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As many of you know...we are BACK in the land of the free! We have spent the last three weeks in a whirlwind of travel from Costa Rica to San Francisco for a week, to San Diego for another week, and now home to L.A. ....but it is over, and now we can take a deep breath and somehow return to a life of normalcy. Looking back on Costa Rica, here are the things that I will miss and the things that I certainly wont. I hope you enjoy.

Things I will miss about Tico life:

1) There is no one to impress, and no one looking over your shoulder about how you parent.
Latins are awesome when it comes to this. If your child is misbehaving in a restaurant, like climbing under the table, no one cares, they all understand. In addition, I cant tell you how annoyed I get when I have other people comment here in the U.S. about my parenting. I cant tell you how many times I have heard "you know it really isn't safe to have your child stand in the shopping cart" or "isn't he a bit young to be climbing that high." Really, people mind your own business. I know my child's limitations and would never put them in danger! Trust me for goodness sakes. Costa Ricans trust you and that is a large bonus.

2) Materialism is non-existent.
I have to say that overall people are happier in Costa Rica. Taylor and I have come to believe it is because everyone is concerned with just providing for their family and no-one is concerned with keeping up with the Jones's. They are happy just to be. This is something I need to remember in the future.

3) Fresh bread.
You have never had real fresh bread until you have gone to Costa Rica. There is nothing like waking up and walking a few meters out of your house to the bakery. Man, I dont know what they put in it....but my mouth is watering thinking about it right now.

4) Random animals walking in the street.
I know this sounds weird but I am going to miss the random bulls, chickens, goats, etc walking through our sub-urban neighborhood. It was always entertaining!

5) A life of adventure.
For the first time in my life I felt I was living an adventure. This is something I never really felt I had to do....but now I am so glad I did it. I will miss that.

Things I will not miss about Tico life:

1) Hard beds and loud noises all night long.
Ticos really need to invest in comfortable beds. Every bed we slept on was rock hard....and was accompanied by weird noises outside. Come on people....have you ever heard of a pillow top!

2) Taxis
Read my taxi post for more information. I love my car!

3) Daily trips to the grocery store.
Every single day I had to walk to the store for our food and could only bring home what the kids and I could carry. Not to mention I had to walk on dangerous busy streets with two young kids and arms full of groceries. Talk about a moms worst nightmare. The first thing I did when we got home was make a mad dash for Costco.

4) Toilet paper in the trash.
The pipes are not developed to handle toilet paper in Costa Rica. Everywhere we went (besides our own home) we had to throw the toilet paper in the trash receptacle next to the toilet. It was so gross and smelled horrible! I kept thinking...if I was president of Costa Rica, this would be one of the first things I would change.

5) Rice and Beans.
Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I certainly had my fill and would be happy never to see them again. Too bad Taylor still wants me to cook them for him now that we are home. Yuck!

Overall, Costa Rica was an amazing experience but I am glad to be home. God bless the USA.