Sail Away on the Marlin Del Ray
With the dry season now upon us, the only logical thing to do is to take to the water, which we did. BCC sponsored a sunset cruise aboard the Marlin Del Ray and the day couldn’t have been better. There were a smattering of clouds in the piercing blue sky, a slight breeze and perfect air temperature to be skimming across the slightly rippled blue sea. On board the cruise about 60 family and friends, drinks, fruit and food provided.
Our chariot awaits
Nary 20 minutes out of Tamarindo we spotted some humpback whales, a calf and her momma and we veered course to ride next to them. They put on a nice show for all of us, breaching, spewing and generally delighting all those on board before swimming off into the deep. Immediately after getting back on course we were greeted by some dolphins who playfully glided by each hull on the 60 foot catamaran. Right along side of them was a small manta ray sunning his wingtips. Soon after that we sailed upon some Leatherback turtles having an intimate moment. They seemed slightly irritated as we slid by them 10 feet away. In between all this were fish jumping, snakes swimming, and the wind and sea slapping gently against the hulls of the boat. On board, kids and adults were laughing in glee with every new sighting.
Thar she blows! Whale watchers moving over the the starboard side.
Once we reached our destination, a private beach, the anchor was dropped and everyone hit the water with snorkels, noodles or life jackets. The water was not the clearest, but it was clear enough to see the plethora of colorful fish and sea life along the reef. I don’t know what kind of fish I saw but I do know that they were neon blue, yellow, rainbow-colored, small, large, fast slow and all curious. The beach itself was empty except for those of us from the boat, so it was ripe for a walk or a little beach combing. It was a small dark beach sheltered by small cliffs on each side, making the bay it hosted nearly glass calm. No surf to speak of, but great for some swimming and snorkeling.
Jeremy and Octavia checking on the anchor.
The day finished with some food, singing and a typical Costa Rica sunset, the money shot. However, they always seem to be a little more impressive from the water. Something about being able to look back onto the beach having the same view the sun has makes it slightly more breathtaking. Cameras were smoking as their shutters flashed, and there was a slight quietness and stillness that enveloped the whole vessel as we waited for that magical moment when the sun disappeared over the edge of the world. We were not disappointed, as we never are. And as we were shuttled back to the beach in the 20 foot fiberglass, white open skiff, which got us close enough to wade back to the beach in the warm Pacific water, I realized that this was November, and we had just all been kissed by a touch of sunburn. I also realized that our reality had changed from shoveling snow, driving on icy roads and trying to keep my bald head warm, to trying to stay cool, dealing with jellyfish stings, and trying to make sure my bald head doesn’t burn. It is a change, but we are doing our best to cope.
P.S. There are so many pictures that I just put them in slideshow below for you to enjoy.
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Birthdays, Beaches, Baptisms and Barbecues
As we adjust to our new surroundings, conditions and lifestyle, life keeps moving on by. We have recently celebrated our second birthday abroad, as Kassie had her 12th birthday last week. Her choice of activities, a girl’s day in Tamarindo getting their nails polished, shopping and then pizza at Angelina’s. The boys; well we hung at the house, then walked over to the coffee shop for some frozen coffees and shakes, cruised the neighborhood picking coconuts and mangos and just chilled.
Kassie showing off her new bathing suit.
manicures all around.
Livy
Alli
Having experienced two kids birthdays we have quickly surmised that as challenging as we thought shopping for a birthday in the quaint small town of Soldotna was, it is infinitely more difficult here. For beginners, there are no Wal-Marts, Freddie’s, Beemun’s or anything remotely resembling a department or toy store near by. There are plenty of food markets with tourist trinkets, but nowhere to really “shop” for special occasions. Secondly, you cannot just order from Amazon and have it delivered with “free shipping” in 2-3 days. Perhaps, if you are lucky, you can get it here with extremely expensive shipping, say 2-3X the cost of the item, in about 4-6 weeks. So it is always better to make do with what you can find locally. Hello Pura Vida hats, shirts and shorts and flip flops.
finished product
mom and the birthday girl
Theses are exactly the types of things I wanted to experience, and I wanted my kids to experience. It is easy to say you are spoiled when you live in America, but it is much more effective to live it. I pray that small things like this help us all be much more grateful for what we have and what we had. I honestly don’t think Kassie minded too much, because she smiled all day and Tracy did manage to find some unique and cool prezzies for her. And of course we were able to have cake and ice cream! Now, to be clear, we are not miserable, we are not at all suffering; we are in Costa Rica for goodness sake, it is just the slight differences and lack of conveniences that I want all of us to be acutely aware of.
Another new experience was our first beach baptism. Our church, the Beach Community Church had a baptism service on the beach at Tamarindo. Now when I say baptism on the beach, perhaps you picture a gentle swell blanketed by a warm breeze with the small church crowd, white flowing gowns and the sound of a choir in the background. Not quite. Instead it was surfable waves crashing hard on the beach, the sun glaring down, the wind whipping throughout, surfers, dreadlocks, bikinis, bathing suits and body boarders all curiously watching what this small group was doing near the mouth of the river. It was almost a little surreal, and pretty incredible. Six people were baptised and there were about 30 of us there to watch and support them; cheering on the beach as if we were watching a surfing contest. From my vantage point I could watch the gentle dunk of the newly baptized, while two dreadlocked surfers practiced long board tricks in the background.
Ready for the baptism
moving in closer to watch the dunking.
Pastor Lyle and the pre-baptisimal.
We finished the baptism with a BBQ at Pastor Lyle’s condo right up the hill. There was a lot of the normal BBQ food, hamburgers, hot dogs, steak and pork chops, but there were also some tuna steaks, mahi steaks and more, all very tasty. It was a nice way to nudge us into our new environment.
The kids spent the majority of the time in the deep blue pool while we mingled about and ate, looking for bits of shade. The food was good and the fellowship was even better, and it helped to reiterate that no matter where you live, if you can make relationships, you can make it. Oh yeh, the ocean, warm water, pools and sun, that helps too.
Post baptismal BBQ
Kids at the BBQ having water wars. Note Jeremy and Jake, they were a formidable team.
Jake and Jeremy in the heat of battle.
Partridge Godfreys for Project Rescue
Ahhh the dessert auction, is there any other better way to raise money? I cannot think of any. Spend outrageous amounts of cash for awesome looking desserts that you would never think to make or buy. I have attended several and I have always walked away with something, usually a couple more pounds. The most recent one was for Project Rescue, an extremely worthy cause. If you have not heard of it, click on this LINK and learn more. The bad news, as much as I enjoy a dessert auction my mother and grandmother enjoy them 10 times more. In fact they treat it as a mission or even a battlefield zone. They have special stealth skills and bidding strategies which all but guarantee victory in the silent auction. They lurk around the auction zones, pen in hand, fake names pre-planned, and body checks ready to go. If they bid, they intend to win, and it is fruitless to bid directly against them.
This was the scene at our church’s last dessert auction, and they did well walking away with 6, yes 6 different desserts. But why were they there you ask? They don’t live here, they don’t often visit randomly, so why? Well you see this auction also had a talent show, and some of the talent were their grandkids, or as Pastor Nick refers to them ” Charity Bait”. I know what you’re thinking “what is their talent? Having the coolest dad in all of America?” Well they have other talents as well, and unfortunately they usually keep them hidden. For this show Olivia played the piano, Ben played a song on the guitar and sang, and Alli performed a dance. All this in front of impatient sugar starved bidders ready to attack the foray of desserts tantalizing them from the display section. They were all nervous, but not nearly as nervous as mom and dad. They all three did fantastic, and we couldn’t be prouder. To see them fight back their nerves and perform for a worthy cause was very proud moment. I was proud enough that I wanted to share it with those of you who could not be there. So the following video is a combination of all three performances. The sound may be a little quiet as I recorded it all from my phone, so I couldn’t adjust the sound or zoom in but you’ll get the point.The whole video is about 9 minutes, with some random facts to keep your interest, so please enjoy.
Then and Now
By nature I am not much of a worrier, I am a bit of a go- with -the- flow type of guy. Like all personality traits, this can be a good thing and it can be a bad thing. At times it drives people crazy, but I don’t let that worry me. Besides, Matthew 6:34 says not to worry about tomorrow, and I always obey everything in the Bible ( ahem). In all seriousness, I have learned most problems are not worth worrying about, even though circumstances may say otherwise.
But when it comes to my kids I do worry. I don’t worry about now, I worry about then. Now they are in our house, now we can try and mold them in they way I think they should live, now we can fulfill their needs, teach them, comfort them,discipline them and train them. We can fix their owies, tell them it will be alright, confirm that a nightmare is just a dream, and that we will always love them no matter what. Although we talk a lot about the stresses and hardships of every day life now, now is relatively easy.
What I worry about is then. Then they must make their own decisions, then they will be own their own, then they will most likely do some seriously stupid stuff that now we told them not to do then. They must choose their lifelong mate and they must choose wisely, they must provide for themselves, and hopefully for others. The then possibilities are endless and often exciting to ponder, but truth is there is a lot out there, and not all of it good. As much as I would love to protect them from the bad parts of then, I know I cannot, and that worries me. I often wonder, am I doing the right thing? Was I too harsh, too soft, too mushy, too manly, what in the world am I doing?
Pastor Brown praying before the baptism
sweet Kassie was a little nervous in front of everyone
But I take comfort from now, now when one decision is made and one act is publicly displayed, because after that all else pales in comparison. As long as they are true to that act and believe, then no matter what, they will eventually be more perfect than I can ever imagine. That act is their own personal salvation decision followed by a public act of baptism. As the astute of you have already ascertained, we just had another baptism in the family. This past Sunday Kassie decided it was time and she got baptised. That makes eight of the ten of us, and as with each one, it is the proudest, most satisfying and emotional now moment. There is no bigger decision they can make now that will have more of an impact on then. Besides if they really loved me they will want me to be able to live out my mantra of “no worries”, not just now but then.
Just before taking the big plunge
Kassie post Baptism
I Wanna….
Or AWANA as it is officially known, is a weekly event in our household. AWANA stands for, Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed, and it is not AWANAS, just AWANA. To break it down, almost every Wednesday night we load up the van and head er north to the church with a pit stop at the coffee shop along the. You see the coffee shop is a must for I am a game guy at AWANA. A game guy’s main responsibility is to run the snot out of the kids with minimal injury and maximum fun. Therefore a game guy must bring energy every week into the game time, whether it be God given or artificially injected into the system.
Combination TNT and Sparks waiting patiently during open ceremonies..
Boys, hmmmphh!!
By the time I finish the 16 ounces of hot liquid adrenaline, I am ready to go. The little kids like Jake get to do crafts and games downstairs. I have not had the pleasure of watching this but I take it 15-20 3-5 year olds leave their mark in an hour and 1/2. For every time I wander downstairs to pick up Jake, I see the tussled hair tear stained cheeks of the volunteer teachers. Sometimes they have a vain pulsing in the side of their neck and they are always extremely grateful to see me and watch the herd of toddlers disappear. Yet they continue to show up week after week.
Games in action on backwards inside out day.
Game guys chillin
After the introduction, song, rules, and prayers, the kids head off to do Bible verses and study. They have listeners in each room corralling them and focusing them for an hour each until they are let out of their corral into the bull ring, where I work.
Mr. Kelly got to dress himself tonight!
dude you have a blank stare in your eyes.
You talking to me?
My job is not nearly as difficult as the listeners or the toddler teachers. There is usually 3 or 4 of us to run games. We try to come up with unique style themed games for every week; Games that are not too complicated but not too easy. Games that wear the kids out but keep them focused on the prize. As game guys one of our favorites is dodgeball. You see our version of dodgeball is to line all the kids up against the wall while we hurl plastic balls at them picking them off one by one. The last 3 standing get points for their team. Funny thing, the kids seem to love the game too.
I got a flat tire, what am I suppose to do.
Despite my obvious bling and hip fashion sense, I am not throwing down a rap here.
Sometimes we have overall themes, like this week was inside out and backwards week, and Mr. Kelly went all out, literally down to his underwear. It seemed to add and extra dose of energy to the kids, something I really did not care nor was I prepared for.
Mr. Kelly always seems to have more fun than the kids
There he goes again
AWANA needs millions and millions of volunteers each week, well at least 20, and we seem to have them. It can definitely be trying some weeks, like this one. I often wonder if the kids are not stopping at the same coffee shop on the way north? Perhaps they get the 24 ounce. I may have to step up my game.
Haha, at least we don't have to deal with the Cubbies!!!
Where are the Cubbies? I think we are suppose to be in there.
