November Happenings

Freddy participated in a multi-school track and field day in Cascais. Sebby and I came to cheer him on and wound up cheering for every age group and every class until Freddy's turn came in the last group. 

My little backpack of toys was not holding Sebby's interest and we were both blinded by the sun and roasting hot. November this year has been Summer , part 2.  

With every nice day I think it could be our last chance to have beach time so I pack up and stop at the beach after the school drop-off. Then the next day is just as nice and we do the same. These two trucks have been working over time.

Building sand castles is tough work.

Driving home from a rugby game, Freddy grabbd my camera to catch the sun setting on Cascais bay.

We revived the marble run until all the marbles went missing. We packed it back away and now I'm finding marbles every where.

More beach.

" It's a ´p´ for Pai and a ´v´ for Vasco." The p is backwards, and the V upside down, but they are letters nonetheless.

Last week was centered around playing with the salt dough that got on every surface of every room, including high up on the kitchen wall. It was fun while it lasted (2 cups flour, 1 cup salt, 1 cup water, food coloring)

 We've been twice to the indoor play place. I'm trying to keep it exciting and not go more often than once a week.

 Freddy had pajama day at school and has never been happier to get dressed for school.

 I'll close with the cutest dog in the world, who we continue to love despite increasingly clever food stealing tactics.

 This is his "I'm sorry I keep eating all the butter" face.

Life Is A Beach

There is no better exercise than taking Seb to the beach. He runs like a puppy that has been crated all night. 

We leave by 10am and arrive home tired out and ready for calm. He loves to make "letters" in the sand by imitating letters that I write. I can't think of a better pre-school classroom than the beach. 

Guincho Mornings

The Summer That Wouldn't Quit

2014 will be remembered as the year without Fall. We are still feeling Summery, with Water Babies smells wafting from bags in the car, towels folded in every corner, and swimsuits hanging on every hook. It's simply the best.

Here's a photo round-up of our Sunday.

 I didn't get pictures, but we were in hysterics with a family rock scissors paper tournament.

 We didn't have Seb's floatie with us so Zita acted as his floatie.

 On the less glamorous front, Pai and I cleaned out the garden shed. The high from a good clean out rivals the beach for me. The kids would beg to differ.

Mooji got a BBQ going and fed us all lunch when we got home. Probably to avoid said garden shed clean out, but it is a gift from heaven when someone else takes the lead on getting a meal on the table. Someone could seriously put a bowl of corn on the table and call it dinner and I would throw my arms up in praise.

 

More Beach Time with Sebby

It seemed too good to be true that the beach was empty, the weather was perfect, and I had all the gear for a successful morning at the beach.

 This action man is known as "the man." The man has been keeping us company on a ot of our outings lately.

 Just when we thought the day couldnt get any better, this tractor showed up.  When it started to drive away, Seb went running after it saying "wait for me tractor!"

It was time to get to the car when I wound up running after him in the water, with soaking wet jeans rolled up passed my knees. He was getting more and more insistent that it was swimming time. Guincho is for toe dipping, and wading on a calm day. It is NOT a swimming beach for toddlers. 

The beach is always a schlep, and it takes serious strength the carry a heavy and kicking Seb up the dunes and back to the car, but it is so worth it. 

Everyone loves praising the change of seasons, but I'm like "heck no! Give me the beach and room temperature until November, thank you very much." 

I can always get a pumpkin spice latte if I feel like getting in the mood for Fall. 

Seb Takes Guincho by Storm

 

Right after we dropped Freddy at school on Monday morning, we drove another 2 minutes up the road to the Guincho dunes walk. I wasn't sure if Seb could resist temptaion and stick to the path so my expectations were for a short walk followed by loading a resistent Seb back into the car. 

 

 He did okay until about half way through when he saw the beach in the distance and was like "lady, why are we on a long hot walk when there is a beach right there?"

Moment of realization that we were close to the beach. 

Planting himself in the middle of the path meant every single dog walker was obliged to stop and socialize with Seb. He's never one to pass on stating the obvious and will stand up and say "that's a man. It's a man and a dog. It's a big dog. That's a man." He'll continue like this until I affirm what he's just said, so I stand there and respond "yes. A man and a dog." 

 I had two chestnuts in my purse that Freddy gave me over the weekend and those worked as distractions for a while.

It turned into a semi-play date when I met another mother with a two year old doing the same walk. Turns out her little girl was her sixth child (!!!)  and boy was she a cutie pie! Seb loves babies and he loves older kids, but toddlers are not his favorite. He kept saying "that menina is so scary" because she kept trying to hug him. 

With perfect Summer weather going strong, we went back for proper beach time today. Photos to come.

Fall Beach Days

 

I like to pretend it's still Summer on the weekends. The weather is warm, but not hot, and with such a packed schedule from Monday to Friday, we need a little beach time even more than we do in the Summer.

We went to Carcavelos beach to do something a little different. All six of us were there, but you wouldn't know it by the photos.

What will I take pictures of when everyone is a teenager or older? The cats? Grandkids? Time will tell.

A little Santini afterward made for another perfect family afternoon.

Final Stretch

With school starting in a few days, we're squeezing in all the beach time we can. Last Friday, we set out for the park and mid-drive unanimously decided to divert to the beach. 

I have at least 4 beach bags in the back of my car so I can always pull together just enough for a few hours. 

The kids are not wild about taking pictures, but they don't mind doing a few jumping shots. 

Shortly after this was taken, a bigger wave came and soaked me up to my waist. 

We got the last of the school supplies yesterday, and we still need to swing by the school today to pick up their books for the year. 

I'm going old-school this year with a small hardback calendar/agenda. I needed somewhere to jot down all of Sebby's hilarious sayings, and there's just something nice about real paper and pen. 

Happy week!