Thursday, May 30, 2013

The Longest Day On Record

So, it's finally the big day.  The day of days...the day we leave for our big trip. 

 Good morning Recife!

We got up, finished packing, gave our maid some parting instructions and down the elevator we all went.  We immediately had trouble.  All of us and our stuff would not fit in the cab.  The cabbie insists we must have a van cab, 1 hour wait.  We scoff and order 2 cabs.  Problem solved.  

Next we arrive at the airport.  Eric had been to the airport earlier in the week to make the final arrangements for the baby's ticket, to go all the way on his lap.  There is a fee for this and a ticket needs to be issued.  He was assured on his prior visit all was well and ready.  It was not so.  After about 45 minutes of button pushing and concerned stares at the screen it became evident that Eric's prior visit to the airport had accomplished nothing.  Back to the airline store (across the room) we went to wait for another 45 minutes while they issued her ticket for our whole trip (for those counting, it took 1.5 hours to check in, with no lines)...or so we thought.

Finally aboard, and sound asleep on the first leg to São Paulo.  This was a good flight.

Upon arrival in São Paulo we have 2 hours to catch our next flight.  We had to go to the ticketing counter because the airlines we flew does not have any representation in Recife, so we could not get boarding passes.  When we arrived at the counter there was more confused stares at the computer and button mashing...Where is that baby's ticket??  It was back to the airline store area across the room.  Turns out, she wasn't ticketed after all.  More waiting, more button mashing and $300 US later, she was ticketed.  Back to the counter!  Finally, boarding passes in hand and 30 minutes remain...to security!  To exit controls!  Quick stop to get a sandwich...and we made it on board with about 10 minutes to spare.  I think something like "Ultimate Last Final Boarding Call (We Really Mean It)" was displayed on the monitor.  

We settled in for the long 10.5 hour trip to Paris.  The rest was pretty unspeakable...let's just say Kylie did not sleep for the majority of that flight.  Eric and I both spent prolonged periods standing in the back of the plane by where the crew hangs out bouncing and singing to the baby so she didn't scream and ruin everyone's flight.  It was a long long trip and somewhere Thursday turned to Friday and we made it to Paris.  A baby will never travel by lap again.  Ever.

So anyway, back to my story.  We made it to Paris and our hotel was awesome and let us check in early.  Showers were had (naps were not), and we bundled Kylie up (it was cold!) to go sightseeing for as long as we could stand it...which was about 4 hours. 

A wee bundled one ready to enjoy some fresh air!

Macarons for days.

 Notre Dame.  Selected as our 1 tourist attraction because of its easy access from the metro line our hotel happened to be on.

A quaint little park.

La familia Oakley, tired but pulling it together for some fun.

An array of French snacks for enjoyment.  Barbecue here is more like kebab than KC Masterpiece.

We finally hit bed around 7 pm...when it was still completely light outside.  Tomorrow is the final leg of our trip..looking forward to getting settled!

Monday, May 20, 2013

Visit from Mom & Jeannie!

This week, my mom and my aunt Jeannie came to visit for my birthday! We hit up what is becoming our local visitors to do list including morning caipirinhas on the beach, walking down the boardwalk and drinking coconuts, visiting Olinda, shopping at Shopping RioMar and a dinner at our favorite restaurants:  Kisu, Cia do Chopp, Camarada, Casa do Kebab, and Spettus. It was so nice to have them around for the week and get to catch up on news from home. Kylie certainly enjoyed the extra attention, and my mom was there for her first real solid food:  Pasta with roasted vegetables and sausage! Red pepper seemed to be the her favorite.

Our weekly shipment from the US included tamarind paste and Tajin!
Tamarind Margaritas for everyone!
 
Make a wish!

Mom, me and Miss K's leg and arm in Olinda!

Mom and Jeannie

Watch out!
Sertão soldiers!

Uh oh!
Kylie's mobile!

Bye Grandma!
Thanks for coming to see me!

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Happy Mother's Day!

For Autumn's very first Mother's Day, Kylie and I (but mostly me) brought Autumn breakfast in bed and a little gift! Later that day (unrelated to Mother's Day), Autumn and I hosted a delicious brunch complete with a Bloody Mary / Maria / Maria de Fatima da Silva Fernandes Costa Nunes Moraes bar.

 Homemade Hawaiian Pizza and "Storebought" Flavored Cake!
Now THAT'S that breakfast of champions!

Choose your own adventure!

Friday, May 10, 2013

Baby Update - May

Kylie is now 8 months old. 
Official milestones:

1.) Crawling
2.) Clapping
3.) Eating solid foods (well semi-solid pureed goo!)

Skype us some time to see for yourself!

 Crawling around and getting into trouble!

Just call me Plum-Beard!

Daily Challenges

Sometimes people ask what I do all day, and whether I get bored staying at home with Kylie. The answer is a lot, and no, not bored. Here are some examples of the random projects that I end up doing.

The spice grinder broke during our move here, so I had to break out the molcajete  to grind up some allspice by hand (since it is only sold whole here!).

Recipe calls for ground chicken....
....Yup. Looks like I'm grinding my own chicken today!

A pile of very mature bananas means banana bread for Autumn to take to the office!

*CHEESE* with my little partner in crime!

Sometimes Miss K refuses to sit back and watch the action, so I have to take her along with me!

Lastly, Miss K is starting to run out of clothes that fit...
...so a cut off pajama pant leg became a new dress!

Here is a list of other recent things that we've had to make ourselves due to lack of availability or high cost in Brazil:

Tomato / V-8 juice from scratch
Homemade baking powder
Sour cream and buttermilk substitutes
Tortillas (corn AND flour) - they do have flour tortillas, but they are $10+ per pack!!

I guess this is preparing us to become mountain people some day!

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Staycation

Due to some unfortunate timing with getting visas for another upcoming trip, we were without our passports for the long weekend (Brazilian Labor Day) and had to cancel our plans to go to Argentina. But, we made the best of it and had a mini-staycation at home instead. It was so nice to have Autumn home with me and the baby all day. We got all caught up on fun errands like going to Sam's Club and little things around the house. We even made time for some local touristing fun!

Exploring our very own playlandzinha complete with baby-swing!

Smiling on the slide!
(not for long...)

Autumn at Marco Zero

Family photo!

Circle of palms

We attempted to buy a postcard, but nothing was open...
...here's a fish sticker!

And finally...
...our stay-cation masterpiece!
A new baby dress!