Well after months of looking and searching and reading I have come up with the following itinerary (using many of your posts and advice to others so thanks!). We have 14 days (Feb 9-23):

Day 1 - Orquides Inn, Alajuela
Day 2,3,4 - Arenal Paraiso
Day 5,6 - La Mansion Inn on Lake Arenal (so hubby can fish)
Day 7,8,9 Mono Azul, Manuel Antonio
Day 10, 11, 12 Bosque Del Cabo, Osa Peninsula
Day 13 and 14 Orquides Inn, Alajeula (To do shopping and explore this area a bit)

Your advice would be greatly appreciated!

Forgot to mention that we will be flying to the Osa from Quepos! thanks again.

Which days are your travel days? Depending on how you have that worked out, you might want to consider one day less at Paraiso. You can still see things around Arenal Volcano from the other hotel. For that matter you can do all the things from La Mansion that you can from Paraiso. Don't know how the lava viewing would be from LM though. By skipping one day there you would have an extra day to explore the Manuel Antonio area which has many many things to see and do.

looks like a good itinerary to me, a one-time visitor to cr. we stayed at orquideas and paraiso just recently and both were excellent. i agree with suzie that you could spend one day less in arenal area, but i'd recommend a couple of nights at paraiso because the volcano viewing at night is great there. if you're interested i wrote a trip report (first trip to cr report), including some of the places you're going to, which i'm going to finish soon.

Is the viewing still as good at Paraiso since the recent blow out? Paraiso was at just about the perfect place for viewing in Feb when we stayed there.
To Baba, it is a very nice place. The deluxe cabins have a fridge, tv, hair drier, two porches. The pool is volcano heated. Wasn't terribly warm but seemed just right to me. The pool has a swim up bar (it also has a dry side for non swimmers). Breakfast buffet was good. Didn't eat any other meals there. Was just suggesting maybe one less pack and unpack since both places were so close.
Other choices for the itinerary were excellent! It will give you a good rounded trip.
For shopping...Hotel Don Carlos has a well known gift shop. It is smaller than it used to be. They used to be upstairs also but last time I was there (2years ago) it was for mark down items. When we used to stay in San Jose we added a little excitement by just getting into a cab and asking the taxi driver to take us to a special place that he would take his wife/girlfriend for a romantic dinner. We have ended up in some pretty nice places up in the mountains overlooking the city lights with wonderful tico food. One guy was a cheapskate date though (LOL) and took us to a rib joint but it was still fun.

Thanks Suzie2 and Suburbantrain! Actually those two days at La Mansion are still open to other possibilities. I am taking my hubby out of his comfort zone of all inclusives and am finally getting him out of Cuba so I want this trip to be his trip of a lifetime. I have been to Costa Rica twice (the Osa Peninsula will be my trip of a lifetime as I've never been there and love the jungle). Should I tag those two days onto Manuel Antonio or elsewhere. I am not used to all this pre-planning. In the past my sister and I just trekked around at our own pace - no reservations but my husband can get a little cranky at times and I really don't want to scare him. He's already having nightmares about flying to the Osa

Suburbantrain, Please post your trip report as soon as you are done. I am devouring trip reports like crazy and have run out of new reading material. Thanks again for the help.

I know what you mean about not being used to pre planning. Many people get confused by this when planning their CR trip. It is different mainly because CR is so small and there are just so many hotels. Tourism has really increased there. There are times when I still travel down there without reservations. My idea of planning a European trip is to buy a Eurail Pass and plane ticket and just end up where ever the trains take me.
Regarding your husbands comfort zone....it's a good thing you are flying to the Osa from Quepos or you might find yourself on a bus getting back to SJ. It is pretty bumpy when flying out of SJ. On the return trip keep your eyes open for Manuel Antonio and Quepos. Shortly after that you turn into the central valley and it gets really bumpy as you fly over the mountains. I was in a little 6 seater this year and bounced right off my seat.Thank goodness for seat belts.
I see that you will be arriving at Bosque right after their big yoga group leaves. We will be leaving Bosque the day they arrive.
I am glad your husband will be getting out of the all inclusive zone. You miss so much when you just go to those. At Bosque he will feel like it is all inclusive except for the extra cost for his drinks.