happy Fourth!

*I recognize that this is a totally random list, I think the sun may have gotten to me a bit. 

Save a Bike... Ride a Horse.

About an hour into the ride the Little Man declared, "Costa Rica is the best... I never go home." Yeah, I think I'll have to agree with that.

Where Are You, Exactly?

I've been getting some emails regarding where, exactly, we are in Costa Rica. The short answer is that we are in a little town called Playa Guiones. The long answer is that we are in a town that is a few miles from Nosara, located on the Nicoya Peninsula, which is located on the Pacific side of Costa Rica. If you look at the map below you can see that on the left there is a little (or rather large) peninsula that is hanging off the country. 

Here is a closer view. The town that we are in is located on the left of the peninsula right in the middle (on this map) you can see it notated by the little surfer if you click to enlarge the map. 

The town itself is small, about one city block in total. It would be considered by most to be very Americanized given that most of the full time residents are originally from America. While a few have vacation homes here, the majority of the population lives here full time, and would definitely be considered ex-pats rather than tourists. This is our 10th or 11th visit down here (we aren't really sure) and I cannot recommend it enough. The town, and the accommodations are not luxury by any means, but there are definitely some of the comforts of home which make it very easy when you are traveling with small children, things like a small nearby market, AC in the bedrooms, a basic medical clinic, Internet (you know how I love my Internet!)

I find this place truly to be heavenly. We never drive, but rather bike everywhere. We see maybe one or two other groups of people a day, and sometimes not another soul for hours. Our time is split between the pool, and the beach, and the biggest question of the day is always, "what are we going to eat for dinner." In short, it is the perfect place to get away from the hustle of the big city, and reconnect with my awesome family and some of our closet friends.

If you are thinking of planning a visit to Costa, or have any questions about the area, please feel free to email me at diaryyummymummy@gmail.com

My name is Yummy, and I'll happily be your tour guide.

Biking With My Babe.

Love.

Status Quo.

A day in the life...

Yeah, life is pretty damn good.

ps Today is one of those days where I had to pinch myself, I feel extremely lucky to have this time with my boys.

pps I found a guy, who knew a guy, who is willing to come over today and filet those fish. Thank. freaking. God.

ppps Yes, those are dead crabs my little man is playing with. No he doesn't know that.

What Exactly Do You Want Me To Do Here?

A few years back, whenever we would come down here, one of the first things on our agenda was to get our hands on some fresh fish. We used to have a "fish hook up," and with the little man, in the Bjorn, I would trek the 2 miles on what was dubbed, "the pescado death march." Well, it seems as though our connection has moved on to greener pastures, and we have been a total loss for some of the white stuff; white fish that is. We've been asking around, and today we were given a 15 minute warning to make our way to a small hut in a nearby village, and just "ask for Enrique." My husband was able to get his hands on three kilos of the good stuff and a transfer was made. He came home plastic bag in hand and gave me this.

"Um, what exactly do you want me to do here?" I asked my hubby.

"Hell if I know," was his reply.

See, our old fish dealer used to fillet the fish for us, it's seems as though the new guy is lacking a bit in the customer service department. I'm not exactly a girly girl, but I can guarantee you that there is no way I am going to cut into that fish. I mean, they are actually looking at me!

I called in for reinforcements... turns out the Little Man is as unsure of what to do as his momma is. (and equally as freaked out too!)

Looks like I'm going to have to you tube how to cut these bad boys. Someone in this house is going to have to take care of business (and by someone, rest assured I don't mean me.)

Is it possible the LM has a secret hidden talent for de-boning a fish???

(Little) Man's Best Friend.

The only downside to traveling to such an isolated place with the Little Man is that there aren't too many kids his age for him to play with (i.e none.) We do our best to try to keep him busy, but sometimes he is as tired of playing with us as we are with him. Luckily, today he found a new playmate*. Who says you can't teach a little boy new tricks? 

In the end I'm not sure who enjoyed whose company more....

*Okay, okay so I'm starting to re-think my policy on dogs (you know, the zero tolerance one.) 

Houston We Have a Swimmer.

Okay, okay... not so much a swimmer per se, but definitely a coordinated drowner!

For two and a half this kid I'd say this kid has some serious potential! Just when we were all thinking that  he was too cool for school, the LM came around the corner looking like this.

 There. Are. No. Words....