Surprise Visitors!!!! #9 on the scavenger hunt... a hummingbird garden and #16 pan de elote

On the 16th of October, Christian and I (with the help of Julie!) were able to pull off a huge surprise for our children... Our amazing neighbor girls, Mary Kate and Elizabeth, came to visit! They rang our doorbell and when the kids answered.... their reaction was beautiful! Ethan almost passed out, Amelia began to sob uncontrollably, Josh just stared in amazement and Maddie ran over for big hugs... It was awesome. We have had some really great adventures with them! 

Maddie says: It was a blast having the girls here. The moment they arrived, I felt like we had never been apart. I loved spending time with them. They are wonderful!

Joshua says: This was the best surprise ever! It was so awesome being back with the girls.

Amelia says: I was so surprised that I started crying. Then we went to the best churro place with Mary Kate and Elizabeth. It was so fun!

Ethan says: The surprise was amazing and I did not think it was real! I was in shock.

Moments after the surprise...

We loaded up and headed to eat churros filled with chocolate!

The next morning we headed out to La Paz Waterfall Gardens. Along the way, we stopped at a coffee plantation and met up with this man working on the side of the road with his oxen. The kids hopped in this working ox cart for a picture. 

Picking coffee beans

At La Paz Waterfall Gardens.... We got to hike among 5 different waterfalls.

One of our favorite things at La Paz was the hummingbird gardens, which is #9 on our scavenger hunt! We saw so many beautiful hummingbirds. They would fly so close to our heads that we found ourselves ducking out of the way.

Ethan says: It was so crazy how quickly the hummingbirds flew! 

Friends...

 La Paz has an area with a traditional Costa Rican house/ farm. It was so fun to explore and we got to drink agua dulce and eat #16 Pan de elote.

Elizabeth eating pan de elote.