Deer Creek....

 The kids LOVE Deer Creek. This year Sophia went for 2 weeks. Then, the boys and Grant (first time) came the second week. They all had a blast. They were all in different cabins (probably a good thing!!).

 Mike and I dropped Grant off. It was a big time saver for Mary and Brad. :)

 The VERY serious bear tribe initiation night. :) Grant is a Polar Bear. 

 

We love checking the website each night to see pics of the kids. The camp keeps them SO busy with lots and lots of games and activities. When we pick them up, they were tired and had tons of dirty laundry, but we were also full of stories to share. So thankful we have found a camp they all love and a camp that shares such a love of scripture and Jesus.

Costa Rica--The Animals.....

 We were always on the look out for monkeys!! We did not see any around Tamarindo...but but did see in the trees on our way back from La Fortuna! 

 

 Iguanas are all around!!! Some get really big!!

Brenda and I took an estuary tour one morning in hopes of seeing more animals. There was one crocodile by the boats very close to the shore. We watched him for a long time! 

 It was neat the way you could see the water line on the trees. The tide goes up and down so much during the day!!

We got out and walked around the jungle with our guide...in hopes of seeing monkeys (we didn't) but it was fun to see ALL these orange and black crabs. They were everywhere!! And so brightly colored! Brenda called them "Halloween crabs."

Brenda and I also drove to an animal reserve park...which overall was not that great. But we did see a lot of animals. It was just crazy hot and humid and fairly packed with tourists.

On the way back, after the afternoon at this incredible beach with HUGE waves....we got to see this family of monkeys eating in the mango tree. There were 5 or 6 monkeys (including one baby and one without a tail) and they would eat a few bites of a mango and then throw it down on the road. It could be dangerous to walk under the tree!!! But the monkeys were right overhead...and it was so much fun to watch them! Truly something you could never see in the US. 

Costa Rica--The Food....

 We had to take food pictures. Every single thing I had to eat was incredible!!!! And most of the time we ate on the beach...which made it even better!!!

There is so much fresh food down there. The pineapples are less than $1 each...for a whole one! The avocados are about 4 times the size as the ones at HEB. Mangoes and coconuts are everywhere. People walk down the beach selling fresh cold coconuts for $1.50. The cut the top off and give you a straw. It's a delicious cold drink!!! 

 

 This is THE restaurant that Rylie and Chase talk about all the time. And it was pretty darn good. They have all different kinds of waffles. We went two times. :) The one with peanut butter and chocolate was my favorite.

 

I could never get tired of all the fresh fruit and all the fruit juice drinks they have!!

 

 This was a tiny tiny little restaurant we went to. The kitchen was probably less than 10ft square. I'm not a fan of shrimp, but the rest the group loved it!!