Costa Rica, Take 2!

Longtime readers (actually, given how long I've been blogging, it's really like midterm readers?) will remember that we went to Costa Rica in 2018.It was one of our first big international trips with the kids where we rented a car and local house and drove around, cooked our food, ate at local places, and just truly explored the country (we'd done Jamaica and Mexico to date, but had stayed on a resort or in an all-inclusive house). It was Thanksgiving week and the kids were 11, 8, and 5 and we had the BEST time.

(All my posts from that trip can be found here: Costa Rica 2018. They're long and detailed and I can't believe I actually used to find time to write like that. I'm so thankful for my archives, reading them brings me so much joy, and I googled my own blog so many times on our trip to remember restaurants and other places we'd loved. But man, now that my anxiety is controlled and I can sleep at night, and my kids have activities that mean we eat at 8 and our nights are so short, and I have this job that follows me I go, I fear the blogging has been hardest hit. Well, not as hard as my exercising regimin and general fitness... Anyway! All the posts are there! And while I am biased as the author, they are a delight- my travel pack was so tiny and their cheeks were so rounded.)

Usually I plan trips a year+ in advance, but I'd kept this Spring Break open in case we needed to travel for Landon's college selection process (still ongoing! He was fielding recruiting calls left and right from Costa Rica, including from some Top 5 swim schools and it's crazy and exciting and so fun but he graduates in less than 2 months and I would really like to know where he's going so I can party prep for his graduation party! #priorities).

Then I thought we'd ski, but the snow has been terrible this year and my parents were off in India and Nepal so we wouldn't be able to do our usual grandparent visit combo ski trip. In January I decided maybe we just needed a beach with some adventure and wildlife. We loved Costa Rica so much and Cora barely remembered it. I brought it up at dinner and everyone enthusiastically supported my motion.

I thought a lot about exploring some new areas, like Arenal and La Fortuna with the volcanoes and lush rainforest (which we still want to do!), but we had loved the Southern Pacific/Dominical area and while we had never before vacationed in the same place, something about it just drew us back. Also the fact that I'd be planning this trip myself and we'd be leaving in 2 months. So I hopped on VRBO, bookmarked a few houses, and had everyone agree on one during dinner the next day and we were set! I connected with the house management company to help book some tours and we were good to go.

I tried to balance our love of adventure (and our particular love of jumping off rocks into water) with our teenagers' increasing delight in sleeping in and having recharge time on vacation.

We've always been huge fans of traveling and vacationing with our kids (obviously), but as they get older it really has become so much more precious. They are so busy - we are all so busy - and they go to three different schools in three very spread out locations with three very different schedules. We still eat dinner together very night, but it's not until 8:15 pm and even then 1 person is sometimes missing. Vacation is the one time we are all on the same time table, without distractions, without activities or girlfriends or errands or chores or any of the things that fill our days at home. And our week in Costa Rica was just as precious and wonderful as I wanted it to be.

Our itinerary:

Day 1/Mon: Fly Dallas - San Jose (10:35 am - 2:30 pm), stop immediately for delicious Costa Rican food that James has missed so much, drive 4 hours to our rental house in Dominical.

Day 2/Tues: Zipline tour in Uvita in the morning with a bonus visit to the Uvita Waterfall, house lounge time in the afternoon, and a night hike through the rain forest after dark!

Day 3/Wed: Day trip to Corcovado National Park and a private chef dinner at the house that night.

Actually the Entire Month of February

I have 30 minutes before dinner and about 6 hours of updates to share, plus a bottle of champagne and gluten-free Susie Cakes in fridge, and a calendar so packed tomorrow I don't even know when I will go to the bathroom between my 9 straight hours of video calls. Let's blog!

(Update: I did not finish. It is now 6 days later, Saturday morning, post-cardio step class that I only barely survived, pre-Cora soccer game and a bunch of work I need to do later. Let's blog! Again!)

February has been good! Mostly.

A few weeks ago we (along with most of the rest of the country) had a big freeze. The dire warnings, and the memories of the last few storms we had in summer and winter that knocked out our power for days and we lost all our food in ther fridge and freezer and had to worry about our pool equipment and pipes, propelled us to call around about a whole house generator and find an electrician who could install one the next day. And we did! And then, of course, we single-handedly saved our whole neighborhood from actually having an ice storm bad enough to lose power for even a minute.

But still, it was our big gift to ourselves for 2026 and I know that someday we will be so happy we did it. Or we'll never ever need it and it will be BECAUSE we bought the generator. Either way, I'm determined not to feel bad about buying it. Determined!

Even though we had power, the roads were truly impassable and schools were closed for several days. So the kids were home and playing and watching movies, but because I had power, I got to work the whole time like it wasn't a rare Dallas snowpocalypse. Yay?

On day 3 I made all my not-at-all-wowed-by-snow children go out to play in the snow anyway. "It's our last family snow day!" I proclaimed, "we have to make memories together!"

And honestly, because they love me and also secretly love all our family bonding, the "but it's our last [whatever]" is very effective. Next thing we knew everyone had snow gear on and we were out romping!

Landon blew up a pool float and slid down our street for a while and Cora made 3 very tiny snowmen.

Claire was over the cold weather and opted to work on our family puzzle.

After Saturday-Thursday at home surrounded by ice, the kids finally went back to school on Friday. Except not everyone- Claire had her Regionals swim meet and Landon had to fly to Salt Lake city for his recruiting trip to University of Utah, so actually only Cora went to school.

Claire's Regionals went great! She dropped 4 seconds in her 100 breaststroke and made State!! It was very exciting and mildly unexpected. That night, the girls and I saw SIX!, which was as fabulous as ever. They've now seen it three times and would happily see it six more.

The next week was a blur of work and Cora trying to go to school on Monday, coming home sick, and then missing the whole rest of the week to Flu B. Except we didn't know she had Flu B until Thursday when we tested her so the Tamiflu was a bit late but still somewhat effective. The cats took very good care of her.

That Friday, Landon had Regionals. I missed prelims because of work and staying home with our still-sick Cora who we were keeping as far away from her swimming siblings as possible.

At finals, Landon won both his individual events, broke the pool record in the 50 free (20.22), got a new best time in the 100 fly (48.47), went a 20.8 as his 50 fly split in the 200 medley relay (leading one Top 15 Divion I swim coach to text him that it was "spicy!") and led off the 4x100 free relay with a 45.14, helping their team drop 5 seconds off their time and make it to state!! For the first time since his freshman year, he would not be the only boy at state from his school!

My parents drove over for finals and it was so fun having them there. Especially when Landon won swimmer of the meet! Then my dad and Landon went fishing and my mom and I went shopping at our favorite consignment stores and I got the most beautiful black Tahari blazer.

For reasons I can't explain, Claire's state meet was in San Antonio on a Wednesday. On Sunday, James tested positive for Flu B. Thanks to our flu shots and an earlier dose of Tamiflu, he recovered much quicker than Cora. But he still stayed home while I flew to San Antonio and back to watch our Bear.

My parents also drove over just to watch her swim - over 8 hours round trip in the car for a 1 minute 12 second swim, but it was so appreciated by us both! Claire did great- another best time, and got 10th overall! Her team also won for the girls, so it was great for her to be part of that.

Cora, finally healthy, had her very first middle school dance. She wasn't going to go, but then she decided she was, and then she was very excited. She gave me about an hour's notice, so luckily she had this dress in her closet from Claire (purchased at our clearance Dillards a million years ago) and I did her hair! I was very proud.

She had a GREAT time.

On Thursday I had a Women in Capital Markets event hosted by NASDAQ Texas. I wore a hot pink blazer and planted a desktop garden at Gardenuity.

As I've gotten busier (so so much busier) I've been increasingly picky about my business development commitments. This one was empowering and wonderful and I genuinely connected with several executives in the room.

On Friday, February 13th, everyone was healthy and home so I booked James and I a surprise night in a fancy Dallas hotel for Valentine's Day/gift to ourselves for all the adulting/teenage parenting we've been doing. He picked me up from work and we had a GLORIOUS fifteen hours in a hotel.

I really wish we'd figured out to do this more often once Landon could man the house. For whatever reason (mostly, three tween/teens who go to bed later than us and have sex shamed me in my own damn house), a night away in a hotel, even one a couple miles away, is deeply, wonderfully sexy and indulgent.

On Saturday, we floated home on a cloud of bliss and celebrated Valentine's with the kiddos and our traditional cards, little treats, and heart-shaped pizzas for dinner.

This past week was CRAZY at work and ended in Landon's 5A state meet in Austin. (He has a different state from Claire's; hers is through the private and parochial school association; his is Texas UIL 5A.) I took a bus to Austin early Thursday morning for a series of client meetings, while Landon drove over in a van with his team, and James drove over in his own car. My parents also drove over and we all met for dinner Thursday night.

The girls didn't want to miss school, so they stayed home and my sweet friend Shelly stayed at our house Thursday night and then on Friday they each stayed with a friend. Having 3/5 of the family - and all those old enough to drive - all leave at once for three days made for some VERY complicated logistics. A huge, huge thank you to those who made it possible!

Landon's prelims were on Friday. I worked in my Natatorium seat with my computer in my lap until it was about time for his events: 50 free and 100 fly, which happen to be back-to-back in high school swimming, though there's always a break in between for diving. Thanks to his Nationals cuts in December and his even better times at Regionals, Landon has been getting interest from some increasingly highly ranked Division I schools. However, every single one said, let us know how you do at State, so a LOT was riding on this performance.

And he did SO great!! Qualified first in both his events going into finals and then WON golds in both!! (he's lane 4/middle lane in both below)

50 free was first and it's always SO close, but he really looked great.

Then he won the 100 fly (the swimmer in lane 5 won last year) and then he got Male Athlete of the Meet!!

One year ago he didn't even final in the 50 free and two years ago he didn't make it at all. Amazing improvement after YEARS of really, really hard work and we're so proud of him.

He's had calls with a few new coaches and has Sectionals next weekend which will wrap up this season. Final college offers and his decision should come soon after!

Not really related, but we had shelves built into Landon's room with a window seat and drawers and it looks incredible and I love it. He's a collector of tiny treasures and always has been and now there's a place for every one! (And a cabinet for all the junk awesome stuff that isn't show-ready.)

Then, it was Sunday? I feel like things happened but I couldn't tell you what. The week was insane at work, but man do I love my job.

On Tuesday I went to Cafe Dior with a connection I made at the NASDAQ event the week before and it was delicious and beautiful and so, so tiny.

And Wednesday was my birthday! It was great! And busy! And I got lunch with two of my female corporate partners in the middle of the madness and it made me so happy. And THEN I finally got my grey hair dyed after canceling two appointments due to work. My stylist is made of magic - he only did my roots and he matched it SO perfectly. There is no other color added to my hair at all.

We went to dinner with the kids at a new hot spot and I wore a vintage Alice & Olivia skirt I found on The Real Real.

I had the best margarita I've ever had in my life (and I've conducted EXTENSIVE studies) and it was even on fire so I could blow it out like a candle!

Home had homemade cards, gluten-free cake, and lots of love from my crew.

This is 43! I'm so happy to be exactly where I am.