Last Saturday morning, we packed up the car with bikes, Rollerblades, blankets, books, and a picnic lunch and headed to Santa Rosa (about 40 minutes from here) for a relaxing, rejuvenating, and fun Sabbath morning. We went to a fair ground that is open for public use. It's great for biking--lots of space and not too many cars. We were actually the only folks there on this amazingly gorgeous morning. It's the first time Andrew and I have roller bladed here, and it felt so good. I used to blade daily, and even when the girls were 4 and 6 I would pack them into the jogging stroller with some books, and bike along the river in Moline. Those are such delicious memories. This day we primarily bladed and biked inside of a large building for food stands. It had some elevated areas which made it all the more exciting to zoom up and down. The girls had a great time, and are hoping to go back this coming weekend.

We also attended a "first birthday" party this weekend for Gustavo Miso . The first birthday is the most important birthday celebration for Brazilians. There were tons of colorful balloon decorations, and every table was loaded with sweet and salty treats. Makaela had a great time playing tag and such with the other girls, and Samantha had fun doting on baby Lucas (one of the American family's baby boy).