08/11/2026
Sometimes travel is magical.
Sometimes it’s scary.
Sometimes it’s both within the same five minutes.
This was the coolest hike.
We bush-whacked a trail to a series of incredible hidden waterfalls…with amazing swimming holes and waterslides.
We could have explored all day! It was absolutely AMAZING!
The fun ended early…with my daughter slipping on a wet rock and catching her fall with her permanent front teeth.
She chipped 1/2 of her front permanent top tooth off, the other permanent top tooth was dislodged from its normal place,
She put her bottom teeth through her top lip…leaving a LOT of blood, a ripped lip tie, and 6 loose teeth.
I have never seen such bravery!
It was a steep climb to get out of the canyon…a long hike back to civilization…and even longer to find cell service.
That whole time we were still unsure about the severity of what we were dealing with.
Would she need emergency dental surgery in the middle of nowhere, Brazil…by some village dentist? 🫣
Would we need to drive 7 hours to the airport and fly home immediately?
Thankfully our family dentist at home is a close friend. Once we found civilization and cell service, we FaceTimed him and he assured us it was not an emergency…just cosmetic.
He said the roots of the loose permanent teeth would either strengthen and reattach, or die and fall out. Either way, it was nothing he wouldn’t be able fix when we got home.
While this was not exactly the souvenir we wanted, I’d still rather raise adventurous kids who occasionally come home with a story.
Adventure has always carried some risk.
So does never having one.
The goal isn’t eliminating every risk.
It’s raising children who know how to navigate life’s challenges with courage, wisdom, and resilience.
❤️ Happy ending: We made it home and Dr. Scott Ellis worked his absolute magic.
I do NOT know how he shoved the loose, displaced top permanent tooth back up into its socket, but he did. He stabilized and braced the teeth with a wire behind her teeth.
He recreated her chipped permanent front tooth and it looks better than the original.
Now we wait and pray all the roots strengthen and heal, and that all her teeth survive. 🤞🏻🙏🏻
Thank you, Ellis Dentistry, for taking such incredible care of our girl. We are so incredibly grateful. ❤️
“You’re going to pay a price for everything you do…and everything you don’t do.” -Jordan Peterson
Choose wisely.
Take the trip. Chase the waterfalls. Have the adventure. Fix the teeth. Keep the memories.
