I'm getting over it

I think I am over it.  I have just been too overwhelmed by the prospect to do a thorough post about our trip to see family in July and August.  A nod to my telephone survey experience from years past: Was it terrible, poor, just okay, good or excellent?   Well, it was all of those things. 
For example:
Our flight out was more than two hours late.  That was terrible.  It meant that we didn't arrive in San Francisco until after 1am.  But the fun that the kids had playing at the airport with all the other stranded kids was excellent.  Ask Simon: that was his favorite part of the trip, next to Disneyland.  About a dozen kids joined together for good old fashioned fun (tag mostly.)  We were lucky to be at the end of a terminal so there was room for it.
The loss of Simon's suitcase for a couple of days was poor.  It meant that we didn't get to Uncle John and Aunt Molly's house until 3 am (because of the paper work, etc.)  Good thing we packed the pull ups in a separate bag.  Just okay he and Jonny are only a couple of inches apart and could share (that meant Jonny ran out of clothes sooner though.)  But the excellent part was all of the jokes we got out of the "care kit" he received as compensation.  Deoderant, shoe polish and a razor.  I was sad we left the kit in CA.  He would have loved wearing deoderant to Uncle Dave and Aunt Lindsey's wedding. 

I think you are starting to see what I mean.   There's just a lot to say.  And there's pictures to show.  And now there's a baby who needs me.  So maybe I'll get back to this later. 

Rachel's Word List: 16 months

Rachel is about 16 months now and has a pretty large vocabulary for her age.  Here is a good sampling of what she says:shoe
flip flops
dress (means both getting dressed and a shirt or dress)
ba ba
hot
bath
Jonny
Simon
(James and Amelia are not recognizable by me yet)
Momma
Dada
dog
cat
car
bus
trash
bike
baby
story
tree
flower
ball
game
bird
outside
hi
hello (meaning the telephone)
bye bye
Nana
Pop
Jesus
 num num (something to eat)
chips (gold fish crackers)
cheese
yogurt
swing
minnie (means mickey and minnie and cartoony animals with extra large eyes)
eye
hair
nose
ear
knee
tummy
pony
poop (her first two word combo:bye-bye poop, after flushing the toilet)
brush (meaning toothbrush)
sit
floor
stroller

a bit of parenting advice

If your kids are sitting on each other's faces and annoyind the general public at large, do not ask them to draw pictures of each other to quiet them down.  That was my genius idea last night.  Descriptions follow because I made the kids throw them out. 
Amelia of Jonny: one artsy drawing of a pile of poop
Jonny of Amelia: a girl lying down with x's for eyes and a frown, a tombstone over her head which reads "death by brothers"
James of Jonny: an overly large person with a little bitty head; next to the person is a tiny person holding a pin to pop the large person
They haven't laughed that hard in a long time.

delayed trip report

Well I guess it's obvious that our recent trip has not made it on the blog.  I would love to do it justice, so you'll have to wait a bit longer.  I have high hopes that it will still happen.  Many of our trips (and yours to see us) have never made it on the blog because I didn't want to do a rush job.  SO, here's to hoping it'll happen once school is in session!

For MY Moms

I often marvel at the beautiful flowers that spring up here at home. The previous owners of our house had an obvious love of flowers. My mother and mother in law also have a love of flowers and have lots of blooms at their respective homes. I love it when they share pictures and would like to share some of my own. Once school let out the weeds have taken over. 
Here are some shots of what is blooming now, and a reverse chronology of what we saw earlier this year.   We have a small geranium and a few small petunias hanging on right now, but sorry no pictures.

We have 4 of these trees, I think they are hibiscus, one is taller than the house and the blooms are large and purple.

These are tiny and yellow.  I don't know what they are.

This crepe myrtle is looking washed out, it really is vibrant.

This is called sancresea and the leaves are dark purple and the buds are lavendar.  You should plant it, you'll love it.  It's  perenial that can tolerate heat and drought.  This concludes what is blooming now. 

Lavendar, still smells great!

I got the clematis to climb a lamp post this year, it was pretty.

Yellow daisies- we had red as well.

This hosta gets hot easily and often looks sunburned.  Here it's looking great.   This concludes the early summer flowers.

Irises, which bloom for Rachel's birthday.   

love this, but don't know what it is.  It looks like forsythia to start, blooms later and PINK.

These peonies are gorgeous in the late spring.  The following photos are the first bloomers of the year.

Tea Party

Last week, Amelia had a friend over.  They baked cookies together and we threw an impromptu tea party.  As you well know, tea parties are fancy and attendees must dress the part.  I require no less than neckties for the boys and gaudy jewerly for the girls.  The table was set.  The tea was poured and cookies divided.  We discussed our favorite princesses as we sipped out tea with pinkies extended.  Then the door bell rang.  James' neighborhood friends had come to see if he could play, but instead they said "Dude, why are you wearing a tie?!"  James, who was wearing the tie to get cookies, ripped off the tie as fast as he could and ran away for some quality time with the guys. 

packing

Our  BIG summer trip is coming up in just a few days.  Jonny and James took the initiative to pack their suitcases last night.  Gary and I sorted through them after they were in bed.  Gary opened Jonny's first: Pack only the essentials, he said and then pulled out Jonny's essentials- a jester hat!, books, and clothes.  Then Gary moved on to James' case: Union soldier hat, pens and pencils, outer wear (only 1 underpants?!) 

Brief Summer Update

Well it's mid July and about a month since I posted last.  I think a few days ago I was excited to do a write up,  but I forgot what it is I wanted to say.Amelia went to girl scout day camp.  She had a blast.  The camp is run by high school age girl scouts at a park in a nearby town.  The website about it said to be prepared for wet surprises.  She caught "3 fish" (well, one fish bit her worm and left, one she reeled in, and the other one got a way before she could reel it in.)  She made an awesome kite with 100 feet of real kite string.  (that was cool until I spent an hour and a half untangling it.)  She got bangs, hung out with her friends, and got everyone to call her "Mia." The funniest story was from yoga class.  One leader sat them all down and taught them the lotus position and how to meditate.  While they were meditating, another leader came along and sprayed them all with a hose.  Then they all jumped up and played in the water.

Then they all went to a local Vacation Bible Camp: Pandamania! Where God is Wild About You.  The kids liked it and were always full of questions when they got home.  (James: Did God really make us by blowing on a pile of dirt?  Simon: Is God really INSIDE me?!)  My friends who have sent their kids to VBS said there kids don't ever talk about what they learned, but my kids absorbed it all.  Lots of fun gospel discussion that week.  Throughout the camp, the kids were doing a contest, boys against girls to raise money for Convoy of Hope.  The prize, a can of silly string to cover the losers with.  Jonny asked to do money chores one day, because he was so excited about this contest.  I thought  Gee, he's kind of sweet to raise money for this charity.  Then I found out he didn't think the boys would win and wanted to buy his own can of silly string for the last day. 

This week, James had cub camp.  It was a logistical nightmare, coordinating chaperones (Gary was over that) but the boys had a great time.  Everyday I got to hear about basket ball or volley ball in the pool, as well as how many bull's eyes he got (or almost got) at sling shot, bb's, and archery.  Also what kind of sandwich he got:  baloney 3 days in a row.  He was always hoping for turkey. 
Jonny also had camp this week.  It's a free one here called McGruff Safety Camp and he was lucky to get a spot.  He has been riding 4 wheelers there, as well as fighting plywood fires with real hoses.  Tomorrow is graduation and I think it should be pretty fun. 

We have been swimming 8 times at a nearby indoor pool.  The kids like it a lot.  I like best the time Gary came, because I actually got to swim too.  Usually I am holding Rachel and Simon (and who ever claims they forgot how to swim.) The shallow part is really fun.  It has a playground.  There is also a rock climbing wall at the same facility.  James made it up the first time and made it look easy.  Amelia made it about half way before getting spooked by the height.

We spent a day thrifting for bargains.  James has a really good eye for that.

We have spent a few days at the library.  The summer reading program this year encourages actually library usage (read a book with this call number, etc) so it has been fun to go there and let the older 3 loose to find the books they like.  (I introduced them to Tintin.  The boys loved it, Amelia didn't get it.) Jonny likes Bionicle and Diary of a Wimpy Kid.  James is into Goosebumps.  Amelia likes fairy themed books.

This summer, the kids have goals: Jonny wants to cook, Amelia wants to babysit, and James wants to cook too.  Simon wants to cook too (according to Jonny.)   So I need to spend more time cooking with the kids, I presume.  I did it a lot in the past, but our last house had a kitchen that was hard to share so I got out of the habit.  Really, I could stand in the center of the floor and touch the fridge, the sink, the stove, and the counter top just by rotating, so it felt crowded.  Message to me: let us back in the kitchen.  I have been giving Amelia more chances to "watch out" for Rachel and they seem to like that time together. 

Rachel likes to grin with her nose scrunched up this summer.  She also likes to touch bumble bees.  There are plenty of them in the lavendar bush.  Also in the back yard where I just found a bunch (I mean a ton) of ground wasps ( Don't play out there for now okay? I am told Sevin dust will take care of them.  Will report.)

Mornings are peaceful around here.  The afternoons can be dicey.  The older kids aren't used to so much free time and get irritable.  But we are all learning to get along.

 Me? What am I up to?  Well, I am getting back in to an exercise routine.  I told myself  I could slack off  until Rachel was sleeping through the night.  (I had no idea it would be a year before she would do that, but am in heaven now!)  After 5 years of aerobics in my living room, I got tired of stepping on kids.  Last year, I tried running, but I didn't like to get up before Gary left to do it.  That meant running with all the kids, at a track.  Some on wheels, some in strollers.  After a year of trying to like running (I only made it out once or twice a week), I aquired a bike.  Love it.  Will get up early for it.   
Am trying to establish a strawberry patch on one side of the  house.  Kind of fun to watch over that. A deer came and ate off the leaves that were on top (as well as the sun flowers the kids planted.)  The lower leaves are thriving.   The rest of the yard needs attention, but that's too overwhelming this year. 
Gary and I have also been trying to make a better habit of temple attendance.  What with nursing babies, my attendance over the last 10 years has been spotty.  I am so happy to be making a better pattern now. 
Daddy-diddo has been on trips this summer- poor guy hasn't been able to relax much with work demands.  We all look forward to spending time with him.
I think I am all talked out, so it's time to take care of laundry and one last coat of paint.  It's the entry way this time.  (I gave up on the mirrored ceiling removal project. Too tedious. I suppose I'll have to return to it eventually, once all the easier stuff has been done.)  

Relish

The kiddodiddos recently discovered some Jimmy Neutron dvds at the library and have been enjoying them.  I guess on one episode, an evil genius cries out "I relish these days of power!" 
It has been a long week of gastrointestinal distress of all kinds, made worse by a broken washing machine (to be fixed on Friday, maybe?  We bought a contract with Sears for the repair, and apparently, our fix is not a priority to them.)
I was eatting breakfast one day, when I heard a shout from under the table "I relish these days of BABY!"  I looked and there was Jonny, vigorously patting the baby cheeks of his little sister.   It was a nice reminder of what's important.  And that these days of baby are fleeting. 

Adventure

Last week, I took my younger kiddos to a local farm.  We enjoyed seeing the  "really big dogs" (goats) and pigs of every size.  Jonny was thrilled to see the horses and I was amused to notice that one of them is the same age as the kid's Uncle Chris.  Rachel loved the horses until they looked at her in the face.  That was freaky.  The kids posed for photos on the de-comissioned tractors.  I think I could track the growth of the kids with photos on these tractors, we've been going there for the last 5 years.  We did something they have never done: the hay ride around the farm.  I have taken the older kids on a hay ride or two, when they were small.
We piled onto the trailer and found spots in the shade (very important since it was 100 degrees that day.) The driver told us a little about the farm/park.  He mentioned they encourage the black snake population, as they control the rodent population in the barns.  Sometimes, you can see them in the trees in the woods, he said. 
With a rumble from the tractor we were on our way.  As we rode past farm equipment, Rachel smiled, to feel the wind on her face.  Simon was thrilled to have no seat belt, and Jonny got huge eyes.  He pointed at some thing used for holding hay and said "I know what that is!" then in a hushed whisper he added "a guillotine."  I was glad he did not say it out loud, lest he scare the others on board.  We continued on past some things for horses to jump over and one of them was knocked over and propped back.  "Catapult," I was wisely informed.  Just as we entered the woods,  he spottd a cannon out of the corner of his eye (painted log.)  Then came the harrowing part of our journey:  the woods.   Remember we had been told to look out for snakes.  Jonny obeyed and told me about each and every one he saw, including several that were right behind me about to bite!  He wrote about it in school later: I saw 22 snakes!
If I had know the ride would be so exciting, I would have done it long ago!

Rachel's Word List

Here it is:
Rachel's vocabulary at almost 13 months:mom: mom
dad: dad
hello: heyo
bye bye:bah bah
bottle:baa baa
smile (for the camera):smi-ya
Rachel: wayzo
She also growls a lot if she sees something that looks like a monster.

She's starting to walk now, for more than just applause. 
Rachel is growing up too fast for my taste!

soccer night

Jonny and Simon have been playing soccer this spring.  Jonny's team is the Sharks.  On the way home one night, he was recalling the events of the night and his team victory.  Then he said in a kind of wistful way "You know what would make it even better?  If there was half time and a half time show and one of the parents came dressed as a shark and danced around."
Yeah.  That would make it even better.

hat trick

Simon came to me with a magic hat on and a smug smile on his face.  "I will do a trick for you. I will pull a rabbit from my hat."  Then he realized that he pulled the rather small hat down too far and couldn't get it off!  YIKES!   memorable in more than one way!

Happy Birthday, Rachel

Dear Rachel,
I am sorry that I was not able to post this on your birthday. I tried and blogger was not working. It wasn't working the next time either. I know when you are older, the timeliness of your birthday post will be important to you, so today I apologize to you, sweet baby girl.
love,
Mom

Plenty of cuddles

                                                                  Plenty of cake to eat

Plenty of cool presents

It was so fun to have a birthday girl who knew what was going on, very impressive for ONE.  Rachel found her presents early and tried to open them, so I knew she got the idea of unwrapping gifts.   She  loved unwrapping and playing with gifts, although she didn't get so many turns with them. They were so cool, the big kids didn't let her while they were awake.
 She (through her endearing baby ways) talked Gary out of his chocolate Easter bunny, so we knew she LOVED chocolate.  If I had my thoughts together before hand, I would have made the cake look like a chocolate bunny.  But I did not (in hind sight that's probably good because it would have looked vaguely Playboy).  She was having a weepy day on her birthday, so I figured she would rather have cuddles than a fancy cake.    She loved the attention, and she loved the plain chocolate cake.

Happy Birthday Amelia!

To the girl who wanted COOL stuff for her birthday:

 I just wanted to let you know you ARE cool stuff!

I loved spending time with you today doing girl stuff like shopping for a baptism dress and decorating your cake together.  You are a beautiful and fun loving girl .  I love the way you notice and take delight in the tiniest detail. 

love,

Mom

Business Trip Extraordinaire--Day 23

I made it home and all is well!

Details:

I checked out of my hotel Sunday afternoon and rode a taxi to the airport. One thing about Rio is that the taxi ride TO the airport is, or at least can be, a lot cheaper than the taxi ride FROM the airport. At the Rio airport, you get mobbed by drivers who insist that they are insulted that you would suggest they are trying to overcharge you. But returning to the airport, it's much easier to get a yellow taxi that charges a fair price. My taxi from the airport was R$90 (about $55), while my taxi back to the airport was R$52 (about $30). No traffic, despite yesterday's Niterói-Rio marathon.

I was very early to the airport. Rio actually has a decent amount of shops and food places in the international area, but you have to go upstairs and downstairs and all over to see it all. I bought some rapadura in the duty free shop. Rapadura is basically a block of brown sugar candy. Good stuff! I'll enjoy it with Tracy and the kiddodiddos one of these days.

I got a decent amount of sleep during my long flight from Rio de Janeiro to New York. It was probably the best night of sleep I have ever had on a plane.

Landing at JFK provided some interesting views of the pre-dawn city. New York is so huge that it's hard to get a sense of it until you actually visit. Even seeing it from the air doesn't give a fair picture. But the view was very nice. And as the plane touched down for a bumpy landing, I had a thrill as I thought, "I'm back." I don't have any connection to New York, but it's part of my country.

I am pleased to report that at JFK there were as many CBP officers helping Americans as there were officers helping foreigners. That was not true last time I returned to the U.S. This time, I flew through the line in five minutes. One of the highlights of my voyage home was what the CPB officer said to me sincerely when he returned my stamped passport:

"Welcome home."

Thank you, officer, for warmly welcoming a fellow American after a very long trip. You made my day.

By the way, simple math: CBP > TSA.

The flight was early, and I spent a couple of hours waiting for my final flight. Before boarding, they asked for volunteers to be bumped to a later flight, not because they were oversold, but because they were overweight. They offered a $250 voucher. I really wanted to get home to my family. Plus, if I had to get home late, I wanted cash, not vouchers. So I stood my ground. Fortunately, they got enough volunteers, and I boarded the regional jet that took me home.

We were early, and my luggage came right away. I tried calling Tracy, but no answer. I went to sit outside and look for Tracy, as well as breathe that American air. Mmm, freedom. I went back in to the baggage claim, and there were Tracy and all the kids! I went up next to them like I was watching the baggage claim with them, and after a few seconds one of them noticed me, and soon I was smothered in hugs and kisses from all my kiddodiddos and my darling wife!

After such a long trip, I thought the desire to travel would be completely gone. However, this was a very successful and in some ways enjoyable trip. The work in California stressed my limits, but my team and I came through and slew the beast at the Main Event. My visit in Manaus was delightful and I would love to go back someday with Tracy. Rio is Rio, which I have seen before but was just as nice the second time, and the work there was low-stress. I survived 23 days, 17,099 air miles, 14 South American taxi rides, 19 nights in hotels, three nights on planes, one corrupted operating system, two sunburns, two motorboat rides, and whatever else the Lord protected me from that I don't even know about. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. I'm glad I did it, and I'm glad it's now over.

Excitement

We're off to pick up Daddy in just a few hours.  Can't tell you how excited I am to see his sweet face again.  The kids are dying to see him because "It's no fun with out him." 
I just can't wait to see how Rachel reacts.  She loved him on Skype 2 weeks ago.  She pointed and flapped her arms and made all kinds of excited noise.

Business Trip Extraordinaire--Day 22

If everything goes well, this will be my next to last blog post for this trip. I am now in the Rio de Janeiro Galeão airport, waiting for my flight home through JFK. Unfortunately, I can't tell whether the Internet access is free or not, and to find out I would have to provide my driver's license number and many other unnecessary and inappropriate pieces of personal information, so I'll pass. Therefore, you probably won't see this post until I actually return, though I'll adjust the date so you may not even notice.

Day 22 started very nicely, as I went to church this morning in the Ala Botafogo (Botafogo Ward) of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The last time I was able to go to sacrament meeting was March 20, so it's about time. There is a meetinghouse very close to the Botafogo metro station, and the metro trip was very quick and I arrived quite early.

Capela da Ala Botafogo

The ward members were very welcoming and friendly. Attendance was low today, but they told me it was lower than normal because of the upcoming Holy Week culminating with Easter. A lot of people have gone on vacation. Sounds like Spring Break, and I'm glad the people in this part of Brazil have that luxury. Botafogo seems like a nice part of town.

After church, I wandered the building a little bit. This church building has three stories, as well as an additional flight of stairs with roof access. I snapped a couple of photos from the roof:

Part of Botafogo in Rio de Janeiro, taken from the roof of the Botafogo LDS chapel looking west

Part of Botafogo in Rio de Janeiro, taken from the roof of the Botafogo LDS chapel looking southwest

I returned to my hotel via metro. By the way, if you use the Rio metro "Pré-Pago" (prepaid) card, be aware that you can only recharge it with at least R$5. I made a mistake and ended up leaving a few reais on my card. I'll use it next time I'm here, but I'm sure the fare will be higher then.

This afternoon, I was tired and needed to pack, so I took it easy and made it a true day of rest in my hotel. That was nice. By the way, I can recommend the Premier Copacabana Hotel in Rio de Janeiro. My room was generous. It wasn't the newest and looked a little dingy, worn, and dim, but it was also clean, safe, and comfortable. There was an ashtray on the sitting room table, but the room didn't smell like smoke (or anything, for that matter). Breakfast was really nice every day, one of the best free hotel breakfasts I have had (not as good as Hampton Inn though). They allowed me to stay Sunday afternoon before my flight for a small fee that was well under the daily rate, and that was very helpful. There was a slight snafu at checkout, when they played the Famous Minibar Trick, in which they accused me of taking items from the minibar (which I never do). I have been through that before at other hotels, and today they took me at my word when I said I didn't take anything and did not charge me.

Good news from home: Tracy is on the mend, and the kids are healthy. Many thanks to Ott and Tera for helping with the kids a couple of days ago, and thanks also to Miguel and Ellen for taking the kids to church today. Tracy is usually so healthy, but it's just my luck that I'm not around to help when she needs it. But I'm grateful for good friends who are willing to help.

Tomorrow I will conclude this 23-part series, which hopefully will be the end of the longest business trip for the rest of my life.

Business Trip Extraordinaire--Day 21

Greetings from Rio de Janeiro on my last full day in Brazil. Tomorrow morning, I will complete three weeks away from home. Tracy and I have never been apart this long since we met, and I do miss her. I'm glad I'll be home on Monday.

However, I had a great day today. This morning I slept in a little. After breakfast, I went to Copacabana Beach to swim and sit in the sun. It was very pleasant. There were some large waves that knocked me down three or four times. Swimming in the ocean is one of my favorite things. Spending time in the ocean reminds me of when Moses had a vision of the earth and said, "Now, for this cause I know that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed." (Moses 1:10) In my case, getting pulled under the water by one little wave near one little beach is powerful enough to make me humble. I had a talk with a colleague not too long ago in which he told me that surfing does the same thing, though he wasn't speaking religiously. Either way, no wonder the ocean is so captivating.

Copacabana Beach, taken near the Forte de Copacabana and looking northeast. I went to the beach a mile or two northeast of here.

After spending enough time at the beach to undo the farmer tan I got last weekend in Manaus, I showered and went to the Forte de Copacabana (Copacabana Fort) by subway. It's an old army fort on the point of land that sticks out in the ocean between Copacabana and Ipanema. The fort was somewhat interesting. There was also a military museum, which was also somewhat interesting.

The entrance to the Forte de Copacabana. There's a real soldier in period garb at the left side of the entrance. It's still officially an army fort and is run by Brazilian Army soldiers.

Forte de Copacabana. Just left of center is a helicopter that had just taken off from the fort. The Pão de Açúcar (Sugarloaf) is left of center in the background.

Part of the fort

On top of the fort, looking at one of the guns

Looking west from the top of the fort. The tall buildings are in Ipanema.

After visiting the fort, I got back on the subway to go to Glória, near the Centro, to visit the Museu da Arte Moderna (Museum of Modern Art). I'm not a big art fan, but I have seen a lot of Rio in two trips here and thought I would do something new. The museum was okay. I think I would have appreciated it more if I knew more about art. They do not allow patrons to take photos, but I took a few on the way there and back.

The Centro (downtown Rio). Taken from a pedestrian bridge over a highway, looking north.

Looking south from the same bridge. The tall hill in the background is the Pão de Açúcar (Sugarloaf).

The Museu da Arte Moderna building. Most of the museum is above the ground floor, and you can walk under it.

A rock garden and some modern art outside the museum.

Temporary facility for tomorrow's Corrida da Ponte (Bridge Race), a marathon from Niterói to Rio de Janeiro that crosses the Rio-Niterói bridge.

Look at the man in the center, and look at the airplane at the top. It's a motorized model airplane that is attached to a cable. The man is holding the other end of the cable and flying the plane. The sign at the right indicates that this area is for doing exactly what this guy is doing.

After I got back from the museum, I rested a little and had dinner. I ate pizza. Yes, of all the foods I could have eaten in Rio, all I wanted tonight was pizza. It's a good thing because there seems to be at least one pizza place on every block in Copacabana. After my pizza, I got on a bus to visit the Pão de Açúcar (Sugarloaf). I've been there before, but I thought I would see how it looks at night. The view was okay but nothing like the daytime view. The best thing is that the weather was cool and the sun was not in my eyes, so I just sat relaxing and looking at the lights for a while. A few photos turned out and here they are.

Model of the Pão de Açúcar and surrounding area

A cruise ship leaving Rio, taken from atop the Pão de Açúcar

Me with Copacabana Beach to my left, your right

A sculpture atop the Pão de Açúcar. The plaque indicates that the sculpture is supposed to represent the physical geography of Rio.

Santos Dumont airport, taken from atop the Pão de Açúcar. Santos Dumont was the Brazilian inventor of the airplane (not to be confused with the Wright Brothers, the real inventors of the airplane).

Flamengo Beach, taken from atop the Pão de Açúcar

Botafogo Beach, taken from atop the Pão de Açúcar

I'm glad I went at night, because it was very comfortable weather and easy on my eyes. But the spectacular views and photos are really only available in the day. It was definitely worth a try though.

I am very pleased that I head for home tomorrow. I know three weeks would be child's play for a lot of people, including our brave airmen, soldiers, and sailors. But I don't like to be away from my family for this long. It's time to get back to normal life.

Tomorrow's blog post will not likely show up tomorrow, because I probably won't have Internet access until I get home on Monday. I'm looking forward to a safe trip home and a wonderful reunion with my family.

Business Trip Extraordinaire--Day 20

Happy Tax Day. This will be quick. Day 20 was a very slow day at the trade show. We decided to wrap up early. It was slow Friday traffic and it took us a couple of hours to get back to Copacabana. By the time I got here, I wasn't hungry for a meal, but I had some ice cream. I'm tired and already ready for bed.

If you're in Rio and you need a dependable taxi driver, I can put you in touch with Bernardo. He took me and my colleagues to and from the trade show every day. He was always on time to pick us up within 15 minutes of the scheduled time (traffic is bad here so that's remarkable), and he was quick and efficient yet polite and safe by Rio standards. He doesn't speak English, but otherwise he would be very helpful for your Rio travels.

Tracy is still sick. She saw a doctor, who said she (Tracy) has strep throat. At least that means it's treatable, but she sounds miserable. Please pray for her.

Twenty days down. Three to go. I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and it's not a train. I'm going to survive this.