Fun Stuff. . .

** Today I registered for my first race here in Brazil!! I had emailed a friend of a friend (a Brazilian) for help, but then decided I would try to register online by myself. The race is a week from Sunday and it's in Porto Alegre (about 7 hours from here). I'm really really really excited about the race (a 5K), but I'm pretty proud of myself for getting all signed up on my own:)

**Tomorrow night we'll be attending our first Brazilian wedding. I've heard stories about the weddings here, so I'm kind of anxious to see what happens. It's normal for the female guests to have their hair done and to wear fancy dresses. So, I pulled out one of my old bridesmaids dresses and Kevin's going to wear his fancy schmancy suit. I've hired a Brazilian girl to take care of Emma (YIKES!! Our first non-American babysitter) and I'm only a tiny bit nervous. Kids here don't normally go to bed before 11pm, so Emma's 8:15pm bedtime might shock the gal! Who knows? Maybe they'll party all night. Since we're expecting to party hearty all night long, Emma might just get to stay up late. We're told the real partiers don't leave before 3am and it's normal for the newlyweds to ride the party out until 6 or 7AM!!! Oh Boy!!!

**I've taken Emma to school twice now, for about 15-20 minutes each time. She's been a little timid, which isn't a surprise, considering she's with me a majority of the time. She loved seeing all the other little kiddos, but she kind of freaked out when they started exploring her face with their hands! I forgot to tell her how touchy-feely the Brazilians are, so she wasn't prepared and just started crying. I don't have a plan for Emma going to school here. I'd like her to go for a few hours 2-3 times a week. I'm not even sure if that's an option, but it's what we think would be best for her. I really think it's cute that she has some great imaginary friends, but I also think it would be nice for her to have real interaction with kids her age.

**I've been running with Mollie and now I'm walking with Holly. We go out for long walks with Emma and Jacob in the strollers and there's never a quiet moment (mostly because we talk the whole time, but also because the traffic is so loud!!) Anyway, both of those relationships have been refreshing and encouraging. I find that when I can just blab in English for a while (without having to think very hard), I feel so much better!! Getting physical exercise in the process sure doesn't hurt either!

**And on a totally random note, Emma's been saying the funniest things lately. On our way home tonight, she looked down a hill toward a pool and said, "Mommy, we don't normally fall down the hill and go and jump in that pool and walk up those steps, do we?" No, not normally.

Happy Friday. Miss you all.