Costa Rica Is So Beautiful

So it is official. We've bought a piece of land in the southern pacific side of Costa Rica in a little town called Ojohol. It has a beautiful view of the mountains and a distant view of the ocean. We are off in the hills, so the roads are a little rough from the coastal highway. We will have to get a 4x4. From the highway it is about 5 minutes to the closest beach Playa Ventana. There are a few beaches close by that is great for surfing too. It is so green there and wildlife are plentiful. We saw Toucans and Macaws fly and land on the tress right in front of us. Wow, I thought that I would only see those in a zoo.

This picture is of the "Whale's tail", in the Whale Marine national park. Very good for snorkling here. The sky cleared enough while we were flying there for us to snap this picture.


Life will be totally different. No one is ever in a hurry there, everything is "10 minutes". Something we will have to adapt to. I am just looking forward to the "warm winters". They consider their rainy season(September-October) the winter season. We almost didn't make it to Ojochal from San Jose(capital of Costa Rica). For one there is only one flight a day in the morning and it rained 14 inches the night before we arrived and it was still cloudy in the morning. If the pilots cannot see the landing strip, they will not land the plane. The airport in Palmar Sur right now is just a strip surrounded by an oil palm plantation. The new airport due in 2010 will have runway lights so it can cater to larger planes can land at any time of the day.

Even though we are in the middle of nowhere, there are many things to do, places to see and restaurants. There are German, French and Dutch restaurants, just to name a few and even a French bakery. You can go birdwatching, snorkling, kayaking in the ocean and hiking to the waterfall. If you don't want to hike, there is a ATV tour that takes you to the waterfalls. I coudl do all these things when I am here or just enjoy the peace...

There are so many great investment opportunities here too. It is amazing. Let us know if you want to join us down here or just buy some investment properties. I will help as much as I can or at least steer you in the right direction.

Pix of kids haircuts

Some people have asked for more pictures of the kids. We just cut their hair, how do you like the reverse mohawks?

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving in Winnipeg

There is lots to be thankful for. We have a great family who are supportive of us on our crazy journey and our kids who just go with the flow and all our friends who will help and push us all along at the drop of a hat. We are so lucky.

I want to give a big thanks to all my friends who supported me in my fund raiser for the Children's Hospital in Ottawa(CHEO). I raised $5ooo. I was really happy how it turned out and I have learned lots about fundraising. The hair is growing back. It will take a while to grow it out again. It is literally wash and go.


So for those of you that don't know about our journey, we have decided to move to Costa Rica and invest in some rental properties too. We will be building a house out there and the plan is to go out there next fall. So we sold all of our possessions in Ottawa except the house which is still on the market and moved in with my parents in Winnipeg. The transition has been smooth and we are all enjoying being with all the family.

We have been doing some renovations in my parents place. They have a beautiful house on a lake and they don't plan on moving but it needed some TLC since nothing has be done for almost 20 years. This has kept us busy and learning Spanish takes time..... Kyle and I also got a gym membership at the University. Since we were both registered for Spanish there, we were considered students so we got the student rate. They have the pool there and squash courts and a full gym and track. What more could we ask for!!

We are heading down to Costa Rica at the end of the month with my parents to check it out. It is still the rainy season so if we can handle the crappy weather we can survive there. It is exciting and I am looking forward to going down. Matthew will stay with his cousin for a week here in Winnipeg as they go to the same school. Andrew and Natalie will stay with Kyle's parents for the week.

Will post more after our trip with lots of pictures. Check back again then.

We are in Winnipeg

So we have made it to Winnipeg. The 4 day drive from Ottawa was awesome and the kids did so well. We never ended up camping much to Matthew's disappointment, there is always next summer.

The kids have settled well in life with the grandparents. We are in their 3 bedroom bunglow. The 3 kids are sharing a room(just like in Ottawa) and we have converted the living room, which wasn't really being used into the kids play room. Keeps the mess in one area. Thank goodness for basements. Kyle's work area is in the basement along with some of our stuff in storage. The rest is in the garage. We got rid of so much stuff and we still have lots. Photo albums, books, things that you can't get rid of. Good thing my dad has a 2 car garage. More storage room.

We have been here for 2 weeks and life is already hectic. The boys are in piano lessons, the 3 kids in are in gymnastics, the 3 boys are taking Mandarin lessons and Kyle and I are taking Spanish lesson. I knew as the kids grew older things would get busier. Keeps us out of trouble.

We are settling into a little bit of a routine. It is really nice living with the parents. Mum does most of the cooking and there is always someone in the house if we need to run out for a few minutes. Don't have to spend the extra time getting the kids ready and taking them all with you. They can also stay home if they just don't want to go. Most times the kids are with us anyways, they don't want to leave their mummy and daddy. Kyle and I can take Spanish lessons together and my mum will look after the kids. I am so spoilt!