Day 4: Lets go to the beach!

For the past month I've been blogging about my 7 day Costa Rica Mission Trip that I returned from on March 10th. If you haven't read about the other days yet, start from the beginning with Day 1. To read all about all the preparation to GET to Costa Rica, just check out old posts on the right or scroll to the bottom.

"...I know they look forward to your bright smile each day and your loving heart. We are so proud of you! Love, Pat."

"I'm sure your days there are long and tiring, but very worthwhile. Keep your cute chin up and I cant wait to see you. Love, Dad."

This was our beach day with BOTH orphanages and all the Tia's. We were so excited about it, but since its rained almost the entire time we've been there so far, we were really hoping for a break in the weather. So Art decided to pray for us - he asked God if you're going to let it rain, do it tonight and let it be nice tomorrow.

Well we went to bed and it poured that night. But when we woke up? It stopped. Here we are at breakfast, gearing up for our day and giving thanks for a great morning.

It wasnt exactly sunny but we were not going to be picky!! Weather? Check. But one last piece of nervousness: when planning this outing, the Tia's werent too jazzed about the idea and we werent sure how both orphanages would react to the other.

I think we forgot for a second that God had it all planned out. This day was SUCH a blessing. The Tia's had a fantastic time with us and had a little break, and the kids got to do something they never get a chance to do! Costa Rica's beautiful landscape is in their backyard but they dont get to enjoy it. I love these next pictures - just so joyful!




And then BAM! Into the ocean. They were so stoked, it was so much fun to watch. Aricely and I were playing frisbee right next to when this happened and we all just laughed and laughed.







This location was perfect...
because not only were we at a restaurant so we had lunch there later, but they had a playground with a swingset and see-saw and the ocean just beyond.



And yes, that is Art and Jason on the see-saw. lol.



That's me holding Fernando, Carolina's little boy. Carolina is the oldest in Villa Del Mar and Fernando is just a few months old.


Here's a pic of the two of them together. When we were getting ready for this trip, we didnt realize that Fernando was Carolina's child so that was a surprise to us when we arrived. She's only 17.






Seeing the above photo gives me mixed emotions, I have to be honest. The swingset is where I first learned Aricely's background. Susana came over while Aricely and I were swinging and they had a conversation while I asked a few questions for her to interpret.

Turns out, this wasnt Aricely's first time to this location. She used to live with her mother, her step-father and 5 brothers, and her mom used to bring her here. But she doesnt see her mom anymore because she was removed; there was sexual abuse in the home. So she was brought to Villa del Mar and not too long after that, a relative came for her. Soon thereafter when PANI checked in on her, THAT relative had been using her for sexual trafficking. I think thats the right term, but you get the idea. She had only been back to Villa Del Mar for just over a week when we arrived.

So while this whole day was filled with such joy and happiness... there was still pain underneath, and I know we were just scratching the surface. This picture just reminds me of how much of a kid she is.



That was something I would struggle with through this trip. All of these kids had a story, and while it broke your heart to hear it and you want to help, they sometimes just want to have fun with you while you're there and just be a kid. So when Aricely told us her story and then ran into the pool... I took a bit to speak with Susana, and then I joined her to try and have the best day ever.







It was really funny in the pool. I had walked over and a lot of the kids were in there already and Sandra was like NIKKI! And the kids started chanting, "Nikki! Nikki!" until I jumped in. Then I got SWAMPED with water... so much fun.






The kids tried to throw Maribelle into the pool. They didnt succeed, but Jason got a few people in - first was Brian and then he went after sweet Angie. This is a picture taken right before he threw her in.



And then after.





Some of the donation money Autumn received went to towels for all the kids. It really made us feel good to have those for them when they got out of the water.





This is Keyric - I helped him swim in the pool bc him and his brothers didnt know how. I love this picture - its actually my background on my computer at work.



The boys played el futbol a lot that day and then Aricely and I joined in to play three on three. I was on a team with Rafael and Darren and Aricely was on losing team with Brian and Jason. :) Rafael had a great time and we all were happy to see this. I was especially grateful for Jason and Brian hanging with him. It has to be hard to be older with so many little one's around.







After we had lunch we had a great surprise in store for the kids. Here's the next installment of Day 4 here. We were able to go on a JUNGLE CRUISE!!!!