Celebrating 10 Years of Marital Bliss: Arenal, Costa Rica

In April of 2005 my husband and I committed ourselves as husband and wife in front of our family and friends in not just one ceremony, but two. It was a beautiful weekend, perfect in every way (except the car accident, but that’s another story). For our 5th wedding anniversary, my son was still a nursing infant and I had just returned to work, so there was no grand trip to commemorate the occasion. However a few years ago we both agreed the 10th would be celebrated in style. At 5 and 2.5, the kids were old enough to be left with a responsible grandparent, allowing us to take a big chuck of time away. We had miles, and a quick search found we could use them to fly 1st class to Costa Rica. The plan was set, 6 days in tropical paradise, time to step away and reconnect with each other.

10 years of wedded bliss

We spent several weeks preparing our children, preping the school, and setting up my mom. Once Abuela flew in, the kids were more than happy to play with her and let us go. We were free!

Flying first class into San Jose

My husband had the forsight this trip to use a travel agent. Pacific Tradewinds was fantastic, arranged all the hotels, transit and tours. Once we landed in San Jose, the driver for our private transfer met us and drove the three hours to the Arenal Springs Resort and Spa, our 1st stop. A beautiful report in the Arenal Volcano area, our room had a view of the volcano, and rose pedals and wine to welcome us.

A gift awaiting us in the room to celebrate 10 years

This picture was taken through the glass front doors to our suite at the resort

Nice way to relax once after our long journey to the resort

The next day, after enjoying the pool in the morning, we went on a Arenal Hanging Bridges tour by Canoa Aventura, were we walked over the canopy of the jungle while exploring and viewing the local wildlife.

Where we spent our morning

At the Arenal Volcano Look Out, at the start of the Hanging Bridge Tour

The arial bridges let us walk up over the canopy to see the jungle from up high

Spider Monkey up high in the trees

That’s a wild turkey, believe it or not

Pit vipers, one of the most poisionous snakes in the world. To be fair, I didn’t know that until after we too the extermely close picture

After a few days in paradise, we were starting to relax and reconnect in a way we hadn’t in years. We talked to the kids everyday, but we were actively taking the time to focus on ourselves and our marriage. This trip was about us.

To be continued…