Pura Vida Gammon Family!



The Rauzi - Gammon Families on the day of their departure....

Tamarindo beach day...
one day last March 2013



Isaiah, Zack and Tucker

As the thunder rumbles outside and I sit here waiting for the rain to begin, I cannot help but feel that Costa Rica is also crying for the loss of our dear friends, The Gammon Family, who left Costa Rica Sept. 5th to begin their next family traveling adventure in Florida.  

Marissa and Seraphina at the Witch's Rock Bon Fire





 

 

 

 

 

We met the Gammon Family at the La Paz school New Parent Orientation last August and felt a connection with them immediately as they too had left a school and community they loved to pursue an international experience for their children.  In fact, their description of the home they left behind had made me cry.  I felt the same.  Sad to see our wonderful life back home "gone," but also thrilled beyond belief  that we were actually here and had actually made this happen for our kids.  I also cried because I could not believe that I was surrounded by so many families who were doing the exact same thing as us....something that others would consider way outside the box, but for us, it was way inside the box...inside the box of adventure!  I will continually wish for more and more adventures for our kids all throughout their lives, no matter where that takes them (and hopefully we can go visit them!).

 

 



William checking in with the big boys.....

One of our favorite "after-the-beach" hangouts.....especially on Friday nights when they have bon fires and Radio Dos reports live with Evan Luck and Joe Welsh (owner of Witch's Rock Surf Camp and Restaurant).  There is no doubt that their cold beers taste good after a long day surfing, but so does their sushi...our favorite is Joe's Barrel roll....kinda like a deep fried California roll with salmon and cream cheese.  Yum!

 

Sushi Boat...that lasted all of 3 minutes before
they asked if they could get another one...NOT!







  



A typical day at the beach for the girls...
Seraphina and Marissa
 (who both wish they had each other as a sister)

 

Over the course of the first half of the year we would run into this family at this beach and we would hang out as our kids were all drawn to each other.  They have 3 kids with similar ages to our kids....Seraphina is 8, Tucker is 12, and Isaiah is 14 and in Zack's class.  Many times we continued the beach fun into the early evening at a restaurant.  Good vibes and good times.

 



Seraphina and Marissa (the posers!)

 

 



 

William the photo bomber!

Then, last March, after a second break-in at their house, but this time in plain view of the kids, they moved into our guest house.  Nate was in the US at the time, so it was great for Mary and the kids to have an alternative to go to as the kids did not want to return "to the scene of the crime."  Nate returned a few weeks later and they spent a couple weeks looking for a new house.  This time they landed just down the street from us (lucky us!) and so began our fun time as neighbors.

The photo bomber strikes again....

 



 



 





A new froggy friend at JT's in Tamarindo
(Isaiah, William., Seraphina and Marissa)



 

 

The big boys even played on the same soccer team together....all of them having a blast.  Mary and I spent many a hot afternoon watching them play while Nate assisted with practices.  So great to see them in action!

 

 

Dominic, Tucker, Zack and Isaiah

 

 

 





 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Soccer in the intense heat/humidity of Costa Rica was a new experience for all of us.  Practices started during the dry season, so games were held on rock hard, dead grass fields most of the time.  Water was in high demand and they played their hearts out!

 

 

Soccer practice in the rain!

 

La Paz vs. Cartagena

 



Coco Loco dinner...end of trimester!



Tucker, Dominic and William

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dinners out or dinners in...it was all fun.  Our favorite dinner spots were always on the beach, with a sunset thrown in.  Many times the kids played beach games after dark while we sat and talked.  Hide-and-go-seek, soccer, bowling, sand castle building, Frisbee, etc.  No game was off limits, no matter the age.





 

 

In front of Coco Locos, Playa Flamingo....beach sand dune surfing!



Me, Nate and Mary at the Internet Café
(it's really just our back patio...but, it's where we could all get on-line!

Nate the grill Master and Marissa the Ham!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dance Party!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The kids also flowed seamlessly between the two houses and the one across the street, with lots of bike rides, swim sessions and soccer games in the yard.  We held many an impromptu dinner party and there were plenty of  sleepovers and helping with carpooling the kids...with 7 kids between us (and 4 more across the street with another family!), it was nice to "divide and conquer all the tasks of raising this multi-aged group. 

 

 

 

The kids....William, Tucker, Zack, Isaiah,
Dominic, Seraphina, and Marissa

 

 

Whether it was bike rides to get smoothies, the boys rip-sticking or skateboarding thru our house, a game of tag in the yard or on the beach, games in the pool, dinner parties, dance parties (the girl's favorite), the many shows and fashion parades put on by the girls, sweating at boot camp, hiking, stretching at yoga, bottles of wine or tropical drinks, sunsets in Brasilito, Mary's amazing meals,  fishing, boogie boarding, skim boarding, surfing, sea shell collecting, sand castle making, Nate's masterful grilling, or playing 7 Little Words, it was always fun and always easy.

 

 

Everyone digging in....fish tacos!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mary's a-m-a-z-I-n-g taco shells rubbed with Coconut oil!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mary and I had an easy friendship....traveling to boot camp, yoga and hikes together.  We loved getting pedicures from Harlan and shared the same wonderful cleaning gal, Argentina.  We walked the beach many a day together and had our share of lunches out while the kids were at school.  We both felt great about our fun workouts and Mary even devised our own boot camp workout down by the bridge by our house over the summer!  Girls just gotta have fun AND work out (when ya live by the beach!). 

 

Mary and I hiking at Las Catalinas

 





Nate, our other neighbor Tony, and Kurt on the beach for sunset

One of our favorite things to do was to run down the street to our local beach for sunset.  It was an easy way to get the kids out of the house for an hour right before dinner, enjoy ourselves and enjoy our beautiful surroundings.  There is just something magical about the sunsets here...even the air is colorful.  But, floating in the warm water with all the kids, at sunset, with a beer in your hand is even more magical!

 

The girls....inseparable friends!

 



Sunset chatting....

 

 

 

The girls at one of our sunset runs....

 

But, as the year ran down, we all felt that it was time to decide....we decided to spend a second year in Costa Rica and the Gammons decided to move to Florida to be near grandmothers and extended family and for Nate to expand on some new ideas for his lumber brokerage business.  Both of our families embarking on another year of travel and family adventure and both of us hoping that this next year (and years to come) will bring us back to the same location....we hope to travel to Florida for Halloween in October and they hope to return in Jan or Feb to visit and have a check-up with the orthodontist.  They have also embarked on a new adventure of home schooling, so we hope the flexibility of this will allow them to travel more and put Costa Rica on their list of destinations!

 

 

The boys...Dominic, Isaiah, William, Tucker and Zack

Marissa and Seraphina....the Peace Twins!

Moving and traveling with your family has it pitfalls and one of them is the short or condensed amount of time one gets to spend with friends and acquaintances.  But, as Nate said to me at our last family dinner together, he did not look at this as a passing friendship, but as a lifelong connection that we will all work hard to maintain.  I actually don't think it will be that hard to maintain and we look forward to traveling hook-ups with this wonderful and fun family.



Mary and I being strong and not crying (yet!)



The wonderful Gammon Family!

But, what else can I say that has not already been said....it was a great, great, year and one we will never, ever forget.  Thank you for sharing it with us.  Pura Vida Gammon Family....until we meet again (very soon I hope!).  xxoo