Another Adventure

Some family, friends and I went to a farmland area called Witmarsum, it is a German name, but it is pronounced kind of like this: (vit-mur-zone). There were lots of things to do there, like fishing, and riding horses, and ponys. The biggest fish we caught was about one foot long, and the smallest fish we caught was about four inches, (those were with our fishing rods), we also caught one inch long fish, but we caught them with our hands by coaxing them with bait. We were only allowed to ride the ponys in a circular arena. We had someone leading them, but once we felt safer we could ride them by ourselves. We also had a tractor pull us in a trailer to the river. There were big rocks and bumps, it was kind of like a slow roller coaster ride. There was hardly a trail, so we had to find the safest way to get down. We got wet in the river, but we got even more wet on the way back up from the river. It started raining and hailing like mad, we had a roof but it still got in, we got about as drenched as we would have if we would have jumped in a lake. We stopped to duck behind the trailer so we could avoid the onslaught of the rain and hail bullets. It sure was a fun trip to Witmarsum. By Christian

Only in Brazil

Here are some of the unique things about Brazil that we are enjoying. Most of them we will not be able to see, experience or taste in the USA. A lot of them are firsts for the boys, and they are enjoying every single moment.A tour bus with the name Curitiba, my beloved home town! Eating pastel! It´s a pastry filled with a variety of choices, then deep fried! Very yummy! A parakeet by the restaurant bathroom door! Guarana! A soda pop made from the guaran berry found in the Amazon!

"Beach vendors"! You can buy anything from sodas, cotton candy, ice cream, cajus to sunglasses ! You never have to leave your beach chair!

Scrapping and eating coconut after drinking it's milk.

Beatles the size of . . . , well you can see!

Our beloved Pinheiro, a common tree in our state of Parana. Yes, you need to tilt your head to get a good look, I could not figure out how to turn it.

And last but not least, and definately most sweet, sugar cane juice! Of course, there are many other differences that the boys noticed right away. Like that every house has tall fences (you could almost call it a wall), with either barb wires, broken glass, or electric wire on top of it. That there are huge, beautiful houses, right next to small, delapitaded ones. Christian even made the comment, after just a few days here, that the rich people were all whites, and the poor all dark. He said: "Not like back at home where whites and blacks are all the same". I'm glad he sees it that way, I hope every kid in his generation will think like that. However, you can imagine how apparent the social discrepancies are around here.

Pictures

At the Beach

We have done many things at the beach here in Brazil. One of me and my brothers favorite things is boarding. We try to catch a wave right when it breaks so we can get a good boost on our boards. One wave was so powerful it threw me off my board, the current dragged me underwater, and scraped my knee on the surface of the sand. One day we used a hole we had dug the day earlier for Ethan to get in, so I could cover him with sand. I covered him with sand up to his chin, so none of his neck could be seen. He looked just like a bobble head. If I would have been a random person walking on the beach, they would have thought it was just a head. My mom forgot the camera, so there is no picture. Part of the time our little cousin João Mauricio came, so we dug a big hole for him and filled it with water, so it would be a pool for him. He didn´t like the big crashing waves at the ocean. Christian

The Trip

The trip from Belligham,WA to Curitiba, Brazil took about 15 hours. But that was just on the airplane, we also had to wait in the airport, and we drove in the car, which brings the total up to about 27 hours. From Seattle/Tacoma, WA, to Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, was about 4 hours. From Dallas/Forth Worth, Texas to Sao Paulo, Brazil, was about 10 hours. It was at night, but I did not sleep very well. Form Sao Paulo, Brazil to Curitiba, Brazil, was about one hour, but it was a roller coaster ride of bumpiness, because of the turbulence. By Christian Buhler

Yes, it sure was a long and exhausting ride, but we arrived here safely, which is what counts. It´s great to see family again, and of course, feel the warmth of 27 degrees celsius. The boys were already teaching their 3 year old cousin some good rough housing techniques. Tomorrow we are heading down to Guaratuba, a beach town close to here. You will not see any updates until we get back; we don´t have internet access at the house there, but who wants that anyways when you are at the beach!!

Not so Dummy!

We had to take the boys to the mall, you know how guys love shopping! So Nolan found a creative way to pass the time. He posed as a mannequin in the Gap window. Once in a while he would take his hand out and wave very discreetly. That wave was the only clue that it was actually a real boy, he blended in that well! It was hilarious!! Can you spot him in the picture above, he is posing at Kohls.

The boys usually frown at the idea of taking pictures. Well, lucky for them, I just happen to know a great, talented and fun photographer. We had some family pictures taken and even the boys would agree that it was quick and painless. We even got some cool "picture address" cards that I will be able to hand out to our family and friends in Brazil. Check out some of the results.

Thank you Amy for these great pictures!

And if any of you need some great family pics, check Amy's work at barefeetphotos.blogspot.com

Mission Accomplished

We got all of our stuff in the suitcases. I had to get another little one out; not so much because of the volume, but because of weight. Books weigh quite a bit, but there is no way around it, we need to bring them. Clothes you can wash, food you buy there, and although you can buy books there too , I doubt the boys' grasp of the language will be enough to read Portuguese literature.

So we are off tomorrow morning. I will try to put updates of our travels on the blog. Actually, that will be one of Christian's responsibilities. The boys will be keeping journals of their trip, and since Christian prefers to type anyways, he will be doing it on the blog. So if you check back and don't see any updates, either we are in a remote place or Christian is not doing his homework!

Packing

How do you fit 3 months worth of life for three boys and myself into a couple of suitcases?

I don't know either, I'm in the middle of trying to figure it out myself. Wish me luck!!

Our Own Chip (or Dale)

Now we know how Walt Disney got his inspiration for Chip and Dale so many years ago. We have one of their descendants in our yard, and we even discovered that Shawn has a few "Donald Duck" tendencies. Last year the boys made some suet for the birds; we were studying birds and were looking forward to observing the different species that would be attracted to the good food. It did not take long for two little furry guys to catch a scent of it and start feasting. So Shawn moved it further up the branch, which did not bother them a bit. So Shawn moved it up even further, "there is no way they will be able to jump this far, and the branch is to thin to hold them up", is what Shawn thinks! I can picture the squirrels watching Shawn and devising a plan. Sure enough, they leap from the tree trunk and "fly" to the suet basket. It looked like a squirrel bungee jumping line; it bounced so much, but they made it!! So at the end of winter the score was Squirrels 1, Shawn 0. This year Shawn had a different action plan, he tied two different baskets in "off squirrel" locations. Well, the score is now Squirrels 2, Shawn 0. We will keep you posted if the score changes!!

A Week in a Flash

That's how I feel about this week, it went by in a flash. I was even in a state of denial until one day Nolan brought me back to reality. Someone asked me when we were leaving to go to Brazil and I answered 2 weeks. Nolan points out to me: "Mom, you have been saying two weeks for a while now." Oh well! At least I got some things done as we prepare for the trip. Christian had his last day at Kulshan and is now officially home schooled, returned his saxophone to Mojo Music (we are not lugging that with us), made sure all the boys swim suits were still a good fit, went out to try to find swimsuits for the kids. Ironically this year I'm surprised there is not much choice out there for swimsuits yet, whereas in other years, I'm a little annoyed that they bring them out so soon!! I guess I can say we are on the countdown now, 7 days to go!

Here is our toy of the week:

Just a plain old PVC pipe! The boys got to take it home after a marshmallow blowing contest in cub scouts and they have been playing with it non-stop. For housekeeping purposes they are using their Nerf gun bullets instead of marshmallows. I even gave up using my fleece in the house, apparently, fleece makes a good "target" for their bullets, it sticks nicely, so I was under constant attack. At first I even humored them, but there is just so much one can take when living under constant attack.