Our 30-Day Costa Rican Vacation (Part 2)

Our 30 Day Family Vacation in Costa Rica [Part 2]

Read part one here.

Vancouver to San Jose, Costa Rica

We don't live anywhere near the Vancouver Airport, so we had to come in to town the day before. We decided to splurge and stay at the Fairmont which is attached to the airport so that in the morning, we could just wake up, head down the elevator and get in line without having to leave the airport. Now, if it were just Ry and I, we'd probably stay in accommodations close to the airport, go out for dinner and drinks and shuttle in the morning, but since we were travelling with 3 tiny kids, it was important to pay a premium for the extra sleep in order to decrease the number of tired melt-downs on travel day. Staying at the airport Fairmont also meant no morning shuttles and less waiting around which meant that we would start our long, travel day off right.We had flown with Ruby, our 2 year old, in the past, and I won't even down play it for you - it was living hell. She cried and flailed almost the entire 5 hour flight and at one point, we were all crying, and I'm sure everyone around us wanted to push us out the emergency exit. I had said to my husband after that flight that we would never fly with the kids again, but here we were, about to board a plane that was double the flying time. I like to call that selective, short term memory loss. Anyways, the difference this time? Well, Ruby was 6 months older, and I came prepared! VERY prepared. I felt like Mary Poppins boarding the plane with a bottomless bag full of toys and treats. I could probably write a whole separate blog post on travelling with crazy toddlers, because no one's is more "spirited" than mine, and I freaking NAILED IT.For your own sanity and out of respect for everyone around you, you need to take flying with kids very seriously. If you have a wild animal for a child and are afraid to fly with them, this is what you do:

1. If they're under 2 and able to fly for free by sitting on your lap, but are walking and can't sit still, buy them a seat anyways.
2. Bring their car seat so you can strap them in (otherwise, they try and escape).
3. Pack their FAVORITE toys.
4. Pack new toys that they've never seen before.
5. Bring children's head phones (we bought these) so that they can watch in-flight movies.
6. Load up on thin books so that you can bring a bunch on the plane. We packed a couple box sets like this. 
7. Download some new games on their LeapFrog or your Ipad.
8. Don't give them all of the toys at once because then they'll get bored of them all at once. Wait until they're completely bored of whatever they're doing before you pull out your next activity, toy or treat from the Mary Poppins bag.
9. Bring bribary snacks and treats that they normally wouldn't get at home. We packed pringles and gummy bears and those two things kept them occupied for about 20 mins! Note: if you have multiple children make sure you get the EXACT same treat for everybody to prevent fighting.
10. Set your expectations REAL low. Don't expect that you're going to have a chance to watch a movie or read a book in peace. Honestly, just throw any expectation that there is going to be a moment of relaxation out the door. If you don't have expectations, then you won't be disappointed! Flying with multiple, small children means someone is always going to be wanting something.
11. Pack some cash to distribute to people around you who's experience was negatively affected by your crazy kid. No, this is not a joke. I know what you're thinking, "Hunnnn, I can't afford to be making it rain all around me just because my kid is an asshole!" I hear you, I'm not rich either, but that lady in front of Ruby's seat sure felt compensated and was very appreciative when we gave her $20 and told her to go buy herself a bottle of wine, after Ruby kicked her seat for 5 hours straight.

So moral to the story - be prepared. Be prepared emotionally and be prepared with all the tricks and treats.The seating arrangement on the plane was Ryan and the two oldest girls in one row, and then me and the baby across the aisle sitting with a couple of strangers. I really need to give some credit to my husband because he was amazing and in charge of the dispersing of the activities and food. He was incredibly patient and only got frustrated once that I could see (when Ruby started melting down and furiously started kicking the seat in front of her). We discussed the possibility of sourcing some adavan or xanax in case the kids started to provoke an unpleasant side of us and we needed help cooling our jets, but in the end we just decided on a pep-talk and incorporating some breathing techniques if/when shit hit the fan.It was when I'd be walking up and down the aisle trying to rock the baby to sleep, or when Ryan was chasing Ruby around, that we got to look at the other passengers and feel deep envy. Please don't get me wrong, I love my kids so much it hurts and would never travel without them, but you just don't realize how relaxing ariplane travel is when your have no dependants. All you're expected to do is sit there, watch movies, read, have adult conversation with the person beside you, sleep, drink whatever you want and eat pretzels. All you have to do is just keep yourself alive.Ryan and I  love to reminisce on our travel days pre-kids. On our very last one before I found out that I was pregnant with Scarlett, our flight was delayed by 4 hours. I remember that when we heard the announcement we didn't even care! We just merrily strolled over to the airport bar, drank whiskey sours and ate complementary food for the "inconvenience", and then passed out on the plane, waking up at our destination totally refreshed. Seriously, no harm done. If that happened now, I'd probably have a mild panic attack at the news of the delay, knowing that nap times were going to be interfered with, our travel time just got that much longer, and my bag of tricks and treats would be depleted trying to entertain the kids in the airport before we even made it on the plane! I literally just start sweating having to think about it.We arrived in San Jose at about 8:30 pm. Ryan and I were both exhausted from entertaining for 10 hours and Ruby especially had just had enough. When our luggage finally arrived off the conveyor over an hour later, we headed out to the road to find our shuttle to the Holiday Inn Express, which was just 5 minutes from the Airport. A kind amigo helped us flag down a shuttle and load our luggage. Of course, nothing is free or complimentary in Costa Rica, and he stood in traffic waiting for a tip. My husband passed me the envelope of Costa Rican Colones and told me to tip him. I hadn't had a chance to find out what the value of the currency was in comparison to our dollar, so I gave him what I thought was the lowest denomination that I could find. I saw him and the shuttle driver exchange a wink after I gave him the money and knew that I had just screwed up. I  later found that I had given him the equivalent of $45 Canadian. Note to self: learn the currency before you land in another country.We were all delirious by the time we got to the hotel and passed out right away. We had come so far, but the journey was really just beginning. In the morning we'd embark on the 4 our drive (which ended up being more like 7) down the Carribean Coast to our Puerto Viejo home.

Our Drive to Puerto Viejo

While my husband went to pick up our rental car from Budget, a Toyota Avena, which I'd never head of before, I took the kids to the hotel lobby for a buffet breakfast where we got our first taste of Costa Rican cuisine! I took advantage of the complementary spread of food and loaded my bag full of bananas, juice boxes and yogurt (bribary treats) for the drive. While stocking up, Ruby, in typical Ruby fashion, threw her food around the hotel lobby instead of actually eating it, and then it was really time to go.Somehow, all five of us were all able to cram into our small SUV with our two huge suitcases, three car seats, a travel bed and double stroller - the back of our car looked like a game of Tetris (my husband takes packing a vehicle every seriously).As soon as we hit the road, my husband was in his element and immediately adapted to the Costa Rican driving style, which, for the record, is freaking TERRIFYING! This meant that I white-knuckled the door handle and spontaneously burst into screams for the duration of the drive, followed by my husband getting mad at me for screaming and scaring the shit out of him while he was trying to focus and pass people at mach 10, followed by me screaming "then you should drive like a normal person!", followed by him shouting, "this is how normal poeple drive here". Sounds like pure bliss, doesn't it? But to be honest, it wasn't Ryan's fault (don't tell him I said that) - in perfect driving conditions, I'm an extremely nervous passenger. In Costa Rica, the anxiety and stress that I experienced from my husband passing people, semi-trucks passing us, sudden road closures and monsoon rains which limited our vision to zero, probably took 20 years off of my life.The drive from San Jose to PV was a lot longer than we anticipated. Clearly, Google maps didn't take into account that we were travelling with children and the traffic was slow-going the whole way down the Coast until we passed the port town of Limon (Long-distance driving with kids is much like airplane rides, so apply the same practices as above).Miraculously, we only made one stop the whole way from San Jose to Puerto Viejo, which was at a super authentic little restaurant on the side of the road. I tried my best to navigate the Spanish menu, and in the end just pointed to some pictures of things that I saw other people eating. While we waited for our food, the girls played on a rusty old swing set and pet stray cats.It was at this restaurant that I took my first, deep breath and looked around to realize that we had made it. We were in a country, thousands of miles away from January in Canada and just starting our adventure. A whole year of planning and dreaming up a vision, and now it was all unfolding right before my eyes. It seemed, in that moment, that we had so much time.By the time we arrived at our home in Puerto Viejo it was dusk. We were all so happy to get out of the car and go check out the place where we'd be staying for the next month...or so we thought.Read Part Three Here (Coming Soon).