Stacy came to our village from another nearby village where she had been teaching.  She really likes kids, and she also loves dogs.  The boys got to live vicariously through her semi-adoption of Charlie, a beagle-like local mutt with a lot of moxie.

Stacy came along with us to the Buena Vista Canopy and Spa Tour, which is a day trip including a 400-meter water slide on the slopes of Rincon de la Vieja, a higher-altitude national park complete with volcano vistas, hot springs, thick forests, and numerous morpho butterflies.

Stacy loves ziplining!

Canopy zipline tour, Rincon de la Vieja

Stacy loves volcanic mud!

Volcanic spa treatments using fumarole mud from Rincon de la Vieja!

Stacy loves speaking Spanish! Especially when our guides are so chusco….

Hot Latin men on horseback! Mmm-mmm. I so need to photoshop out that fugly Oregon-shirt dude.

Stacy loves Charlie the dog!  Here we are at a gelato place outside our village.

Charlie in our local gelateria

All in all, Stacy is fun.  And the boys now know that Stacy has a mom in New Jersey who might just be willing to keep an eye on Charlie if Stacy decides to take Charlie from Costa Rica to the U.S.  Stacy is working on her mother, wearing her mother down so that she’ll let her adopt Charlie, my son writes in his journal.  I know that the boys, too, would love a dog, and yet our roadschooling & traveling lifestyle won’t allow for it.  Spending time with Stacy has enabled both of them enjoy a little bit of vicarious living with a devoted, adorable pet.

Stacy on the lookout for Costa Rican crocodiles on the Rio Tempisque

Good luck to you in Guatemala and in Morristown, Stacy.  We’re so happy we could hang out in Costa Rica and get up close & personal with no fewer than sixteen (dieciseis) crocodiles (cocodrilos americanos).