My father is so wonderful to us. For thirteen years now, he has given us a family vacation as a Christmas present to himself. At least, that is what he said the first couple of years, and now we all look forward to it so much that his hands are tied…
We all talk about where we would like to go and what would be good for the ages of the kids. We spend hours poring over places at VRBO.com (that’s vacation rentals by owner) for a house big enough to contain our growing family. This year my family graciously agreed to come to Costa Rica for the vacation. We met in the north and went to the beach town of Tamarindo. We stayed just outside of town and mostly went to Playa Avellanas. We had the good fortune to have Will’s brother Sam with us for a few days too. We had a gigantic house on a golf course. Because of room configuration and family size, we ended up with the master suite and the bedroom next door with a double bed and two bunk beds. The furniture was comfortable. The bedding was luxe. We had a memory foam pad on our bed that we gave thanks for nightly. The kitchen was ready for cooking, with a six-burner gas range and a dishwasher! and a huge fridge which we quickly stocked– we drove our car to the grocery store when we wanted to go! The outside was landscaped. The air conditioning was blowing. It felt so American. It was an escape. I kept fretting about bugs getting into the food or the trash until I realized, “This house is sealed! The windows are not open!” The pile of dishes after eleven people had eaten looked intimidating until my sister-in-law simply loaded the dishwasher. I sat down on the couch and did not want to get up. I ran my hands along the plush towels in the bathrooms. I flushed my toilet paper down the toilet.
But (you knew there was a “but” coming didn’t you?) Continue reading