Salto do Yucama

This is the falls from the center looking to the right.

We made a trip this weekend to visit the longest (longitudinally) waterfall in the world.  It is called Salto do Yucama, and is a 2 hour drive from Horizontina.It is about 1800 meters long.  We got to go with some other families from Horizontina, which made it even more fun.  When I first saw the waterfall it took my breath away.  It is massive and amazing.  I have never seen anything like it. 


This is the falls from the center looking to the left.

Here is our family shot in front of the falls.  The kids loved the waterfall and walking on all the rocks.  Ethan collected several cool rocks.

Here are the boys with their friends.  Funny story...when we got
to the falls, Isaac put on his sunglasses, and Ella, the big sister,
said, "Isaac your sunglasses are cute, I mean handsome."  Isaac
replied, "I got these because they felt the best." 
When I asked him about it later, he blushed and smiled.

Cute picture of Owen and Scott.  Owen was very hot at the falls.

Our drive to the falls provided lots of entertainment as well.  The handy GPS took us on some gravel roads that were not a shortcut.  We spent about 2 hours driving on some terrible gravel roads that actually took us to little towns.  It was up in the mountains and very beautiful.  We were following a Brazillian family, so we thought they knew a shortcut.  Turns out it was a longcut.  We got to see lots of scenery and interesting homes along the way.


Here is Isaac tasting a guava.  He really liked it,
and so did Scott and I.  We stopped for some snacks
and a bathroom stop, and picked these from a
nearby tree.

Here is a cow tied up alongside the road.  This is very common
here in Brazil.  They eat the grass in the ditch, very resourceful.

Gramado 4 - Fun Stuff

The boys liked the toy soldiers on the street.  They were all very colorful and each one was different.

This was a beautiful church we saw.  The hydrangias were in full-bloom when we visited.  They were everywhere and BEAUTIFUL!

We visited Lago Negro, which is a little man-made lake.  It was very beautiful with all the hydrangias surrounding it.  You could rent little pedal boats to explore the lake on.  They had lots of swans and a few pirate ships.  We had to get a pirate ship.  We had fun saying, "Arrr maytey" the whole time.

A picture of Lago Negro.  It was very pretty.

These hydrangias were at Lago Negro.  They are cool and different.

Cute picture of Mom and Dad.

This nativity scene was in the middle of town.  It was so beautiful.

They had a whole row of these artistic reindeer.  They were fun to look at.  Scott and Ethan are so cute together.

All the streets are decorated differently.  It really got us into the Christmas spirit even though we were wearing shorts.

One of the big attractions in Gramado is a bunch of Chocolate Factories and stores.  We visited a couple stores and sampled some chocolate.  They had toys out front with slides and things to climb on.  They boys liked playing on them.

Gramado 3 - Cascata do Caracol

We spent a morning exploring a Caracol State Park near Canela where we stayed.  It had several beautiful waterfalls.  Our family always loves a good waterfall and hike.  We had fun exploring the trails together.

This is the main waterfall, Cascata do Caracol. 

I love getting hugs from my buddy Ethan.

Ethan always makes thing fun with his silly personality.

Mom and Dad posing in front of another waterfall.  It was so pretty.

What a good looking family!

Ethan and Isaac played so nice together.  They were having fun feeling the water and stepping on rocks.  We were very careful, though, so they didn't end up going over the waterfall.  Not as many protective barriers in Brazil.


Like a crazy person, I bought Isaac and Ethan their own Kodak
Easyshare cameras.  They are not old enough to take care of
such a nice piece of equipment, but they really have fun taking pictures
and have caught some good and interesting shots.  They even started
their own blogs.

This was such a beautiful view.