off to arasha

The day after Thanksgiving we headed off to a resort-type place to that we went to once before - called Arasha.  It was a place that I have wanted to bring my mom to ever since we went.  There are little workshops there that I knew she would like (making chocolate and coffee) and it is warm without being hot.  We had another family join us for part of the time as well.  That made it extra fun for the kids.  They had a great time together the first day (we only overlapped with them part of the time).  Swimming was the main event.

Is it Trey (our friend) or is it an crocodile?

I had also wanted to have my mom try a Los Coquieros Coco ice cream (?) bar.  They are amazingly delicious and since my mom is a coconut kind of girl, I knew she would love them.  Plus it gave me an excuse to eat more myself.

In between swimming, we went off to make some chocolate.  First, roast the beans....

Then rub off the charred skins from the beans....

Then it is time to grind.

Grinding is no easy task.

Look at that effort.

Mom pounded it out.  There were a bunch of guys there that were very impressed with her strength!  Bien Fuerte!

Then we made hot chocolate - heat the water, add the ground chocolate and some sugar.

Then we cooked down the chocolate, added more milk and sugar and got to enjoy some chocolate on fresh apple and banana.

We also enjoyed a little mini golf.  Maddy wasn't into playing so she took some shots with her iPod.

 Eric the one-handed, cup of diet-pepsi (of course) in the other hand, show-off golfer won, but just barely.  I pushed him to excellence....

 You may notice that Lucy is markedly absent from these photos.  She was having a few issues.  Issues of a Lucy nature.  And even when she was welcomed back in to participate, she decided to keep her distance.  Don't worry, she ended the time with her usual bright smile.

The next morning we had a pool-side visitor.  He wasn't very chatty and was rather shy.  He pretty much kept to himself the whole time, but still stuck close to us in his solitude.

 We stayed in a great cabin with room for 9 and fans for one.  It was rather warm, but we managed to still get a bit of sleep.  The beds also doubled as dining room seating.

We brought breakfast and lunch food and ate dinners at the restaurant.  This particular lunch was sandwiches.  From the look of Lucy's lunch it looks more like torn up bread, but it was, at one time, an actual sandwich.

We also made coffee, swam a whole lot more, talked and laughed with our friends, laid poolside with Grandma and numerous other things.  It was a great time together and it feels like it is already time to go back.  Too bad we can't pack in another visit before Grandma heads back to Canada.