Shrek!!

Festa Junina - AGAIN!!

We've been celebrating Festa Junina all month and still have one more to go to. We went to our ward party this weekend and had a great time. We tried lots of caipira food, played games, and danced. It was a lot of fun!

Andy and Giovani

Elanie, Dianna, and Amy (These are some of my best friends here. I love these girls!)

We rarely see Lucas when we are at church or ward activities. He has lots of Brazilian mothers here!

Peanut Butter Balls Anyone?

At Christmas time I made peanut butter ball for some people. Our bishop LOVED them. He often asks when I will be making more. Our peanut butter is limited and we don't have very much left but I did end up making some more for his family. They don't sell peanut butter here but they do have a candy that tastes a lot like peanut butter. So, he and his wife came over to see if I could teach them how to make peanut butter balls using this candy. We were happy to discover that it worked just as well. So, they can now make as many p.b. balls as they want!! We had a fun time eating pizza and making peanut butter balls!

High in the Sky

The past two weekends have been very fun. We live right next to a small airport which has been holding some fun events over the past couple of weeks. Two weeks ago they had an air show to celebrate Rio Claro's birthday. Unfortunately I don't have pictures but it was awesome. I have never been to an air show before so I'm not sure how it compares but I was pretty impressed. We didn't have to go to the airport because the planes were flying right over our house! At times I thought they'd crash into our neighborhood. The tricks they did were pretty amazing!
This weekend they were also celebrating Rio Claro's birthday and had a hot air balloon competition that went on for 3 days. We always knew when the balloons were in the air because we'd hear the fire from the balloons. Once again, they were so close to our house. The kids LOVED it. One time we heard fire and kept looking for the balloon. Suddenly we saw the balloon just barely above our rooftop!!! The balloons were up in the air twice a day for 3 days. A few times we went to the airport so the kids could see how they start on the ground. They loved it.



Lucas was more impressed with his fingers than the balloons!!

Crawling?!?!

I know I just posted a lot on Lucas but a few days after my last post he started pulling his knees up under him. He does this all the time now. For our kids this is RECORD time. He is still 5 months old. I believe Lucy was 8 or 9 months old before she was anywhere near crawling. Lucas acts like he is anxious to be doing what Lucy and Ethan are doing. He is always looking for them and is so interested in what they are up to. He is happiest when they are around. I guess he realized he needs to start crawling so he can try and keep up with them!!

Lucas is growing up!

Lucas started eating mashed carrots this week. He has not enjoyed eating the rice cereal so to my surprise he loved the carrots. In fact, he was crying for more!!! He did pull some very funny faces when we first started and Lucy and Ethan were so excited to see him eat real food.

Lucas discovered his tongue this week!!! It is soooo funny because he is fascinated with his tongue and doesn't seem to want to put it back in his mouth!! I don't think I've ever seen such a LONG SKINNY tongue!!
Notice all the drool pooling at his chin. He is a wet slobbery mess all day long. He has slimed all of us a time or two!!
And here he is again - tongue out! He just can't get enough of it!! I think it's soooo funny!
He's been trying to sit up. However, it's not long until he is face down on the carpet.

Lucas grabs at anything in site and once he gets it it goes directly to his mouth!!

Another holiday in Brazil

One bonus to living in Brazil are ALL the holidays they have. It seems that just about every month Andy gets a couple of days off. I LOVE it!! We stayed at home for this holiday but did some fun things over the past several days.

DAY ONE
We attended a professional basketball game with some of our friends. There are 16 professional basketball teams in all of Brazil. For some reason our little town in Rio Claro has one of those 16 teams. Some of these pictures are a bit blurry but I didn't have any others to show what a professional game is like here. Keep in mind this is like the NBA of the USA. It felt more like a high school game than a professional basketball game. However, we had a LOT of fun going!!


Here are some of our friends we went with (Elanie, Rebecca, Giovane, Rogerio, and Dianna)
Ethan LOVED the game. He'd get so excited each time they'd make a basket

As you can see - Lucas wasn't as thrilled about the game as the rest of us were!(he was actually very good but at the moment wanted to be eating instead of taking a picture!)

Day Two
On Friday we attempted to find the zoo in the city Americana. The kids loved it and we were impressed with the zoo - especially considering it is free to get in!!! Yeah, our kind of place to go!!

Lucy and Ethan by the tigers
Don't you think there are way too many strollers/kids?!??!
I think we should have left Ethan with the monkeys!
Lucas doing what he does best - hanging out!!
Day Three
We went to Sao Pedro and Aguas de Sao Pedro. We weren't sure what to expect. We had just heard it was a fun town to visit. It's a beautiful 45 minute drive from our house. They are both fun towns and have lots of fun things for kids to do.

The kids spent some time playing at the park
Andy paddled the boat while the kids steered
(I found them stuck in the trees and grass a time or two!)
Lucy's favorite thing was to drive a "motorcycle"
And Ethan burned some energy on the trampoline
We also loved eating at a churrasco for lunch. Ethan was meant to be Brazilian. He loves meat and LOVES pulling the meat off as they slice it. We couldn't believe how much he ate for lunch today!
And of course, it wouldn't be Brazil without drinking some Guarana
After lunch we enjoyed a train ride through town
Once again - here is our cute Lucas just hanging out!

Ethan, Lucy, and their crazy daddy!

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