Trekking

Back in May, my school put on a “trekking”…I’m not sure why they didn’t call it a hike..but sure. So we trekked through the beautiful mountains here in Ipatinga!

What we did was actually a competition. There were nine groups, with crazy looking maps, compasses, and timers…the goal was to find our way through the woods, using the exact amount of time to get from point to point, where there were people waiting to clock us in. Whoever did things at the correct time were the winners.

Guess who won????

Well it certainly wasn’t my team. Where did we place? Last. Dead last. Why? Because instead of letting the kids take over and have a good time, we bunch of controlling Moms, who wanted nothing more than for their babies to win. Who also thought they knew better than the instructors and anyone else who tried to help them. But, I digress.

We managed to have a good time despite all the competitiveness. Here is proof:

My cute group before we started

 

The Mommas helping us win

After we reached the summit

 

One of the other teachers and I

*Also let it be known I’m all about national pride, but that color yellow, on my pasty white skin…not cute.

 

I didn’t get a picture of us when we finished, but let’s say it had been raining all night the night before and stopped just in time for us to start our trekking. So the way down was slippery and quite treacherous. A lot of people fell, a few got hurt. After close to five hours, we were tired, muddy, and hungry. Thankfully for the winning team and the professors (woo hoo!) we went to a FABULOUS rodizio, and it was all paid for. We were definitely grateful for that! It was well earned!

Monkeying Around

So the other day we decided the weather was beautiful and we were going to take the dog for a walk. We picked a little path by the river. It was beautiful, green, peaceful, and picturesque. I loved it! As we were nearing the end of our walk, I discovered these:

Look how cute! We saw them in the trees above us and stopped to look at them! They came down because they thought we were going to feed them. And I probably would have (though Sidnei says it’s not the best idea) but I had no food. Anyway, they were really interested in my camera. This guy kept tilting his head when my camera would click and it made me laugh!

I really had fun taking pictures of them and playing. They got so close and truth be told they made me a little nervous, but it was so fun to see them playing. Their  curiosity was so funny! This guy made me laugh, I took a couple of pictures of him, but he’s what we nicknamed “the blinker”! He couldn’t keep his eyes open!

 

So it was a fun little day! Gracie had a good time too, though she had to go wait in the car while we played with the monkeys! She was so sad!

Thankfully her hair is growing back….albeit slowly.

And I couldn’t leave you without a photo of us!

Madness

World Cup Madness reigns supreme here in Brazil. Businesses are decked out in yellow and green. People have decorated their homes, are flying their flags, and pimping out their vehicles. All the patriotism is nice to see .

In all reality, I love the World Cup. It has really been nice to experience it with a country that really has love for the sport that is unmatched by just about anything I have seen. Because seriously watching 3 games a day…that takes dedication people. I wouldn’t know, I bowed out. It was too much for me in one day. I just catch snippets walking in and out now.

One thing I don’t really love about World Cup, or I should say this particular World Cup is the vuvuzela. Seriously, there weren’t enough noisemakers already? Don’t worry the adult here love it just as much as the kids. And they are driving me absolutely insane…at all hours of the day. And with Brazil playing today, it has started that much earlier, with that much more intensity.

Today I leave you with a video made by some kids at the school I work for. Not our particular school, this one is in Belo Horizonte, but I thought it was cute! Enjoy!

She has arrived!

On June 9, Ana Beatriz arrived at 11:45pm! Her original due date was June 24, but no one was surprised she came early! Poor little girl had a rough start coming in! My SIL’s placenta detached, she started hemorrhaging, and the baby swallowed a lot of blood. She had to be in the nursery for the first 5 day, but she is doing great! And Momma is too! They both came home one week later! I feel like I waited so long for her to get here and at the same time, she got here so quickly! Without further ado, I introduce you to Ana…

Here she was just a little yellow and had to take the “light bath in the hospital!

And here she is with Tio Sidnei!

She is so cute and tiny! I’m sure as the months pass there will be more and more about little Ana!

Talk about a bad haircut…

Okay, so there are lots of things I want to tell you!

But that will have to wait. Because I am traumatized. (but not more than Gracie..)

This was my cute. fluffy dog just one month ago.

How could you NOT love that face??

 

I’ll tell you how.

 

 

When it looks like this:

or this:

That is some scary face people.

Look at her, she is just plain defeated by this cut.

And quite honestly, I have just gotten to the point where I can talk about this, because on Friday, when she came home..there were nothing but tears. Seriously, she’s so ugly, I cried.

 

SO how did all this happen? I’ll tell you how. This is what happens when you ask your husband to call the groomers, but you don’t sit there listening to exactly what he tells them. So when they ask how much they want taken off and he says everything, this is what happens. It’s supposed to be everything but the head and the tail. They just get a trim. We have all learned a good lesson. And it’s cold here now. And she is freezing. My poor ugly, E.T. baby.

Do you see it??

 

You know that HUGE white thing I’m all cuddled up to…..do you understand  what this means people? Ignore the zit, the fact that I haven’t brushed my teeth or my hair…concentrate people..!

It officially felt like winter here last night. And by winter I mean it was a cool 65 degrees. Alright as night set in, it was probably 60. Hence the need of the big white cover (for me, not for Sidnei). I cannot even describe the happiness that this makes. I miss sleeping with blankets. And I have been SO SO SO hot. Thank goodness for the reprieve that is “winter” here. And honestly, we kind of just got the perfect storm of weather because it had been hot and humid all day. But a great thunderstorm blew in, bringing all kinds of rain and the blessed WIND! The wind was cold and cooled everything off. 60 degree weather is about as cool as we get…at night. During the day it hoovers somewhere between 75-90. More towards 75 if we’re lucky!

Anyway, I’ve never been so grateful for winter. Just thought I’d share my enthusiasm.

Just a reminder…

I found this on a blog I was reading and absolutely LOVED it!