Hanging Out

Some photos of what we've been up to these past 2 weeks. Unfortunately, we went out a couple of times and I forgot to take the camera to capture some very precious moments ... sigh.

One of which was a pizza night out with some friends and when we got to the restaurant, about half of the Rio Homes were there (you know, people go iniviting their friends, and the friends invite their friends and relatives ...) it was kinda funny and noisy. At least I got to see folks whom I wouldn't have seen any other way :).

Then the other time when I forgot the camera was Saturday night. After a pleasant afternoon at the beach, we went to a near by bar with some of the folks from the Park Home and the girls from the Home we're staying at.

Tried new things, probably drank a little too much (hehe), but we had loads of fun ... it was great hanging out with them (Angie and Eli, I was soooooo sad you girls didn't go. It would have been even funner with you there!)

Anyway, on to the photos (some of them are pretty out of focus)...

Eating out with the whole family before half of it traveled (last week):


Cousins Jayden and Chiara with mommy Angela:

Laura, daddy, and uncles Aaron and JC:


Having a bbq (dad, mom, Rafa, and Marina came over):




Out for a drink with Gabriel's pal Danny Milk:

An afternoon of swimming (for the kids) and soccer (for daddy):

Laura had great fun walking around in the shallow part all by herself:




Walking away with flippies she'd thrown into the water:



One afternoon we went over to Alina's friends' house to swim, play, eat ice cream, and watch a movie ... so fun! Thanks, Mendy, for having us over!

Alina and Bete:

Laura eating my ice cream:

Alina's other friends Ellya and David:






Being a love (not!) while the older kids watched a movie:

Then the next day Alina went to the movies with her friends and she actually didn't cry and want to leave (which is total progress because she's really not into movies):

A couple of nights we went over to the Park Home to hang out with our friends and whoever else was there ... very excite!

Happy Kat:

My good friend Eli:

Joe, Gabriel, and Danny Milk:

Eli threatening the boys if they throw her in the pool:

More food! Another night out:

A Day at the Beach

Actually, it was more like a few hours because it was sooooooooooo hot that none of us could stand it for long. Anyhow, at least the kids had some fun (after getting used to the sand, heh).

Cousin Lianna showing us how she can smile:



Beach bums:



Mana (Gabriel's sister), Aaron, and Lianna:

Lianna so not liking the water:





On the way back home we stopped for ice cream and Laura had her first one ever:




Going for a swim after all that heat and sand:





Chub-a-wubs Laura and Lianna:

Vacations!!!

We've been on vacations since the 27th and we travelled to Rio to visit Gabriel's family on the 30th. It was supposed to have been an 8 hour trip, but ended up taking us 12 hours to get here, thanks to a huge accident that had us stuck in traffic for more than an hour, and then more traffic once we reached Rio.

We arrived here right when a birthday party was starting ... kind of unpleasant because we were all sweaty, tired, and soaked from the rain and everyone was all nice and ready to party ... ugh!

The party was cool enough, well, other then seeing some friends I spent the whole night walking around with Laura who stayed up until 4 in the morning.

Most of Gabriel's family left early this morning so we were together for only 2 days, quite sad. But at least we had fun in the short while we were all here and the girls got to meet most of their cousins.