Lava.

It's really hard to take photos of a volcano from a jungle dirt road, late at night, when it's raining, with no tripod & no natural light whatsoever. I set my camera to manual focus (since there was nothing to focus on, really) & did the very best I could. Photo #2 was tweaked just so you can see what I was "looking" at ("look" being a relative term, since most of the time, we couldn't see anything at all). Luckily, thanks to mother nature & a nice big bolt of lightning that lit up the sky, plus a relatively slow shutter speed (1 second?), I got a decent shot (I said decent) of the volcano + lava. It may as well have been 2pm.

You can't say I didn't try.

Pura Vida.

Costa Rica. Pura Vida!

Mike gave me this book for Valentine's Day in 2008 & we've been anxious to go ever since. With Dave's return from Argentina, & Bryan's call to Honduras (unless political coups get in the way) we decided to make it a Whiting Family affair. It was wonderful to have everyone together, something that hasn't happened in a few years.

I'm overwhelmed with the idea of doing a complete play-by-play of our trip, or even just organizing my photos, but I did keep a log in my BlackBerry every day of little highlights. Just because. Light on details, but you'll get the general idea.

And then - a few (just a few.) of my favorite photos.

Day 1: Brightly colored houses. Dogs. Doors & windows all open. They weren't kidding about the rain. Drive to our hotel Arenal. Hot springs.

Day 2: Happy Birthdy, Cara (we sang). A night of total downpour (I thought our little casita was going to wash away). Walking down a lot of steps to the La Fortuna waterfall, only to have to walk all the way back up. Discover Dulce de Leche ice cream donuts at the top. Immediately become addicted & eat them every day. Monkeys. Wiggly hanging bridges. Muchos platos tipicos. Family council!! Blue sky. Snails. Vipers. Bumpy roads. Cloudy volcano. Toucans. The sexy tree on our hanging bridges hike.

Day 3: Swimming pool. Tabacon. Hot pool. Best lunch ever. Sea bass ceviche. No rain. Reggaeton music. Thunder. Lizzards. Lava!

Day 4: Happy Birthday, Steve. Last breakfast with Yanni music at Arenal. Banana bread. Papaya tastes like feet. Zip line tour (amazing!). Long drive to Jaco to our hotel. Bugs! Humid! Dream of Kate Spade sample sale shopping all night long. Try on dozens of things. See multiple handbags I want to buy. Call friends Jill and Erin for consults. Friends come to park (where said sample sale is taking place), only to discover that I don't have cash. Go searching, for rest of dream, for at ATM to buy Kate Spade goods. Wake up dissatisfied & tired.

Day 5: A dozen or so nibbles on my Norteamericano legs. Sun. Hammock. Pool volleyball in a strapless swimsuit (no fun). Reading. Ocean. Beautiful contrasts. Naps. Dinner by the beach. Arroz con pollo. USA vs. Spain futbol in the sports bar with Dave, Bryan & Mike. Sunburned forehead (pinning back the bangs is a bad idea). Date with mi espoa for some croissant bread pudding. Dreams of being forced to join the MoTab with a bunch of random high school friends that I haven't spoken to in years. Choir is led by Hitler. Wake up in the morning to discover that Bryan had a Nazi-themed dream as well (what??).

Day 6: Chocolate pancakes y jugo de mango. Tennis. So humid. Manuel Antontio. Most beautiful beach I've ever seen. Sloths. Gross. Monkeys. Cute. Warm water. Playa Hermosa at night. Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett die. International coverage is a bit much, considering everything else going on in the world.

Day 7: Pool time. Jaco for lunch. Update - most beautiful beach is Playa Hermosa. First sunburn of the week. Sunset.

Day 8: Dreams of going going back to BYU with roommates Julie & Stacey (hi!). Forced to go to FHE to meet boys, but I just want to find Mike. Can't. Wake up sad. Last breakfast. Last jugo de mango. Drive to San Jose. Take a plane back to New York with the lesser-known Baldwin brother (Stephen - flying coach). Explain to father in law that Stephen recently baptized Spencer Pratt in the Costa Rican jungle. Am further impressed by sister (in-law) Cara when she says she doesn't know who Spencer Pratt is.