Remember when I posted about the banana’s growing in our backyard? Well we were wrong. They were plantains. They grew quite steadily too. One morning I noticed that one of the trees had fallen over, so Jim went out and hacked it with our machete, dumping it behind our house to return to the earth and the river. While he was at it he hacked off the massive plantains.

The girls were so fascinated with what Jim was doing, they watched attentively. Aren’t they the cutest?!

Then they got some morning love from me before I headed to yoga. Jim wanted to know if I wanted the plantains to cook with but I suggested that we throw them behind our house so that the monkeys would come back. We ate plenty plantains anyway. My idea actually worked and our friends Brad, Chandler, and Baby O got to see them while they were visiting.

But back to bananas. While BCO (Brad, Chandler, and Baby O) stayed with us Chandler got some of those tiny bananas for Owen. He loved them and I just think they are the cutest things ever. They are a little sweeter than regular banana in my opinion, but otherwise just smaller. I see them in the grocery stores here in the US too. Do any of you prefer them or use them in particular dishes or dessert?

Last week, while taking my daily walk along the beach, I noticed an abundance of tiny jelly creatures on the shore. As you can see they are mostly clear with bright blue tentacles. They varied in size from about 1/3 of an inch to a full inch. I went back the next day with my camera hoping to capture these strange little guys, but most had been swept back out to sea. The photos show only two of the handful I found. Their shape and color is so intriguing to me. So different than the chubby, round, clear ones we had in Saudi growing up.

I hadn’t been quading since I was a kid. All the neighborhood kids would get together and quad in the desert.

My friend Raeann who lives in our community invited me to quad down the beach to the estuary for sunset. It was fun riding fast along the beach where I walk every day. We did a couple jumps by the estuary and then chatted until the sun set. Riding back was fun too but with the light having gone a bit flat, I didn’t see a hole that I drove though. Ah well, just made for a more bumpy and exciting ride. I think we’ll go for a ride up into the mountains this week. Should be fun!

Side Note: Raeann owns The Tree Houses Hotel by the Arenal Volcano.