Good fortune

We closed the weekend with dinner at Pei Wei. Some days the fortune cookies seem to have just the right message for each one of us...a positive thought always comes in handy.

Daddy - "New and rewarding opportunities will soon develop for you."
Daniel - "Your eyes will soon be opened to a world full of beauty, charm and adventure."
Kaila - "A dream you have will come true."
Mommy - "You will get what your heart desires."

"Can people fly?"

For the past few weeks Kaila has been fixed on the idea of flying. Not flying as in an airplane, but flying as birds fly. She has asked several times if people can fly. As I respond to her that people can only fly in their imagination and in their dreams, she just gives me a pensive look and an "Oh, okay..."

For the longest time I had this recurring dream of flying over towns and fields. In these dreams I could actually control where I went by moving my open arms like wings and gliding with the same ease as birds. I enjoyed these flying adventures and many times would remember them. Most other dreams for me get lost, no memory whatsoever.

Maybe Kaila is having similar dream adventures? Or maybe she has just been reading about magic carpets. Last week her class was discussing Cinderella and they made a few projects associated with it. Kaila drew a nice pumpkin coach for Cinderella, but for herself the pumpkin turned into this beautiful carpet. A magic flying carpet, I'm sure.

The Magical Shoe

"The magical shoe has many colors..."
What would you do if you had one?

This was a kindergarten school project in Nov/Dec 2009 based on the poem by Linda Ball.

Glass roof

Literally, Kaila wants a room with a glass roof so she can go to sleep watching the stars. Our architect to be, for our house to be, already has special requests to incorporate in his plans. My requirement, if the glass roof makes it, is a self-cleaning glass roof!

The initial seed for this conversation was today's school nature walk and checklist. From there, Kaila wanted to live outside and have the insects live inside. A better compromise once we thought about the cold and the rain on her books among other things was to have a room without a roof or an attic. But rain was still a problem, so the glass came into the picture.

Diving in Brazil

Arraial do Cabo is about a 2-hour drive north from Rio de Janeiro (traffic can be heavy on weekends and could take longer). The marine life is rich and diverse in Arraial do Cabo making for great diving. The water is cold 18C-22C and you'll need a wet suit.

Near Arraial do Cabo there is also good diving in Cabo Frio and Buzios. You can stay in Buzios and enjoy its lively nightlife and dive off of Arraial or Cabo Frio. Or just come down to Buzios for dinner one day.

Onda Azul is a good contact point in Rio. They use Litoral Sub as their operator in Cabo Frio.

The island of Ilha Grande to the south of Rio also offers good diving spots. Nearby are the towns of Angra dos Reis and Parati. Parati is a historic town in the region with old streets and good restaurants.

Going to northeast Brazil, the best diving is in Archipelago of Fernando de Noronha(National Park).

Bench Monday

Kaila and I had a great lunch date today. We walked around a park for an hour and took some pictures along the way. I posted one of the pics on Bench Monday (Flickr pool).

No soccer ball?

There is a reason Brazilians are so good at soccer. Every place you visit in Brazil no matter the size of the town or how remote it may be, you'll find a soccer field. It might not be fancy, but there will be one. It would be nice to always have a real leather ball, but when one is not available, a ball is improvised.

To my amusement, this past December, I found my 3-year old son playing soccer with a coconut. We were visiting a coconut plantation and as I turned around there was Daniel with his 'ball' . His brand new white running shoes - instantly transformed into dark brown with dust and mud, by the way... but an expression of pure joy on his face as he chased his coconut around the trees. It must be in the genes.

On second thought, balls are known to make really good friends. "Wilson", a volleyball, that I could've sworn was a coconut - that's how good my movie memory is..., grew to international fame as it co-starred with no one other than Tom Hanks in "Cast Away".

Dreidel

"Dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, I made it out of clay.
When it's dry and ready, then dreidel I shall play.."

For the last couple of years Kaila comes home around the holidays singing this song along with Jingle Bells, Rudolph and Santa is Coming to Town. It's "The dreidel Song" as she calls it. This year I finally researched it on Wikipedia.

Dreidel is a four-sided top kids play with around Hannukah.