Costa Rica - February 2009

In February, we went to Costa Rica with a group from the BYU Center for Entrepreneurship.



Costa Rica is a land of stately churches,



quiet courtyards,



and endless beaches.



We stayed at a remote resort with this beautiful vista by day,



topped only by the view at sunset.



One day we joined this adventurous group of scuba divers,

and put our trust in this intrepid captain and his tiny boat.

We did two nice dives in the pleasantly warm water, and then enjoyed a well-earned lunch at this picturesque beach.

Another day we traveled to the Manuel Antonio National Park,

and hiked into the rainforest,

where we found huge bamboo thickets,

tree sloths,

and hundreds of squirrel monkeys.

Costa Rica is haven for eco-adventure, and their ziplines are world famous. We couldn't resist, so we suited up,

listened carefully to the orientation, and then took to the trees.

Each platform is 40 to 80 feet up in the trees with beautiful views of the rainforest and the coast.

We did 14 ziplines in all, the longest of which was 2,400 ft, almost half a mile!

On each platform we clipped in,

then pushed off into space.

The exhilaration shown on everyone's face.

This was the conventional technique,

this, the not-so-conventional.



As we ended our visit, we decided that Costa Rica is a land of adventure,

and beautiful sunsets.

Hawaii - Jan 2009

In January we went to Hawaii and stayed in our new Marriott timeshare at Ko Olina on the western shore of Oahu.



Allison and Matt, along with the Jacob and Will joined us for a wonderful week.



We did the tourist things; the Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor,



incredibly still leaking oil after 67 years.



We visited the BYU-Hawaii campus and met with the people we will be working with starting this July.



We passed by the beautiful Hawaiian Temple in Laie which is closed for remodeling for two years.



Colleen and I played a couple of rounds of golf at the nearby Ko Olina Golf Club. That's our condos right behind the 8th hole.

The best times of the week were spent at the beach on this spectacular lagoon in front of the condos.

Here's the Robbins family out for a stroll on the beach.

Jacob loved the warm water and low surf in the lagoon.

He wanted to spend all day at the beach.

Will was just happy to be included in all the activities.

Jacob also loved the sandy beach pool next to the condos.

Will preferred to wiggle his toes in the sand and dig with his shovel.

Poppy did his daily swim in the lagoon and came out to find Jacob waiting for him.

Poppy also got to spend some quality time with Will and his shovel.

Will couldn't wait to tell Tootsie all about his day as they took a late afternoon break by the pool.

This is a beautiful sand castle built by the whole Robbins family, then destroyed by Jacob just before the picture.

It was a great week, much enjoyed by all.

Oh, I almost forgot. It seems that Captain Ahab wasn't killed by the Great White Whale after all. Yeah, turns out he retired to Oahu where he walks the beaches and grumps around about his wooden leg.