After our long day of travel, we were all tired and hungry. Our lovely landlord Mike had bought us some milk, eggs and bread (much like what you need when it “snows” in North Carolina). The idea of cooking was no bueno so we decided to load up in the rental car and head to this open air restaurant Jeff and I had been to a few times on our last trip in. They have a tuna poke bowl that is the absolute best.

One of the best things about this restaurant besides the poke is that the girls could run around, pet the dogs that wandered in and play some cornhole. I think folks here are generally more tolerant of children. (I got lots of surprised stares when we were in a store and I spoke harshly to my misbehaving girls.)

After dinner we headed back to our amazing rental house. Upon entering for the second time, I had the sad realization that this awesome rental is far nicer than anything we will ever be able to afford should we decide to buy in Costa Rica. We’re going to enjoy it while we have it. Pura Hlavida!

The past couple days we have grocery shopped, swam in the pool, gone to the beach, swam in the pool, drove to a Walmart an hour away, swam in the pool, opened a bank account, swam in the pool. You get the idea. Lots of time in the pool!

As for our pets….only Edith, the fat cat, acclimated easily. This is the cat that impaled me walking through security so I have mixed emotions about seeing her so happy.

Lucy, the feral cat, and the one that is typically fearless, spent the first three days in this bed under the comforter. She has settled in now and ran out of the house last night when we let Daisy out. This led to mucho swearing from Jeff and a lot of crying from Moose but she came back in just a few minutes. The sounds, smells and massive iguanas may have been too much for her.

On Friday we are going to drive the hour to PriceSmart which is the Costa Rican version of Costco. I’ll be sure to take lots of pics there so y’all can see what that’s like.

I’m also experimenting on TikTok, if you want to see any videos of our adventures thus far. – https://www.tiktok.com/@pura.hlavida

Pura Hlavida!