Boa tarde!

In Brazil, no one wears clothes and they drink straight from the spigot.

Hello Everyone. We're back from our terrific journey abroad to the lovely land of Brazil. We spent a night in the city of Sao Paulo, then headed to the family farm an hour and a half outside the city. The farm is nestled in steep rolling hills and offers everything a little boy could possibly dream of - chickens, cows, bananas and tangerines right on the tree, and all the brooms you'd ever need. Martin was in heaven. Aside from a nasty cold that kept him a bit on the crabby side for the first few days, he was happy to experience all Brazil had to offer. We saw animals, hiked around a waterfall, had a picnic at the top of a small mountain, played in the pool, and finished with a giant churrasco with all the meat you could eat. It was a wonderful trip and we were so happy to introduce Martin to his Brazilian relatives.

We would like to thank Vo Vo and Vo Vo, Tia Glaucia, Tio De and Tia Lucia, and Tia Diva for all you did to make our trip so memorable. Thank you for putting up with Martin, and with the crazy girl who speaks no Portuguese. Thank you very much. And Diva, Martin says you can be in charge for a day next time!

Here's an album of our trip to Brazil. It's a doozy (250+ photos!), so be prepared to sit for a while. The pictures with no comments were meant to be deleted, but I was so exhausted from naming them all that I just gave up. Sorry.

For those of you with attention spans more in tune to Martin's (think 45 seconds, not 45 minutes), here are a few highlights from our trip.
Chickens! Martin loved the chickens and learned to make a horrible screeching noise that sounded just like them.

Did Elizabeth come along? You betcha! We had to sneak her into the country since she didn't have her own passport like Martin. Here, she and Martin share a sunset dinner.

Calf, waterfall, buns, waterfall, calf.

Dad, Tio De (Martin's middle namesake), and Tia Diva
Martin chows at our mountaintop picnic.

The littlest guy at the bar be que.

We plant a tree in Martin's honor. Here, Martin puts the finishing touches on the planting.

All in all, it was a great trip but we're happy to be back home again. Oh, and if anyone out there has "International Travel with a Sick and/or Healthy Toddler" on their list of things to do before you die, scratch it off right now. Take it from us, it is NOT something you want to do.