Tuomas 7 years!!!

The birthday boy was patient enough to wait in bed until I got his cake ready. He was sooo happy and the cut in his finger didn't hurt anymore.
Presents were hidden underneath a blanket on the dinner table: a skate board, magnifying glass for studying all the small critters, a wooden sign with his name on it and a can of sweet corn he had wished for.
Chocolate-banana- strawberry cake smothered with whipped cream for breakfast. Tuomas said that it tasted better than store-bought ones. I believe him (since I baked the cake...). It was a lot of work since we don't have an electric mixer and I had to do it manually!
There is a shop close to the boys' school that does wooden signs. The guy there speaks hardly any English, but this is what I managed to order from him using my dictionary.
The boys were fascinated when I showed them what can be done with a magnifying glass. We just have to be careful not to set the whole neighborhood on fire later on in the dry season!
Tuomas wanted sushi for birthday lunch.
The waiter surprised him with some cake!
After lunch we went to the skate park. We had drinks, chips and cookies for the boys' friends there and had a small birthday fiesta. Dylan and Tuomas are good friends.
Los chicas: Jimena, Ariadna and Dana.
Most of the gang: Juan, Martin, Diego, Johann, Ariadna, Alexander, Dylan, Jimena and Dana.

Snake in paradise

Tuomas and I spotted this cute little snake in the citrus tree next to the pool. I hadn't really noticed that we have a citrus tree there and was surprised to see a fruit there, too. A fruit, just behind the snake.
He was a quick one, apparently non-venomous, but still we kept our distance.
Maybe the snake was a bad omen. Tuomas cut his finger on the shower door and was taken to the doctor, since it looked so deep it might have needed stitches. Luckily none were needed, but he wasn't too happy on the last night being six years old.

Pulla!

I wanted pulla. And I knew I had the ingredients. I had bought levadura (dry yeast) from the local grocery store during our first week here. And we had leche in the fridge, huevos, too. And the blanco stuff, harina y azucar. Mantequilla to add to the dough and also spread inside the cinnamon rolls with canela y azucar. And a bottle of wine to use as a rolling pin (I used Chilean Santa Carolina, 2006, but I doubt it makes a huge difference in the end). I was a bit hesitant about using dry yeast and the directions being a bit vague, but I wanted pulla so bad that I gave it a try even after realizing that the core ingredient of Finnish pulla, cardamomo, was missing! Working up the dough with my bare hands was fun albeit a lot of work. I've usually been lazy and let the machine take care of it.
Ta-dah! Raw korvapuustis are considered a delicacy in our family. My father loves them as do my boys, except for Tuomas. I had one.... or maybe two. The combination of butter (and not margarine!!!), sugar and cinnamon is mouthwatering.
I let them rest for about 15 minutes before baking. Cold milk is best with fresh pulla, the bottle was just used as a rolling pin and left un-opened.
Some people brush the cinnamon rolls with eggs before heat treatment at +225C, but I often skip that. We ate more than ten, but there are some left for breakfast.

Random pictures, random thoughts

Hacienda Pinilla, 15 th green again. Golf is very demanding in this heat, demanding for a beginner (i.e. me) and even more demanding with 3 boys. Our family golf rounds have been miles from fun: somebody is always grumpy, not wanting to play, fighting who gets to drive the golf cart. Maybe one day...
Tuomas on Risto's patineta. Risto enjoys skateboarding with the teenagers. Once I was there with him and talked for a couple of hours to children more of his age who were watching the skateboarders. There was Juan, Dylan, Mariano, Adriana, Alexander and me with my dictionary! But I learned a lot during those couple of hours and not just Spanish.
Yeah, a palm tree. Looks wonderful, doesn't it. I should post pictures about not so nice sceneries, too.
Jaakko made me a card on my nameday. I wrote first what he wanted to say and then he copied it. One spelling mistake and one word written half-way right to left.
A mango tree at the skate park. The children threw rocks to get their hands on the raw fruit and then gnawed on the hard fruit. I managed to ask it they didn't get a stomach ache for eating that, but apparently the taste (which could be recognized as a mango, but .... raw, extremely raw) was so good in their opinion that a minor ache didn't bother them.
Lizard hiding behind the cacti at the golf course. They are beautiful creatures.
I cropped the awful looking trash cage on a pole from the left and just wanted to show you this colourful house. Vibrant colours!
Coco Beach Skate Park in all its glory.

A waterfall less than an hours drive from home. The water was a bit chilly.
But Tuomas said that the water trickling down next to the main waterfall was very warm.

Sabanero at Santa Cruz fiesta. Unfortunately the caballo was too fast and his nose was cut off.
There were marimba players almost at every corner. Wonderful music!

What a rhythm he got out of his "cheese grater"!
We had lunch at the local tortilla factory. Best casado we've had in Costa Rica!

La cocina.
Ok, so where's the induction stove?
Carne.
Looked like it was more normal for kids to ride a horse than a bike.
Hacienda Pinilla golf course, 11th green. Risto's first birdie!!!!
15th green. The sun was setting and we couldn't play further.

Animals

Risto is not afraid of holding these creatures.
A huge grasshopper on our window sill. It was over 20 cm long.
Howler monkey mother and baby at the waterfall.
Dead snake in San José.
Tarantula (?) just outside the house. We had one in our bedroom, too, but kindly escorted it out helped with a coating of raid and a looooong stick.