Day 3: Continued...

So...one of the guys at the front desk finally gave us the right password to the wireless connection, so here we are again! I thought I would update you about the activities of the day and add some more pictures! We started our day at 7 am - are you surprised to know your child is up and about that early in the morning? I guess when they know it's a long day and this is the only chance for breakfast, they come running! Oh, and so we thought that to keep the kids (and us adults as well) interested, we would devise a daily picture scavenger hunt. That has been a big hit! We have teams of 2 (there are 10 of us, so it's perfect!!) with five items (just broad themes such as "Danger") and a bonus. Every night, the group has a meeting before bed to go over details for the next day and then we go over our funny pictures. Stephanie and I bought some "interesting" local fare for the nightly prizes - just to make sure that the kids (and us since we won tonight!!) try different things!

We woke up early this morning and were amazed to see how clearly we could see the volcano from our porches and balconies. We then set off on a kayak adventure at Lake Arenal. Let me tell you, that was a comedy of errors at times. I have no pictures to post of this since we took these with waterproof, disposable cameras. After 2 hours of paddling, swimming and splashing (with occasional instances of bumper boats going on), we headed to La Fortuna. The view from the top is spectacular, but it is definitely worth the vigorous hike to experience the pool at the base of the waterfall. We came back to the hotel for lunch and then headed into town for a little shopping. We were definitely stocking up on coffee!! The day ended perfectly at the hot springs. There are over 20 different pools ranging in degree. Of course with teenagers, a dare had to go out with the hottest pool - and Alex won $5 out of the deal!!

Tomorrow, we head to Monteverde and will enjoy some horseback riding. The next day, we will do the ziplines!! Hope to post something then but like I said earlier, we've never been to that hotel, so we don't know what to expect with the Internet availability.