La Paz

Our family at the entrance to the orchid gardens in 'La Paz'

We decided to get away from the crazy traffic and hustle and bustle of life in a city of around 2 million people and went on a day trip on Tuesday. We headed off to go to La Paz Waterfall Gardens. Darrin had been a couple times, but the kids and I had never seen it yet. It was beautiful. It is in the middle of nowhere-- a lush green valley and sloping hills as far as the eye can see. As the name suggests, there are five beautiful and large waterfalls on the walking (and climbing---lots of steps-- my calves are still sore!!) trail. But it there is much more than that. They have created a bird sanctuary, a butterfly garden, a frog house, a hummingbird gathering place, an orchid farm, a snake house (yuck!) and a typical Costa Rican house from back in the early coffee plantation days. It was so interesting. So we spent the whole day wandering around and enjoying the quiet and nature. If you visit us here in CR, we'll take you for a day trip. It's a fun day away.

Here are a couple shots of Darrin and the kids and then the kids with me in front of one of the falls. The sound of the water is so pretty. (Couldn't focus very well, as all the spray made it so hazy!)

This was fun!! The kids were able to take a ride in an oxcart. These brightly painted carts are very typical of the early coffee plantation days in Costa Rica. All the coffee (and bananas) were transported from the fields to the railroad in these carts pulled by oxen. Each owner would paint their carts in these bright typical designs. The story goes that it was done to attract the ladies attention. True or not, I don't know. But they are beautiful. And oxcarts--from tiny little magnets to full size replicas--are one of the most common souvenirs sold here!
So many pretty butterflies and flowers!
Beautiful peaceful surroundings as you can see in the next two pics.
(remember when I mentioned lots of stairs!!!)

Also, since my husband doesn't read my blog, I'll share some pictures I took for him. His office has some great pictures of the kids but they are several years old, so yesterday we spent the day taking snapshots in the backyard to update his picture frames. Here are some of my favorites!!

The four kiddos-- can't believe how big they all are!!
Another shot: I think I'll be taking a few of these for my classroom desk as well!
Daddy's two girls:
and his boys: