Mr. & Mrs. Vandebilt + kids

They say there’s wildlife everywhere in Costa Rica – that it has one of the most dense wildlife populations in the world. I can’t say we have seen abundance of animals but I can say the ones that we have seen have scared the sh*t out of me.

Today on our porch we had this bird that just would not quit. Now for those that know me, know that I hate birds. Like so much. They flap and they have beaks and claws and ugh. They’re the worst. This stupid thing just perched on the chairs outside. Charlie scared it off for me at least a dozen times and the damn thing just kept coming back. Finally the bird had a near miss with a converse shoe and headed off to terrorize someone else.

I’m sitting inside tonight and just as I was about to write this a raccoon or a possum or some other vile creature walked into our villa. Like right in. And you know where Jacob is? Not here. Thankfully the thing backed out the door when I threw a pillow so that I didn’t have to abandon my children and flee through the other door.

Aside from the two near heart attacks today it was a pretty chill day. We headed back to the pool this morning where again only two of three children enjoyed themselves. Both girls had a nap after lunch and Charlie and I played catch – which is impressive since neither of us has any hand eye coordination.

After nap time we headed to Playa Ocotal – the beach about 7km away to see how it compared to our local beach. It’s a black sand beach (from the volcanic activity) with cool trees reaching out over the sand. The sand was super cool, it’s soft and squishy and full of shells and pieces of coral. Everyone enjoyed the last few hours of sunlight on the beach before we had dinner at Father Roosters (another beachside restaurant).