An Evening in Fortaleza

I traveled to Fortaleza today for work, and was lucky enough to have a couple hours to stroll the beach this afternoon!  Fortaleza is a large city about 400 miles north of Recife on the coast.  It was nice to get out and see another of the northeast's cities.

Coastal nature....CACTUS!!!

Fortaleza's beach is lined with restaurants, bars and craft stalls.  It is a different vibe from the main beach strip in Recife.

Cold coconuts are only 2 reais???  That is a 1 real discount from Recife!!

 Pac-Man must be near by...

Igneous rock formations on the beach.  Unexpected signs of ancient volcanic activity in the region.

View down the beach.

I stopped to stroll through a beach front Japanese Garden.  Apparently I wasn't the only one enjoying the garden that afternoon...

Then this happened...

Palm in the wind.

Caipirinha at dusk.

Attention!! Risk of getting run over!   (It really says that)  This was on the sidewalk....

Enjoying the Beira Mar, Fortaleza's beach walk.

Art on the beach.

Baby Lady Mania!

The new big iPhone OS update meant that I finally downloaded the pictures from my phone. Here are some highlights from the texts that I send to Autumn throughout the day while she is at work.

 Baby computing!

 Coloring practice...

...it's so hard not to eat the crayons!

 Yarn pool!

 Vrrrooom!

 More star noodles...

...or else!

 Awww...

 Sleepy lady!

 Just chillin' with Dad, watchin' TV

(also, I think this outfit needs to go to the too small pile ;)

 Curl, dimple, teeth

 Oh, you think you can play a video game while I'm awake...

...how about I just open up these drawers and pull out all the electronics! Haha!

Baby: 1 - Parent: 0

Cold weather bathing suit!

Thanks Auntie Leah!

T-Shirt Contest!

Another entry in the ridiculous English t-shirt contest....suck it Winstons! HAHA! I want to say that this was on Brazilian Father's Day at the nicest restaurant in town.

What did galaxies ever do to you senhor?

Fun in the Sun

On our way back to Recife, we had a 17 hour layover in Miami. So, we made the best of it, and checked into a hotel for a little more rest and relaxation.

 Swimming time!

 Are we in Miami, or the island from Lost?

3-2-1 DUNK!

Last days of Fall

Our trip went by way to fast, as always, but it was so great to catch up with friends and family that we hadn't seen in months! It was so nice to have a break from the heat too. The weather was so perfect, we didn't want to go home.

 K's new rig

Fall.

While the parents are away, the baby will play

I think that Kylie was ready for a break from us too! Look at that smile!

Cruising in cold weather PJs

Vegas Baby!

We took our first trip WITHOUT Kylie to Vegas over Columbus Day! We dropped her off with Grandpa Ed for a two night, grandparent relay! Grandma Cathy had her for night one and Grandma Julie had her for night two. Thank you all so much!!

We had a fantastic time of eating, gambling and SLEEPING!!

 Dinner at SW Steakhouse on the first night...

...we didn't spring for the Quil Ceda Creek, but we impressed that they had a whole Washington wines section!

 Ready for a night out on the town

 Nobu was FANTASTIC

 View from the room

 Stegasaurus Lox!

 Cheese at the Bellagio Conservatory

Wow

Lazy Sunday

Today, we said goodbye to Carri and just took it easy. Kylie and I went for a walk on the beach in the morning, and we stopped by my mom's for a quick visit in the afternoon.

 Ponderosa pine on the lake

 Wild apples!

Goin' to see the chickens

Fakesgiving II

Since we are never home at real Thanksgiving, we had Fakesgiving II out at the farm! Everybody pitched in and brought a dish, and it was tots amazing as usual! 

Foraged grapes!

 Three amigas!

 First fig newton with Grandma Cathy

 Horsing around with dad

 Wheee!

 Oh! Doggies!

 Hi

 Not sure if I like this...

 OK, I LOVE it!

I'm ready for my dinner!

Four generations

Together again!