Dutch Wonderland

We've been heading up to Lancaster, PA a lot lately to partake in the fun times at Dutch Wonderland. The kids love the rides and we love the sheer simple joy just watching them have so much fun!

Deep Creek Lake

We decided to take a long weekend last weekend and went to check out Deep Creek Lake. It's on the border of Maryland, Pennsylvania and Ohio up in the mountains (or so they call them). It only took us about 3 hours to get up there and we had a great room at the Wisp Resort. Anyway, they have a nice small little beach on the lake which the kids LOVED, and nearby there is another park with some fabulous waterfalls. We had a great time.

A visit with the Alpacas

Every time we visit Santa Fe, we go and visit the Que Sera Alpacas . The first time we went, Meghan was about 18 months and she loved them. They gave her kisses and were so cute. This photo of her was even used on their business cards and website. Last summer, she was quite fearful of everything, including the Alpacas so the visit was more about overcoming fears than anything. Today however, Meghan was having the time of her life playing with the baby alpaca as if it was another child. Several times the 2 month old Alpaca snuck up on her and nuzzled her neck, and once chased her around in circles around my legs. I felt like there were 2 three year olds in the pen instead of just my Meghan. When it came time to leave, Meghan was so sad to say goodbye and she begged for more visits. They are headed to the New Mexico State fair later this week.

More Smores Please

We (Meghan, Nathan and I) are currently visiting my parents in Santa Fe. What a lovely thing it is to have two other adults present and actually outnumber the children! Anyway, today we went up into the Santa Fe National Forest to go 'day camping'... no tent, and come home for baths at night, but all the fun of camping. We had a blast. We arrived and grilled up some hotdogs. After eating our fill, Meghan and I walked to a little bridge to play 'Pooh Sticks'... a favorite past time for Winnie the Pooh. Anyway, we got sidetracked by some beautiful wildflowers and amazing dandelions. They were the biggest dandelions I think I have ever seen and Meghan had a wonderful time blowing them everywhere so there will be plenty more of them next time we are there. Meghan and Nathan played nicely together which is always a wonderful thing to encourage. Meghan had a blast picking wildflowers and making a beautiful bouquet for Grandma. We also found some cool rocks (always a highlight), and by the end my pockets were full of things... seeds, flower petals, and rocks, and her hands were full of flowers. Time to return for Smores. Meghan of course LOVES smores. Tonight she told Grandma when she was getting tucked into bed that her favorite part of today was the Smores. Being that we are on vacation, I stretched the rules and Meghan probably ate more marshmallows than are considered healthy, but hey we're at Grandma's house, and rules can be broken within reason.

Nathan at the beach

Every week there is a new theme on PhotoHunt . This week's was Colorful. Anyone can play


I love this little picture of Nathan at the beach in Costa Rica. He was a handful to keep out of the sand and I definitely failed on more than one attempt. Here we are at the Manuel Antonio Beach just passing the time away...

Sierpe River in Costa Rica

This is my favorite picture of all of my Costa Rica shots. We took a 12 hour trip with the two babies. From our house in Ojochal, drove down to Sierpe river and were out on the river by 6 am... where I took this shot. We had a 2.5 hour boat ride down to Corcovado at the Sirena station and then several hours of hiking in the park. We saw 3 types of monkeys in one day and on the boat ride home, saw a momma and baby humpback whale in the water. The babies were awesome and we carried them the whole way in our slings. What a fabulous experience!



Here are some of the monkey shots and the crocodiles. There is a river that you have to cross if you are hiking through Corcovado that you must cross at low tide because of the sharks and crocodiles. Click for more on Corcovado.

We're Back from Costa Rica

We have returned home from 2.5 weeks of family vacation in Costa Rica. I'm in the midst of sorting through a ton of photos but thought I'd share a few to get the ball rolling again. The monkeys were plentiful, the beaches beautiful and the birds were kind to show us their feathers and faces. We saw Toucans at our house, Macaws on the hikes and even the famous Resplendent Quetzal. More on those to come... Check out the video of Meghan holding the snake. It's a Boa Constrictor! Yes, I know it's sideways but I'm new at this whole video editing then and forgot and turned my camera sideways when filming.