First Week

This week so far has been interesting, to say the least.
Some great things about Brazil:
There is a special line at the grocery store if you are pregnant, have children, or have a disability.
People love kids here! They always smile at us and try to talk to the girls.
It is warm enough that we have gone swimming twice this week.
The food is delish and we have tons of options in walking distance.
People are really friendly and don't seem to mind when I tell them I don't speak Portuguese.

Things that haven't been so super awesome:
The sidewalks are definitely not meant for strollers. Especially my double wide, not so great at maneuvering stroller.
Our specific area is very business oriented and so the kids and I often get some strange looks when we are walking to and from the park. (either that, or they are mesmerized by how cute my girls are ;))
Certain things take FOREVER. So far any time we go out to eat, it takes a good 20 minutes from the time you get the check to get out that door. But depending on how you look at that, it gives you 20 minutes to chat, so it is probably just my antsy American self that is bothered by it.

It is crazy to think that Christmas is just next week seeing as how we have zero cookies baking in the oven, warm sunshine outside, and family far away. But it will be quite an experience and I am really excited for this continued journey. We look at apartments next week (some which are AMAZING!) and hopefully finding one will be our Christmas present to ourselves!

The girls are still their usual sweet selves and are really enjoying the fact that everyone stays up later here--including them!
We did manage to get a picture of them with Santa before we left Michigan--they both did great and were so excited to talk to him. He was really sweet and promised he would bring the girls their presents down to Brazil.