Big boy bed

After a weeks' worth of hype, Friday night, we transitioned Dylan to a normal bed.  Now I had rule (after my first child) that I wouldn't do this until he could easily climb out of his crib -- why create sleepless nights for no good reason??  Actually, aside from some interesting midnight strolls, the transition for Madison was fairly seamless (click link).  The issue here was we kind of hinted at the idea with Little D about a week ago and the rest is history -- it was the talk of the house from the little guy all week, so there was no turning back. 

Friday night actually came and went with no hiccups, he stayed in bed the whole night -- in fact, Saturday night went very smooth as well!  Now, nap time was a different story --  far from a success.  Dylan would lay down for about 30 seconds and then make a running appearance around the house laughing -- this happened about 10 times in a row before we waved the white flag and officially canceled his afternoon snooze.  I'm sure we'll have some good late night stories in the near future since Little D  is always full of surprises, but for now, the whole family is enjoying uninterrupted sleep in our own beds.

Great deal

I chose not to surf on this day.  A guy came back with his board in 2 pieces.

We rented a beach house with our friends on this trip, for quite the deal.  You see, it's past beach season (after Carnival) and the rates at the beach house drop by over 75%! I really don't understand the Brazilian logic here -- during the month of March the weather is in the 80's and there's a much smaller likelihood of catching rain in the afternoons, making it what I would consider the perfect beach season!

Anyway, the beach house had 5 rooms (each with a bathroom), a built-in grill and a pool -- and a 5 minute walk to the beach to boot.  So we pretty much got this place for free and enjoyed a picturesque beach that puts most others to shame.

Afternoon snooze

Notice the wood plank in the background.  We had to move our location all the way to the back of the beach after a rogue wave washed our stuff away -- for the record, it didn't happen while Dylan was asleep.

I was out surfing during this nap.  He had supervision, it just wasn't me.

Maddie and her friend taking it easy while Dylan was passed out.

Each day around 2:30 Dylan would take a 1.5 hour nap right on the beach -- worked out well!  He must have his mother's genes.

Long weekend at the beach - Part 2

I know, another picture with my shirt off, but I don't have many pictures of me and the kids together -- what are you supposed to do, it was 85 degrees out the whole weekend.  Before you say anything, I apologize -- I know my arms take up too much of the picture.

Here's a few pics of Little D.

Check

I can check this off the list of things I've wanted to do in my lifetime.  Ever since I first watched Point Break I wanted to surf, only 20 short years later and I finally did it.  Of course where I've lived most of my life did make it rather difficult to achieve -- if I lived near a beach I would definitely be hitting the waves all the time. 

Long weekend at the beach



Dylan eyeing the waves.



Maddie wanted the bucket.

Maddie accepted she wouldn't get the bucket, so she decided to provide her guidance.

Lending a helping hand.

I have plenty of pictures from our recent long weekend to the beach, more to follow -- the weather was perfect.

Another Brazilian birthday party!

The make-up center.  They spent 15 minutes per kid!

Before you say anything, we got Dylan's haircut yesterday.

The magic show, he was a good ventriloquist as well.  The kids skipped the Pirates show that came right after  -- actually, Dylan wouldn't come within 30 feet of the Pirates without screaming.



Part of the outdoor patio. 

  

The view of the tennis court from the patio.



They only offer the kids pop in glass cups -- which they enjoyed and surprisingly, didn't break.



In case the waiters were too slow, you could stop by for a quick snack at one of the stands. 

Party over -- waiting for car.

I know I have posted about these parties quite a bit and thought I had seen it all... until this one -- this one happened to be at Madison's friend's house and not at a party place in the city.  So we pulled up and the guards opened the gates to let us in, I thought we were entering a gated community... I was wrong, this was just her friend's house!  After the gate we passed by a soccer field with lights, then a massive pool and then up a hill to the front of her friend's four floor house -- at that point I got out of the car and the valet took care of the rest.  Then we walked downstairs to the patio, where we were greeted by a videographer, photographer and 10 pirates dressed up from the Pirates of the Caribbean.  The kids didn't like the pirates too much and actually screamed quite a bit, so I skipped the photo session and headed to one of the 50 tables with umbrellas (similar to a wedding reception) and calmed the kids down with some chicken kabobs that were handed to us as soon as we sat down.  I really didn't take too many pictures, but you can see from the ones I did take that this was an epic party for the kids.

Kids and puddles

All kids do it, once a puddle is discovered they have to divert their current path and walk directly in the water -- multiple times!  You will quickly see that our children were in a do-loop in this particular area for quite some time.

Driving in Sao Paulo

Sometimes I wake up and think, where the heck am I?  This is a picture from our patio -- you wouldn't even know that we're only a half mile away from the busy city roads that we navigate on a daily basis.  Driving was intimidating at first, the police really don't enforce road rules here, it's really monitored by video cameras that send you nice tickets in the mail (that you can't challenge in most cases) -- Cathy and I racked up 5 tickets last year (for the record, Cathy got 3, I only got 2).  Once you have a Brazilian license, you can only get 4 tickets in a one year period -- get five and your license is suspended!  Surprisingly though, I find driving in Brazil more relaxing... there is very little road rage and the drivers are very courteous.  I have become much more patient in the last year based on my driving experiences in Brazil, of course this only happens once you accept the fact that you can only go as fast as the car in front of you.  Now don't get me wrong, traffic is insane in this country, traffic jams frequent, flash floods in the Summer months and motorcycles can drive anywhere they want (skimming your car by inches, or even clipping your side view mirror on certain occasions).  It's similar to go-karting -- bumpy roads, speed bumps, hills everywhere, constantly jockeying for position and the list goes on -- I find it fun!  Some people down here may not share the same feelings I do, however if I ever get bored of my current job, I could become a NY City taxi driver with ease (I now make those guys look like 16 year-olds in Driver's Ed).