VACATION

March 4, 2017

If you read my last post, you know that if we didn't need a vacation before we started the drive, we definitely needed it now.  

Thankfully, once settled in, we were able to relax.  This (picture below) is the awesome place we rented. It is actually our second time to rent this house.  I cannot imagine how much it is during peek season, but since we always go the week after, it is very affordable.  It’s the perfect place for us – a pool, soccer field, ping-pong, fishing pond, play ground, and lots of space inside and outside. 

 One the first day we swam, Julia could barely stand at the shallow end with her head out of water.  On the second day, she announced, with her head now easily out of the water, “I’ve grow since last night!”  The reality is that we just splashed that much water out of the pool the day before.

And then there's the beach.  My kids enjoy the beach.  We all do.

 The little kids didn’t remember the beach.  They had so much fun at the water’s edge chasing waves and letting the water rush over them.

 Makayla was found her two middle fingers to suck.

She sleeps at night from 10:30 – 7:30.

Coos and goos and makes the sweetest baby noises.

Loves to be swaddled.  She’ll give Jeff the biggest grin at night when he begins to swaddle her for bedtime.

She grabs for toys.

She’s almost rolling over.  She’ll swing her hips over but her shoulders have yet too follow.  So close.

She blows bubbles.

It was extra special to have Jeff's parents join us.  This is the second time we’ve met them in Brazil.  We are thankful they are willing to travel all this way to see us and we are thankful for all the American goodies they brought us.  It’s been a year and a half since we’ve seen them and the first time for them to meet Makayla.  Of course, they were smitten with her and she with them.

We played lots of games  old and new.  My family loves games.  Julia and a couple others love doing puzzles with grandma.

 We went to a water park and had so much fun.  My kids are brave.  This kiddie pool was perfect for Julia to practice swimming.  By the end of the day she was doing great.

Football on the beach.  I love seeing these boys pay together.  I love hearing these boys laugh.

I love how the ocean makes you feel so small.

 A bit of brotherly love.

This afternoon we hiked to a remote beach.  Grandparents graciously watched Josiah and Claire.  The hike was tough (or maybe I am just that out of shape).  The hike took over an hour and I am sure it was all uphill.  I kangaroo carried Makayla on the way up.  She slept the entire time which was nice.  Coming back was a different story - she cried and nursed the entire way back.  Julia did great on the hike.    

March 14, 2017

And now comes the exciting part - getting home.

Our hired van came at 2:00pm and drove us to the bus terminal.  We caught the 4:20pm bus, arriving in Foz do Iguazu at 8AM.  That’s 15 hours on the bus!  In Foz, a van picked us up and we drove 6 hours to Asuncion.  That’s 26 hours of travel!  Thankful we made it safely and with our sanity intact.  

We sat at the bus terminal waiting for our 26 hour marathon of a day of travel to begin.  Our 10 bags (Jeff’s parents were so generous to bring us 4 tubs full of American goodies) and 10 carry-ons were piled high around us like a jenga game.  I am nursing the baby when Julia says she needs to go to the bathroom.  As Jeff stands to take the baby, he slips in a puddle of water at his feet.  Claire had opened the thermos nozzle and had let the water drip, drip, drip.  As I bent down to ask Jeff if he’s ok, I noticed that my skirt now has a huge blob of what we call “mustard” (baby poop) on it.  Makayla’s clothes and hands are yellow too.  I grab the closest blanket to lay Makayla down.  It too was soon covered in poop.   Now baby is naked and crying.  Julia is doing the pee pee dance.  Claire is stomping in the puddle.  Josiah chimes in, “I have to go poop.”  The rest of my kids are glued to electronics devices  and are completely unaware of the world just next to them.  New baby clothes donned.  1,000 baby wipes have been used on the baby and my skirt and the blanket.    We had the baby off to a sibling.  We hand the two year old to another sibling.  Jeff grabs Josiah’s hand and goes to the right in search of a bathroom.  I take Julia’s hand and go left in search of a bathroom.  

Destination: BRAZIL

March 1, 2017…And we are off!

5:45 AM came early but we were out the door by 6:30.  We got to Ciudad del Este by noon and ate at McDonalds.  We checked into our hotel at CIDE.  My kids are amazing at helping out their mama.  While Ryan and Jeff played tennis, the rest went to the pool.  While I spend time outside the pool blowing up floaties and nursing a baby, the swimmers entertained the non-swimmers.  They enticed them to go down the slides, carried them up the steps, and caught them at the bottom.  The kids had so much fun.  The kids loved the soccer field, the weight room, the PS4 in the lobby, and the play ground.  Then we were back at the pool for round #2 till dinner and bedtime. 

 If this doesn’t put a smile on your face, I don’t know what will.  Claire loved the goggles.

March 2, 2017

After 6 hours in the car, we made it to Abelardo Luz, Brazil at 1:30.  More importantly, we made it to a fun water slide in the middle of the jungle.    

 Josiah had gotten away from Jeff on the slide and splashed into the water alone.  Tyler jumped in to rescue him.  No sooner than Tyler got Josiah's head above the water, Jeff came off the slide.  When all three came up sputtering, Tyler said to Jeff, “I had Josiah until you sat on him.”

 Makayla, content to watch her siblings splash in the water

 The view from the pool

 Hiking from the pool to our chalet.

Dinner time in the chalet - Ramen noodles! 

 The view from the chalet

March 3, 2017

KEEP CALM AND CALL A TOW TRUCK

Another early start at 6AM and out of the chalet by 7.  We were making such good time…and then it happened.  The moment we were all waiting for but were so hoping that it would never come.  

Our van broke down!  

The transmission failed.  

On vacation.  

On the road.  

In the middle of Brazil.  

7 hours from our destination.

Ug.

This scene is all too familiar for us.  Find a mechanic.  Repack bags into just what you can carry.  Just the necessities.  Leave the food.  Dump half the clothes.  Only a couple of games.  No extra books or toys.  Unload.  Repack.  Reload.  Wait for a tow truck.  

SHE SAID….

Jeff went with the two truck and the rest of us took a rented mini-bus to the bus terminal.  Our cell phone don’t work in Brazil so before we parted ways, we were trying to coordinate getting to our destination.  It was a basic strategy – we both try to get to Florionopolis somehow and at some time.  We’d stay put at the terminal until the other arrived.

We waited three hours for our bus.  Ryan really steps up to the plate and takes care of us when Jeff isn’t around.    The kids are so patient. So helpful.  They just go with the flow.  And me?  Well, I was like a duck – calm on the outside, but on the inside I was frantically trying to have a good attitude.  Keep kids quiet.  Keep kids fed.  Keep kids entertained.  Nurse baby.  Take kids to bathroom.  Change diapers.  Kids are hungry again.  Buy lunch.  Eat ice cream.  Nurse baby again.  Three hours.  I almost went nuts.

We got in line to get on the bus and the driver asked to see all our passports.  He asked to see the passports that I didn’t have.  Jeff had them and who knew where he was now.  I explained my situation in Spanish to the very unsympathetic Portuguese speaking driver.  He kept lecturing me about not having my children’s passports.  He said we couldn’t get on.  I wanted to cry.  He left for what felt like an eternity.  He finally came back and said we could get on board.  Thank you, God.

I got all the kids settled in their seats and just as I sat down I felt warmth on my hand. Exploded diaper on my hands and lap.  Thanks, Makayla.

We have 9 hours to go on the bus.  ETA: midnight.

We stopped to let more passengers on.  Julia asks, “Mom, are we there yet?”  I reply all too casually, “No, but we only have 8 hours left.”

HE SAID….

Jeff went to two mechanic shops in town but no one could work on the van.  He was towed to the next big town.  Still no one could help.  One shop, however, said they could drop the transfer case and send it to the nearest mechanic – 7 hours away in Florionopolis.  Well, I guess it was better than  being towed the entire way.  With that taken care of, Jeff found the local terminal and caught a bus – a bus that just happened to be the one we were on.  Thank you, God.

March 4, 2017

We have a lot to be thankful for.  As I mentioned before – my kids rock.  My big kids help.  They entertain.  They take little ones to the restroom.  They read them books.  And they let them hang all over them during the day and then flop on them during the night.  My little ones are awesome travelers.  The curtail their energy and lower their voices.  They did, however, play musical seats the entire trip.

At midnight the rental house owner, Admir,  met us at the bus terminal.  He received Jeff’s distress email and even rented us a van.  Admir’s wife even bought us groceries.  We got settled into to the house and fell asleep at 3AM. 


...to be continued....

ANOTHER BIRTHDAY

February 19 – We had our annual all day long SIM team meeting.  After afternoon committee meetings, we all gathered for a quick lunch before heading to our various homes…..or so I thought.  My team mates surprised me with a party!  I opened 40 gifts (little things that team mates had brought that represented me to them), ate wonderful Tex-Mex and had a chocolate peanut butter cake. 

 February 21 – Well, my 40^th birthday came and I survived.  We were up in Asuncion.  As a family we went out bowling and Ginny and Ryan bought me ice cream.