This group of fearless Fajardos have been in Costa Rica for 2 weeks as of today, and we are more certain than ever that this place is glorious. January 7th and 8th involved a lot of packing, stress, anxiety, and concern on my behalf, and a lot of calming, cajoling, and refocusing on Ken’s. The proper yin and yang happening. Noah was just living his life, playing with Grandpa and Grandma, and occasionally shouting his concern for packing his toys and bathing suits. Despite it all, by 8pm on the night of the 8th, we were packed up and ready to go.

At 5:15am our ride arrived from American City Express. It’s funny, because we’ve done this trip or similar ones around the same time, we’ve had the same driver 4 or 5 times. He’s very prompt, kind, and funny. With all my anxiety, this sure helps set the tone for the trip.

Arrival at the United terminal at Newark Airport was uneventful, but we were met with CROWDS of people. Lugging our luggage around with a child who is unable to lug his proves quite difficult. We managed, as a team, but it was a bit dicey here and there. After the luggage drop and once through security, it was a breeze.

Noah and I were upgraded to 1st class (thanks KEN!!!), and Ken enjoyed a bit of solitude not far behind in Economy Plus. The flight was quick, my son was good, and the extra legroom was appreciated.

After a quick disembarkation, a walk through immigration, and a brief customs screening we were out with our luggage into the sunshine and heat!

I need to pause here a moment. The last time we were in Costa Rica I had some pretty horrible eye troubles. These were punctuated with stops at optometrists / ophthalmologists and numerous eye drops. My frustration with my vision has been ongoing, something I’ve dealt with since I was young. In desperation and at the end of my rope, Ken and I discussed Lasik eye surgery. While we were home for the holidays, I went in for a consultation, scheduled the surgery, and got “new eyes”! I can’t thank Dr. Jadico enough. She is AMAZING! And the Wills Institute, which did my dad’s Lasik 15 years ago, is still superb.

So, stepping out into the Costa Rica sunshine with my “special eyes” (as Ken calls them), wearing sunglasses, and being able to see for the first time – ever – was kind of amazing. And the new sunglasses Ken got me for Christmas (for my “special eyes”), looked pretty cute 🙂 (If you’re interested, shop here).

We picked up our rental car at Hertz, and were on our way “home”. Our friends in the Tropical Gardens office, Anisley and Jonathan, were excited to see us, and Noah was out in the courtyard exploring. And boy, did he find some interesting things…

Yes, that is a grasshopper the size of Ken’s hand. Mmm hmm. Yup.

In no time we were in our condo getting settled and unpacking. Having left only a few months ago, we were amazed at some of the differences we noticed! There are a lot, so I’ll break those out into a separate post. You can find all of those details here .

After a quick lunch at our favorite casado place, we went to the grocery store to stock up. Unpacked and tired, we opted for a delicious meal at Soda Mediterranea. Back home, and tucked in for the night, Ken and I were again content and happy to be home.

The next few days allowed us time to acclimate, shop, and check out some new things. Noah joined a Tae Kwon Do class (which is all in Spanish) at a new gym we’re going to join, GoFitness, and we quickly realized the kid needs a haircut! We had a carb-filled dinner after TKD because my kid was famished! We ate at our local Italian restaurant, La Dulce Vita. And plotted Noah’s haircut. This heat, although dry, is unbearable when he’s running around with a curly mop on his head.

By Friday, Ken and Noah were both cleaned up a bit. Our walk on the beach was beautiful, calming, and Noah was much more aerodynamic.

Saturday was an interesting day. The entire time we were away from July – October, Ken didn’t have to travel for work at all. We were extremely lucky. This time, not so much. We were only here for 4 days, and Ken was back at the airport preparing to venture back into the frozen tundra (a.k.a. New Jersey). This would be the first time Noah and I were alone in Costa Rica. Let’s just say… it started off well enough.

That post to follow.