Saturday

There is no sun to be seen this morning. Paul trekked to a different bakery this morning and returned with some delicious bread. The boys are spending the morning playing while Paul and I are taking the time to read and relax. It's a tough life! We may decide to head to the beach later despite the sun's unwillingness to grace us with its presence. We will have to see what the day brings...
We hit the beach afterall and it was terrific. This time I was armed with a camera (I left mine back in Novo Hamburgo!) albeit a disposable one, so we decided to repeat our sand castle construction as well as burying Lucca in the sand. Bernie decided to get in on the action today and allowed us to bury him too. After a few hours of sun and sand we headed home for showers and a rest. Supper tonight was "picanha na chapa" at the Restaurante Paulinho. How could we resist a restaurant called "Little Paul"? There were very few complaints about bedtime tonight.

Sunshine Galore!

What a glorious day! We all hurried through breakfast and headed to the beach. The 2 - 3 foot waves were a blast so some water time was our first priority. After we enjoyed the waves Paul and Lucca started on yet another castle. Bernardo soon lost interest in the manual labor so he and I headed back out to the water. He really likes to jump around, but has a healthy respect for the water that keeps him from straying too far. Liberal applications of sunscreen kept everyone from roasting for the next 2 1/2 hours. Corn on the cob, pasteis de queijo, and numerous picoles (popcicles) were all part of the morning's fare. When we'd all had enough of the sun we headed home for a light lunch and an afternoon nap. An hour in the hammock with just a slight breeze blowing is AWESOME! It has been such a blessing to stay at Gabi's parents' beach house. The boys were excited about our plans for the evening...a trip to a small carnival and then a "rodizio" of pizza! We managed to squeeze in one more game of Chutes and Ladders (which I actually won!) before heading to bed. Bernie was sure that he should sleep in the double bed Paul and I are sharing. When I told him there simply wasn't room he assured me he could squeeze in the middle...smile. After a day in the sun we are all ready to enjoy some Zs tonight.

Castle Dawson

How lazy are we?! We finally rolled out of bed around 9:30. I dressed, put on the coffee, and walked a couple of blocks to a local market for some freshly baked french loaves. Does breakfast get any better than that? Gabi drove back to NH this morning as she is to fly to Sao Paulo tonight. Despite the continuing cloudy skies the boys couldn't wait to get to the beach. We packed up all the essential beach supplies - buckets, shovels, sunscreen (wishful thinking), etc. and off we went. The water was actually not as chilly as I expected it to be so the boys and I waded in. After a little wave jumping we headed in to get started on what would be an awesome feat of engineering. Paul helped Lucca create a terrific sand castle complete with towers, a moat, and a tunnel. Bernie and I lent our expertise in water hauling...somebody has to do the grunt work afterall. After our engineers completed Castle Dawson, Bernie and I decided it would be a great idea to bury Lucca in the sand. He was a very cooperative subject...smile. Back home it was showers all around, lunch at a local "por kilo" restaurant, and an afternoon nap. We went to a nearby park that evening and tried our luck in a very LARGE swan shaped paddle boat. Paul's legs were "conveniently" too long to paddle so he and Bernie lounged in the back, Lucca took over the "helm", and I got saddled with the job of providing the manpower to get us across the lake. "How did you fare?", you might ask. Let me put it this way...our trip lasted approximately 5 minutes. Did I mention it was a VERY heavy paddle boat??? The boys were exceptionally good sports about the whole thing and decided that walking the perimeter of the lake would be almost as much fun...sweet boys! Our first full day came to a close around 10:30 that night (I'm sensing a pattern here) after several games of Chutes and Ladders (a game at which I do NOT excell by the way). The boys assured us they were not at all tired, but were sound asleep about 5 minutes after their heads hit their pillows. We all went to sleep hoping to see the sun tomorrow.

Porto Alegre...at last!

We arrived in Porto Alegre after a smooth flight. Gabi, Lucca, and Bernie were waiting for us at the airport and our reunion with all three was wonderful. It is hard to believe how much the boys have grown since August. Once we arrived at the apartment we ate, caught up on the latest, and distributed presents all around. What would a visit from the Pawpaw and Goppa be without a present or two!? After all our travel Paul and I were more than ready to call it a day by 10 pm. Tomorrow we are off to the Policia Federal in Porto Alegre to pick up my renewed documents.
(Wednesday)
Our driver picked us up promptly at 9 am and we were off to PA. Residual jetlag from the long trip caused my "car"kalepsy to flare up (smile) and I dozed most of the way. That news probably comes as no surprise to anyone in my family. Luckily it was a matter of 20 minutes at the Federal Police (practically unheard of in the Brazilian beaurocratic world) and we were on our way back to Novo Hamburgo. We all packed our bags for our stay at the beach and then we were off to the Churrascaria Primavera for lunch...Mmmmmm! What can I say? It was D-lish! Back at the apartment we loaded up the two cars and headed in the direction of Tramandai. Praia de Imbe...here we come! Bernie caught some Zs on the way so Paul and I had a chance to just talk and enjoy the view. After hurredly unloading our gear at the house we headed to the beach despite the cloudy skies. The boys enjoyed wading in the surf and playing in the sand until the wind and chilly temp chased us back home. Gabi and I went to the supermarket for supplies while Paul and the boys held down the fort. We were all ready to crash by 10:30. Keep your fingers crossed that tomorrow will be a sunny day.

Buenos Aires!

We arrived in Buenos Aires after a long, but not uncomfortable flight. I have already managed to make our trip exciting. Well... let me preface my story by saying that I cannot take all the blame (smile). When we disembarked Dad and I followed the ¨pasagengers in transit¨walkway in what we hoped was the right direction. We found a rolling cart to put our luggage on (yeah for FREE carts everywhere but the good old USA!) and began tooling around the airport terminal checking out the shops. I guess we were so engrossed in our conversation that we didn't notice my purse had fallen off the cart. It turns out some airport personnel saw what happened and tried to call our attention to the fact, but we didn´t realize they were talking to us (I wish they had tried just a LITTLE harder...smile). After walking for a while we decided to stop for a coffee and I thought I would challenge my mind with a little sudoku when I realized my purse was no longer sitting atop the Rock Band guitar we brought for Lucca. You can probably picture the ensuing drama... I asked, (quite calmly I might add) ¨Paul, where´s my purse?" He responded, (quite calmly I might add) I don't know." Then eyes opening wide we silently communicated our mutual dismay (that happens after 34 years of marriage) and headed off in different directions to begin our search. I immediately began doing a mental inventory of just HOW bad the damage would be in the event my purse was not recovered (to be honest I pretty much figured that would be the case). Thankfully, we only stood to lose a few dollars, some glasses, a book and would face the inconvenience of calling our banks to cancel various credit cards. I found a policeman who spoke a little Portuguese and told him of my plight. He checked via radio and informed me that no purse had been found in that part of the terminal. I turned around and headed in Paul's direction. As luck would have it we arrived simultaneously at the security checkpoint we had previously passed through. The guard there told us my bag was at a police kiosk just down the corridor...Halleluiah! I will be forever grateful for honest people. We finally got to sit down and enjoy a cafe con leche and count our blessings. I am going too try to avoid any further excitement...smile. It is off to Porto Alegre in a few hours. I will post more then. We love you all!