Steve Irwin Reincarnated in Costa Rica

I just returned from a week long stay in Tamarindo, Costa Rica at Casa Wendt with Tim, Carson, Troy and my best friend Kim, her husband Pat and their daughter Emily.

I will be chronicling different phases of the trip with some interesting stories over the next week or so.

One thing I can say with certain, I love Costa Rica.

The second is that animals love themselves some Deb.

On our first full day there, we ate dinner on the beach at sunset.
   There was a stray cat wandering around that caught the kids’ eye and they kept calling him over to our table on the beach. Troy decided to name him Bob which I think is inspired by The Bob-Father who would have shouted, Run For Your Lives.

Almost without warning, Bob decided to jump up on my lap.

Then it was a perfect storm of Tim saying be careful he doesn’t spray you as a giant ant walked across my knee. I thought the cat was spraying me and screamed.

Two days later while the bulk of our group was attempting to surf, one of the many random dogs walked by us on the beach. The biggest, fluffiest, Golden Retriever walked right over to us, sat next to me under our umbrella. Troy decided to name him Jack (after my dad, I presume). Later, we saw Jack outside a local surf shop.
Back at our house one night we were sitting by the pool drinking Imperials when I thought I spotted the tail of a cat a few feet away.


I said, “Oh, a cat!”


It wasn’t a cat. 


I was standing a few feet away from a wild raccoon who we named Rocky because he liked to visit us at night.



The following night I was standing near the edge of the pool when Carson spotted something “rodent like” run inches from my feet. The next day we figured out it wasn’t a rat but a red, bushy-tailed squirrel. 


I don't care if they speak Spanish, I still hate squirrels in every country. Besides lizards running around we did have a cool green frog join our party one night too.


Later in the week on our drive into town we saw wild howler monkeys in the trees. Thankfully, they didn’t try to climb on my lap or throw poo at us which they tend to do to show dominance.



Another frequent sighting was Fabio on horseback. He didn't get on my lap either. I’m just glad we didn’t see any crocodiles.
 

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Wordless Wednesday - Haircuts, Head Bumps, Helmets and Horses

While waiting for his haircut last week, Troy decided he could fly when his name was called and hit his head on the magazine rack in the waiting room. We had to get four stitches in his forehead. It's only been six months since the bowling ball attack. This is why there was no hesitation with him wearing a helmet at The Neighbor's birthday party at the barn.
  See more of my (almost) Wordless Wednesday posts.
 

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I will listen in school and obey class rules.

Since the beginning of October, my almost 5-year old’s Pre-K teacher has been sending a calendar home with a sticker for good behavior or as I’ve been seeing a lot in the last few weeks, yellow for having received a warning for bad behavior or red for more serious offenses. The red offense includes a more detailed note about the behavior with my child’s signature on it.

These offenses have ranged from not listening, not following classroom rules and for not keeping his hands to himself. We have tried several forms of punishment to curb this classroom behavior and Troy has a few good days and then reverts to getting in trouble.

Yesterday, he came home with a yellow mark. Remembering the approach we used earlier in the year when he was still in daycare, Troy had to write sentences last night.

Although we assigned him to writing the sentence 10 times, “I will listen in school and obey class rules” was scribbled out about five times.

It took him almost an hour.

I believe that one reason my handwriting looks the way it does now is because I was always punished in school for talking and had to write the same sentences 100 times.

I will not talk in class. I will not talk in class. I will not talk in class.

One of Troy's classmates invited him to her party at the zoo on Sunday. Since they have been together in daycare since they were three months old and sit next to each other now, it only felt right to go to the party. Also, I wanted to talk to some of the other parents to see how their children were behaving in school too. I found out that one of Troy's partners in crime friends had already been to the principal of the school for his bad behavior.

This actually made me feel better.

At the party there was a private room with a zookeeper who allowed the children to touch a few animals. Then after lunch and cake, we were allowed to explore the zoo.

The monkeys were entertaining.


I have a fondness for the elephants.


I like the gracefulness of the giraffes.


But it’s the beauty of the lions and tigers that makes me glad there is significant fencing between us.

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Wordless Wednesday - A Horse is a Horse, of Course of Course

Horses are just like people. For me, it was easy to spot the one that reminded me of myself.


Loud. Fighting for attention. Funny.


Cute?

At least I don't bite children.

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Bite a Child, Ride a Horse

It’s been mentioned before how much time we spend with The Neighbors (who actually live a mile away now) on this blog. This past weekend was no exception.

On Friday, Chris brought their three kids over to bottle his home brew. A few hours later, his wife Caroline joined us and a few hours after that Tim arrived home from an out of town conference.

On Saturday as the boys departed in the early afternoon for an all day bachelor party for our friend Jay. Caroline and I made plans to take her three kids and Troy to see her horses at the stables.

This was Troy’s first time around horses and thankfully, he doesn’t share his father’s severe allergies to animals. Tim learned the hard way as a child when he couldn’t breathe. This allergy test was administered as a teenager when he was trying to impress a girl too.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been around horses and having never rode either, I give them the respect they deserve.

Channeling my inner horse whisperer, I led the kids around the various horses and tried not to touch the electric fence.

Caroline pulled out Dawn, the pony, for the kids to groom. Troy tentatively started to touch her.


In the next few minutes two significant things happened.

One, Dawn shifted gears and stepped on Troy’s foot.
And stayed there.

I quickly moved her off his toe and there was no significant trauma. To Troy and the horse.

Second, while Mo was combing Dawn’s hair over her eyes, she must have gotten a little close for comfort.
She bit her.

Specifically, Dawn bit Mo on the arm.


Caroline explained that Dawn just didn’t like Mo and has previously kicked her twice.

I muffled this part of the conversation as best I could so Troy didn’t get nervous.
He didn’t.

Alexis helped triage her sister by the water barrel while Troy stands like an old man and looks on.


While they were waiting, they were easily distracted with lady bugs on the buttercups.


Saddled up and ready to go, he easily showed off his cowboy boots.


The kid never stopped smiling.


Til the girls were clapping and the horse thought that meant go faster.


Back to the slower pace.

When I was offered the chance to ride after all four kids had taken a turn I politely said, the horse isn’t big enough.


The end.

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Scream, but Not for Ice Cream

In four days we’ve had more progress in our yard than the last four months. Concrete, new fence, previous rock wall stones moved and we are ready for top soil and sod today.

Here is the before picture.


Here is the picture as of this morning.

This makes me want to scream with joy.
(See more earlier pictures here.)

While reading a book on Sunday and supervising the fence being built, I glanced down at the removable part of the deck to access the hose faucet and saw shifty whiskers move.

I screamed loudly and said, “What the hell is that?”

Tim and Carson were on the other side of the opening and identified the shifty whiskers.
It wasn't a opossum or raccoon but a feral cat.

My step-daughter Carson is spending her spring break with us this week. Similar to when her older brother Cary and his girlfriend Jane visited last month, we have been hiding a 24 inch fake orange plastic snake in various parts of the house.

No one is spared in our house from teasing. I slipped the snake under Jane’s pillow one night before she went to bed.
When she was getting into bed later that evening.
I heard her scream.

Yesterday, I placed it into Carson’s makeup/overnight bag and positioned it in such a way it would spring forward when she opened the bag.
It worked.
She screamed too.

Currently, it’s somewhere hidden in my room but I have yet to find it this morning. I’d rather scream for ice cream or water in the pool.

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The Obligatory Sea World Post

On our recent trip to Florida besides seeing gators in the water near my parents' house we also went to Sea World where Troy discovered he absolutely hates water rides.

Here are the obligatory photos from our trip to Sea World.


Touching the sting rays for the first time.


Dolphins under the water.


More alligators but this time we had a fence between us.


The dolphin show was worth the wait even with the extra theatrics.


The dolphins really like to show off.


Manatees also known as the sea cow.


Manatees are rather large, move slow in the water and are very gentle. I can relate.


More fish in an aqarium.


The much anticipated Shamu whale show and it was a little disappointing since the trainers no longer get in the water with the killer whales.

It's still impressive.


I enjoyed probably a little too much the whales splashing the front row.


Something I never want to see in the water without glass between us.


That was Sea World in a nutshell.

The end.

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