Iguazu Falls

This post has a LOT of pictures. Sorry. Having two family's pictures at my disposal made me do it. And Christian is the superior photographer so a bunch of these are credited to him. 

Once the kids were out of school we needed to take them up to Iguazu. It was a great time of year to go-- not too hot or crowded. We brought our helper, Dora, to keep the adult to child ration in our favor. 

The fun mission style hotel we stayed in:

Looking over at Paraguay across the river from our hotel

The Argentine side of the falls! These pictures all came in randomly--out of order, but it probably doesn't matter too much. 

Wildlife is always a highlight. These coati were clearly aware of the best source of food (we did not feed them!), and put on a good show for us. 

A couple of moms having a fabulous time on the Jungle Train

Chrissy using her animal whisperer powers

And teaching the kids her ways

When we brought Charlotte here 11 years ago we got this fun shot of her and we've loved it so much. We tried to re-create it with Ian, but I think Charlotte's picture is still the winner. 

James really got into the tango show the hotel puts on every night :) 

We tried so hard to enjoy the pool, but it was just too cold. It's amazing to me how willing some kids are to plunge into cold water though. It didn't last long. 

The next day we went to the Brazilian side of the falls. It was cloudier and rained on us, but we were going to get wet anyway because you can get right up close to the falls on the trail, so it was fine.  

Imogen making friends and influencing mannequins 

We did the boat tour. I walked into it naively thinking it would be a pleasure cruise and totally okay to take my baby. The Brazilians had no problem with it (although the Argentines didn't allow kids so maybe that should have been my warning). It was much more intense than I was expecting, boating up rapids and going under some of the falls. Ian coped by passing out, smart boy. We made it out unscathed and I have no regrets, but my stomach kind of clenches every time I think about it. 

Charlotte looking like she's going to the spa

Our exceptional captain, kept us out of any real danger

Pictures don't do it justice, but maybe Imogen's face will. She hated it. Which is sad because the whole way to the boat she kept saying "I like boats". Once things started getting crazy (pretty early on) she said over and over "I want to go home", until she too passed out. Once she had a bit of time to recover she was back to telling everyone she liked boats. 

We did a quick blitz through the bird sanctuary in Brazil on our way back. 

It was amazing! We loved it. And I pity the waterfall that tries to impress us after this one. 

I have to end this post with a few pictures of these cute kids. 

Bowties courtesy of Grantpa

And this one of course