Dad's in the forest with all the monkeys!

Here is the Sloth Garden.  You can see the agouti and two of the sloths.  Stanley is wrapped up in the blue blanket!

Jeremy and Charlie, our 8-month old baby sloths

Poldo

Dad, all covered in monkeys!

Today we were put in the sloth garden again like yesterday. It's actually fun just watching the sloths and the other animals! Today Poldo, the grisson, kept climbing up the fence when the tour group was coming by! Tobin and I had to bring him out and walk him around because he was driving us crazy. Poldo will actually follow us like a puppy! We also watched the baby sloths and made sure they weren't eating too much dirt. Did you know that hibiscus flowers are like chocolate to the sloths? They love them so much and will even push each other over and fight to get to one! Also today when I was putting Stanley, the kinkajou, away he peed on me! It was gross and Stanley also has really sharp claws (he's the only animal who can open a brazil nut with its hand in the world!) so when I was playing with him and letting him climb all over my neck, he scratched me a lot (even though he didn't mean to hurt me!). It was Dad's first day today taking the monkeys to the forest! It's when all the monkeys jump on you and you carry them to their playing area in the forest and they play with you and play with each other while you watch them in the forest! When I saw Dad walking back he was covered with about 5 big monkeys! After work we came home and just ate rice and beans for dinner.  Tobin, Heiner and I also made a movie on the iPad of us dancing and falling and things like that. Once Heiner left our house we had to go to bed early because of course we have to get up early for work!

Sloth Garden

This is where we are working today

Stanley the kinkajou

This morning we got up and went back to the rescue center. Once we got there Mom and I started working in the Sloth Garden, which is where all the baby animals hang out in the day and the tour groups come and see them.  We fed the sloths and got everything ready (blankets, food, mats, leaves, etc). We brought the kinkajou, agouti, two types of sloths and the grisson into the sloth garden for the people to see. What we do there is make sure the animals don't do a variety of things, like make sure none of the sloths climb over the fence, make sure the grisson doesn't climb over the fence, make sure the sloths don't touch the other sloths, make sure the agouti doesn't drink Stanley's (the kinkajou) milk, and a few other things. Also when the tour groups come by we make sure they don't touch the animals and we explain to them about the animals. My favorite animal in the garden is Stanley. He's the kinkajou and he's adorable! He'll fall asleep an my lap! The reason he's in the rescue centers because he's blind:(! While Mom and I were doing this Tobin and Dad were cleaning and gardening. After the rescue center we met up with Melinda and Reuben and jumped in their pool at their hotel because we were so hot and sweaty from work. For dinner we went out with them to an Italian restaurant that was behind a boxing place. The food there was actually really good! All of us collapsed into bed after a long day of work when we got home! 

Jaguar Rescue Center

This woodpecker would NOT leave me alone!

Sloth in a treehouse

Sharing a snack

TODAY IS OUT FIRST DAY AT THE JAGUAR RESCUE CENTER! All of us woke up really early (6:30) because we have to start work at 7:30 and it's about a half hour walk. Once we got there we came around the corner and were so amazed to see a sloth hanging out on a tree house, people walking around with monkeys on their backs, and a baby ocelot walking around!  Our boss Nadja showed us around the place, showed us the animals, what we need to do and where to find everything and were to put everything! Then we all went with the next tour group that was coming to get a tour and learn about the animals. Then it's time to actually get to some work! But before we stopped for a lunch break. Afterwards we fed the toucan. Our really big job was to clean the whole monkey cage! It's humongous and fits all the monkeys in it (which is about 15). I needed to wash the windows, clean the climbing stuff, clean the ropes, take away the old food, bring new food and spray EVERYTHING with disinfectant! After our first day at work we walked to the grocery store, got some groceries, then walked to our house. We got home around 4:30 and it gets pitch black around five so we didn't do anything else really except for eating dinner and then going to bed.

Playa Chiquita

Stopped for smoothies and met a really cute puppy

His name really is Shutt Upp!

Underwater at Playa Chiquita

Today we met up with Melinda and Reuben again to rent bikes to go to a really beautiful beach called Punta Uva. We had been walking for VERY long time and still hadn't found the rental place. Someone we asked told us it was up ahead so we kept walking. It was so hot and we had been walking for almost 2 hours in the scorching heat. We had to stop for a cold drink! There was a little place were we finally stopped for a smoothie. It had a dog there and it's name was "Shutt Upp"! My dad asked the guy there how much longer to the bike rental place and he said it was way far back where we had started! Nobody could walk anymore so we just stopped at a different beach called Playa Chiquita that was close. The beach we stopped at ended up being really nice. It had a lot of fish there and I had brought my snorkel mask so I got to see all the fish! Also Melinda and Reuben had brought their under-water camera so we videotaped and took a lot of pictures of us and the fish! For dinner we stopped at this place called Jungle Love. The food was so tasty there, especially the chips and guacamole! After dinner we went home and went to sleep. 

Playa Cocles

That's our cute little house, Casa Tranquila Mon!

Caribbean

Found a starfish

Tentacles

No pasa nada!

This morning we got up and noticed that we have a neighbor who lives downstairs. His name is Heiner and he is 4. We played soccer with him in the morning and played with his cars. After we walked through the jungle that our house is in and went to Playa Cocles (the beach near our house) because it was so hot and humid. It was 41 degrees Celsius with the humidity! When we first got to the beach we were swimming in the super flat and clear water that was as hot as a hot tub - no joke! It was our first time swimming in the Caribbean and it was soooo nice! After a while we saw our friends that we were driving with yesterday, Melinda and Reuben, walking on the beach. They were coincidentally there too! So we hung out with them at the beach :) There were these little sand dollars that were alive covering the whole ocean floor! We even saw a star fish, which I put on my head! Our family was getting hungry so we left Melinda and Reuben at the beach and stopped at this place on the way home to get a pizza. At the house we just stayed there and had some pasta before going to bed.

Heading over to the Caribbean side

Playing with our new ball from Cynthy

Me and Tobin

Enjoying one last time at the pool

On the drive to Puerto Viejo

Trying not to get hit by insane Tico drivers!!!

Today we got up and had.... pancakes again! This is our last day in our hotel and we went swimming. At swimming we did handstands, played with dad, jumped in and played with a ball that our friend Cynthy gave us. We had lunch at the hotel, then went with our driver, Francisco, and and other couple named Melinda and Reuben. We really got along with them and ended up having a great drive together.  Plus Francisco was really funny!  We stopped to see a couple of toucans along the side of the road and buying bread and this fruit called mamon chino from people on the road along the way. Once we got there we came in to our house, called Casa Tranquila Mon, then collapsed into bed!

Hotel Bougainvillea

Cactus garden at the hotel

This morning we were still feeling the 8 hour time difference and the jet lag so we didn't do that much. We got up super early and had the same breakfast as yesterday - pancakes - and it was just as good! We went to the pool again and swam in the water, catched up on some of our blogs and went in the sauna. We also met a really nice lady named Cynthy who lives in Costa Rica and knows a lot about the different areas. It was raining super hard again in the afternoon but today we didn't go in the rain because we didn't want to get soaked like yesterday. We ordered food into our room for dinner and this time I got apple pie. Everyone gets up really early here and goes to bed early too so we went to bed way earlier than we ever would in Spain.

Costa Rica...at last!

Hotel Bougainvillea gardens

Hanging flowers

Pool time

This little puppy's name is Perla!

Wow!  It really rains hard here!

Soaked

Today we woke up so early because of jet lag. We had breakfast at our hotel and they had pancakes so we got them! They were so tasty and we hadn't had them for a while! After breakfast we went to walk around the gardens that are part of our hotel. They are considered one of the best gardens in all of Costa Rica and are so beautiful! The gardens were as big as a football field and they had archways of flowers you could go under, tall bamboo, lots of cactuses, and tons of other stuff. Also they have a pool near the gardens so we went swimming and there was a girl there that had a 3 month old baby chihuahua. It could fit into my hands! At the pool we played around with the dog and at one point it jumped into the water so we had to rescue him. In the afternoon it was raining like crazy so I decided to go dance in the rain. After a little while Tobin came out and we got absolutely soaked. When we came back into the house we got into our pajamas and went downstairs and ordered sandwiches and pasta to eat in our room and then just stayed in our room until we went to bed.

Costa Rica, here we come!

Not too sure about the menu at the Miami airport!

Today we left Barcelona. Our first flight was 10 hours and we got to watch Men in Black 3 and Man on a Ledge. (Don't watch Man on a Ledge. It's pointless and very boring). Also I read my book. We then had a four hour wait in Miami between our two flights and stopped for dinner and the rest of the time was security checks. Then we had a three hour flight and when it took off I fell asleep and when it landed I woke up so I was asleep the whole time! Once we finally arrived in Costa Rica it was so late and I was so tired that a person with our name on a sign took us to our hotel and I fell asleep there within one minute. The main reason is that there is an eight-hour time difference between Spain and Costa Rica so it was around five o'clock in the morning!!

Final day in Spain

Getting ready for bed in the Hotel Constanza

Today was our last day in Barcelona. We did some shopping and walked around our old neighborhood. we even walked past our old flat! My dad had to go to the university to do one last lecture so he didn't come with us. When we went shopping I got a shirt and a cardigan (because my old one got stuck in my rented bike chain) and a sweater. Also we got some happy pills (that's candy). After we packed up all our stuff to leave. It was getting late and I still needed a waterproof backpack for Costa Rica so my dad and I went out to El Corte Inglés which is a huge mall and found one for a good price and we got some Halloween chocolates for Halloween. That night we just picked up pizza again and we went to bed early because we fly out early tomorrow. However, my mom and dad went out to the big Gran Teatro opera house to see a band called Wilco. When they got back we all went to sleep.

Barcelona...again

Hasta que nos encontremos de nuevo, mi amiga...

Owl over Barcelona

Today we came back to Barcelona. We accidentally checked in to the wrong hotel because it had the same name as the one we'd booked into! Once we finally got into the right hotel we rested for a bit and then went to an outside restaurant the hotel people recommended to us. It was really yummy. After we went to see Marcella and Arturo one last time :(. At her house we played with her baby sister and drew pictures. I was so sad to leave her. She gave me a bobble head figurine and I gave her a friendship bracelet when we said goodbye. We came home and me and dad went out to get pizza for dinner. Afterwards we just went to bed and my dad went to see a "Japanese heavy metal" group back in our old Gracia neighbourhood.

Port Aventura

Halloween at Port Aventura

River run

The decorations there were super good!

Shambhala

This morning we had to get up very early because today we were going to Port Adventura, a huge amusement park!  When we were waiting in line in our cars to get in there was a bunch of people dressed up in Zombie and dead bride costumes because they were having a Halloween theme and they banged on our car and scared Mom really badly.  I went on a bunch of rides there like two roller coasters, a spinny ride that spins you very fast in circles and lifts you in the air, a boat that swings you back and forth and a river raft that goes through rapids and spins you and gets you wet.  We also went into a scary Mayan haunted land with zombies that scared me a lot and had a part where they brought you in on creepy staircases and there was REAL fire blowing up in front of your face and the whole floor suddenly fell apart scaring everyone really badly.  Also, I went on the TALLEST roller coaster anywhere in Europe with my Dad.  It was called Shambhala and it went so high (76 metres in the air) and did a speeding fast drop (134 km/hr) with loopy dee loops that spun you upside down!!!!!  A treat that I got there was I got to make my own ice cream. I mixed vanilla and chocolate ice cream with oreos, brownie bits, chocolate pearls, and gummy bears. It was the best ice cream ever! After a really long and super fun day I was sad that we had to leave to return back to the hotel and go to bed.

Tarragona

Peñiscola

Family

Checking out the view from the top of the castle in Peñiscola

Lunch on the docks

Roman amphitheatre

Cotton candy...extra large because we had to wait for it!

This morning me and Dad went swimming in the ocean before we left Benicassim. Even though it was cold out the water was really warm.  Then we packed up and got on the road until we reached a little  village called….Peñiscola!  At Peñiscola we walked through the narrow, winding streets to this tall old castle and looked at a view of the whole town and ocean.  Also, we stopped for a seafood lunch that had really good calamari and was right on the wharf.  After stopping at Peñiscola for awhile we drove on to Tarragona.  When we checked in we walked to see the Roman ruins where the gladiators used to fight in BC (Before Christ).  We saw the coliseum and the chariot race areas.  We were getting a little bit hungry so we stopped at a place to get some patatas bravas and play soccer with some people but they wouldn't let us play!  Then we kept walking and came across this very, very big fair that only happens once a year and we luckily were there on the day it happened.  The festival had a bunch of people selling just about anything you could imagine and it was all around the giant cathedral.  I got dried fruits, roasted chestnuts, a mini unicorn, and our whole family split a giant thing of cotton candy – my favorite! Altogether there was about 100 different stalls. It was like the market in Kelowna but way bigger.  We walked a very long way back to our hotel and went to bed. 

Biking to Oropesa

Biking along the Valencian coastline

The giant tunnel that Tobin and I raced through

Hanging out on the lifeguard chairs outside the restaurant in Oropesa

This morning we went to the beach that was right at our hotel.  Our balcony actually looked out over the beach and had its own hammock.  At the beach we played soccer, swam out very far because it didn't get deep for a long time and ran along the shoreline.  In the afternoon we went on a 6 KM bike ride to a town called Oropesa. There we had a yummy seafood dinner with a fresh fish platter.  On the way back home from the bike ride there was a very, very long tunnel that Tobin and I raced through and I won!  Also, the whole bike path was along the ocean with great views and old stone towers.  Also, Mom and Tobin had biked home very fast and Dad was about 30 minutes behind me taking pictures of graffiti and I was biking looking at the ocean and not looking ahead of me and so I accidentally biked down the bank into the bushes and trees.  I cut the inside of my arm very badly and my bike was stuck in the trees and bushes :(.  Luckily, Tobin biked back really fast to see what was taking me so long and helped me get home :).  Back at our hotel room we just hung out until bed time.

Benicassim

Sneaking into the healing spa waters!

Swim

Hotel Voramar in Benicasim...right on the beach!

Poster for my Dad's talk

Today we woke up to the best buffet I've ever had in my whole entire life!! They had EVERYTHING including pancakes which we had never seen before anywhere in Spain. After a yummy breakfast we went to the pool (or actually three pools) one last time and played races and snuck into the spa hot-tub again to get a picture of Tobin and I in the cool jet thing. Then we had a short drive (I think around 2 hours) to Benicassim where we stayed at the Hotel Voramor which was right on the ocean.  Dad had to go to give a talk so while he was gone we watched a Spanish game show on TV and made a video on the beach.  Once Dad got home we went out for dinner with his colleagues. At dinner I had spaghetti and tomato sauce. Tobin and I went up to the hotel room and waited for Mom and Dad to be done their dinner with the people.  I was hoping to watch X factor with Mom when she got home but she took so long (2 more hours!) that we couldn't.  Also, at the house I burnt my finger on a very hot light bulb :(. Since it was so late when they got home we had to go straight to bed.