Spoiled

 We got to go to the beach again yesterday, this time to La Libertad, which has darker sand than the previous beach we visited. I should have taken a picture of the whole fish Tory ate at lunchtime.  We bought Pollo Campero for the girls to eat, and we went to a little restaurant by the side of the road, that sold fresh fish. You could choose to get a $3, $5, or $8 fish, depending on how big you wanted it to be. It also came with rice, salad, and toasted tortilla strips.  After we ate, we took three plates of $3 fish to go, and went back to the beach house.  Edwin's sister, Claudia, who was watching the kids as they played in the pool now had her chance to eat lunch.  She settled down to eat her delicious fish, when Tory got a good look at it, and decided she wanted to try it.  Well, Claudia had to content herself with some Pollo Campero, because Tory wolfed that fish down eagerly.

Lounging around.... such a hard life!

Claudia called this pool the "pila".  When we got there, I chuckled to myself when I saw it.  The kids played in there ALL DAY.  They had to be dragged out to go play in the waves for a bit, then they jumped back in.

We saw a few stray dogs while we were there that were so pathetic looking, we fed them our chicken bones.  They were very docile and sweet, looking at you with calm, hungry eyes.  I would have brought one home with me if I still lived here (after I doused them with flea shampoo, of course). 

Can you see the chickens roosting in the top branches of the tree? :)

Today we hung out most of the day at the house, watching more World Cup matches, as I read and the girls played.  In the evening, we were able to eat pupusas again! 

Tory found a snail! 

I am SO satisfying my mango cravings! These all came from the tree in their yard!

the Zoo!

A new zoo opened two years ago, where endangered animals, mostly cats, are kept in very large, nice enclosures. It is also only about 30 min. away! Here are the girls in the back of the car - thoroughly enjoying the freedom of moving around and playing during a long car ride.

Enjoying the abundant mango!

Ok, so not that mobile in this picture!

The zoo had two paths you could take: a simple, walking (mostly straight) path, and the challenging, uphill, through the jungle path.  Well, in order to see the white tiger, you had to go on the second one (or so I thought), so up the hill we went. I was so thankful for the clear-cut steps up that mountain! It was so hot and humid, my shirt was actually sticking to my skin.  We were so thankful for our water bottles, insect repellent, and hats! And the views were quite worth it!

At first we thought it was a flying cockroach, but it ended up being a VERY large beetle! 

Resting after our steep climb!

There were quite a few of these bridges.  They warn you not to jump when you are crossing them.
They seemed pretty solid to me.

For a while Tory and Natalia were collecting all sorts of interesting leaves: dried up, colorful, or just cool.

Hangin' with the FAM

Lots of fun things are going on! Cousin time!

Fingerpainting

Hanging out at the mall

Hard to tell, but they are on a train....

We were able to hang out at a pool today! It was great to jump into a cold pool with the tremendous heat we were feeling. The slide was a big hit!

Seems random, but after the pool, Ale went to soccer practice,
and was able to go into the national stadium to snap this shot.