Friday, July 31, 2026

July

July was short at home with our long trip but we managed to survive the Atlanta heat and fit in some fun before school starts next month.

World Cup and Braves nights at the pool
Yacht Rock Revue in Smyrna

Avery (11 years, 11 months) - In probably a bigger update for her parents than her, Avery lost her last baby tooth. The Tooth Fairy has officially retired from the Holden house. She spent the few weeks we had at home with friends and doing a one week Creativity Camp where she did lots of different craft projects, particularly enjoying photography (not so much Letter Printing).

Some of her Creativity Camp work
Creativity Camp photo shoot
Cow Day at Chick-fil-A

Parker (14 years, 8 months) - Parker fit in a few more volunteer hours with YMSL but spent most of his free time at the pool and tennis courts with friends.

Carter (16 years, 2 months) - Carter spent the first 2 weeks of the months at Georgia Tech doing a summer program on Urban Planning through the College of Design. He has been very interested in studying this area in college so this was a good opportunity to let him experience college life and confirm his interests. Carter loved the program particularly hanging out with friends every evening and came home ready to immediately go to college. His class was well done with tons of activities including getting to visit different areas of the city to see Urban Design in process, meeting with the City of Atlanta Planning department and completing final presentations on how they would develop various transitional areas of the city.

Siblings - And of course we fit in some time at a Braves game!

Wednesday, July 29, 2026

Costa Rica - Playa Conchal (part 4)

 Our last activity of the trip was a sunset catamaran. We took a 30 minute ride up the coast before stopping for snorkeling, water activities and a light dinner. After finding a perfect rainbow, we slowly meandered back to the dock watching the sunset and following a dolphin pod. The next day, we spend an easy final day at the hotel before heading back home. It was an incredible trip!

One final sloth at the Liberia airport

Tuesday, July 28, 2026

Costa Rica - Playa Conchal (part 3)

While we did some horseback riding earlier in the trip, we took advantage of the beach to do a quick ride to the water. We got a ride to Diamante Eco Adventure Park and thank goodness because a good part of the trip was off roading that definitely wasn't on Waze! There are a lot of activities at the park but we stuck with just the horseback riding before spending more time at the hotel complex.