I arrived Saturday 1:30am at home, exhausted but happy to be back. I swear that the moment I left the plane and breathed Brasilia air, I felt the peace and calm. I didn’t realize DC was so stressful this week, mostly because I packed too many things into 4 days trip. Coming back home with accomplishments and assurance that I’ll be able to rest and recover.
I woke up 6am, wrapped the gifts, and Lizzy was eager to open them. She loved everything!
her friends arrived around lunch time, they had sushi and then went to the trampoline park to play, so I could took a nap to recover a bit. I felt I was walking on pure skeleton as the exhaustion hit me hard this time. After the nap, girls played in the pool and we had candles.
It was a low key birthday celebration, easy for us to organize, yet Lizzy loved it. At one point she said it was the best birthday she had so far.
Sunday I felt even more recovered after 9 hours of sleep. We played with Bubble, I missed her too.
I tried my new hydration bag, love love love it! It fits me perfectly and breathes well. My body was not rested yet but I managed to job slowly for 10 miles, mostly to free my mind and absorb all the goodness of our life here in Brasilia. No drama, beautiful and calming surroundings, and kind and welcoming people.
We also finalized our summer plan. After a lot of back and forth what to do after 3 weeks camp, whether to visit Disney, Miami, or Cancun (I even booked a resort), to decide to extend our DC stay for a week, then come back home. Then we all go, with daddy after getting over jet lag as he’ll go to China for a month, to go to Visit Lençois Maranheses. It is one of the MUST do place in Brazil, and only during June-August. So we decided to do that.
I booked the flights and the two hotels today, will book the transfer and tours closer to date!
Finally we have a summer plan that feels right, exciting, good balance, and probably wooo!
How do you pick where to go to visit? What’s your next destination?
When we move to a new country, I usually ask the locals who love nature where to go and start making a list. This place came highly recommended by many colleagues, and it looks very different from what we’ve seen before, so it is on the top. Next, I’m wondering if we want to visit Galapagos. At certain point, I also want to take the family to visit South of Argentina: Ushuaia, Bariloche, and Calafate.
Our New Journey 
Ha, I feel like I want to unpack Lizzy’s presents to see what’s inside!
Is that the Solomon Active Skin 4 Litre? I saw that they have a pocket at an angle to get our phone easily. I thought that was a good idea!
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I can’t believe Lizzy is 10! I just realized today I’ve been reading your blog since 2020, so Lizzy was only like, 4?!? That’s crazy!! Sounds like she had a fun birthday!
For trips I personally kind of tend to aim for balance. I don’t want to do all city trips, or all Europe trips, or all beach trips. I don’t have a “checklist of things to do before the boys leave home”, exactly, but I kind of have a loose list in my head of types of trips. For example, this latest trip checked off a Caribbean trip- we’d never done that. We have done a few Europe trips now. We’ve done road trips and national parks. Hawaii. Rainforest in Costa Rica. Etc. Obviously the list is never ending of options, but I do like to try and strike a balance if I can. Our next trip is in June and will be very different from our recent Caribbean trip- we’re going to Zion National Park in Utah and Las Vegas!
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Happy Birthday to Lizzie! That cake looks tasty! Also your cat is so cute. I think I have the same hydration vest and I like it so much that I am on my second iteration of it. I don’t use the front bottles, as I prefer a bladder in back, but otherwise it’s been great! I went to Lençóis Maranhenses years ago and really enjoyed it (also the town of Jericoacoara is very laid back and you can watch sunsets, hang on the beach, go horseback riding! I know you guys will have fun. I also really enjoyed going to Manaus and seeing the Amazon (and the meeting of the waters) and learning more about the rubber trade and eating fresh fish from the docks. I don’t know if you have been to the Pantanal yet, but that is another you should put on your list.
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hi Coco! Happy birthday to your baby! Lyra is eight and I often wonder where the time goes.
so far all of our trips with kids have been very Euro-centric. Reasons: Europe is generally safe, okay for a mom and two kids. I would love to do South America with them BUT they have to be older, and willing to WALK.
similar to Kae I have a loose list on Google Keep but those are just ideas. I want to do some national parks in the US when L is in fourth grade since she gets a family pass. Then we repeat with R, who is now six.
Japan is high on my list but again, they have to be a tad bit older.
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That looks like the same hydration vest I have! Mine is a different color though. I love it.
Your summer plans sound great. I had dreams of a more interesting vacation this summer, but since my son is getting married, everything revolves around that. We’ll be going to Indiana for the wedding though.
Happy birthday to Lizzy!!! Her birthday celebration sounds perfect.
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Happy birthday to Lizzy! I am glad she had a special day! It’s tough to come back from a tiring trip especially when you have a long journey home + jet lag.
Your summer plans sound great! We do not travel much at this point since the kids are not at great ages for travel yet. But it’s fun to think about where we might go in thr future.
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