Last, but certainly not least: RIO!

Our last stop on our adventure was Rio. It was amazing. The food, the people, the sights, the BEACH, everything. We arrived on Sunday afternoon, and we spent the latter part of the afternoon strolling the beach. Then we went to dinner...more amazing food!

On Monday we hit it early. First stop: Christ the Redeemer. It was amazing...just as we knew it would be. We took the train all the way up the mountain, and there, perched on top was the statue. Of course, the view from the statue was breath-taking!

From Christ the Redeemer, we headed to Sugar Loaf. In the below collage, you can see Sugar Loaf- with the cable car going up. We took the car to the very top, and again, saw some amazing views. In the top picture, towards the middle, you can see a (foggy) view of Christ the Redeemer.

For the better part of the later afternoon, we rested our weary feet at the rooftop bar with drinks in-hand at our hotel. After a little siesta there, we headed down to walk the beach.

Dave was most excited about dinner Monday night. We went to a true Brazilian steakhouse. He definitely got his money's worth! It was super yummy, and as I had already experienced daily, the drinks were divine.

Our last day in Brazil we spent at the beach, soaking up the rays. It was FANTASTIC! The water was great, the people watching was phenomenal, and again, the drinks were delicious.  Something I wasn't able to get a picture of: as we were relaxing on the beach, we were looking out into the ocean, and about 100 yards from the shoreline, we noticed about 20 dolphins jumping out of the water. It was like we got our own personal show. Amazing.

We cleaned up from our day at the beach, packed our bags, and headed to Aprazivel- the most amazing, unique restaurant EVER. It's sort of in the middle of a not-too-fabulous area of Rio. It's nestled on the side of a mountain-- just a multi-level treehouse. It was so delicious, but the thatched roofs, tree-trunk tables, and levels and levels of seating areas were what made this restaurant so amazing.

We had a red-eye flight home on Tuesday night. As we were waiting to board, we realized: we got burned! I guess these white winter bodies hadn't seen much sunlight in awhile. (side note: 2 weeks home, and Dave is STILL peeling)

Saying that it was an amazing trip doesn't really do it justice. We feel like it was a good balance of a fun time with Trent and Paige, but also a good amount of time just being the 2 of us. Of course, we were happy to get home to the boys, but what a blessing to be able to have that time away together. And a shout out to my mom and dad who took care of our sweet babies while we were gone. They were such troopers- I never felt like they were tired, worn out, or agitated with the kids (although, I'm sure they were). They were always so upbeat when we talked to them. Thanks, Mom and Dad!