I was waiting until the end of the trip, but before we were back, to write this post. I wanted to be sure that I really missed the conveniences of home. So here are the ones that stuck til the end...
Tap Water - Oh the joy of turning on the tap and using the water.
Cling Wrap - in a box with a serrated edge for tearing. No joke. I can't tell you how much of my time has been lost, fighting PVC wrap on a tube. It's ridiculous!
Getting in my car and driving myself and Caden anywhere we please! I'd even love to just go browse the aisles of the grocery store! Which also reminds me, I am very anxious to get back to grocery carts that have seats for kids in them. And to a place where there are familiar groceries with a good supply chain. I can't tell you how many times we have found a product that we like, baby wipes for instance, to only find out that the stores carry them once a month, and once they sell out there is a chance that you may never find them again. We have gone from store to store looking for Greek Yogurt for the past 3 weeks, we have found it multiple times in the past. We have been to 4 different stores, and still don't have any yogurt. It is soooo aggravating!!!!
A dryer! Hanging clothes to dry is great, sometimes, but on those rainy days it can take up to 48 hours before 1 load dries. L. E. Phant (Caden's lovey) really needs a bath, but between nap time and bedtime, there just isn't time for it to hang dry.
Screens on the windows. We are lucky in the fact that we have nets over our windows to keep large critters out, but I just can't tell you how much dust, grit, bugs come in through the open windows.
Dish Washer - Enough said
Picking up the phone to call loved ones
Friday, February 22, 2013
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Ugh, NOW everyone is staring at us
Caden and I get stared at quite a bit. I'm not sure if it is the fair skin and blonde hair, the cuteness of Caden, the Beco Carrier that he travels in, or a combination of the above, but we get A LOT of looks. I think that it is mostly the Beco carrier that he rides in, because lots of people come up to me and talk to me about something. One time I finally understood the lady to ask me where I bought it. I have only see a handful of Baby Bjorn style carries in this country, so I imagine it draws quite the attention.
One day as we were walking to the bakery, I noticed that people were waving at us. Then, a middle aged man, on the other side of the street, that was on the phone started waving. I thought that something must have been going on. I finally looked in a reflection on a building and saw Caden waving to everyone like he was the Grand Marshall of a parade. He loves the carrier. We waited for a long time to get one, and I am glad we did because Beco came out with a new style carrier (thanks for the recommendation Jenni!). It is very convenient and can hold a child up to 40 pounds, I'm just not sure my BODY can handle that! ;)
One day Brad went with us to the park, usually it is just the two of us. We took or bubble gun (ya know... those battery operated guns that blow bubbles). We started playing with it. Brad lets out this deep disgruntled moan - "NOW everyone is staring at us." I just had to laugh... Oh Bradley, little do you know, they've been staring the whole time!
Here we are sporting the carrier in Rio. I just realized, look at Caden, he's waving!
One day as we were walking to the bakery, I noticed that people were waving at us. Then, a middle aged man, on the other side of the street, that was on the phone started waving. I thought that something must have been going on. I finally looked in a reflection on a building and saw Caden waving to everyone like he was the Grand Marshall of a parade. He loves the carrier. We waited for a long time to get one, and I am glad we did because Beco came out with a new style carrier (thanks for the recommendation Jenni!). It is very convenient and can hold a child up to 40 pounds, I'm just not sure my BODY can handle that! ;)
One day Brad went with us to the park, usually it is just the two of us. We took or bubble gun (ya know... those battery operated guns that blow bubbles). We started playing with it. Brad lets out this deep disgruntled moan - "NOW everyone is staring at us." I just had to laugh... Oh Bradley, little do you know, they've been staring the whole time!
Here we are sporting the carrier in Rio. I just realized, look at Caden, he's waving!
Knock Knock
This story comes from our visit to Brazil. It's Epic! It deserves a post of its own!
To preface, Caden knows how to knock on doors. He'll go to any closed door and go, knock knock. He'll do it to the front door, on glass windows in the mall, just about anywhere he wants to get attention, knock knock. I'll usually say the words along with him, KNOCK KNOCK. It's pretty cute and very astute.
We caught a taxi in Rio to take us to Cristo Redentor. Taxi drivers are cray, I mean crazy! Our driver was one of the crazy ones that day. Brad and I both agree that it was the most, interesting/intense/scary/close to wreck taxi trip we have had. Our driver cut off another driver, it was close.. we're not sure how he did it without hitting anything, but he did. Of course that didn't please the other driver, so he wanted our taxi driver to know this. He kept driving up right next to the car and yelling things. Our taxi driver was trying to ignore the whole situation. It was akward, and scary, yes. Then the other driver started swerving at our taxi, like he was going to hit us. Scarier, yes. Our taxi driver just kept looking straight forward ignoring the entire situation. SO, the other driver makes one last attempt at getting the taxi driver's attention, he drives as close as he can to our car and reaches out and bangs on it with his fist. BANG BANG! Yep, SCARY! Well, Caden hears this, looks over to the window and goes - Knock Knock. I couldn't help but laugh! That little boy is so innocent and pure, he has no idea of the tension that was taking place.
The other driver eventually drove off, or had to change roads or something and we arrived to Cristo Redentor in one piece. We all let out a big sigh of relief, and then a huge laugh. Knock Knock will NEVER have the same meaning as it did before.
To preface, Caden knows how to knock on doors. He'll go to any closed door and go, knock knock. He'll do it to the front door, on glass windows in the mall, just about anywhere he wants to get attention, knock knock. I'll usually say the words along with him, KNOCK KNOCK. It's pretty cute and very astute.
We caught a taxi in Rio to take us to Cristo Redentor. Taxi drivers are cray, I mean crazy! Our driver was one of the crazy ones that day. Brad and I both agree that it was the most, interesting/intense/scary/close to wreck taxi trip we have had. Our driver cut off another driver, it was close.. we're not sure how he did it without hitting anything, but he did. Of course that didn't please the other driver, so he wanted our taxi driver to know this. He kept driving up right next to the car and yelling things. Our taxi driver was trying to ignore the whole situation. It was akward, and scary, yes. Then the other driver started swerving at our taxi, like he was going to hit us. Scarier, yes. Our taxi driver just kept looking straight forward ignoring the entire situation. SO, the other driver makes one last attempt at getting the taxi driver's attention, he drives as close as he can to our car and reaches out and bangs on it with his fist. BANG BANG! Yep, SCARY! Well, Caden hears this, looks over to the window and goes - Knock Knock. I couldn't help but laugh! That little boy is so innocent and pure, he has no idea of the tension that was taking place.
The other driver eventually drove off, or had to change roads or something and we arrived to Cristo Redentor in one piece. We all let out a big sigh of relief, and then a huge laugh. Knock Knock will NEVER have the same meaning as it did before.
Rio
My mom came back for a second visit (loaded with requests from home, might I add) and we took a weekend trip to Rio. It was so great! I enjoyed the vacation - which sounds funny because we are down here practically on vacation - but it meant that Brad had time off work. He didn't even take his laptop, just 3.5 solid days of family time. :) We had a hotel that was right on Copacabana and overlooked the beach - it was so picturesque. The weather was great right up until we left which made it easy to enjoy the outdoor attractions like Cristo Redentor and Pao de Acucar and of course time on the beautiful beaches!
One thing that I missed most once we got home was the hotel. I know this is silly, but we had the executive lounge right next door. A full breakfast was served daily from 6 - 10 (which even accommodated our little early bird) and snacks and drinks were available all throughout the day. Then, in the evenings we had a lovely little happy hour (nothing little about it) starting at 6 pm. There were pasta dishes, sandwiches, hot soups, cold salads, enough food to make a meal of. Best of all, it was available before Caden's bedtime - UNHEARD OF! (We have a hard time getting to go out for dinner because none of the restaurants open until 7 pm). This was a true vacation! No Cooking! No washing dishes (well, except bottles of course)! One word..... LOVELY!
One thing that I missed most once we got home was the hotel. I know this is silly, but we had the executive lounge right next door. A full breakfast was served daily from 6 - 10 (which even accommodated our little early bird) and snacks and drinks were available all throughout the day. Then, in the evenings we had a lovely little happy hour (nothing little about it) starting at 6 pm. There were pasta dishes, sandwiches, hot soups, cold salads, enough food to make a meal of. Best of all, it was available before Caden's bedtime - UNHEARD OF! (We have a hard time getting to go out for dinner because none of the restaurants open until 7 pm). This was a true vacation! No Cooking! No washing dishes (well, except bottles of course)! One word..... LOVELY!
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| View from our hotel room |
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| Sunrise from the hotel room, what a way to start the day! |
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| View from top of Cristo Redentor |
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| The man himself |
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| Cable Cars descending from Pao de Acucar |
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| City View from Pao de Acucar |
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| This is by far the smallest runway I have EVER landed on! There will be a separate blog about this, in case you are interested in aviation. |
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| Plane coming in for a landing, we were at Pao de Acucar, and I think we were eye level with the plane. |
Sunday, February 3, 2013
The hills are alive... but I am not!
Brad had warned me that this city reminded him of San Fran. The hills are steep. It makes things difficult for both Brad and I. He is driving a stick, and that presents a few challenges and Caden and I get around in a stroller, so that is tough! We opted out of bringing the jogging stroller and are using the umbrella only, which I think makes this just a little more difficult too. Caden and I usually walk to the club and have Brad bring us home in the truck. Walking both ways makes for an exhausting day! I am generally pretty beat and ready for the cool refreshing pool as soon as we get there. HOWEVER, I prefer this over the freezing cold temps and snow covered grounds that my friends back in Ohio have! ;)
Saturday, February 2, 2013
We have a climber
Meet me at the club, it's goin' down
Well, that is a quote from a rap song, but it is true. We finally got to join one of the local country clubs and it has been as awesome as we predicted. Since it is exclusive, we find that the property is better managed than some of the local "parks" (as Brad calls them). There are 4 pools, a HUGE playground full of various play-scapes and a restaurant/bar where we can get great food and beer. Of course there are other things that are of no interest to Caden, such as a weight room, tons of workout equipment, tennis courts, soccer fields, etc. It is quite a lovely place and I like to spend as much time there as we can! It's so tropical, it reminds me of being at a tropical resort - vacation EVERYDAY! Here are a few pics from our favorite local hang-out.
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| Look at my baby swinging like a BIG BOY! |
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| Swimming in the rain |
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| Beautiful man-made creek that flows through the club |
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| Splashing in puddles, little boy's dream |
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| Forgot to mention before, but toucans are everywhere. This one was hanging out on a car in the parking lot. |
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| Oh the joy!!!! |
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