pura vida!

it's finally time for some pics from costa rica! the beach was incredibly beautiful - really soft black sand, with small waves because we were situated in a bay. i took advantage with a little art work:
here we are on our first day in costa rica exploring the beaches:


this is where we spent most of the week - next to the 3 tier pool complete with swim up bar and snack hut!


this was one of our biggest adventures during the trip - zip lining! alex is a little afraid of heights, so this was particularly triumphant for him :) all told, we went across 11 lines and 3 suspension bridges. i even took one of the long lines upside down! here we are halfway through the trip on a platform above the tree tops:


we also took one night to escape the resort and explore a small town nearby. it was really fun to explore a little of the local scene, do some serious souvenir shopping, and eat some fresh seafood:


although we did have some rain during our trip, we also got some beautiful sunsets. here's the view from the balcony of our "bungalow":


the resort also had several restaurants to choose from and all of the food was delicious. here we are in the main restaurant on our last night:

that's just a taste of our incredibly relaxing and beautiful trip. more on costa rica next time...

my new last name

i know i owe you all pictures and stories of costa rica (don't worry, they're coming), but for now, i want to share a revelation with you. as you know or will some day find out, after you get married, everyone LOVES using your new last name. loves it. which is nice and fun and also totally bizarre. so far i've made the switch on facebook, but still need to do so with email, voice mail, the social security administration...you get the idea.

well, today my grandpa called just to say hi and when i picked up, he said "hi there mrs. heacock", pronounced "hee-cock". my boss had done the same thing earlier in the day. when i corrected my grandpa, he said, "oh it's probably because people are used to saying peacock".

apparently my new last name is just one letter off from the most pretentious of birds, and that is causing massive waves of mispronunciation. maybe most of you already noticed that, but i never did! who knew??