Do, a deer, a female deer

Re, a drop of golden sun
Me, a name I call myself
Fa, a long, long way to run
So, a needle pulling thread
La, a note to follow So
Ti, a drink with jam and bread
That will bring us back to Do!

Happy birthday to me!

Birds, birds, birds

I tell you, with Mom and Dad here we're seeing so many more birds than were here before. It may have something to do with the amount of time being spent looking I suppose....

This is the Emerald Toucanet. The funny looking tree is....a funny looking tree. (I'm being corrected. Named a waving palm by some in my family, a fishtail palm in no uncertain terms by another.)

We also got to Los Cusingos as hoped. Hmmm....took a different twist than expected though! As we start to explore the Skutch house/garden area and head off into the paths that run through the property we see a large dark cloud. Oh well, won't affect us too badly we say. What's a little shower? ....Did I say "little?" Torrential downpour. We decide to keep going instead of turning back because it'll be a grand adventure. One of our party didn't 'fess up to the pressing need for a bathroom. Later to be regretted in the mad dash back at the end. Oh, and the search for toilet paper. So we start, miss the path to do the loop and instead head off on the 3 km each way path down, down, down the side of the mountain. Soaking wet. To the skin; through the passports, money, vital papers. Then a little one starts voicing his concerns about falling branches. It's ok, honey, it's just little twigs and leaves. Crash! Down come about 3 or 4 branches almost on our heads--two of us received (thankfully) indirect hits. Finally reaching the path we had started on, we see a large tree across the path and have to crawl our way through the branches. Kids finally start crying. They had been doing so well up to that point. This is also the point at which we find out the need for the bathroom that has been mounting since we started. Walk faster, as fast as we can through the river that has developed at our feet, over the roots and such. Finally we see the end. A "bonhomme" comes to find us, seems relieved that we're ok. Understands that we were scared in the face of falling trees. Points us in the direction of home and a bathroom. (OK, bonhomme is French. Spanish is muchacho.) Back into the truck, off to find some lunch. What a crazy morning! But we all have more or less fond memories.

Pizza Day

We're on our way into San Jose today. Our 7-yr old has requested a pizza party for his birthday with his friend at A La Lena Pizzeria. The best gourmet pizza in town. So we're off to explore a museum downtown and the Mercado Central and then follow it up with pizza. Should be fun! The downside is that we'll be driving the Hill of Death road at night to come back. But hey, that's part of our life.

Saw a toucanet yesterday and more quetzales. Have been having fun with my parents these last few days: bird-watching, horseback riding, pruning roses. With any luck we'll get in at Alexander Skutch's place that has been turned into a research center. http://www.cct.or.cr/en/cusingos.htm

The bridge is almost ready. Just some welding of handrails (If the welders come. Not sure what has happened to them. They're two days late.) Then it has to sit for a month for the concrete to cure. But it looks great. Speaking of sitting, we had planned to be on the road by now, but have had to wait to fix a leaky pipe with parts that we don't have. A group in late last night discovered their bathroom floor to be a lake.

Just having a discussion about cold hard butter on toast, cold hand lotion and toothpaste that doesn't squeeze because it's cold. Last night was milder--it only got down to 10C.

Have fun today!

Mouth Appliance

Bronwyn says:
Sometime in February I got my appliance in to help my teeth grow the proper way. So I have my appliance in and for a few days it was really hurting because it was digging in to the roof of my mouth. But now I can't feel it digging in to my mouth because my dentist said it wouldn't be hurting in 4 or 5 days. So I'll see ya later!

lost tooth and fungus

Cai lost his tooth while brushing one night. He wanted everyone to know. Also in tooth news, Bronwyn was devastated when Tigger chewed on her little tooth keeper that the dentist gave her to store her pulled molars and then swallowed the molar.

Fungus? Or flower? Or what? Anyone know?

Quetzal!

I tried posting this the other day and it apparently didn't because it isn't on the website--unless it's hidden in some obscure corner that I can't find. Que lastima! It was an incredible morning. Five quetzales in total--two males and three females were literally right outside our door. This photo was taken from 25 feet away. And they stayed around in the trees for an hour while we oohed and aahed. Hope they come back while parents are visiting next week.

Meanwhile, the hummingbirds are still fighting over the feeders. The sun is hot these days and it's hard to imagine the gloominess of rainy season.

The kids have had some great times with their art and Spanish tutor in the last 2 weeks. They've also been reaping the benefits of an environmental science graduate who is working on a science program here and needs guinea pigs to help work it out.

New Bridge on the River Savegre.

The company moved the logs from the old bridge to make way for steel I beams and structural decking. Re-bar enough in case a bomb gets dropped on it and lots of concrete. A constant supply of sand and gravel comes from down the road, 1 1/2 hours away. The projected finish date is for March 31st.