i decided it was time to post some pictures from our brasil trip. {that happened four months ago} we got to go down with the whole fam {minus trae lis & ave) a month after our wedding.
it was a fabulous vacation.
we did all of our favorite things to do down there...in 2 weeks.
it was brians first time & it was so fun to show him everything.
{lucky him, his visa arrived the DAY before we left.}
*warning: picture overload.
the flight to & from is VERY long. we usually have an overnight layover in either miami or dallas (and we're too cheap to stay in a hotel, we just rough it on the airport floor.) the trip usually takes about 2 days. (depending how long your layovers are. you're usually on the plane for about 16 hours. depending which way you go. so, on our last hour or so of our flight TO recife, we were all talking about how excited we were to get home (or to our parents apt.) take a shower, eat a good meal, and take a long lap.
little did we know my dad had other plans. {typical dee}
we got off the plan, and packed into two cars...and started our four hour drive to spend the weekend natal. we were hungry, sleepy, and probably smelly.
but it was worth it. natal is probably my favorite place in brasil.
our stop @ a gas station to fill our bellies.
we spent the first night in the pools at the hotel and shopping at a hippie fair down the road.
and the next day was a day full of sand dunes on dune buggies.
the best part about this full day excursion is the stops we make in between...zip lines, slip n slides, slide on a board in the sand into the water...we love them all.
sand board:
this would be the sketchy little chair lift you ride back up to the top.
jump into the water...then hop on the boat.
and sometimes on the dune buggies they have to take you over water. this is how it's done.
morg, riding on a donkey.
dave started talking to a crazy guy that told us he could do "cool" things with a camera.
after deciding he wasn't going to steal my camera, we let him try...
haha, really? i guess it was with the $2 my dad paid him. cheap entertainment.
a few other things we saw in natal.
not uncommon to see a horse & buggy. we see them in the middle of downtown ALL THE TIME.
gorgeous. i wish i could live there.
lunch on the beach always consists of seafood. unfortunate for me.
this is when matt fell asleep before our food came. haha.
then we hung out in recife for a couple of days.
where we went to church:
visited our dad at work. (this is his office)
brian spent every free minute loving our grand piano.
we took lots of naps in the hammock.
ate. a lot. (davis makes the best juice.)
& just hung out. the girls+their ipads. what else is new? :)
for dinner one night we ate at a REAL churrascaria. yum.
and then we did a session in the recife temple.
i went to the recife temple every week when i lived in brasil over the summer to do baptisms. this was the first time i got to do a session, it was such a great experience.
next we visited Castelo Brenan
[a museum, somewhat close to recife, that has a lot of artwork made by a brasilian artist brenan. mostly ceramic statues & a bunch of old war armor & weaponry he has collected.] super interesting.
the best part of the museum trip is when a million brasilian girls started following the boys around. {they love american boys} they were trying to sneak pictures of them with their camera's/cell phones. my mom finally told them that the boys would take a picture with them. pretty sure it made their lives.
(this isn't even a quarter of how many girl were following them around...just a handful.)
so funny.
matt, doin what he does best.
next stop: Porto de Galinhas
davis was sick. this is him sleeping in the sand. {don't know how he did that}
just the kids went to porto for a day before we headed to meet our family in tamandare for the weekend. porto is a fun tourist place with shops/good food/ and gorgeous beaches. we had a blast. and got fried.
tamandare
our favorite family in brasil owns a beach house in tamandare. that's where we stayed for the weekend. we did a lot of beach time. ate excellent food. played too much mario kart. and had a harry potter marathon. :)
these girls spent hours boogy boarding.
watching harry potter.
dinner. :)
mario kart. :)
church in tamandare.
the joneses, the barbosas and the prices. :)
we said bye to dave at the end of our trip. he flew to salt lake a couple days before we left.
it was a fabulous 2 weeks.
thanks for making it happen mom&dad.
isn't she the cutest thing you've ever seen?
