Brazil, Part 5 - The End

This has become the longest recap of a vacation in the history of blog posts.  But it was the longest vacation I've had, so I guess that's fitting.

After Rio, we spent 2 final days in Brasilia with the whole clan.  My Uncle Gary road a bus down from where he lives in northeastern Brazil to visit...a whole 30-some hour trip.  He sure must love us (or he's crazy).  It was great to see him again, in his beloved country he has called home for so many years.

The afternoon we returned to Brasilia, we stopped at an outdoor marketplace to look for some t-shirt souvenirs.  We enjoyed traditional Brazilian pastels and beer, a churro that was filled with dulce de leche (and seriously almost made me melt with happiness), and browsed around at the shops.  Then it was back home, where I recall snatching up N as soon as he was awake.  I couldn't believe how much he had grown in the 6 days we were away.

This picture above makes me smile, because I was trying to take a comparison photo of me with N from the first one I took on the first day.  I took several "selfies" and ended up using a different one for the comparison.  It was only weeks later when I was unloading photos from my phone and looked at this one on my computer screen.  The stinker was SMILING at me.  And I missed it.  Gah.  He was not quite at the stage where we would smile in reaction...the smiles were more accidental, or intentional on his part but not in response to us.  I had been giving him goofy faces to smile forever, with no avail.  It seems fitting he snuck this smile in here...or at least found me that amusing. 

Our second to last day was President's Day, so my BIL didn't have to work!  (Perk of working for the US government). We packed up a picnic and headed to the Brasilia National Park.  They have a big reservoir that you can swim in, which the guys all did.  I waded in it, and proceeded to fry myself enjoying the beautiful sunshine.  (It was worth it).

Aside from swimming and eating and enjoying sunshine, several of us went on a little hike.

 
Later, others of us went to Meditation Island.  We were the only ones there, thankfully, as none of us could keep our mouths shut as proper etiquette called for. Nor are any of us really that good at meditation.  It was a gorgeous area though.

I told them all to pose meditating, and this is what happened.  Ha.

That night we ordered in a ton of traditional Brazilian food and ate to our hearts' content.  We may have watched a little of the Olympics, or Big Bang Theory, and most likely played on our electronic devices.  I don't recall exactly, but it was wonderful, low key family time.  I'm pretty sure I bounced/walked N around a bit, as evenings were his crabbier times and my mother and I loved chipping in and relieving the parents for a bit.

Our flight didn't leave until 10:30pm, so we had almost a whole day for our last day, which was awesome.  I woke at 6:30am, knowing it was our last day and I didn't want to waste another second sleeping.  I grabbed a cup of coffee and spent a little cuddle time with my new buddy while his mama went back to bed.

Honestly, is there anything better?  I don't think so.

Uncle Gary left mid-day for his crazy bus ride home, and the rest of us played more games.  First was Settlers of Catan, which took a few rounds for me over our vacation to catch on to all the rules and strategy.  My dad and N hung out in the living room while we played, until N got a little fussy.  I of course pounced at the chance, my last one for awhile, and grabbed N, bounced him a bit, and within minutes he was passed out.  I have to say, I did not mind one bit playing the game this way.

As the hour of our departure grew near, I started getting really emotional.  I just didn't want to say goodbye.  I didn't want this amazing experience to end.  I choked back tears most of the evening, until it came time to go.  My sis and BIL took us to the airport, so I only had to say goodbye to N at the house.  Let's just say the waterworks started at that moment and didn't end until we were actually boarding the plane.  Seriously, I think people waiting at our gate were wondering if Jon had done something horrible to me because I couldn't stop crying.  It wasn't like I was never going to see them again...in fact I knew I'd be seeing them again in just another 4-5 months, which was sooner than the almost year I had previously spent not seeing them.  So I'm not sure why I was so emotional this time, but I see it as a sign that it was an amazing experience and I just freaking love them all so much.  :)

And I have to say, I admire my sister and brother-in-law so much for their choice to do what they are doing - working in the Foreign Service, seeing the world and experiencing everything it has to offer.  And for allowing us such a great peek into their adventures on this trip.