Hola San Jose!

After a looong day of travel we finally arrived -  all 6 of us. There definitely were some stressful moments, especially when they decided at check in that Dragon needed to fly cargo and Livi and Oscar disappeared with him and only returned 10min before takeoff!! (Turns out dogs in crates that weigh over 100 pounds can't fly as air baggage...a different scale, a courtesy of a few pounds, and some diplomatic reasoning by Oscar and he got to fly as we planned) Alls well that ends well, and after a much needed sleep we spent our first day relaxing at the pool while Oscar checked in at work.

 And checked out the little Harry sized hotel playground.

 We tried to show Dragon he could use the couches but he prefers to snuggle in his crate (and we cant really blame him since the couches are pretty uncomfortable).

 Family electronic time! For the first week we didn't realize we could watch some channels in English, but Harry didn't mind.

Before we arrived, we knew we were getting a 3 bedroom apartment. One of the kids bedrooms was going to have a queen bed and the other 2 twins. We figured Harry would end up sleeping in our room, but Oscar and Livi decided that Livi could have the bigger bed and Oscar the twins. What we didn't realize was the difference in views! Livi got a big kick waking up in the morning to....

 When we looked out another window and saw this view she couldn't resist 😂

Needless to say there are some amazing views!! Just not from Livis bedroom....

Buen Viaje!

We had a free happy hour at our hotel a few nights a week and they had a decent snack each night with free drinks too.

 And I even had a night out with my BN crowd, meeting a few new faces and saying goodbye to some who I've become friends with over the past few months. Man I'm going to miss that group!

Skipp came to say goodbye our last evening in town.

 And brought Harry's friend Hayes to say goodbye when the van came and picked us up to go to the airport.

 And then we were on our way! On to our next adventure....

Our Halloween kid

Harry still loves his zombies and mummies, and the little cemetary between our house and hotel gave him some fun opportunities to look for them.

He was running through the gravestones yelling "I love this place!"

Our last few weeks in VA

Late May was the home stretch prior to departure, with our packout looming and goodbyes almost everyday.  While we were really excited to be headed to Costa Rica, we also were sad to be leaving what we know is an amazing neighborhood and community...

There's no better way to start Mother's day than with a little snuggle time as Darth Vader.

Followed by Avengers  my Endgame with my boy!!

A great family dinner at Mia's completed a wonderful day.

Our new 3 yo had a doctor's appt and was so good with the nurse practioner. A far cry from our last visit.

Nana came to visit after her big trip to Egypt and we had a great night out at Blackwell Hitch. Mr. Sparkly Bones enjoyed his big evening out.

As our house started to get packed up, we got creative with dinners. Harry enjoyed helping clean out the cupboards.

Dragons crate came out of the basement and he loved going in it. Thankfully he'd be all ready for our trip!

The roses bloomed just in time for us to enjoy them.

Harry and his buddy Hayes spent a lot of time hanging out

We had a stressful experience getting the necessary travel paperwork for Dragon, and we all plopped down on the corner for a break as the movers packed up our furniture. We looked distressed enough as Dragon lay passed out on the sidewalk for people driving by us to ask if we were was ok. The beauty of Old Town!

The rest of the family are pros, but our youngest members weren't quite sure what to make of all of our stuff being packed away. Some trips to the playground helped keep them happy!

Harry channeled his big sister during an outdoor painting session.

Our car was picked up and we borrowed a stroller from BN to use our last week in town. Thankfully the weather was perfect, and we easily "commuted"between our hotel and out house our last 2 weeks.

The kids last day of school was May 24th, and we visited Livi's school to help her say goodbye with some cookies and ice cream.

Harry passed out on the way home, and even took a partial nap on the floor of our house. I'll take it!!

Our last 2 weeks in town we stayed at a Marriott hotel near the Whole foods at the top of King St. Dragon found a cozy place, as always.

Harry took his mummy roleplay very seriously

I love when the end of the year artwork comes home. It never disappoints

Finding a place to cool off near the hotel

And a picnic from whole foods

A visit with Cathy with homemade bluberry muffins by Cathy and Livi

Storytime in our empty house

We got an extra surprise visit with Aunt Daria and Elly and we had a wonderful last meal at Virtue and some ice cream.