Tamarindo

So let's begin by saying... BEST. TRIP. EVER!

Seriously.

We celebrated our 4 year wedding anniversary in style by vacationing in Costa Rica for a week. It was perfection. It started with us flying to Costa Rica and getting in about noon. We rented a car so we could have free reign of the country and do whatever we wanted. Of course we started off buying delicious fruit (rambutans, avocados, mandarin oranges etc) at a stand on the side of the road (such a tourist picture. We know, and don't care).

We drove about an hour from the airport in Liberia, to the city we were staying in, Tamarindo, and got to see some of the beautiful country-side. This included tons of cows, which for some reason I got so excited every time we saw them, that I HAD to snap pictures.

We got to the Casa Boaz where we were staying and settled in. Our hosts were beyond nice and let us have free reign of the pool, their surfboards and bikes. Seriously awesome. If you're wondering how we scored such an awesome place, check out airbnb.com. It did us well.

We promptly took the bikes and rode around on the beach, usually every morning and then when wanting to get around the city.

Our first night, we ate at a cute restaurant literally right on the beach. Ate delicious food, and of course ordered some fruit smoothies. Delicious!

After eating, we got caught in a serious downpour and rode our bikes home in the rain. Upon arrival soaking wet, we took a dip in the pool.

We of course took full advantage of the hammocks everywhere, soaking in the easy life.

Our second day, was an all-out beach day. We got our tans started, scouted out seashells, and got as sandy as possible.

On our way home, we scouted out a hammock shop and bought ourselves a gray, bright fuchsia and white striped hammock. We love it!

That night, as luck would have it, we met up with an old friend from BYU-I, Spencer, and had dinner. It was so funny seeing someone we knew in Costa Rica. We loved catching up.

The next day, we drove over to Spencer's place, Playa Grande, and tried our hand at surfing. Let's say, Scott got up and surfed some waves, while I treated the surfboard as a boogie board, riding the waves to the shore on my stomach like nobody's biznazz. Side note: how cute is the surfer boy in this picture?

Our last night in Tamarindo, we did one of my favotire things the whole trip. A catamaran tour. It was AWESOME! Can you say all you can drink virgin pina coladas? I was in heaven. Wind whipping me around, beautiful water, killer sunset, friends, and delicious beverages? So good.

We sailed out about an hour, to a little island and they dropped us off and let us snorkel. All in all, we saw a sting ray, eel, octopus, and lots of beautifully neon fish.

We saw huge whales (3-4 of them!) and probably 8-10 dolphins swimming. The dolphins came literally right in front of the boat and they were so close I could have touched them. It was bliss!!