Thank you for for making this possible!

The warmth and kindness you've shown us, the way you've opened your home to us has been nothing short of amazing. You're incredible hosts and wonderful people. We've had so much fun spending time with your happy family. Thank you for everything, from showing us around to feeding us delicious meals, to playing every board and card game imaginable! Neal is a terrific tour guide, so full of knowledge. Emily has so much patience with the kids! And who doesn't love cuddles from a happy baby?

Finding a work life balance and making sure we get to do this for as long as possible is no small feat. We appreciate every opportunity we are given. Spending time with this sweet girl is one of our favorite ways to earn more days abroad. Thank you for sharing her with us and for trusting us with her. We can't wait to see you folks again real soon!

Visiting the beach in England was so surprising for us.  We didn't expect all that sunshine and we'd never seen a beach before that was all rocks!  We collected so many, and it's so hard to choose which to leave behind.  We had ice cream (twice!) and got to visit a few really cute little shops.  We even bought a couple of cool fossils and loved visiting a museum called Dinosaurland that was FILLED to the brim with fossils and crystals and gems.  Oh my!

Sometimes our biggest supporters come from places we didn't expect. You probably don't even realize the impact you are having on us by just doing what you do. But thank you for your support, your engagement, your encouragement. I keep being gently pushed in a better direction because of your feedback and the example you set. Thank you for just moving this world in the way that you do.

It's hard to raise little humans without taking a step back to evaluate the baggage you bring from your own childhood. The world changes with us & around us. We keep up, fall behind, catch up when we can. It can be really easy to get caught up in everything that's going on & overlook the small details that made you who you are. Social media allows us a peek into the lives of people we knew back then, and remind us to see the world from our (inner) child's point of view. 

Science can be so cool and equally scary.  Thank you for turning us on to the coolest website! We've been poking around all over it ever since. It's even sparked a few assignment ideas. Luckily, we have not been eaten yet by Screw Worm Flies or their larvae. We all have a lot of mosquito bites but we seem to be free of Malaria. Thank you for your heartfelt support and your tales of what to avoid in Costa Rica. We didn't get stranded without a car where the buses don't go too many times. 

Gig work is an amazing way to fill in some gaps when we aren't abroad. Gig work helps us to be able to follow our dreams and give these kids the opportunity of a lifetime and a lifetime of opportunity! We whole heartedly appreciate all of the opportunities you've created for us and for the support you give us time and time again. Your art is incredible and your spirit is contagious. We are so lucky to have you on our side.

We only had 12% totality. It was a partial eclipse here in Costa Rica. To the naked eye, you'd barely have known anything was going on. The sky grew a little duller & the shadows under the trees grew a little weaker. We were prepared though! We kept those glasses you gave us in perfect condition & made sure to not lose them. We actually saw the eclipse! Thank you for always giving us the encouragement we need to keep on learning about the world. Science rocks!

Thank you for all of your support and encouragement.  You should know that we have stopped to meet and pet every dog we've spotted all across England so far.  We lost count somewhere around 75 and there were a few that the owners said weren't really friendly enough, but these kids have learned so much from working and being with you that they have made countless dog friends, and countless warm, fuzzy memories.

Costa Rica has a lot to offer, but very little gluten free food to be found. The kids have been more willing to try new foods. Our grocery list has shifted toward a slightly more vegetarian lifestyle. We've been eating more beans, squash, and corn- different types of each too! Costa Ricans call this the three sisters diet and it's suppose to offer incredible health benefits.  There's a documentary  about the Blue Zone in Nicoya.  It seems we can survive and thrive without chicken nuggets.

With all that Costa Rica offers, you'd think the kids might never get bored.  But packing so light leaves many toys behind.  Your gift has helped them get magical childhood items like bubbles, candy from the checkout lane at the grocery store, and above all- vbucks and pokecoins.  These virtual items are important because they allow the kids to maintain the games that come with them wherever they go in the world, and keep up with their friends back home.

We absolutely LOVE exploring the world so far!  We got to watch the seasons change with such intensity as we travelled north that the colors were as vibrant as a flower garden in a painting.  We've seen a lot of really cool flowers and a ton of new fungi species. We planted some pretty smelling mint at our first stop and we even got to use some to make our own fresh tea.  We can't wait to share a few new recipes with you!

We visited the Museum of Gloucester and got to learn all about local history, world history, and Star Wars!!! It was a hands on experience and so much fun.  We got to visit a local shopping mall and buy a bunch of yummy candy.  We even got to dig up dinosaur bones and dress up as Roman fighters.  It was so cool! Thanks for helping us get to learn and experience more.  

You and your family helped us get to Lyme Regis on the Jurassic Coast.  We hunted for fossils and had a lot of fun trying to pronounce the Latin names for the things we saw.  It was such a cool experience!  We even found some real fossils that we can bring home with us.  

We missed our Halloween buddies so much this year!  Thanks to you though, we made sure we still had costumes, candy, and adventures!  We made it to Scotland in our costumes and had a (very cold) picnic on the beach.  An early night under the covers with The Little Shop of Horrors was a perfect ending.  We miss you and appreciate everything you do for us!

You wouldn't believe how many sheep there are out here!  We thought we saw a lot of cows when we visited you but out here we've seen more sheep than all the cows we've ever seen in our whole lives.  Helping out on the farm was really cool, and visiting several have been cool too.  But the coolest experience ever was coming up on a park that had it's own herd of cows to hang out with!

Our experience meeting the owls and raptors at The Raptor Foundation was unbelievable.  We met and pet the sweetest little feathered potato on our own private tour.  We learned so much about birds of prey and got to have a whole flight demonstration where a few of these amazing birds chose to participate and show off for us for just a few pieces of chicken (and a lot of praise from us) as a reward.

Science is EVERYWHERE! England is so rich with history, being as old as it is, but what we didn't realize was how much science there would be IN that history!  We've learned so much about wind turbines and how a thatched roof works.  We've seen countless species of flora and fauna.  Being able to really break into the rocks we found at Lyme Regis though, looking for real fossils, was beyond exciting.  We loved using tools to smash the rocks and talked a lot about the sounds and smells of the act

Some days in England are dreary.  There are tons of rainbows and plenty of sunshine but they weren't kidding about the rain and damp!  So we used some of those days to do lots of awesome craft projects.  We've learned to felt, do diamond paintings, cook new dishes, and brew the perfect cuppa!  We made our own toga for a halloween costume and also painted a beautiful hanging planter that we filled with fresh moroccan mint.  It's been really great to be able to do all of these things.  

England is a super cool place and we think you'd love it.  There are kids out playing sports all the time in all of the parks.  They play football (soccer) and rugby in any weather!  We were lucky enough to get our own rugby ball and learn a bit about the game.  It's perfect for burning off lots of energy and really fun.