The weather this late Spring in the UK has been remarkable. It seemed to perfect time to visit Brazil – a country synonymous with sunshine and the beach! Penny has been really interested in Brazil as one of her close friends at school is from there and she knows quite a lot about the country from Alice.
Baking with kids!
We started our ‘journey’ the day before by making a Brazilian chocolate cake called a Bolo Nega Maluca – a controversial name that you can read all about here: https://braziliankitchenabroad.com/bolo-nega-maluca-brazilian-chocolate-cake/ This is also where I found the recipe. Both my kids really really like baking (and spoon licking) and the cake was great. We are still eating it a week later!
Crafting with kids
I don’t know about you but when I think of Brazil I think of the Rio carnival. My kids absolutely love crafting and so I printed off some simple mask shapes from the internet onto coloured card and cut them out. The kids decorated them in bright colours (I wish I had had feathers!) and then we put them onto BBQ sticks so we could hold them up.
Freddie loves making his mask and had decided very definitely he wanted a purple one! The plan was to have a carnival in the back garden but it was too hot so we just sat in the paddling pool instead!!
‘Copacabana’ Beach
We are very lucky to live by the beach, but the weather has been so hot and people have nothing to do in lockdown and so it’s been invaded by thousands of visitors (a little like the real Copcabana). It’s worse this year than ever because they are coming from much further because the beaches in Wales are still closed. As such, we decided to go early and we left the house at 9am to beat the crowds and to come home before it got too peopley.
We took a football to the beach because we wanted to be Brazilian! And, although it was a bit windy we had a lot of fun kicking it around. Of course, what really always makes a trip to the beach special is really the beach itself. I explained to Penny that the beach in Brazil as the same sea as our beach and we collected lots of shells along the shore line and looked for sea glass too. I think we were just lacking the beach bars serving a nice cold beer!!
Mini Copacabana Beach
When we got home we wanted to create a beach for Penny and Freddie’s dolls and indulge in some messy play. It was pretty simple to do! We poured some sand into a tray and added some water to the side and an umbrella and little bit of flannel for the doll. Freddie was extra delighted as he loves dolls houses and imaginative play!! It was quite messy though and I did take it outside about five seconds after this photo was snapped.
Cocktail Hour!
I always upload our adventures onto my Instagram stories and a friend who had been to Brazil and saw them suggested we had Caipirinha cocktails. I looked up the recipe online https://www.thespruceeats.com/caipirinha-recipe-759290 and it was super easy! I didn’t have the exact liquor (which I believe is a massive no no in Brazil) but I substituted white rum and it was delicious!! Penny was super jealous and so we made her a cocktail by making two different fruit juices together so she wasn’t left out!
I’ll be honest, I didn’t know whether I was going to carry on pretend travelling. One of the great joys for me had been finding restaurants and museums or art galleries to go to and lockdown had naturally made all that impossible. But we really really enjoyed the weekend and the kids adored the crafting and the baking and, of course, the beach football. So I think, finally, I am back in the game.
I’ve had a bit of a blog overhaul this week. I want to thank the following awesome bloggers for their help: I totally recommend you check out their blogs.
https://flashpackingfamily.com
https://www.zenas-suitcase.co.uk