Rio de Janeiro

Our first visitor is in the books!

It was a bizarre and spectacular phenomenon to host my friend Jess, who I've known since our freshman year in college. The first time we were abroad together involved hostels and backpacks. This time, parks and diaper bags... :)

First, a few days in Sao Paulo to catch up, eat all the Brazilian musts, and play.

Then, a touristy weekend in Rio that just happened to coincide with London’s FIRST birthday.
Celebratory dinner on Copacabana Beach? Check.

Saturday morning: Thanks to the early hour and cloud coverage, we had Copacabana almost all to ourselves. And although zero little toes braved the waves and the littlest ten didn’t even like the sand, we whittled away a few happy hours searching for sea shells, chasing birds, and building castles.

Saturday afternoon: We ascended to the top of Sugarloaf Mountain via cable car for spectacular (albeit still very cloudy) views of the city.

Saturday night: A little stroll on the iconic sidewalk of Copacabana Beach. The little guy was set on following his path of white swirls, slowly but surely :)

Sunday morning: We went to see Jesus. It seemed appropriate.

And finally, the skies cleared… when it was time to head to the airport.

Traveling with Kids

When traveling with kids, your pace is usually slow. Very, very slow. As in I need to step on each square kind of slow. When traveling with kids, you spend more time hanging by the playground than you do relaxing by the pool. Early morning hours are for roaming hotel hallways with a wide-awake babe. And when you finally get to the best vista of the Falls, you are preoccupied with teaching the preschooler how to pop a squat on the wrong side of the fence.

When traveling with kids, tiny tummies rarely stop grumbling for more snacks. And the promise of ice cream is the Holy Grail that keeps everyone moving forward. Inevitably, exhaustion overpowers the lure of ice cream and you end up carrying weighty bodies for longer than you’d like. By the time you make it back to the hotel, you are worn down and in serious need of a nap… a nap you will never get because the kids are now rested and ready to play.

This is travel with kids.

BUT when traveling with kids, you also have a reason to slow your pace. to simplify plans. to delight in moments and details you would have otherwise missed.

Because littles have a sense of wonder that is fresh and unfiltered. They don’t stifle amusement. They shriek happily and then belly laugh with Bob (the laughing bird, remember?).

When traveling with kids, moments of surprise or joy or awe become even more surprising, more joyful, and more awesome… because you experience all the feels yourself – and then you get to watch as they do the same.

And sometimes, the kids actually save you time. A lot of it. As in personal escorts past hundreds of people waiting in line to the open door of the next bus kind of time. Brazil’s preferential treatment for young families is INCREDIBLE.

Traveling with kids is hard and exhausting and worth it.

Iguazu Falls

For the long Carnival weekend, we escaped to Iguazu Falls, one of the largest waterfall systems in the world. Our days were mostly cloudy with a little rain, which dampened the experience a bit (ha!), but also meant our pale-skinned babes came home sunburn-free. And that is a serious win.

We started Day One at the nearby bird park, Parque das Aves. Highlights included a large bird that seriously sounded like he was cracking up (we named him Bob), the toucan that landed on the railing right in front of us, and the CRAZY loud macaw aviary.

Brazil’s Iguaçu National Park was next:

The falls lie on the border between Brazil and Argentina. As our hotel was in Argentina, empanadas seemed to be the only reasonable way to wrap the day... empanadas and orange Fanta, that is :)

Day Two brought us to Argentina's Iguazú National Park:

After eight months of life in the city, it was incredibly refreshing to tread through nature (and all its stunning beauty) for a few days.