Costa Rica, Spring Break 2026, Part 1

Welcome back friends! Last week was our spring break and the 4 of us skipped town for a quick beach get away to Costa Rica! We went a few years ago and spent a lot of time there moving around & being adventurous, but this time we went to a different area and spent the entire time at our resort. And it was glorious!

We woke up super early on Sunday morning and left the house at 4:00 am. Thankfully we are TSA Pre-Check so we breezed right though security but there were long lines:

We had a quick layover in Houston, then we landed in Liberia early afternoon and then a 1 1/2 car ride to our resort in Guanacaste:

where we were welcomed with mocktails:

and a beautiful view from the lobby:

They even gave the girls the cutest sloths:

I know they are a little old for stuffed animals, but they kept them & slept with them all week but then we left them there for someone else to enjoy. 

After we got unpacked, we walked around the resort & had an early dinner by the pool:

They had hammocks everywhere & the girls loved them:

They had s'mores & a bonfire every night at 5:00 during sunset so of course we had to enjoy that our first night there & then every night after!

It was the perfect way to kick off our trip! I'll come back later to share a few more pictures, but let's be honest - they all look about the same. Wake up, work out, have brunch, pool, beach, dinner, repeat. My kind of life!

March Madness

Yep, March is busy already but I'm not talking about basketball! School basketball ended so Sadie is in the midst of track. They have had 3 track meets so far and she has her zone qualifying meet this week. She may not love it, but she is determined to run the 2400 every week & she usually is right in the middle of the pack. I don't think she personally loves running long distance, but she is conditioned from soccer and determined enough to do it. She runs it with 2 of her friends:

Her surprise distance this year is the 400! She ran the 1600 in the first meet but then she killed it in the 400 so they moved her off the 1600 so she could run the 400-meter dash & the 4 x 400 relay. She holds the fastest time at her school, so she is the anchor & loving it:

They start soccer try outs at school this week & she is excited! Besides sports, she is still active in NJHS, Student Council, FCA, K-Life and NCL. We went to Sr. Recognition this week & it was just a reminder that after spring break, school will fly by & it's almost summer.

Sophie is just as busy since it is tournament season for volleyball. Their last tournament they made the gold bracket & never lost a single match until the championship game. It was a long day, but so much fun watching these girls:

She is also working HARD on cheerleading! Seriously, she has been in cheer boot camp since January 1 & she has worked harder than I have ever seen for cheer try outs, which are in 2 weeks. 

She also had fun this week at their 6th grade field trip to the Perot museum. I got to chaperone & she had a few of her closest friends in our group:

I didn't take any pictures inside because they are old enough to run around & kind of do their own thing now. Thankfully I got them when they stopped for a lunch break outside:

I am so glad my girls aren't embarrassed of me so at least they like it when I tag along still!

And I had fun hanging out with this great group of ladies - some of us have been volunteering as room mom or chaperoning together since kindergarten:

I also got invited to help chaperone a birthday party a few weeks ago also & I'm not sure who had more fun - the girls or us moms?!

Finally, since we had a warm winter, I started prepping for spring early. We cleaned out closets, I have already done a lot of yard work, the girls & I did feet masks together and got pedicures:

We are ready for spring & maybe a trip somewhere tropical!

Lite Lately - January & February

 I'm not sure where winter has gone, because January & February have flown by. It's been an unseasonably warm winter the past few weeks, so I hope March doesn't trick us because I am ready for spring! Sadie wrapped up basketball season & we had their end of the season team party:

After 4 weeks in a cast, she finally got it off:

Thankfully her new scan looked good & physically, she wasn't in any pain when they evaluated it. She wore a brace for a week & eased into anything upper body but now she is back to normal. She actually started track the past few weeks & is running quite a bit. 

We celebrated the Super Bowl at church with a tailgate party with our small group & our group won the food competition:

Sophie has been the busiest. She is a social butterfly who is always hanging out with friends or going to a birthday party:

She had cotillion in January:

and again, in February:

And her volleyball team finally kicked off tournament season in February:

They were supposed to play in January, but their first tournament got cancelled because of the winter storm so instead their first tournament was in Grapevine earlier this month. We were a little rusty the first day since they were started so late, but they came together & ended up winning the silver bracket:

It was extra fun because she saw a few friends on other teams there & my parents were visiting for the weekend with Max, so she had her own fan club:

Finally, Sophie has cheered since kindergarten for the FFL, which is just our recreational flag football team. However, she is trying out in March for 7th grade cheerleader for our middle school. She has been working hard for the past year, but especially since the holidays passed, she has turned it up a notch. This girl has done a lot of clinics, camps, bootcamps, classes & private lessons - with & without her friends:

We finally had the official school try out meeting for the parents too so that is our focus right now. I don't know officially how many are trying out but there are a lot. I think it will be a fun & stressful month for these girls: