Happy 7th Birthday Isaac

Issac had his 7th birthday earlier this month.  I cannot belive he is 7 years old!  It does not seem possible.  We did lots of fun things to celebrate the occasion. 

The school lets parents have parties for students at school during recess, which is what most parents do.  I thought that sounded pretty easy and decided to go for it.  It was really cute.  First, all the kids sit around in a circle and the birthday kid sits on a special chair.  So Isaac sat on the chair, and then he was supposed to call each kid up one at a time.  They each gave him a hug and a present (if they brought one).  Brazillians are big on hugging.  Then they sang "Parabens para voce", which is their happy birthday song, and then they sang "Happy Birthday" in English for Isaac.  I brought cake and treats.  I made a snack mix with M&M's in it and the kids went crazy for the M&M's.

Here is Augusto hugging Isaac.  Augusto liked my cake and at 4 pieces at the party.

On Isaac's birthday we had some friends over for swimming.  We told Isaac it was his only chance to have a swimming party for his birthday.  The kids swam and then we played "Just Dance", which Isaac got for his birthday.  Isaac wanted a blue cake because he has decided his favorite soccer team is Gremio and their color is blue.

We got to talk to all of our family on Skype on Isaac's birthday.  It was like a virtual party.  Here, Isaac is opening his present from Traci while he talks to her on Skype.  She gave him a Gremio outfit and cup.  He wears the outfit as soon as it comes out of the wash, and sometimes when it needs to be in the wash.

Isaac's birthday was a little bittersweet.  We had a really fun day, but we were all missing our family.  We would have normally had a big party with our family and lots of food.  I have a feeling that is how all the birthdays and holidays may go while we are down here.

Riding on 2 Wheels

Wednesday was Brazil's version of Memorial Day, so everyone had the day off.  One thing that I love about holidays here is nothing is open, so all you can do is spend time with friends and family.  We had a wonderful day on Wednesday.  In the morning we went for a bike ride to the park, but the park was closed.  We just went for a longer bike ride.  Then we ate lunch and took naps.  In the afternoon we were looking for something to do, and decided to talk Ethan into learning how to ride a 2-wheeler.  Ethan was hesitant, but with some encouragement from his big brother, he was ready to go.  Ethan likes to tell the story of how he learned and he describes all the steps below every time he tells somone about it.

 "First Daddy showed me how it felt to balance on the bike."

"Then Daddy ran while holding onto the back of the bike."

 "Then Daddy ran and held onto the back of my shirt"

 Isaac was riding around giving moral support and encouragement to Ethan.  He is a good big brother.

 "Finally, Daddy just ran next to me while I rode all by myself."

Ethan was so proud of himself.  We are proud of him, too. 

School Uniforms

They boys finally got their school uniforms last week.  I ordered them three days after we got here, and it took a month to get them.  They have to be ordered at a tailor's shop where they sew the whole thing.  The boys like them, and they are great for playing.  Their school's name is Colegio de Fredrico Jorge Logoman, and everybody calls it Logoman.

Ethan is wearing the t-shirt with "Freddie" the school mascot.

Isaac's shorts are really long on him, but he likes them and that is the important part.

Enjoying the pool in October

 It has been warm enough in the afternoons to swim in our pool, so we decided to run the heater and get the water warm enough for swimming.  It was SO much fun, and helped us feel better about not being able to go to a pumpkin patch (one of our favorite October activities). 

Here is Pool Boy Scott cleaning out the bugs.  We actually have a real pool guy named Joao.  He seems very nice, but speaks absolutely no English.  Someday I will get to talk to him and understand,hopefully.

Here is one of Pool Boy Scott's finds.  That is Ethan's hand in the picture.  Gives me the shivers just thinking about it.

Owen and I in the baby pool.  He loves to pour water with his bucket.

Isaac and Ethan's favorite thing is to jump in the pool.  Isaac is getting good at canon balls and brave about flipping. He tried to do a front flip, and ended up doing a back flop.  It sounded painful, but he did it again.

I tried to teach the boys the enjoyment in lounging next to the pool.  I told them how much I like to just relax by sitting next to the pool.  They said it was nice, too, and that lasted for a whole 5 minutes.