The Adventures of a Twin Mom – Page 23 – Motherhood and Travel Blog

April 11, 2016

Costa Rica

We just recently got back from an incredible week in the gorgeous Costa Rica! We travel frequently but this is the first truly relaxing trip we’ve had since our honeymoon, our trips are usually nonstop adventures.

We flew into Liberia and spent half the week in the rain forest in Bagaces and the other half at the beach in Tamarindo.

We drove all around Costa Rica, it was safe and fairly easy to navigate! First up, the rain forest in Bagaces!

If you want an experience like no other, I highly recommend staying at Rio Perdido. This resort is in the middle of the rain forest and guests stay in luxurious tree bungalows. The staff goes over and beyond to ensure you have a great vacation!

There are only 20 bungalows so it’s very private and quiet!

Here are a couple of pictures of the inside of the bungalows.

The pictures don’t portray how nice the bungalows really are! The linens, toiletries, and amenities are pure luxury! We even liked their toiletries so much that I ordered some to be sent home!

Here are a few pictures of the beautiful resort:

This is where we ate all of our meals and the food is all organic and delicious!

There are tons of activities to do here: white water tubing, hiking, zip lining, relaxing in hot thermal springs, relaxing at the spa, biking, and swimming in one of three pools.

We were really tired our first day so we relaxed in our bungalow, watched the monkeys from our porch, ate an early dinner, and slept for 12 hours!

If you look closely at the three pictures above you can see the monkey’s hanging out in the trees!

The next day we felt completely refreshed so we decided we should do something adventurous! We went white water tubing and it was an absolute blast!!! We actually considered doing this twice! Here are a few pictures:

Later that day, we took a short hike to the hot thermal springs/mud bath. This was very fun and peaceful!

DCIM100GOPRO — Not the best picture of us! The water was really hot!

The next morning we went on a hike. The landscape was beautiful but but we ended the hike early because it was 100 degrees!

We saw an anteater!

We spent the rest of the day hanging out by the pool.

My redheaded husband hiding from the intense sun!

Half way through the week, it was time to check out of Rio Perdido. 🙁 We headed towards Tamarindo Beach. On the way we stopped at the Llano de Cortes Waterfall!

This is a must see if you’re ever in Costa Rica! It took my breath away.

We spent the afternoon at the falls: swimming, relaxing, and climbing behind the falls.

We then headed towards Tamarindo Beach. Tamarindo did not disappoint, it’s one of the nicest (if not the nicest) beach towns I’ve ever been too. It’s an upscale surf town completely filled with Americans.

The main street has tons of restaurants and shopping.

The rest of the week was spent relaxing by the pool and beach.

Views from the infinity pool at our hotel

We even attempted to surf!

All guests at our hotel had access to a private beach club. We spent one afternoon here!

Taking a walk on the beach before dinner. We had the best dinner that night! Seafood and steak right on the beach!

The sunsets here were incredible!

If you ever travel to Costa Rica, I highly recommend renting a car and spending half the week in the rain forest and half the week at the beach!

We are already talking about our next trip to this beautiful country! Until next time Costa Rica… PURA VIDA!

January 23, 2016

Guide to NYE in Times Square

I’m very late in posting this but better late than never, right? For New Year’s Eve we went to NYC to see the ball drop in Times Square! This has always been on my bucket list and we decided this year was the perfect time because it was record high temperatures (almost 50 degrees in NY!) and we both had the day off! We had a great time and it was an unforgettable experience!

While I was planning this trip I noticed there wasn’t much information out there on NYE in Times Square. I decided to put some tips together (see below) about our experience, hopefully this helps someone!

How Times Square is organized
Part of the fun of NYC is the chaos…at times you will think the whole thing is very unorganized but it is part of the experience. That being said, on NYE Times Square is divided into sections with barricades. Each section is first come, first served. They allow only so many people into each section and then they start filling the next section. Obviously, the first few sections are the best because you’re close to the concerts and closer to the ball! They do this to keep the area safe and controlled, there are a few cops watching over each section.

When to Arrive
This all depends on how close to the ball you want to be! If you want to be in the first few sections, you will need to arrive very early! I was told some people camped out for days (no thanks). We arrived at noon to Times Square and we were a few blocks back from the ball. We had great views of the ball! However, we couldn’t see the celebrities on the stage but that was ok with me. If you want to see the ball but don’t care about anything else, I highly recommend arriving between 11am-2pm.

Where to Stay
I strongly recommend staying in Manhattan because it will be chaotic trying to get out of the city after the ball drops! Just a warning, prices are sky-high on NYE and you need to book early! We stayed at The Lexington which is about a 15 minute walk to Times Square; it was the cutest boutique hotel! We absolutely loved it!

In August when I went to NYC (you can read about this here), we stayed at the Hampton Inn Times Square West, this is about a 5 minute walk to Times Square. If you want to pay a fortune, you can stay in the few blocks of Times Square and you won’t have to stay outside for 12 hours because you can see the ball from your hotel room. A few of those hotels with views are: Renaissance New York, Double Tree Guest Suites, Marriott Marquis, Knickerbocker, and the Novotel New York Times Square.

How to Survive All Day
I am going to be honest, this experience isn’t for everyone! If you have to use the bathroom a lot, if you can’t stand for long periods of time, if you don’t like being around a ton of people (roughly 1 million), or if you despise cold weather…this isn’t for you! We got really lucky to have nice NYC police officers guarding our section and they let both Judd and I out of our section once to use the restroom. We had to go in a restaurant and buy something to be able to use the restroom. We also brought a few snacks and a couple of drinks so we didn’t get dehydrated or hungry. For entertainment we brought our phones, talked a lot, and people watched. Lastly, we wore lots of layers and comfortable shoes because you are outside standing for 12+ hours.

Safety
I was initially nervous about being in Times Square on NYE because there is so much going on in the world right now. However, we felt completely safe the entire time! Everyone goes through security to get into Times Square and then through security again to get into each section. There are police in uniform everywhere and we were told there were also undercover police all throughout Times Square.

Extra Tips/Interesting Things We Learned
1. Dress warm and in layers
2. Bring snacks
3. Don’t drink a lot of liquid because you might not be able to use the restrooms at all! But bring some water so you do not get dehydrated.
4. Wear comfortable shoes
5. Get a place next to a barricade so you can lean on it. Sitting in the back of each section is ideal because you have more room because everyone is trying to get close to the front of the section.
6. Don’t bring a book bag or a large bag because police will confiscate it.
7. Make sure your phone is fully charged and bring a portable charger!
8. It’s not as big of a party as it looks like on TV. There is a lot of waiting!
9. Alcohol is not allowed

I used the Times Square Alliance website to plan our day. They post a lot of important information and they also post the event schedule.

Don’t forget to take a stroll through the city! The Christmas tree at the Rockefeller Center is still up and there are decorations all throughout the city!

There is no place like NYC during the holidays!

Wishing everyone a very happy New Year!

September 13, 2015

Texas and New Orleans Road Trip

Judd spent a month this summer in Oklahoma City for work. Once he was done, I flew out there to drive home with him (it’s a long drive home)! We decided to go a tad out of the way and take a road trip to places we’ve never been. We spent 5 days exploring Texas (Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Houston) and Louisiana (Baton Rouge and New Orleans). We had a blast!

This is the route we took.

Our first stop was Dallas! The city was nice and the people were very friendly!

JFK Memorial

6th Street Museum

Where JFK was shot

Our next stop was Austin. The city of Austin and the suburbs are GORGEOUS!!!!

State Capital

We then went to Lake Travis to eat lunch at the Oasis.

If you’re ever in Austin, I highly recommend this place! The views are incredible.

Then we went to San Antonio.

The Alamo

We strolled along the River Walk which is beautiful.

Gorgeous area!

We spent the next day in Houston. This was definitely our least favorite city. The city itself is confusing to navigate and traffic is horrendous! On top of that we got a flat tire.

I will say we were amazed by the hospitality we received while on the side of the road. Someone brought us water bottles, several people asked if we were alright, someone offered to let us sit in their a/c for a little bit (it was 100 degrees), and someone even helped me find a tire place.

The next morning we were very ready to be out of Texas! We woke up early to start our journey to Louisiana.

Our first stop was Baton Rouge and visiting LSU.

After spending a few hours in Baton Rouge we headed to New Orleans! People warned us that we probably wouldn’t like New Orleans because it was dirty and smelled. Turns out, we <3 New Orleans!

We stayed at the Crowne Plaza in the French Quarter right on Bourbon Street. If you go to New Orleans, I highly recommend this place! It isn’t cheap but it has the perfect location and it’s beautiful!

We had just checked into the hotel and were very excited to explore!

Our first stop was to check out Café Du Monde. All I have to say is yum, yum, yum!

Delicious beignets!

You could walk for hours in New Orleans, there is so much to look at.

We each had a strawberry daiquiri and explored the French Quarter.

We hung out by the pool on the roof of the hotel before heading to bed.

We had a great trip but after 5 days of driving and the hot temperatures in Texas, we ready to be home! 🙂

August 28, 2015

All of NYC in 3 Days

Today I’m going to share how to see everything in New York City in 3 days and not feel overwhelmed! The first time I went to NYC was with my husband when he proposed.

It was a great trip but I was also distracted with being newly engaged and my new ring. 😉

This time I went with my mom and we had a great time!

Day 1

We landed at LaGuardia really early and then took a taxi to our hotel. We stayed at Hampton Inn in Times Square.

The location of this hotel is perfect, I highly recommend this hotel!

After dropping off our bags we went to pick up our tickets for the hop-on-hop-off bus tour.

If you have read my past travel entries you know how much I love and recommend these tours! They are the best way to see big cities at your own pace! You can get on and off at all the big stops while enjoying the views from an open double decker bus. I bought the 3 day pass that included: Uptown Route, Downtown Route, Night Tour, ferry ride around the city, ferry ride to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, and tickets to Top of the Rock. This also included the Brooklyn Route and Harlem route, we didn’t do these two because the night tour covers Brooklyn and the Uptown Route covers Harlem.

This is what the routes look like! It covers everything!

The first day we did the Uptown Route.

We love sitting on top of the double decker bus. You can see things from here that you can’t from a car let alone the subway.

The first stop was Strawberry Fields in Central Park. This section of the park was named in memory of John Lennon.

Imagine circle

The bus then drove through Harlem. We didn’t get off anywhere but we did see a few cool things such as the Apollo Theater. This is the famous theater where the Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, and many others started their careers.

Then we went inside the Plaza Hotel.

They had an Eloise store! I was so excited because I LOVED these books/movies as a child.

We then got tickets to go inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met). We saw a lot of famous pieces.

Self Portrait by Vincent van Gogh

Bridge over a Pond of Water Lilies by Claude Monet

Our next adventure was a subway ride to the Brooklyn Bridge. You have to ride the subway at least once while in NYC.

It was a long walk but the views are breathtaking.

The final stop of the day was Times Square. Day 1 ended earlier than Day 2 and 3 because we were exhausted from waking up at 3 am!

Day 2

On Day 2 we did the Downtown Tour, took a ferry around the city, and the Night Tour.

The first thing stop on the Downtown Tour was the Freedom Tower (the new 9/11 building).

This is now the tallest building in NYC and it is beautiful!

The two 9/11 memorials are right next to the Freedom Tower.

They did a great job designing the memorial fountains.

Then we took a ferry ride around the city.

Such a big city!

We took a little stroll through the Waldorf Astoria. What a gorgeous hotel!

I have to admit I got lost once during this trip and it was trying to get to Grand Central Terminal. We made it though!

We finished the day by taking the Night Tour. Isn’t Times Square beautiful at night?

The views were fabulous and we had a great tour guide!

We loved this part of our trip!

Day 3

Our final day consisted of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and the Top of the Rock.

Trying to take a selfie at the Statue of Liberty.

The views of Manhattan from Liberty Island were gorgeous!

We were a little disappointed in Ellis Island. They need to make this place a lot more interesting and bring back artifacts that are currently in storage.

Our final stop of the day was the Rockefeller Center. We had tickets to the top which is called the Top of the Rock. This is my favorite place in NYC (and one of my favorite places in the world) for two different reasons: my husband proposed here and the views are to die for!

These views really show you how big NYC is.

This blog post just gives you a snapshot of our trip. Until next time NYC…

July 14, 2015

Our Amazing Race: Portugal and the Netherlands

Our last two stops were Lisbon, Portugal and Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Let me first say how excited I was to travel to Portugal! The pictures looked beautiful. We had a great time in Portugal, but it wasn’t as pretty as I was expecting and I didn’t realize how far you had to travel from Lisbon to get to the beach.

Here is an old fort/castle right on the water. It reminded me of building sandcastles as a child! 😉

We ate lunch along this street one day. This is the main shopping/restaurant area in Lisbon.

Our second day in Portugal was relaxing. We spent the entire day at the beach!

Now on to Amsterdam!!!

This city is beautiful! It reminds me so much of Venice with all the canals but without the Mediterranean feel.

Just being tourists and exploring!

Such a pretty city!

Here Judd was trying to find some Nutella gelato for his wife! 😉 He was successful!

Red Light District. It wasn’t quite as bad as I was expecting.

We visited the Anne Frank House.

At the Rijksmuseum to see the iAMsterdam sign.

Being a child at heart, Judd had to climb on top!

Aren’t these cakes amazing?

We loved Amsterdam!

Our Amazing Race (11 countries in 16 days) is over but we will never forget this incredible adventure!

July 14, 2015

Our Amazing Race: Morocco

We got to visit a continent that we’ve never been to (Africa) and a new country (Morocco)!

We actually stayed in Malaga, Spain and traveled to Tangier, Morocco by ferry. While planning this trip, I wasn’t impressed by the hotels in Tangier, so we decided to spend the nights in Malaga.

Morocco is such a great country to visit with an unique culture.

I love traveling the world and being married to this man!

Just walking around town!

Saying hi to a local camel. We went on a camel safari in Dubai so we decided not to ride them in Tangier!

We had a traditional Moroccan lunch with music!

We really enjoyed this and the food was actually delicious.

The decor at the restaurant was gorgeous!

We went to a carpet store. We didn’t buy anything because its not really my style but they were beautiful.

More shopping. I love shopping in unique places like this! We rarely go in to the standard souvenir shops where you can buy t-shirts and teddy bears, you can do that anywhere!

Aren’t these buildings so cool?

Now on to Portugal and then finally the Netherlands!

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