There was a lot of travel for a couple of weeks so I didn’t have much time to work on posting, which means you get another long post. Sorry, not sorry.
English Camp
The boys love English camp. Mason and Tuck are in the back row. Tuck is on Danny’s shoulders.
I wish the picture was clearer but this is all I had from camp since we weren’t there. I have no idea why my kids are always of other’s shoulders.
In honor of English camp, I made an American breakfast. It was the first time in seven and half months since we had biscuits and gravy. Everyone was excited about this.
Emily took these pictures of Tucker from across the field and sent them to us with that caption. He’s trying to figure out why she’s taking a picture of him eating a burger. Everyone was keeping a eye on him after he “fell” and hit his head on a rock. I think the real story was that Mason pushed him while trying to get the frisbee from him during ultimate frisbee. Mason also broke his glasses while completing a challenge during one of the games. But they both survived and we had brought another pair of glasses with us from the States, just in case something like that happened. So all is well. The boys had a great time and came home exhausted.
Vinhedo
Since the boys were at camp, Trevor and I decided to celebrate our 21st anniversary, which was two weeks before camp, with a couple day trips. We headed to Itatiba, which is about an hour away, to check out their municipal market before heading to Barn Lodge in Vinhedo.
This place was so nice. It was the most American thing I’ve seen in Brazil, I think. American Christmas music was playing and it looked like a restaurant that you would find around us back home or up in Pigeon Forge. Lots of things in Brazil don’t have a nice finished look to them but this did. It was beautiful.
We strolled through their Christmas store while we waited to be seated. It was almost all American items. I could have spent a small fortune in there (imported items are so expensive in Brazil) but Trevor was with me, so I didn’t. Oh well, it was nice to dream.
Twenty-one years later and I still madly, deeply love this man. The owner of Barn Lodge had spent time in Texas and loved it so much she brought that vibe back with her. And my belly is thankful she did.
I LOVE barbecue! Plus they had mac and cheese (that’s hard to find in Brazil), and the BEST hashbrown waffle fry things I’ve ever eaten. The s’mores cookie was good too.
Itatiba
With our bellies full, we headed into Itatiba to try to walk off a couple of those calories before heading home.
There are usually a couple larger churches in each city’s downtown area, or Centro. Praça da Bandeira Centro Igreja was closed so we didn’t get a chance to go inside but it was pretty with bells chiming on the hour.
While we were walking about the church, we spotted a store with lots of Christmas items so we popped in. I may have bought a few things. In my defense, it was all for the Christmas party at Vinde for the kiddos. The lady threw in the snowman sign for free.
Campos do Jordão
The next day we headed a bit further, about 2 1/2 hours, to Campos da Jordão.
We drove through a few towns but I didn’t get pictures of a lot of signs. But here’s a couple. Who knew Brazil had a national capital of children’s literature?
Welcome to Campos do Jordão. They close off this entrance at night and direct traffic around the sides so people can get pictures in front of the lights.
At 5,341 feet above sea level, Campos do Jordão, nicknamed Brazilian Switerland, is the highest city in Brazil. This little fact became evident as we watched the temperature drop the closer we got.
It is also known for it’s Christmas festivities, which was the reason for our visit. It was cool and rainy but we didn’t let that deter us.
There are several parks that are decorated. Parque Capivari, above, has the Christmas festival vibes, with a few carnival rides, entertainment pavilions, street food vendors, and plenty of photo op places.
Dumb Americans
We knew the masses would pour in the later it got so we arrived hours before dark to find a free parking spot a few blocks away. We walked around and found a place to eat an early dinner and to get out of the rain. Trev likes burgers and this place had a good rating so we popped in to Manhattan Burger. Our waiter knew some English; a fact which is going to matter a little bit later in the story. We sat down on the patio and looked over the menu. So on the left hand side of the menu it had sides and appetizers, had a plain and a traditional listing in the middle, a chicken section on the bottom, and on the right hand side were drinks, and specialty burgers. The specialty burgers, which were named after cities in New York, had special cheeses and toppings like caramelized onions, were almost twice as much so Trev and I stuck to the traditional which had lettuce, tomato, egg, ham, and cheese. It didn’t sound very American traditional with ham on it but I just asked for mine with no ham. I ordered onion rings and Trev ordered fries. All was well and good until our food came out. If you look at the picture on the left the burger has no burger patty. It was a ham and cheese sandwich and remember I asked for mine with no ham. Good grief. That’s why it was so cheap. There was no hamburger meat. So now I have to explain to the waiter that I want a burger patty on my sandwich. Why, oh why, are we allowed to travel? He was very confused but eventually he understood and I got the meat (pictured right). I felt even worse because Trevor just stuck with his ham and cheese sandwich because if he was going to pay the more expensive price for the burger, he would have ordered one with different toppings. Oh well, at least we had food to eat.
The story doesn’t end there though. After he was done eating, Trevor headed to the bathroom. All of a sudden the manager lady comes running out yelling, “Sir! Sir!Sirrr!” He finally realized that since she was speaking English she was probably yelling at him and stopped. Trev was about to go in to the women’s bathroom. How embarrassing! In his defense, we didn’t see a sign anywhere that said it was the ladies’ room. Apparently, around the corner on the left side of the building was the ladies and the right side was the men’s. We have no idea how people know that but afterwards, we watched and women went left and men went right. The only sign we saw stated that the restrooms were for customers only and all others had to pay a fee to use them.
Finally, the weather cleared up and we were ready to leave the restaurant (one thing about Brazil is that they don’t rush you from your table. We could have sat there for two more hours and no one would have said anything). So Trev puts his hand down on the table when he goes to stand up and the table starts to tip over. Good grief, these two gringos had made a spectacle out of themselves three too many times and were ready to go.
Since it was chilly, we decided to stop at the Nutella Cafe, next door, for some hot chocolate. The waitress asked if we wanted a menu and we told her no and asked if they had hot chocolate, which she said they did. So she rang up two hot chocolates and they were kind of pricey. They also came with spoons. It didn’t take long to make sense out of it. It was Nutella, not a regular hot chocolate. Melt your face off hot, melty, thick Nutella. So with our small cups of expensive Nutella lava, we got out of that area and headed back over to the park.
Christmas Lights
They have a bridge with locks like in Paris. By the time we walked through the Galeria, it was starting to get dark. Time for the main event, the lights.
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Christmas lights and Christmas trees.
In one of the parks, they have a tree festival where local businesses each decorate a tree and all the lights are synced to music (American Christmas songs). How fun!
We had a great time hanging out together.
Babysitting for the Good of Child Sponsorship
The following week, was a short break at Vinde. Monday we were going to go shop for the MOYO Child Sponsorship Christmas gifts but after our last shoe shopping trip, we decided it was better for Chris and Liandro to go. This way, they could have a date while they were at it, too. Shoe shopping here is nuts. You ask if they have a specific shoe and size and they say yes. They go downstairs to get the shoe and they come back 20 minutes later with eight boxes with every shoe except the one you asked for. It is beyond aggravating for this American. Then you add the language issue and it takes even longer. Then you finally get a shoe that will work in the size you need and then you spend another 30 minutes trying to check out because you have to give them all kinds of information. So we offered to watch their kiddos instead, while they went; since this was going to be a much larger purchase and being Brazilian they could communicate with the salespeople easier. All the kids, whose sponsors bought them shoes, were shopped for.
My boys were still tired from camp but they found the energy to play with Davi and Daniel.
Santos
The next day we were up and packed to go to Santos for a few days at the beach with Sarah, Ellis, Angel (Ellis’s mom), Joy and David.
It was a holiday so there was plenty of police presence; even these guys on their horses with swords.
We stayed as beachfront as you can get, as a main road separates the beach from everything. Our hotel was the most Brazilian place we have stayed thus far. It was over 100 years old with lots of charm and it was clean. Look, an actual key to the room. I loved it. Looking at these pictures it’s hard to see the charm but, trust me, it’s there.
First up was lunch. We all got some type of seafood dish, except Tucker. He stuck to the classics. The food was good.
We took a stroll along the beach.
I love our family, even if Tucker is too cool too hug his mom for a picture.
Everyone had fun the next day just hanging out on the beach.
Joy found a live sand dollar and Tucker couldn’t resist the beach fun bus and bought a boogie board and a volleyball.
He came to get his and his brother’s goggles. He is such a knucklehead. I don’t know if I could love him anymore than I do. I hope he never changes.
After a good day of sand and sun, we walked a little further down the beach to our next adventure.
It’s pretty to see the green mountains on both sides of this stretch of beach.
You know I can’t resist a good sign. Sarah photobombed mine and Trevor’s selfie.
Our final destination was at the pier to catch the Master of the Seas boat tour.
We boated by a few beaches, while “Captain Jack” entertained us.
Once we got a ways out, they stopped the boat for the passengers to take a swim. The area where they jumped was full of jellyfish eggs. It didn’t hurt but it was kind of weird having these little things constantly touching you while in the water, or so I was told by the boys. You all know, I didn’t jump in that water.
The boys, however, had no problems with it.
David and Tucker love to have fun.
Even, when it means riding the ferris wheel in Santa’s Village at the mall.
The next day we headed to the aquarium. David had never been to an aquarium before and was super excited. Though it pales in comparison to the Georgia Aquarium and was way too small to house larger sharks and whales, it was very cheap (less than $2 for adults and kids 12 and under and seniors are half prices) and worth the thirty minute stop.
This sting ray came right to the glass as I was walking by. How cool!
With a few days at the beach over, it was time to head home.
I completely forgot about going to the coffee museum until we drove right past it. Oh well, maybe next time. The coffee museum has a lot of history, as it was one of the reasons the Portuguese settled in this area.
Heading home the traffic was bumper to bumper and I think a lot of that had to do with the thick fog. Normally, you should be looking at a green forested mountain, not a white cloud. I’m not sure, but I think the boys were tired. Oh yeah, and badly sunburned. Sunscreen was applied, but it was no match for the strong UVs here. I reapplied sunscreen on Tucker so he wasn’t too, too sunburnt but poor Mason’s back was fried. He didn’t want his mom to help so you could see where he couldn’t reach. Poor fella. He was miserable! Joy and David were toasted too. They didn’t apply sunscreen at all. It was bad. A trip to the pharmacy had to be made.
Just like that, break was over, and we were heading to São Paulo in the morning for a very important mission.
NoHurryCains 
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