Look who is getting married...

Jamie is getting hitched and we had the honor of being there for her bridal shower. Macy and Remy are going to be the flower girls and it was a lot of fun having them meet the wedding party. It was a great party and can't WAIT for the big day :) Luv you Jamie!!!! 

Happy Birthday Pops!

It is always a blast hanging out at Nana and Pops house. The girls had so much fun running around with all their cousins and lets not forget about the cake :) Happy birthday Pops. 

The end...

Our journey has finally come to a close. What an amazing trip we have had. We learned a lot about ourselves as parents and friends. The girls may not remember this trip but we will try our hardest to keep some memories alive for them through stories and pictures. Thanks to eveyone that has stayed in touch with us while we were gone and we look forward to seeing everyone soon!

This last post was from our stay in Manuel Antonio, my favorite spot to date. We finally got our up close and personal meeting with the monkeys and the slothes :)

See you all for the 4th!

xoxoxo - The Castillo's

Monte Verde, Costa Rica

Our trip to Monte Verde was eventful. As we left the Four Seasons the girls had not napped, papa tried yet again to get Macy a Choo Choo ride at the golf course but we got rained out. Within 10 minutes into the drive the girls were passed out and slept the entire trip to Monte Verde. It rained nonstop the whole way. Poor papa had white nuckled it for about 4 hrs straight! Thank God they slept, Remy gets really car sick and it is really twisty! As night fell the entire sky lit up with lightning, it was such an amazing show...true entainment, we don't get anything like this at home. I tried to get it on video but had no luck.

Just to back track a little we never made any reservations to any of our locations except for Four Seasons.

As we twisted our way up these small rained out dirt roads into Monte Verde I feverishly read over our travel books to find a place to stay. We have learned that we 1) can not stay on the second floor 2) we can not stay anywhere with hardwood floors 3) with less that two full size beds 4) other occupants...with that it was a lot of stopping and reveiwing our options.

We finally came upon a place called Hotel Heliconia, a Swiss Tavern. It was the only place we could find in the dark that had 1) no other guests 2) a seperate unit 3) large beds. It was perfect. we checked in and unloaded the car and ....I have never in my life heard squeaker floors!!!! It was crazy! But we musterd through and the girls actaully slept the entire night for the first time since we have been here! It was great :)

After a little monrning adventure to the humming bird exhibit and the entrance to the Monte Verde Cloud Forrest we headed back to HH for lunch...but not before Macy got toally car sick...poor baby but held her head high and got sick into a bag...no mess, just the way she likes it :)

After we got back I noticed that one of the best units for viewing was open and I had to take a look...well needless to say as I type this Mike and I are sitting in a covered patio looking out over the mountains as it rains. It is so wonderful...oh and the best part, the girls are taking a little much needed nap, heheheh
Today while I was putting the girls down for a nap Mike took and Coffee tour, so don't forget to ask him some coffee trivia :) Tonight I am going solo for a Night Tour of the Rain Forrest to see all the nightly little creatures :) I can't wait!

The Four Seasons, Costa Rica

The Four Seasons...not much you can say accept it was pure luxury!!! We had the greatest time and so did the girls, especially since we had the run of the place.!!! I think Macy and Remy had the best time with the baby sitters! We booked two full days with a sitter so Papa and Mama could get a little break. It was amazing but I have to admit that the last few hours of the second day without the girls I didn't really know what to do with myself...I missed the little monkeys :)

I want to give Beth a BIG "Thanks and XOXO" for getting us the most amazing deal and working out all the details. We really felt like we were on top of the world!!!

I have to just mention the "Choo Choo Train", that is what Macy calls the club cars. And eveytime we tried to schedule her a trip something came up. So we owe her big time the next time we have a golf card within reach. She was very cute about it. Another really funny thing we are discovering about Macy on this trip is her interest in transportation. She wants to ride on or in anything that moves. It is the craziest thing. Remy could care less what is moving her as long as it is moving and moving FAST! Like the water slides in Arenal :)

As I post this we have moved on to Monte Verde, Rain Forest and internet access is limited....to be continued

Canopy Tour/Zipline

OMG...if you ever get the chance to Zipline I HIGHLY recommend it!!!

Mike and I had an amazing day today celebrating my birthday and kid free :)

We dropped the girls off at the most wonderful child center I have ever seen at 9am this morning, compliments of the Four Seasons. We started our day with a little high flying through the rain forest and finished the day with a full body massage at the spa. We are finishing the day with a movie and dinner in bed with the girls.

Just to note...when I went to check on the girls at the child center they didn't even blink an eye. I guess they needed a break from us as much as we needed it from them, xoxoxoxo

The Dora Show

Dora, Dora, Dora...she is the explorer and has run off a few times. Thankfully there are some good local folk that have helped us keep an eye on her. Bad things would happen if we lost Dora :)

Between having Dora with us and several DVD's of Dora, all we hear from the back seat is "Where's my Dora!" Papa and Mama will have several episodes of Dora totally memorized after this trip. Years from now people will ask us what we remebered the most and we will go into song..."Dora, Dora, Dora the Explorererererer"...Good times!!!!

Day 7/8

A lot of driving has taken place in the last few days. We have basically driven across Costa Rica...from the Caribbean Sea through the rain forest to Volcan Arenal and to the Pacific Ocean.

This is where we have been so far:

We landed in San Jose and had to drive through Puerto Limon, the main port, down the coast to Puerto Viejo where we stayed the first three nights. A bit further down the coast we took day trips to Manzanillo, a super small village (the farthest point before Panama). After our stay in P.V. we headed North back up the coast to Cahuita, found some amazing places to stay and eat. After a few nights completely cut off from you we headed to Volcan Arenal, the drive was amazing!!!! The girls slept most of the 5 hour drive and did really good except Remy got totally car sick but totally pushed through and was a champ!!! We spent the night at Baldi just under the volcano, the coolest place for kids and adults. I forget how many hot spring pools they had but every corner seemed to have a little hidden hot tub. Remy and Macy even went down the water slides, with us of course :) After our one night stay there we continued our journey across Costa Rica to Peninsula Papagayo where we are staying at the Four Seasons for five days. It is so nice and we feel completely spoiled with the service and the beauty! There really isn't anyone here and again it seems that we have the run of the place!!! After our stay here we will be heading back to the rain forest to Tilaran for some monkey spying :)

Day 5/6

We made it for five days and still counting. We were basically kicked out of our last place because of the girls. It was not really set up for small children and the girls were not sleeping well at night, basically keeping up the entire place!!!! It pretty much sucked. We packed our bags and were ready to call it quits! But low and behold we found the most spectacular place where we were the only guests!!! We had a really secluded cabana with thick rock walls, hahaha and the pool was all ours. We actually stayed an extra night. We were so happy that we found this place..Cabanas Malu. It was also right on the beach. We got in a lot of beach time combing it for amazing drift wood and shells. Found some great stuff and can't wait to get it home :)

Costa Rica Day 4

I have finally figured out how to post pics to our blog without photoshop....oh and the few minutes a day without kidlets pulling on my pant leg!!!!

These pics were taken on our morning walk today. We can not keep the girls out of the water...who can blame them when it is as warm as a bath!

More blogging to follow.

The morning after...

After a good night sleeping off the cake and ice cream the girls were ready to open their birthday presents. 

Macy was the fastest at opening up the gifts. I think she was more excited about being able to rip something than most of the gifts...she loves to rip at her books and gets into a lot of trouble. So this was totally ecstasy for her :

Remy was a little confused about her new big girl panties...she thought they looked pretty good as hats :) 

Macy and Remy were both really excited to see their new baby dolls had tattoos like the ones they got at their birthday party. 

We had so much fun playing with all the fun gifts and spent the entire day in our pj's and in the jumper. We are going to cry when we have to give that back...thanks Ron and family :) 

The Big 2!

I can't believe another year has passed! It seems like just yesterday we were filling the time capsule with treasures! 

The girls have obviously grown a lot since then and we are at a really fun time right now. Tantrums and sleepless nights aside we are extremely fortunate to have such beautiful and healthy girls. We are looking forward to some great family vacations this next year and preschool is right around the corner. My little babies are all grown up...well they would like to think they are, hehehe. 

Thanks to everyone that helped us celebrate the big day and we look forward to many, many more laughs with all of you!  

Mothers Day Weekend

Macy and I had the run of the house while Remy and papa were in Seattle. We were really busy with shopping, walks, park and of course all the Mothers Day festivities! We started our mom day celebrations with Mike's side of the family on Saturday night. We had a great dinner with everyone at Olive Garden. Macy impressed everyone with her consumption of food...she can really put down a meal if she likes what she is eating. She finished her meal off with a LARGE bowl of ice cream! We had a blast and it was great seeing all the moms :) 

Sunday was busy right from the start. My mom came over for a late breakfast and some backyard water fun with Macy, she loves the hose and can entertain herself with it for hours :) It was a beautiful day and it was great catching up with my mom after Macy settled in for a nap. In the afternoon after Macy woke from her slumber we headed to T.O. for Mothers Day dinner with Kay and family. We had a nice visit with Alison and Alan in from out of town and lots a great music compliments of Uncle Brian, hehehe. Macy loved being the center of attention and even more the dessert. She had a full serving of red velvet cake with insane frosting...she didn't go to sleep until 10:30pm...eeeek!!!! 

We had a wonderful weekend with family as always and can't wait to see everyone again soon :) 

Remy & Papa Solo to Seattle

Mike and Remy had a great time going solo to Seattle. After two vacations back to back mama was not up for another trip and I was going to miss all the Mother's Day celebrations. It all turned out for the best and Mike and Remy had some great bonding time! They got really lucky on both flights, they had lots of extra seats to spread out! One of my biggest fears of flying with the girls was to have them on your lap in a full flight!!!!! 35lbs of biggness on your lap for 3hrs...YIKES!!!! Papa D has some kinda luck and Remy was on her best behavior.

They visited our great friends Julie, Andrew, Max and Maya. All the kids had a blast and from what I heard Mike and Remy had some great naps and lots of wonderful walks around their neighborhood. It is so beautiful up there! The best part of their trip for me was their return :) Macy and I missed them so much. I had to remind Macy every few hours where Papa and Remy were. It was really sweet. 

Funny Faces

We had a good time making funny faces with this really cool all organic putty ecokidsusa.com. 

I think Papa D wins the "Most Creative" award :) 

New Hats

My check book is in trouble because of this new hat store that just opened on Abbot Kinney. I could not resist getting the entire family a new hat! 

What happened to Sweet Macy????

We are officially in Temper Tantrum stage with Macy. What Macy wants Macy gets.....not really! That is why it was recommended by my friend Jesse to take pictures of her while she is throwing a tantrum. It worked... after a few flashes she stopped. My friend said her mom has an entire photo album of her crying, so hilarious! Thanks for the great advice Jess! 

Macy and Remy just got over another really bad flu. Macy always gets a really high fever, she peaked at over 103. I felt so bad for her but could not resist taking a picture of her all bundled up like a little burrito, so so cute. 

Macy loves her purses, especially one that Grandma Suzanne gave her. She insisted on taking it with her to San Diego and had it on her arm the entire trip down. 

Another shot of hand cleaning. I think I am going to dedicate an entire blog just with pictures of the girls cleaning their hands. It cracks us up and even the daycare was surprised with it....they think it is strange :) 

The Comedian

Remy has this really funny side to her and is always doing the silliest things for attention. We are convinced she is going to be the class clown! 

When Remy isn't trying to make us laugh she is getting into something she shouldn't be. No surface is safe and all the really cool toys like the one she is standing on all live outside now! 

Another really crazy thing is both Macy and Remy hate having dirty hands. I try and get them to do finger paints but as soon as they get their fingers in the paint, painting is over. 

Not sure what we are going to do about the "getting naked" thing. Any opportunity for the girls to get naked they take it! ps .... the seat did get a good cleaning, hehehehe

Swine Flu Plan B

Plan B: to get as close to Mexico without crossing the border. Not really, it just worked out that way. As everyone knows we had to cancel our much needed and anticipated vacation to Cabo. It was decided that it was not safe to travel in fear of either getting sick or getting stuck. In the end it all worked out just fine and we got in an amazing visit with family and friends.

Jamie and Ryan came to visit us at our hotel for lunch and to play with the girls. Macy LOVES Ryan as you can see from the picture. Remy is all about who will run around with her :) It is amazing how much Jamie and Remy look alike, so cute!  

We have come to the conclusion that vacations are the best when they extend the "Three Day" weekend rule. It took us until the last day to really relax and get into the groove. Our trip to Sea World was by far one of the most enjoyable days I think I have ever had with Mike and the girls. Everyone was just having fun, the way it should be but far and few unfortunately. But I think we are getting around that corner and looking forward to more family fundays!!! 

Flower Power