We have been living in our own little world for months now and have had very little interaction with our friends from “home” other than a few emails, random texts and the occasional skype calls. We’ve talked on facebook and a little through the blog, but for the most part we’ve been completely on our own.

Two months ago, we were sitting at a restaurant on the beach having dinner and I took a picture of the sunset on my phone and immediately sent it to our friends Jason and Jill back home with the subject “You should visit”.  That night Jason wrote back with his usual humor and said something like “I’ll shovel your driveway for $1000 a day and we’re there.”

A few days later, we got another email that said “If you’re serious, we’re actually thinking about looking at tickets.” Erin and I got so excited we immediately wrote back and confirmed our excitement and that the invitation was very real. We had extra space in the house, if they could get down here we’d put them up.

A few more exchanges went by and about a week later we were forwarded airline ticket confirmations for Jason, Jill and their girls with another note “We weren’t joking.”

SWEET! We were so excited we couldn’t even stand it. The kids immediately started counting down the days until their arrival. Starting with about 40 days.

The day of arrival was finally upon us after weeks of anticipation and planning. We had moved into our house the day before and spent the morning getting everything ready for company. Energy was in the air. About 30 minutes before they arrived, I thought the kids were going to burst.

Needless to say, we were all a tad excited, and we each had different reasons to be excited. The kids were excited to see friends from home, Erin and I were excited to get to see Costa Rica through fresh eyes again and of course to have close friends from home to spend time with.

Our expectations and dreams were exceeded beyond belief. It was the perfect week. It could not have been more fun. We laughed, traveled, played and enjoyed every second of it.

Mid-week, we were also joined by another family friend (Brent and his family) and they stayed with us for a night and also spend some time next door at our old stomping grounds, the Hotel Luna Llena. They are in La Fortuna right now and will be coming back for a few days to stay with us before they head home.

We also had some other family friends in town, Marc and Tracy + Family, that attended the same spanish school and surf school as us. They came over for a few afternoons by the pool and also joined us on the Marlin Del Rey trip.

It was a busy, energized and fun-filled week for sure and one I will never forget.

We were so sad when the week ended and we had to say goodbye to our friends. There was a air of loss all day as we re-grouped and came back together as 5. All 5 of us were so grateful to have the time to spend with our friends, and it helped us realize even more why we love Costa Rica so much. It is a great place to share with friends and family.

We’re all hoping that we can have a repeat next year and do it again. It was so so so so amazing.