Costa Rica Looks Amazing

April 2, 2012 by Mom on the Make Leave a Comment

Costa Rica Waterfall

In order to get my mind away from my sometimes humdrum daily duties of shuttling my kids to and fro from one activity to another, cooking meals, cleaning house and walking the dog, I let my mind drift to my next dream vacation spot. Typically, the spot that enters my mind is Hawaii.

I have been to Kauai three times and Oahu once. My idyllic spot to dream about is Hanalei Bay on the North Shore of Kauai. The waterfalls seem to go on for miles, the waves are just right for a beginner surfer, and you can really grab a local flavor there that feels worlds apart from the touristy areas.

However, I have a new dream spot. You guessed it – the land of adventure, Costa Rica.

A friend of mine and her family visit Costa Rica once a year for their annual vacation. I used to always only consider Hawaii as the perfect destination, but when my friend’s family described waking up one morning to a herd of turtles on the beach right outside their home, I quickly became more interested in expanding my horizons.

I love turtles and all sea creatures, except maybe piranhas. 🙂 This family would also describe how the home they rented came with a chef and a housekeeper and that all of this was included in their package deal. The package deal was significantly less than a package to Hawaii.

Researching a Trip to Costa Rica

Up until two years ago, I had never heard of VRBO (Vacation Rentals By Owner). Whenever we planned our vacations, we would just go to priceline and find the best hotel deal we could find. I first heard about VRBO from my friend who goes to Costa Rica. At first, I didn’t think much of it, and then about a year later, I decided to check out VRBO for a vacation we were planning to Lake Tahoe during August.

Well, I could not believe how much more space and amenities you can get with a VRBO than with a hotel. We booked a three bedroom condo walkable to a private beach that came with a fully equipped kitchen, laundry room and new carpeting for $170 per night. If we had chosen to stay at the nearby four star hotel, the cost per night would have been $320 per night. The hotel would have given us one room with two beds and then a rollaway bed for our four year old. Talk about a Major Difference in accommodations! Needless to say, this trip opened our eyes in a BIG way about the advantages of checking in with VRBO when planning any vacation, short or long.

So, when I started considering Costa Rica more closely, I went to VRBO immediately and could not believe

Costa Rica Scenery

what I found. This particular Costa Rica Vacation Home is right on the beach and sleeps up to 11 people and rents for only $2200 per week for high season and $1900 per week for low season. We are considering going with another family of five, so divide those fees in half, and that is how much we would have to pay on a beautiful Costa Rican beach in a spacious home. The reviews on VRBO are typically very descriptive and are a huge help when trying to plan the perfect vacation.

Costa Rica Turtles

I keep hearing about the magnificent turtles in Costa Rica, so I decided to do a little research on them. It turns out there are six different types of turtle species in Costa Rica including the following:

Loggerhead
Olive Ridley
Leatherback
Hawksbill
Green
Pacific Green

It sounds like trying to see a turtle nesting time take place should be a priority. Apparently in January, the Costa Rican beaches are swarming with Leatherback turtles. The huge adult females who are six feet long will dig large holes in the sand to lay their eggs. At the same time, tiny hatchlings are digging out of the hole and immediately run to the water as fast as they can. It has been described to look like little wind up turtle toys, watching their legs spin around super fast.

Costa Rica Sea Turtles

The male turtles will run for the water and never be seen again on land for the rest of their 100 year life. The females, on the other hand, come back to the beach to have their babies.

If you want to catch a glimpse of this extraordinary sight, you have to be on the beach during the night. The hatchlings will not emerge from the holes during the daylight because the sun is too hot. This is just simply amazing to me an definitely on my “to do” list.

This definitely sounds like an experience you will not soon forget. Did I mention that the six foot female Leatherbacks weight one ton?

Costa Rica Factoids

Costa Rica is located in Central America with Nicaragua to the north and Panama the southeast. The Pacific

Costa Rica Map

ocean lies to the west of Costa Rica and the Caribbean Sea to the east.

Costa Rica is also comprised of several islands. Cocos Island is the farthest island from continental Costa Rica at 300 miles away and Calero Island is the largest of the islands at 58 square miles.

The seasons in Costa Rica are determined by the amount of rainfall during a particular period. There are two seasons: the summer (December to April), or “dry” season and the winter (May to November), or “rainy” season.

The literacy rate in Costa Rica is at 94.9%, which is one of the highest in Latin America.

The primary language is Costa Rican spanish.

My Final Thoughts

Hopefully Costa Rica will be my next big adventure. 🙂 It sounds like the perfect mix of adventure and relaxation. I will keep you posted on my Costa Rica plans.

Dolphin Tale: Super Sweet and Inspiring Movie

April 1, 2012 by Mom on the Make Leave a Comment

Winter from Dolphin Tale with Sawyer

I just finished watching Dolphin Tale with my kids, and I have to say, this is an adorable and very inspiring story. The picture to the left shows the main character, Sawyer, hugging Winter. Winter is the star of the show and the inspiration for the book and movie. I love this photo.

Quick Synopsis of Dolphin Tale

Based on a true story, Winter is an injured bottlenose dolphin that lands on a beach in Clearwater, Florida in 2005. A 12 year old boy, Sawyer, finds her on the beach wrapped in rope. Her mouth was shut closed by the rope.

The squad from Clearwater Marine Aquarium gets word of the injured dolphin and comes to the rescue quickly.

After some time in rehabilitation, it becomes clear that Winter’s tail is so infected that in order to save her life, they need to remove her tail. Sawyer then sets out to find a way that Winter can swim again and recruits the help of a prosthetic specialist (Morgan Freeman), to design a new tail for Winter. After several attempts, they find the perfect fitting tail that Winter utilizes correctly. The first few tails that Freeman creates, Winter moves her tail from side to side instead of up and down. This type of side to side movement puts Winter in danger due to the stress on her spinal cord. Dolphins need to move their tails up and down when the swim, not side to side.

I found this movie to be very moving and incredibly inspirational for kids. Sawyer was clearly enthralled with Winter and wanted to do anything he could to save her life. The dedication and love displayed through this little boy was wonderful to watch. It is a great illustration of how if a child has just one cause or passion they truly believe in, their ability to grow both emotionally and intellectually shoots through the roof.

What was Different between the movie Dolphin Tale and the Actual Events?

I always find it interesting to compare the events in a movie based on a true story with the actual events of

Winter’s prosthetic gel fin

the true story. Dolphin Tale did a good job of sticking to the story with a few minor differences.

1. Dolphin Tale shows Winter being discovered by a fisherman and a boy at Clearwater Beach in Florida. In Real Life, Winter was found at Mosquito Lagoon by a fisherman. Apparently a boy was not involved in the rescue (would have been neat though). 🙂

2. Dolphin Tale explains that Winter’s tail needs to be amputated due to an infection. In Real Life, Winter’s tail naturally fell off due to a loss of blood supply to the tail. This loss of blood supply was caused by the rope around the tail.

3. Dolphin Tale shows Morgan Freeman, a VA Doctor developing a suitable tail for Winter over a period of a few weeks. In Real Life, this process took over a year and was developed by Kevin Carroll and his team at Hanger Prosthetics and Orthotics. This is typical for a movie to change a timeline. I think this movie handled this difference very well. After all, we only have two hours to cram this whole story in and keep it riveting.

4. Dolphin Tale shows Winter washing up on shore during the summer. In Real Life, Winter was found at the Lagoon on December 10. The Summer idea fit perfectly with the inclusion of Sawyer and using his summer break to grow by leaps and bounds in his maturity and happiness level.

5. Dolphin Tale depicts Clearwater Marine Aquarium as financially distressed. They hold a “Save Winter”

Clearwater Marine Aquarium

day to raise funds for the aquarium and keep it from being bought by a businessman who wants to convert the property into expensive condos. In Real Life, Clearwater Aquarium was not experiencing any financial troubles. This one makes me happy as I grew very fond of the Aquarium’s efforts to rehabilitate injured marine life.

I wanted to run out to my local marine life hospital and donate my time and money. I just love marine life, especially those precious bottlenose dolphins. 🙂 I also wanted to throw my kids in the car and go check out Clearwater Marine Aquarium. We have not had the time to visit the Aquarium quite yet, but we will!

Marine Life Aquariums and How they Teach and Inspire

Marine Life Aquariums have always been fascinating to me. I am a swimmer, and I love watching the dolphins and other marine life swim so effortlessly through the water. As a kid, I would dream about working with dolphins at a big aquarium and teaching others about marine life. However, the biology, chemistry and other science classes were not my cup of tea. 🙂 I suppose I can donate my time at an aquarium and learn and teach at the same time. It is on my to do list.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

One of my all time favorite aquariums is the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The sea otters are just the beginning of the large variety of marine life they share with us here. I love the setting of the aquarium – breathtaking scenery, to say the least.

My kids thoroughly enjoy our visits to this unbelievable visit with marine life. The aquarium makes sure to educate its visitors on maintaining a healthy environment for our marine animal friends by keeping the water clean.

Our favorite exhibits are the sea otters (boy, I wish I could swim on my back like they do) and penguins.

In conclusion, I highly recommend watching Dolphin Tale and visiting an aquarium with your kids soon. SO much fun for everyone!

Seatbelt Bags – Could I finally have found the perfect handbag?

March 28, 2012 by Mom on the Make Leave a Comment

Camel Large Satchel Seatbelt Bag

I am a handbag fanatic and thoroughly enjoy the hunt for the perfect bag.

The whole process of checking out a new handbag is an absolute treat for me. 🙂

My research and discovery process will typically include:

Trying new styles (hobo, clutch, satchel, tote etc…)
Checking out the compartments that are inside
Determining if I need a short or long strap
Asking myself, “is the material waterproof?”
Will the purse stand on its own or slouch when I put it on a table?
If one of my kids draws on it, will I easily be able to clean it?
Will I feel stylish carrying it?
Can I easily fit my iphone in the interior compartments?
Will I need to buy a different size wallet so that it will fit better in my new purse?

After trying many different brands and materials including leather, faux leather, vinyl, cotton, straw etc…, I have finally found the handbag for me. The style, as you might have already guessed, is the Harveys seatbelt bag.

The History of Seatbelt Bags

Red Large Tote Seatbelt Bag

The company, Harvey’s Seatbelt Bags, was founded in 1997 by an Orange County, California husband and wife team, Dana and Melanie Harvey. The couple was in the process of restoring their 1950 Buick. When it was time to install the seatbelts, Dana decided to use the extra seatbelt material to create a handbag for Melanie.

Well, of course, she loved her handbag.

From there, they realized that this handbag was pretty darn unique and sturdy and fashionable, so they started to create the bags for friends and family. The bags were very well received, and this lead to Dana and Melanie using their garage to create these wonderful seatbelt bags for gifts and for a business venture.

The Buick that served as the initial inspiration for the first seatbelt bag was then sold to fund their growing business. So, that Buick played a very important role in the phenomenon of the seatbelt bag. 🙂

Style and Design of the Seatbelt Bag

When Dana and Melanie started out, they only made single color bags. They created their first print bag in the summer of 2006 and have not looked back. The colors and designs run the gamut from silver to aqua to black to polka dotted and so on.

Black Medium Tote Seatbelt Bag

The bags are offered in many different styles including:

Satchels
Messenger Bags
Laptop Bags
Baguettes
Totes – Large, Medium or Small
Backpacks

The multi-colored styles are very fun and when running around town, these handbags grab a lot of attention.

Even though they have been around for 15 years now, it always amazes me that the seatbelt bag look is still a new one for a lot of people.

I always receive compliments when carrying mine around town.

My personal experience with the seatbelt bag

I personally own the Large Satchel in champagne color, the large tote in the chocolate, and the medium tote in black. I thoroughly enjoy all of the colors and sizes.

The next one I’d like to add to my collection is the medium tote in teal color. It looks so refreshing for spring. 🙂

Treecycle Large Tote Seatbelt Bag

My three favorite features of this bag are:

Unique look
Sturdiness
Easily stands on its own with built in feet
And, of course, Looks Amazing

Since there are little metal feet at the bottom of the totes and satchel style bags, they stand up so easily, which I love.

Since my bags tend to also serve as a mobile office for me, being able to stand the bag up, as I sort through the contents is a major plus.

Teal Medium Tote Seatbelt Bag

Since I mentioned the cute teal color medium tote, I thought I’d include a picture to the left. The small tote is big enough for a wallet, water bottle, keys, sunglasses and a few odds and ends. The medium tote in black, as pictured above, is slightly bigger and can hold a few additional items like an umbrella and camera for example.

The Sterling Baguette style looks very stylish and fun as well. To be honest, this one is on my wish list as well.

Sterling Boxy Tote Seatbelt Bag

I’ve included a photo of this one to the right. The baguette is smaller than the totes in height, but it could be great for the essential wallet, keys, phone, and sunglasses.

Sometimes I think I should carry much smaller purses like this one, so I’m not tempted to carry around too much. 🙂

I think seatbelt bags are absolutely wonderful, and they have made me realize that, yes indeed, there is a perfect handbag.

I know it sounds silly, but I actually look forward to picking up my seatbelt bag every morning so I can show it off. 🙂

Mom on the Make

Finding fun amidst the chaos of Motherhood