7 Months old...

Coco is 7 months old today... It makes me so happy and a little sad. She is growing up! She is such an absolute joy to have around and is such a good baby. Every baby sitter that I have had watch her (yes I have had a few! hoping to solve that problem soon) tells me how much fun she is and how easy it is to take care of her. She is finally growing a little more & she LOVES her baby food. She is a power eater... I will try to take a video to post because its hilarious! She opens her mouth as wide as it will possibly go between bites and if you are not shoveling the food in at her pace she gets mad. She loves all vegtables but isn't so thrilled about most fruits. Almost every fruit I have had her try makes her gag... weird. Hopefully she grows out of that soon. She is trying to crawl, I don't think it will be long until she figures it out. She loves to hold onto your fingers and stand herself up. She is so pround of herself after that trick, its pretty cute. She says Mama and bahbah, I am trying to get her to say dada before Ben gets home... We'll see if she cooperates!

Costa Rica Traverse...

An adventure high on the wish list of active adventurers keen to take on the challenge of traversing Costa Rica under their own steam. Our crossing takes us on bike, foot, raft and kayak across this spectacular natural wilderness through farmlands, foothills and mountainous regions reaching the peaks of the Central Highlands. The trails are often slippery and poorly defined, with several river crossings. We encounter indigenous settlements deep in the cloud forest and hope to glimpse rare wildlife and birdlife in this pristine tropical rainforest. The views and terrain vary greatly as we traverse the mountainous backbone of Costa Rica, which culminates in a trek to 'The Hidden Valleys' above the Pacuare River. The Pacuare is one of the world's classic whitewater experiences, where we undertake an exhilarating rafting trip with class 2-5 rapids through a series of spectacular canyons. In between the powerful rapids there is time to absorb your superb surroundings and the tropical rainforest. We leave the rapids and gorges behind as we ease our way by sea kayak along a much slower moving section of the river, through banana plantations to our final goal, the Caribbean coast.

Yep.. We dropped Ben off at the airport on Monday and to be honest, I couldn't hold back the tears. I have dropped him of at the airport for all kinds of adventures but when it came down to him actually leaving on this one we were both pretty emotional. Leaving Coco and me for 18 days was hitting him pretty hard. But...its been a few days and he is now hikeing, bikeing, etc his way from one ocean to the other. This is a trip he has wanted to do for a while and I am glad he got to actually go! We are missing him like crazy and I now have had a taste of how it feels to be a single working mom... Wow! Its tough! I have a new found respect for those women. 6 days down... a lot more to go.

I took a few pictures of Ben and Coco before we left for the airport... We miss you Daddy!