The Giorgiani's Return

Within our crazy month of travel we were lucky enough to get my parents to make the trip to see us this year.  They arrived a few days after we returned from Peru, and though they had a few things they wanted to accomplish on this trip, most of the time was spent hanging out with their favorite granddaughter.

During the week we visited Temaiken Biopark, which was a perfect time to visit - the park was empty! Additionally, the day was cool but very sunny, so many of the animals were active.  Gretchen's favorite place in the park continues to be the trash cans, she is an exceptionally environmentally conscious little girl, and she insists on picking up and throwing away garbage.  Luckily, Papa was there to carry her to keep things moving a bit.

We spent time during the week getting a leather jacket made by Bettiza Rizzi and tracking down a vendor from the Feria Francia (Recoleta Market) that my mom met on one of her other visits to Buenos Aires.  It was a good thing that she kept his email address around, the man is an incredible painter!  If you are looking for a nice piece of art, especially a portrait, Andres Echeveste is a great person to work with.

For the weekend, we took the short flight to Iguazu Falls, Argentina.  We took this trip in April, 2010 with Jon's parents and have wanted to show this amazing location to my parents ever since.  I love that we have lived here long enough to do some of these trips twice, they really are worth the time.

Gretchen and Grammy getting ready for a walk.  Gretchen was pleased to be out of the backpack for this trip - but not incredibly excited to be in the stroller.

I was content as soon as we saw our first wild toucan.  What a beauty!

It was not recommended to visit Iguazu Falls in August, supposedly because the water levels can be low and the Brazilian side has the prerogative to reduce the flow of the water over the falls to help with their energy production.  I thought it was a great time to visit, we escaped the cooler Buenos Aires temperatures and avoided the crowds.  There looks to be plenty of water from where I was standing!

Our little ham showing off her beautiful smile:

One experience we had this time around that we didn't last time was the monkeys.  They showed up right around dinner time and walked along the balconies of the hotel rooms searching for food. The next morning I opened our blinds to find a money on our balcony railing - if only I had my camera then too...

I recommend to anyone going to Iguazu to stay at the Sheraton, especially if you are traveling with children.  There is no more convenient place to stay where you can walk to the falls, come back to let the baby nap, and then head out again that afternoon.  It was just the mix of adventure and relaxing that we were looking for.

The only part of the trail that was inconvenient to bring a stroller was the "Lower Circuit".  There are a zillion stairs, it is quite slick in spots, so we put Gretchen back in in the backpack for this hour-or-so hike.

We also went back to the Brazil side of the park, which meant that my parents needed to get their Brazilian visas, which was virtually the same as when Jon and I got our visas in 2010. The only differences this time around were that the Brazilian consulate required a current bank statement (that has a balance of at least $1,000USD) and that the visas returned with only a 90-day tourist visa (as opposed to our 5-year visas).

This also meant that we could return to the Parque das Aves, the best bird park ever in my eyes.  The toucans didn't disappoint, these blue birds were just about posing for our pictures...

And of course, the highlight of my photo-taking experience were these incredible hummingbirds:

  I don't think I'll ever get sick of them.

The Brazil side definitely offers the better view, I just love this panoramic of the waterfalls with my husband and daughter enjoying the view:

It was so nice to have my mom and dad come with us on this trip, it is right up their alley with the wildlife and the fantastic views.  I had to get this photo of the three of us at the end of our last trail:

When we were not hiking the waterfalls, we were at the very cold pool.  Luckily, it was 90 degrees outside so we were able to get in for a little bit.  Gretchen and Papa enjoyed the cold water together for a long time, she giggled like crazy when he would lower her into the water and then come up again.  It was precious!

Daddy and Gretchen swimming at the pool, it was a great way to get her energy out during the day.  We had a fantastic trip all around, and thoroughly enjoyed showing my parents a more tranquilo part of the country.  Thanks so much for coming Mom & Dad, it was pure joy!