Gramado 1 - Santa's Village (Aldeia do Papai Noel)

We did a fun trip with Dad, Mom and Traci when they visited us.  We went to Gramado.  It is a little city in the mountains in the same State that we live in, Rio Grande do Sul.  The city is cute and has lots of fun shops and chocolate factories.  They specialize in Christmas, so December is the best time to visit.  The entire town is decorated in Christmas, and there are parades and light shows.  It was a really fun place.

Before I talk about all the fun we had in Gramado, I have one quick funny story about us getting there.  First of all, we wake up in the morning and Scott and Traci have the flu.  Staying home was not an option because we had already paid for the hotel rooms and we had to get everyone back to the airport by Sunday, so we headed out.  An hour into the trip Isaac puked all over the back of the car, and we were totally unprepared for such an event.  Luckily we pulled over at a little bar and got some help from a nice man while Traci puked on the side of the road.  It was slow going to Gramado because the GPS kept taking us on what we felt was the very longest route possible.  Plus all the roads are 2-lane, mountainous, and the Brazilian "semi" trucks cannot make it up the hills faster than 20km/hr.  The highlight of the long trek was when we stopped for gas and Scott comes over and says, "I'm sorry, I am not sure what I said, but now they are washing the van."  Apparently, Scott had asked them to wash the van in the middle of our 10 1/2 hour (230 mile) drive.  Exactly what we needed at the time.  You gotta love learning a new language.

Okay, back to the fun part.  Our first stop in Gramado was Aldei do Papai Noel.  It was a little park dedicated to everything Christmas and Santa.  We had fun there, although it was a little dated.

Isaac and Ethan are waiting for it to open.  Aren't they cute!?

Here is a family shot in the teddy bear cottage.

Ethan is standing at the entrance of the Garden of the Elves. Traci and I decided it was the garden of the scarry elves.

Traci and Ethan checking out the little houses.

Fun with fake snow.  Mom and Dad did not want to get too close.

Scott and the boys playing with the bubbles, I mean, snow.  They had a blast in it.

Ethan has bubbles all over his shows and is holding a huge "snowball".  He loved it!

Group shot in a sleigh.  It was a good end to a fun morning.