Saara

These are the little monkeys that are in the parks above where Evie plays, and on all our hikes (Sugarloaf, Leme Fort, Jardim Botanico, where Becki took this one, etc).  Evie's always asking, "Mon-teys, where are you?"  with her hands cupped to her mouth.  Other fun phrases of Evie's right now:  "I coming...you!" (I'm coming to you--especially when someone is sad or in trouble),  "I love you, mommy!" (My favorite), "Dada, Mommy, want Kun-kles!" (Snuggles).  "I run fast!," "I want beeeeeach!,"  "Night-night, Rosie!"  "Mommy, Dada, tiss-es" (kisses), "Dada, come (to) me!" (with her hand gesturing wildly to come on over). And "I want apple-cheese!" (Kraft Macaroni and cheese from the US).  

We went to the Saara market in Centro this week for the first time, I shopped while Rolf had a meeting, and then he met up with me, only to find that I'd bought 4 huge blue interlocking foam mats for our hard floor and strapped them to the top of the stroller.  Then I had Rolf go back and buy 2 more so that we could cover all our floors, he's a good soul.  So we took them on the subway, along with 6 balls we also bought for Evie, and got really funny looks.  But now our floors are softer for Rosie, she's crawling up a storm, and Evie's room is now her very own ball-room too, wall to wall with foam mats, balls, and perfect for babies.

Today we went to the gigantic cemetery behind our mountain, just a 20 minute walk.  It was a cloudy day, Corcovado in the backdrop looking down on all the memorials, and a very sobering/contemplative experience.     

A DATE!

We had a really fun week!   Earlier in the week Evie and Rosie went to their second party (birthday party!) here in Rio, for their friend Ellie, Becki's mom.   Ellie is such a sweetheart and Evie had a blast.   I missed how U.S. cakes taste, yum.    And Becki was so kind and took a few pictures of the girls, I'm attaching them here.  On Friday we walked (*walked*) to Sugarloaf, it wasn't too bad just 35 minutes away.   We had lunch at the a kilo place on the beach (Grandma, you wouldn't have liked it--it was the same food as the a kilo restaurant behind the Copacabana Palace, only twice as expensive).  I got really excited because it looked like they were serving free strawberry shakes, so I poured one and luckily took a whiff because...it was alcoholic.  Yuck!!!! Dodged that bullet!

Then we spent the day on the beach, remembered how the sand at at little beach looks exactly like coarse brown sugar.  Makes sense at the sugarloaf!  We saw people kyaking and found out how to do it, so we'll come back by ourselves sometime and kyak together on a date.   On the walk home we found a $10 bill on the floor so we took a cab home!

Speaking of dates, we went on our first date since we said goodbye to family, it was SOOO nice.   I love this man.  We have a lot of fun together.  

Beach Babies

On Friday I walked home from a friend's place in Ipanema while Rolf did interviews.  It was really nice, I love the route home on the beachwalk because the views of sugarloaf are so huge from Ipanama to Copa.  Rosie was a little unhappy because it was hot, but Evie loved just cruising in the stroller and disrupting birdies.

Saturday we went to the beach altogether, and little miss Evie was a hit in her hot pink bathing suit and sparking personality, charming all the Cariocas and foreigners alike. She and Rolf dug sandcastles near the waves for awhile while I held Rosie, then Rolf and I switched while I chased Evie (she loves tag!) and begged me to go in the water with her (it's quite warm sometimes!).  We hung out where we usually do at the beach, at the closest street to our apartment, but this time I looked back behind me and between two buildings there was the Christo, right there in plain, huge sight! I hadn't noticed it, and I could guess that our magic bullet mountain right behind our apartment window blocks the view of it from our apartment, but I had no idea it was that close or that visible on our street.

On the way home we got $1.25 USD chocolate eclairs from the dessert handcart lady (of course!), and the a kilo place for dinner behind the Copa Palace.

Today (Sunday) we went to our Siguera Campus park right after church (seems to be our tradition) and heard the bells from the church that reminded Evie of Grandma's house again.

Sunday at Jardim Botanico (Botanical Gardens) with Gra-ma

Becki took this the day after we went with Grandma Sharon to the Botanical Gardens after church.  It was beautiful. We had a picnic lunch, and then went exploring to the huge fountain (pictured in the middle), then to a lily-pad pond with waterfalls, and 2 gorgeous gazebos.  We got lots of beautiful shots with Grandma and the girls.

Now, to back up, Grandma Sharon and our cousin Jane stayed with us for 7 marveous days in Rio, and the put up with our small apartment and salty Brazilian food, we were so glad they came!  We miss Pa-Pa already!  Here's a brief summary of what we did:

Thursday:  Windsor Hotel in Copacabana (highest building in town) for majestic views of sugarloaf, Christo, beach, and Ipanema mountains, and swanky hotel.  Walked along famous Copacabana tiled beach sidewalk and toured the historic (and gorgeous) Copacabana Palace.

Friday:  Candelaria Cathedral, ornate bank, Old Colonial/historic part of Rio De Janeiro in town (oldest area, looked like Charleston!), Royalty's Imperial Palace, San Sebastian Golden Cathedral (where a nice olf lady gave our babies gifts because she couldn't get over how adorable they were), Confeteria Columbo (dessert shop that is huge and looks like the inside of the titanic, Queen Victoria had tea there), tour of the Rio Opera House, Lapa (arches/aqueduct, famous landmark), famous church that looks like an aztek temple in the center of town.

Saturday:  Lazy day with the grandbabies on Copacabana beach!

Sunday:  Church in our Jardim Botanico ward, then to the Jardim Botanico, followed by swan boat ride on the Lagoa, cab around the lagoa for all the views, sitting at the Lagoa in a little park and gazing at the beauty.

Monday: Lazy day in Ipanema, and then an a kilo restaurant behind the Copacabana palace for dinner! We first went to a kiosk (restaurant on the beach), but they weren't serving the only food we figured grandma would like at that moment!

Tuesday:  Christo Redentor Statue in the morning, complete with train through the Tijuca Natioal Rainforest, samba musicians serenading us on the way up and down.  Then Sugarloaf cable car and views in the afternoon.  It was a clear day by then but there was a tiny cloud just on the top of the sugarloaf when we got there.  We waited it out, saw glimpses of views, and then went down just as the sky turned a deep pink and that little cloud dissipated.  Rolf convinced the personnel to let us all go back up, and boy was that sunset amazing!

Wednesday:  An all-you-can eat American buffet breakfast on a resturant on the oceanfront, a drive to the edge of the Copacabana beach where the sidewalk ends and you can see views of everything, cheap mani-pedis for me and Grandma, and a quick spagetti dinner and heartfelt goodbyes before a 7pm taxi ride to the airport.

Evie and Rosie got such a kick out of their visit.  Evie just loved to hang out in their room, and "kun-kle" (snuggle) with grandma on her small twin bed, and pretend to snore and get her back rubbed.

I'll also never forget watching Grandma and Evie collect shells as the waves lapped againt their feet, while I held Rosie with Rolf in the tent.  Or watching Grandma hold Rosie under her Rio umbrella while Rolf and I played tag with Evie and ran along the waves, with the majestic Dois Irmaos mountains in the backdrop.

When we had to say goodbye Wednesday night, as Grandma waved and the cab drove off, Evie got a very concerned look on her face and said, "Uh oh.  Pa-pa went away."  And then she bawled for quite awhile.

I feel so blessed Evie and Rosie have had a chance to bond with loved ones since their birth, to have real relationships with grandparents (and great-grandparents!) in a very concrete and special way.   Just as grandma bonded with me as a baby, she is bonding with my babies, and I can't tell you how wonderful that feels to me.

Gorgeous Rio Shots of our neighborhoods

All this is thanks to our LDS ward friend here, Becki K., for sharing her shots!  Above is our Beach, Copacabana, you can see the street we walk to our apartment to on the far right.

Here's another view of Copacabana (you can still see our street!) from Forte de Copa (the fort on the other end of the bay).  We've seen this exact view as a family, but it was a cloudy day when we went.  The actual fort isn't anything to write home about, but people go for the shopping (no thanks!) and the views (as Evie says, "Tanks!")

The lagoa, with the mountain range in the background that you also see from Ipanema Beach.

Cantagalo Favela, on the other side of the hill from the favela where Rolf is studying.  They look very similar though.  

 Our Ipanema beach walk, the backdrop feels unreal.

 Another shot of the Lagoa.  Biking around it is a big thing to do here.

Near the Catacumbe Hike in Lagoa area, where we hike for Rolf's birthday.

Evie and Rosie met these 2 cute guys the other day, and loves to come back and visit their home on the Lagoa/Ipanema border, right on the walk home from our house.

More Lagoa, looks like a misty morning.

 This is Santa Teresa, near Copa but it's on a hill.  It's known for it's trolley (see rails), but it hasn't been operating for a couple years.  The locals definitely want it back, we did too, but it was still a cool neighborhood to explore on foot.  Beautiful vistas.

This is just past Ipanema/Leblon, Bahina--the beach we went to with Grannie and Pop-pop.  See that Copacabana mountain and Ipamema in the distance?

This is the lovely Pao de Azucar and bay from Santa Teresa's park where we went with Grannie and Pop-pop.  We took family shots here, and an adorable one with Rosie, but it was sunset when we were there and Becki went on a clear day.

Swan boats on the Lagoa.   We're gonna have to do that sometime,  Grandma Sharon, you up for it?

Stay tuned for Rio adventures with adorable babies!

Welcome family and friends!   Since I have a hard time remembering what I ate for breakfast, let alone the amazing things our babies did that day, it's high time I kept a blog for our little family.  Living in Rio de Janeiro is such a blast, we want to remember it and tell our kids stories of our adventures here.  And we want to keep y'all posted too, we love you all, so here it goes!     OK, to start, here are some fun things we've been doing the last few months:

-Pão de Açucar, and the lagoon (Praia Vermelha) below it, the water is such a beautiful turquoise here!

-Forte do Leme, which is on the far side of Copacabana beach (it's one bookend, Forte do Copacabana is the other bookend of our beach).  It was quite a hike to the top, but well worth it.  The rainforest is gorgeous, and Evie loved seeing all the monkeys.  Her new phrase whenever she goes to the park is looking up at the trees and saying, "Monkeys, where are you?!!" (With her hands cupped to her mouth)

-Arpoador, which is just a walk past Forte de Copacabana to Ipanema.  It bookends Ipanema's beach.  The sunsets here are to die for.  And Evie loves chasing the waves.  Also the view of Dois Irmãos ("Two Brothers," the double-mountain range when you look right from Ipanema beach, seemingly watching over Rio) is a sight to see!

-Calçadão, "The BIG sidewalk," we love to walk all along Copa Beach on the black-and-white Portuguese-designed tiles, it stretches the entire beach. Evie loves to press the buttons on these advertisements that spray a water mist to keep everyone cool.  And of course she loves the beach! Rosie loves to be held while I baby-wear her in the Bjorn, fall asleep.  And get tons of oooos and aaahhhs about how adorable they both are from just about every.person.walking. that day!

-The Lagoa:  "Lagoon" it's *the* lagoon with the Cristo statue behind it, gorgeous views of the mountain ranges here, swan boats, and very cool playgrounds for the kids.

-Feiras or "Street Fairs,"  the fruit is amazingly fresh and it's such a cool atmosphere with hundreds of people in these outdoor markets, usually with a playground in the middle or nearby.  We buy cheese pasteis, watermelon, tangerines, cut pineapple, and guaravita (juice from a yummy fruit here), and chow down on all the fresh foods while Evie plays in the park.

And...

Copacabana Beach, our favorite!  Evie always meets new friends and plays for hours, sometimes we walk along the shore, but mostly we set up our tent and play in the water.  Evie goes nuts chasing the waves and playing football with other kids, and we enjoy watching her have fun and play with Rosie in the tent, who just wants to be with us and watch the birds.  We eat BBQ'ed cheese on a stick, coconut popsicles, açai (yummy fruit here) icees with granola on top, globo chips (they look like air doughnuts, the girls love 'em), and watermelon.   I love how venders sell all kinds of local food right there on the beach, they come to you!!!

More to come, stay tuned!