Easter Fun (after some fun failures)

We had a five day weekend because of Easter this week.  But sadly no money to travel (but Igaucu was totally worth it!)  So we stayed at home.  I must be honest and say that on Sunday night I was quite worried about 3 completely blank days on our calendar.  Our house is not big enough to have five kids happily coexist for length of time.  But it all worked out.  Well, not really.  

We tried some simple plans.  Drive 30 minutes to a farm where we can have lunch.  But everyone else decided to do the same thing at the same time and we were stuck in traffic for an additional 30 minutes. We eventually made it to the restaurant/farm.  And we did enjoy our lunch unmolested or unpecked by the looming chickens around us.  And we did get free pony rides and carriage rides.  And we did find some nice little crafts.  And we did evenutally have a nice trip.  And so we decided to try a little detour home to a city with a mini-Cristus like Rio.  It was a lovely town but it did not have a statue of any kind.  So it was kind of a bust.  And only added more time in the car for the kids. 

Felix on the left in the carriage (his second time) Miles on the pony.

Felix on a pony (with a hat a friend gave us that Felix LOVES because it is red and a surfing hat)

Felix riding, Abby in the carriage for her second time)

Abby on a pony!

Then the next day we decided to go up to our little mountain town, Campos Do Jordao, that is a very German looking town in Brazil.  We had a lovely drive up the mountain that strangely reminded us of driving up Big Cottonwood at home (both about an hour away from our house).  Then we hit traffic.  Our traffic tolerance was greatly diminished by yesterday's traffic, so we took off on a side road.  And ended up at a promising little resort with lots of activities.  But unfortunately a lot of rich looking people got there before us and took up all the reservations for all the activities that we wanted to do and that we could afford (archery, pony rides, carriage rides)  So we had a lot of disappointed kids.  It was an absolute bust.  

Look at all the horses that we can't ride.

OK, not a complete Bust.  Grace loved feeling "cold" up in the mountains.  Can you tell the leaves are changing a bit in the background. 

We drove in a lot of traffic into the city center, and passed lots of fun things to do but couldn't find a place to park.  We eventually found an expensive place to park and just shelled out the money to be able to get out of the car.  We went straight to the train that Jamison wanted to ride.  We were running since we saw a train getting ready to leave.  Only to find out that all the tickets were sold for the day.  Really?  Another bust.  

Nice picture though, of the train ride that could have been.

Luckily we found a playground that was free and you didn't need tickets or reservations!  I had a lovely chat with a fellow who was Brazilian but lived in Ireland to learn English.  Talk about contrast in weather!  We had a nice chat in English until Felix bolted about 100 feet away trying to find the mini cars he wanted to ride.  I had to say a quick goodbye and chase after him.  And they did finally get what they wanted.  A little ride around the square in a little VW car (we love this cars)  We did it last year too.  

Then we had the great adventure of trying to find a place to eat in a city so crowded it was hard to walk down the street.  Try doing that with five kids!  After several failed attempts we finally found a park bench with a pizza place nearby!  And one of my greatest victories as a mom was when I was able to convince a tired, hungry, super picky when it comes to food Miles to try a piece of pizza.  There was no pressure, no commanding, simply "I know this isn't your favorite food.  It isn't a food that you love.  It is only food that is so-so, kind of good.  And Felix liked it, and Grace liked it, and Oliver liked it too.  So there is a good chance you might like it if you tried it.  But it is totally up to you.  But there is no way we can find any other food tonight because everything is so busy.  So you can try a little and if it is OK, you can eat more.  But it is up to you."  He tried a bite and immediately spit it out without chewing.  Again I calmly reminded him that he could choose, but it might be between a hungry tummy and only so-so food.  He thought about it for a minute and tried a real bite with actual chewing.  And then he commenced with a huge bite and kept eating!!!!!!

This is a big deal.  He might actually branch out to eating more than 5 foods total.  

We wanted some chocolate fondue but all the places we saw had crazy lines.  I really wanted a gelato shop I saw last year but thought was too expensive.  But this year I realized it was just a normal price.  So we found it, and they happened to have fondue too, plus a tiny line.  I got a pistachio gelato ice cream bar dipped in pistachio chocolate and nuts.  Oh my, so good.  

The line after we made our purchase (we were lucky that when we got there there was only 2 people ahead of us)

This is getting long.  I will post some pics and continue Easter tomorrow!