Festa Junina

We had a very fun weekend. We were invited to go to a Festa Junina party with some friends. During the months of June and July Brazilians celebrate this. It started as a celebration of 3 Saints in the month of June. It was celebrated by the people who lived in rural areas. They would have parties, bonfires, dancing, fireworks, etc. The people in the city liked what they did so brought the celebrating to the city but wanted to keep the cowboy feel to the celebration so now people dress up as "caipiras" (cowboys). The kids LOVED dressing up and we had lots of fun enjoying some Brazilian festivities!!



When Lucas was born a friend made this hat for him. I never thought he'd wear it here but he actually got a chance this weekend!! Isn't it cute on him?

They had dancing going on all night

Camilla, Lucy, and Ethan

Ethan eating a typical food for this holiday - cheese pasteis

We had to take this picture because it is sooooo Brazilian to us. Check out the table - full of Gaurana (the beverage choice for brazilians) and meat on a stick. This stick of meat costs $1 and it is THE BEST meat you could ever have. It is soooooo good!!

The kids had fun playing some games.

Here is Steffen(our German friend) eating corn - another typical food for this holiday

Wonderful World of Returns

For any of you who really know me - you would know I am queen of returns. I usually buy things and let them sit in my closet for a month or so before i am sure if I will keep it or not. And sometimes I just can't take the time to try things on with two (now three) kids with me. So, I buy LOTS of stuff with the intention to only keep one or two of the items. It's just much easier to buy and decide on my own time without dealing with the kids. I introduced Andy to the happy world of returns when we got married. It was as if he had never heard of the concept. Anyway, the reason for this post is because this weekend we had a churrasco with a lot of people from work. I was part of an interesting conversation. The women got talking about the USA and the things you can buy and how cheap things are. Then some of the women who have been to the USA or have family living there said things like "....and you will never believe it. You can return anything you want. Even if you open it you can still take it back. There doesn't have to be anything wrong with it and they still take it back. I mean what kind of world would let you buy and return whatever you want" It was funny! Such a normal concept for me and these women just couldn't believe you could do that! I LOVED being part of the conversation because it has been so long since I have shopped to return. I haven't done it for nearly a year and after being part of that conversation it made me excited to be able to do it again soon!

Puzzle Anyone?

Lucy LOVES puzzles!! She has always enjoyed them and has been pretty good at them. Last week she woke up and did this 100 piece puzzle all by herself! I was pretty amazed that she could do it all on her own. Anyway, it brings me to the question of who really likes puzzles and why? I am really glad Lucy likes puzzles but I have never been a fan of puzzles. At Christmas time in my house it seems like there is always a puzzle table. People sit at the table for hours working on this giant puzzle - but why? You spend tons of time putting tiny pieces together and ultimately take it apart and put it back in the box. So, what is the point?
Anyway, even though I really don't like puzzles I think it's great Lucy was able to figure this out by herself! I sat down to do it with her on Sunday. I was in charge of the sky. It didn't take long for her to realize I was not doing very well. "Sorry you can't do it mom. It's kind of tricky!"

Stuck in a Bathroom

Given that Andy is at work all day, it isn't too often that I blog just about him. However, he told me the funniest story that happened to him at work and it is definitely blog worthy!!! Apparently he went to another building to do some testing. Late in the afternoon he went to use the bathroom. While in there he saw a man he knows. The man left and Andy used the bathroom. When Andy was done he went to leave only to find out he was LOCKED in the bathroom!!! He found out later that this was a "special bathroom" and only certain workers had access to it. Not sure why but whatever!! So, you need a key to use the bathroom. Well, apparently Andy was not one of those "special bathroom users" because he didn't' have a key. So, he began banging on the door, shouting for anyone to come help. But that did nothing and given the hour in the day it was very possible nobody else would use that bathroom that day. He also didn't have his cell phone on him. So, he had to climb on the toilet and poke his head out a little window at the top of the wall. He said he stuck his head out and was waving his arms while shouting. One man heard him and looked around for a while not thinking to look up at this window. Oh yeah, I can just imagine walking by and seeing this crazy man poking his head from this window calling for help!!! I was laughing really hard when he told me. The man he called to didn't have a key either so after tracking someone down Andy finally got out of the bathroom and was able to come home for the weekend!! Thank goodness. I would have never thought he was locked in the bathroom!!

Embu

We took a really fun day trip to Embu. It's a cute art town in Sao Paulo. Thanks to my
sister-in-law we know about this cute town. She came across it when she was out visiting in March. You can imagine the excitement for our kids when we told them we were getting in the car to drive 2 hours each way and once we got there we would just be going in and out of stores!!! Yeah, it's not exactly what every kid loves to do so we were a bit nervous how the day would turn out. But, our kids surprised us and were sooooo good. Lucas slept most of the time and Lucy and Ethan were good to wander in and out of stores. I'm actually surprise Andy was up for the trip given he's not much of a shopper but he enjoyed it too. It was nice to spend the day together as a family.



The stores are very colorful and full of interesting things to look at.
The kids were worn out by the time we got in the car to go home. This picture is especially funny because Lucy takes after her dad. I always think it's funny when Andy takes a nap he covers his head because it's "too bright"! So, I got a good laugh and Andy was secretly happy to see Lucy sleeping with a blanket over her head!!

Cute Lucas

Finally some pictures of our sweet Lucas. Unfortunately it seems with each baby we take fewer pictures because what they are doing isn't new like it was with the first baby. With the exception of a few night issues, Lucas continues to be such a blessing to our family. He is so easy going and makes us all smile. We LOVE Lucas!!

Here is his newest toy which he can't get enough of. Ethan enjoys playing with it too!

Lucas has learned how to roll over and loves being on his tummy.



I know I'm his mom but isn't he CUTE?!?!?As soon as we put Lucas in his crib he rolls over to his tummy. This is how he sleeps all night long.

Cool Skies

Andy's mom is a great person and it seems that whenever I am around her she comments on things that I have never paid much attention to. For example, when she was here in January she commented several times on the sky and mentioned the clouds. To be honest I have never paid too much attention to the sky here or back in the U.S.A. I always love a good sunset but in terms of always looking at the sky and noticing it's beauty - well I've never paid too much attention. Ever since her comment I have started paying more attention to the sky and I don't know if it's Brazil or if the sky in St. Joe is just as pretty - but sure enough we have the most beautiful sky here in Brazil. So, here's to Andy's mom!

Saturday is Running Day

I guess after watching Andy and I leave to go running enough times Lucy decided it was her turn to try. A little over a month ago Lucy asked if she could go running. Ever since then she goes running with either Andy or myself every Saturday morning. She runs a half mile and is actually pretty good. The first time I went with her I was so amazed that those little legs could keep going. I kept asking her if she wanted to stop and walk. Her response is always no. As soon as we leave the gate if I don't start running right away she wants to know why we aren't running yet. Halfway through the run we stop and stretch and then turn around and run back home. It is so cute and brings back memories of running with my dad when I was a little girl. I am sure people look at us out with our 4 year old daughter and think we are crazy parents pushing our kid into sports way too early in hopes that she will one day be really good. But let me assure you it is 100% her idea! It's really cute!

Happy 30th Birthday Andy!!

Well, Andy is an OLD man - a whopping 30 years old! I know for some it may not seem old but leaving your 20's feels really old! And I am glad he can no longer claim that he is in his 20's and I am in my 30's! Although Andy's birthday isn't until tomorrow we have already had fun celebrating it. The kids surprised him with some balloons last Saturday morning. Inside was a message explaining the birthday surprise we had for him. I had arranged for him to go in a glider airplane. I had thought about this for a REALLY long time but was a bit hesitant because I didn't want to leave Brazil as a widow! Given the luck we have had here I felt like that might just happen. However, after checking into everything I felt fine about it and am happy to say I still have a husband! (I did have him give me all the info on I'd need to access our Brazilian bank account and life insurance policy!!) Anyway, Andy had a great time flying and I was happy to finally surprise him. I'm just impressed I kept it a secret from him. I'm not good with surprises and wanted to tell him so bad!

As you can see, Lucas was very excited about the whole thing!!!

Yes, this is a dirt runway!! One of the reasons I felt the whole thing might be a bit sketchy!!

This weekend we also had fun doing a Churrasco (Brazilian BBQ) at our house. We had 3 families over and had lots of fun and REALLY GOOD food! You can't beat a Churrasco!

Notice all the smoke coming off the cake - definitely a sign of being old!!!
Not that I am proud of this picture but here is me doing what I do best - cleaning up after the party!! This is one kind of cleaning I love to do!!!

For my Dad

I always think of my dad when I see a cow. I have memories of my dad telling me if he could be any animal it'd be a cow and then he'd make a great mooing sound!! Does anyone else in my family have memories of this or am I delusional? Anyway, these pictures were taken especially for my dad! (Don't you think they are pretty bony cows though? I've decided it's Brazilian because all the cows I see here are extremely bony!!)

A Trip to Brotas

We had a really fun weekend. Andy had Friday off of work so we decided to go to a town called Brotas. It's a place people go to do river rafting, rock climbing, hiking to waterfalls etc. We had so much fun we plan to go again. We of course couldn't do the extreme sports but enjoyed hiking to waterfalls and visiting other places. Our first stop was to a place called "Singing Sand" It was a natural spring with white sand. When you rub the sand it sounds like it is singing. It was really fun. Then we hiked for about a half mile to the picture below. It was here that the kids had a blast playing in the water and Andy had fun trying out a natural rock slide and jumping into a waterfall rapid. The town has tons of different waterfalls you can hike to. It's a really beautiful place with things to do for all ages.

This is me and Lucy in the natural spring with the "singing sand". It was really cool!


After lunch we went hiked to a waterfall and enjoyed standing under it.


Lucas was quite a trooper and enjoyed his first -but not last - hike! He was the only one who didn't get to enjoy going in the waterfall!!

Lucy and Andy hiking to the waterfall
What a DAD!!! He's carrying one baby on his tummy and one on his shoulders - keep in mind it was VERY HOT!! I'm sure people were wondering why I wasn't helping but Andy already had Lucas and Ethan HAD to be with Andy!! Our kids did a great job - at one of the stops they walked about a mile. It was a lot of walking for those little legs!

Lucy Speaking Portuguese

For a long time we have felt like Lucy has understood a little bit of Portuguese. And, other than "oi", "tudo bem", and "chao" she really hasn't been speaking Portuguese. However, we have suddenly realized that she understands more than we thought and is now starting to speak it. The other day I was speaking to our neighbor - all in portuguese of course. She told me how she had to go to the doctor (medico) because her daughter wasn't feeling well. After the neighbor went back into her home Lucy turned to me and said, "that's too bad they have to go to the doctor." She understood that the baby was sick and knew where they were heading. This has happened many times. She listens closely to conversations Andy or I will have with other people -in person or on the phone and then she always asks questions about those conversations indicating she knew exactly what we were saying. Then this weekend she asked Andy if they could play in Portuguese. So, she and Andy began conversing back and forth in Portuguese while they played. Lucy threw out a few terms that I am still not sure how she knew! And today she did the same with me. We were playing house and she was speaking in Portuguese and I was talking in English. She finally looked at me and said, "No mom! We are speaking only in Portuguese!" It is very cute. I know she will forget it all very soon but it is cute to watch.