Day 7: The Sunburned Siete

What a gorgeous day to spend at the beach!!  We got up at an ungodly hour, ate a small breakfast, and off we went to Manuel Antonio National Park.

Sunrise this morning

 We hiked into the park about 20 minutes before finding our spot on the Playa Manuel Antonio.  It was straight out of some Caribbean post card...unreal.  The water was soo blue!  As you can see, the scenery was outstanding!  Really felt like we were off on some tropical location.
We spent most of the day there.  Kids loved the water, listening to the waves breaking against the rocks, and soaking up the strong sun.  They swam, played beach volleyball, sunbathed...just enjoyed a break from the hustle & bustle of past days.  One of the big waves came and soaked 4 of the girls towels, which were actually quite a ways away. This beach is also known for it's sneaky animals.  For example, the minute Mychaela got up to go into the water, a raccoon ran over and grabbed her gummy bears out of her bag.  Many other monkeys showed up around lunch time as we were getting ready to leave.

PVHS Roamin' Spartans

Shaking out the towels that got soaked by the big wave.

Bridgeview girls enjoying the water.

The Alman sisters enjoying the beach,

AJ keeping watch...enjoying the beach day.

One of those sneaky monkeys

It was pretty quiet on the bus ride back as every single person was asleep...except me for some odd reason.  We grabbed a  late lunch upon our return and then to chillax in the A/C.  Next thing I knew, all the kids were in my room: playing cards, snacking, and laughing together... LOVED it!!  Sadly, most are looking quite red.  Our amazing Tour Director, Mario, earned his Super Mario status today. He showed up and mixed up an odd concoction of egg white & my after-sun lotion and had me put it all over the kids.  He then took Mychaela's sandy iPhone and got that fixed. Lastly, he pulled a tick off of Sam.  Super Mario to the rescue!  :)
It's been a day for the Iowa group, so the best way to fix that is ICE CREAM!!!  So, off on our ice cream adventure we went!  A great way to end our day!
Tomorrow we're heading back to San Jose, with some shopping stops along the way, and a folklore evening to end the day.

Sam enjoying her banana split after getting a tick removed from her neck.  Such a trooper!! 

Ice cream cures all that ails you!!

Thanks to those who have commented - the kids love reading them when they pop up!
Pura Vida!!