This holiday season was one of the most enjoyable we've
experienced in a long time. It wasn't
filled with the stress created from shopping, planning for family events or
even working in the ad industry which is crazy this time of year in itself.
This year it was mainly about the kids and celebrating with new friends. Santa even managed to find us even though we
weren't at our former So. Cal address.
He delivered some fun stuff for the boys that included a bevy of Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtle toys from full size action figures to Ninja specific Lego
sets. It was a lot of fun to watch the
boys open gifts with them both being at the perfect age to understand what is
happening. This really drove home the
Christmas spirit that was tough to capture in the days leading up the main
event.
Photo: Tracking Santa
via NORAD - Ninja Legos from Santa - Slater Rocks the Keyboard
The Iguana residents held a big Christmas dinner at the
poolside club house led by our friends Greg and Leah. About 30 or more attended the pot luck style
gathering which produced some of the tastiest dishes we have had in our 7 month
travels so far. Turkey, Broccoli casserole,
potatoes, salad and a large desert spread were just a few of the many items
that covered the tables. Early in the afternoon
there were many kids swimming in the pool or running down the slip and slide
that had been set up. After dinner, two
massive piñatas were hoisted for the kids assault until toys and candy were
spilling from the crushed Santa and Christmas Bear. Attire was Central American casual with flip
flops and tee shirts being traded for what normally would be sweaters or
beanies back at home. It was also great
to get to know some of our new friends a little better between all the food,
piñata mayhem and kid corralling. it was
a great holiday vibe that kind of reminded me of the Who's down in Whoville
getting together to ring in the holiday.
Photo: Dinner Spread
- Piñata Aftermath - Slip N' Slide
New Years was just straight up fun. We started out hanging with Greg and Leah for
dinner which was a tasty lasagna that Greg baked. Right before we sat down to eat the power
went down which had our hosts lighting small lanterns for a candle lit new
year's dinner. Unplanned, but pretty
nice addition to the ambiance of the evening.
Photo: Kids Taking
Dinner in the Dark Seriously
Many Tona's (one of Nicaragua's beers) and Flora De Cana
(rum) were consumed by Greg and I while the girls worked a South American shiraz-malbec
blend we've become fond of. While we
sipped some after dinner drinks, we debated what to do with the rest of the
evening. We had brought over a bag of
fireworks that we originally were going to shoot off at Christmas but never
quite made it out to the beach. The
decision made was to load up the golf cart with booze, fireworks and kids for a
ride up to the beach club where a big new year's hoe down was in full swing.
Photo: Golf Cart -
Girls Wine
Upon arrival, we greeted some friends and headed straight to
the beach to begin the show. There were
a couple of local kids on the beach that were pretty eager to help us shoot off
the rockets we'd brought. We were happy
to oblige, but they set off several rockets almost on top of the bag containing
the stash of fireworks. At any moment I
was expecting to see one of those warning videos you see on the news around the
4th of July play out for real in front of me.
While we had some nice rockets that shot high in the air and burst into
multi colored showers to entertain the kids, one of properties Directors, Ian,
brought the goods. Midway through our
disorganized show he brought out 4 stout looking boxes that shot colorful
explosions high into the air.
Photos: Burning Man Style Beach Fire Post
Fireworks Show
After the light show, we mingled and drank with a lot of the
same crowd from the Christmas gathering plus many vacationers that were posted
up here for the holidays. We returned
home after 11P with two exhausted boys and actually stayed up till midnight
which hasn't happened in a long time for us on New Years. Nica definitely knows how to party when
ringing in the New Year which was evident by fun time everyone was having at
the beach club.
Photo: Packed Beach
Bar
The holiday crowds have now disappeared at Iguana as we roll
into January. Were in full prep mode to
pull up stakes in four weeks to head to Bocas Del Toro, Panama. While Panama wasn't originally agenda for
this trip, we've really taken a plan it as we go along attitude on this vision
quest. Many people have given Bocas high
marks across the board so we excited to get leg 3 of the journey underway to kick off 2014.
