John's Birthday (and Happy Halloween)

Today is John's birthday! We celebrated by taking a bus to the Costa Rica Outward Bound school for outdoor adventure education. There he did research. Then we went out for lunch (Micah, Ethan & Kendal were in school) and went grocery shopping at Peli. John then walked to St. Gregory's to read/write and to pick up the kids. Marcie baked a birthday cake for tonight and we even found ice cream to go with it. After dinner we will have a birthday celebration! Hope you all have a Happy Halloween tonight!

Our Daily Routine

Our daily routine looks something like this...
5:30am - kids wake up, the sun is bright and it is light outside
6-6:30am - kids put on their uniforms and we eat breakfast (oatmeal, corn flakes, or toast)
6:55am - head outside to the public bus stop
7am ish - the bus comes and we hop on, it is 225 colones per person (550 colones = $1 us)
7:20 am - arrive at St. Gregory's
7:30 am - school begins
2:10 pm- pick up kids from school and take a taxi home, about 1300 colones
2:30 pm - Kendal takes a nap, Micah and Ethan play outside, Marcie washes school uniforms
4:30 pm - prepare dinner
5 pm- eat
5:30 pm - kids take showers and do homework from Excel
6:30 pm - kids go to bed
8:30 pm - John and Marcie call it a day

John spends the day reading, writing, and doing research. On Tuesday & Thursday's Marcie spends the day at school volunteering for the teachers there. All three kids seem to love school -Kendal has adjusted extremely well to school. We are so thankful!

First Day of School

This morning we took the 7am bus to St. Gregory's School. It was Kendal's very first day o f school ever! She did so well but was very tired by 2:10 when school let out. Micah did well but said she did not understand one word of her French lesson (go figure). And Ethan seemed to love it too! We took a taxi home and then Kendal took a nap:) After dinner we worked on homework from Excel and went to bed early. (The kids have been waking up at 5:30am with the sun.)

Our First Weekend in CR

Saturday morning we took a bus to San Jose, about a 60 minute bus ride. After getting our barrings, we walked to the National Museum of Costa Rica. It is in an old fort that still has bullet holes. Other than a few artists, we were the only ones there. There were only a few exhibits but an amazing butterfly garden. Then we took a taxi to the Children's Museum, which is housed in an old prison. It was like a children's museum meets COSI- this was the largest children's museum I have ever seen. We learned about magnets, the human body, airplanes and so much more. Kendal fell asleep on the bus ride home, which turned out to be the wrong bus! So after passing our neighborhood, we got off and had to walk home in the rain. Sunday we walked to downtown Tres Rios to look for a church. By 8am all churches were ending, so next week we will be out the door earlier. In the afternoon we walked partly up the mountain behind our house, but couldn't communicate our desire to the "watch man" to proceed to the top so we had to turn around and come back down.

Our 1st Full Day

We began our day by taking the bus to St. Gregory's School. The kids were very excited about going to school. We took a tour and met the children's teachers. The teachers were very kind and welcoming-we were very impressed by the school! Then we went grocery shopping at Hypermas- a store a lot like Meijers, only every thing was in Spanish, kilograms and colons (Costa Rican dollars). In the afternoon we hiked up the mountain that our house is on. All in all it was a good day!

The Real Travel Deal

We are in Costa Rica!! But wow, what a trip! We flew out of Detroit at 3pm. All went well until we got to Houston. There was a BIG storm there so we flew around for an hour until we were almost out of gas. Then we landed in College Station, TX at 6pm to refill. We sat on the plane for 3 hours, it was hot and they did not serve any food. At 9pm the storm had passed so we flew back to Houston. Our flight to Costa Rica had left so we were given two choices...1)stay in Houston until the Friday morning flight but there were no hotels anywhere close 2)fly to Atlanta at 11:30pm and fly to Costa Rica on Thursday morning. We chose to fly to Atlanta. We arrived there around 2:30am and still had to figure out luggage and tickets. Around 3am we decided to sleep at the airport and not get a hotel for four hours. Micah and Kendal slept for 3 hours, Ethan got 4 hours of sleep while Marcie and John got little to none. Our flight left at 9:45am and we arrived in Costa Rica without incident, until we went to get our luggage. One bag was missing, Ethan was very upset that it was his bag. We hope it arrives tomorrow! On the way to our house, all 3 kids fell asleep. Once we arrived at our house, we put clothes away, took showers and ate dinner. Then it was off to bed! The kids did an amazing job all day, they were so well behaved.

The Travel Scoop

Traveling has begun! Last night, after a wonderful dinner with John's mom, we drove to Temperance, MI (Toledo, OH) to spend time with Marcie's parents. After having breakfast and an early lunch we will fly from Detroit to Houston, TX, arriving in Houston at 5pm. At 6pm we will fly from Houston to San Jose, Costa Rica arriving at 8:45pm. We will then drive to the house we have rented. To find our house we will need to find the Catholic church in Tres Rios and go 500 meters east, 800 meters southeast of the highway to the neighborhood Genova, house #105. I hope we can find it in the dark! (Streets do not have names in Costa Rica.)

Miss Most

In two short days we will be flying to Costa Rica. When asked what they will miss most, Micah said, "all my friends, CREW, soccer and Tante Julie." Ethan said he would miss "my friends, bedroom, school and both cousins." Kendal said, "I am going to miss all my Katie friends, my big bed and ballet." We will all miss our house, neighborhood and friends.

Our Last Weekend in GR

It is hard to believe that this is our last weekend to be home for quite awhile. We began our day early with two soccer games; this is one of the best ways to enjoy the beauty of Michigan Autumns. Then it was off to a birthday party at the Fire Station, complete with fire hats, crafts, pizza and cake. Once home we worked in the yard and packed some more. We ended the day by attending Ada Bible Church(ABC) and having breakfast for dinner. What a blessing weekends are! Hope your weekend went well too.

More Packing

Today we finished packing Micah's clothes- shorts and t-shirts as well as navy pants, white socks and black shoes for school. In her pink duffel bag, along with all her clothing, we have packed...mac & cheese, first aid kit, oatmeal packets, books, and homework. The weather in San Jose appears to be warm and wet, in 5 days we will know for sure.

Wednesday Nights

Last night was our last Jesus Friends/Crew for awhile. The children love Wednesday nights at church, starting with dinner and then clubs. Kendal takes it all very seriously while Ethan loves having Mommy as a teacher. Marcie will greatly miss working with the Jesus Friends volunteers, they are so dedicated and fun.

Packing

The count down is on...we have 8 days before we leave. With John's mom (Nana B.) here, the house quickly came under control...the clutter put away, dishes washed, clothes put in drawers and the carpet visible. Today I was able to pack all of Kendal's items in one pink duffel bag. One down, three to go.

The Britton Blog

Oct. 13, 2008-

We are 9 days away from our adventure to Costa Rica. Marcie is packing with a flurry...summer clothes, scuba gear, sandals, and sunscreen...3 months worth! As Kendal says, "We are going to Costa RICA!"