Parati with Auntie Sarah

We spent last week in Parati with Auntie Sarah visiting us. Parati is a beautiful little colonial beach town. It used to be a main shipping port when gold was first discovered in Brazil and it has retained a lot of its colonial charm from those days - narrow cobblestone streets and small stone houses. But modern times have brought high-end boutiques, souvenir shops and restaurants. We spent our days touring the town, and touring the beachfront by boat. You can take a schooner out for the day to the local beaches where there are lots of places to play.

Sarah listening to superhero stories while sailing the countryside.

Auntie Sarah and Johnny fresh from a swim

Dad and Johnny enjoying a moment on the water

John drew pictures of some of the sea turtles we saw from the boat

Sarah and John searching for pirate treasure

Carina enjoying one of the local waterfalls

Beach Week

We just finished a couple of weeks in Florianopolis, an island with lots of beaches and sunshine. Everybody had a great time. We spent new years in a nice restaurant, but with a bad bottle of wine.
We too lots of family beach hikes.
But Johnny missed his cousins so much he kept trying to call home.
CC and Daddy did some bonding.
And Daddy even got to try surfing.
But that picture is pretty misleading. This one is more representative of Daddy's surfing experience.
The nicest part, though, is that through silly times and serious times, playful times and turtle-y times, the kids got lots of time together.