June So Far

Last day of high school ever! 

 Parents got to attend the final orchestra rehearsal before the kid's trip to the Algarve

 Zita has a friend in the orchestra who is a fellow American in (a different) Portuguese school. She also plays the oboe so they have lots in common.

 I park myself in these chairs quite a lot lately. I can see the trampoline and the lawn from one spot and they are so so comfy. Now I just need a little table for my drink and book, and an unobtrusive umbrella.

 The day after the orchestra show, Freddy had his conservatory choral performance.

 The day after that was graduation. June has been non stop.

 garden mingling after the mass

 post garden mingling and pre-speeches/show cocktail

 and then four hours later, we got to the moment we had all been waiting (and waiting, and waiting) for- the diploma ceremony!!

 out of order photo of post-mass mingling in the school gardens.

 Last day of seventh grade. She had her PE uniform on and wasn't too happy about the picture, but obliged any way.
Zita came home that afternoon with lettuce from their class vegetable garden that we are still eating through. It was another great school year for her and all is well in Zita's world.

 Next up was Sebby's first trip to the zoo. Thank goodness for these impenetrable glass barriers.

 Immediately after this picture, Sebby of course tried to climb over the ropes to "just see" the giraffe.

 We spent the most time with this baby goat. It was the size of a large cat and loved Sebby's attention.

 They've now opened the gates to this garden so zoo visitors can stroll these palace grounds. We had done plenty of walking by that point and just enjoyed the view.

The most exciting part of June was bringing home a new car for Moojie. It was a graduation/18th birthday/we think you're a pretty good kid gift. He can't drive it for two more months, but I'm happy to use it when I know parking will be difficult. Part of the deal is also helping me drive siblings around, so both of us are counting down until he can legally drive it.

This brings us to this weekend. We dropped Freddy and Zita off for their orchestra trip and then headed to the Alentejo. This was Freddy's first time away from parents or grandparents on a trip. He's checked in twice to say that he forgot his flip flops (no biggie), but was having fun, and then today to say his spike got stuck inside the cello. That's more problematic, but I'm sure someone will solve it before their performance this afternoon.

Alentejo pictures will have to wait for another post. Sebby wants to make a carrot cake for Pai and that doesn't sound like a bad idea at all!

Freddy's School Christmas Play

 

Freddy was the king in a loose rendition of Snow White.

Plans were a little wobbly, and I wound up alone with Sebby. I thought it would mean missing most of the show and having to chase Sebby around outside, but he actually sat still enough through all of it. It might be because I took him to icecream just before hand. Can't go wrong with ice cream.

 There were professional musicians playing bass, classical guitar, ukelele, and trumpet. They alone made the show worth seeing.

 The kids somehow lined up backwards in an attempt to spell "Portugal," so they spelled out A-G-U-T-R-O-P. The ´L' was missing. What would a children's play be without these endearing mishaps?

 I can't get enough of this sweet Freddy.

 As we left and drove down the bend of Cascais bay, the ferris wheel was changing colors and looking spectacular.

School Year: One Week In

Here are the kids on their first day of school.

Zita: 6th Grade

Moojie: 11th Grade

Freddy: 3rd Grade

 

Moojie and Zita continue to walk to school, and home for lunch. I drive Freddy most of the time, but Pai also shares in that responsiblity when he can. Freddy is a great car chatterbox, and has lots to discuss in the car without the distractions of home.

Most everything is the same for the kids this year with a few exceptions. Both Zita and Freddy now have music at the conservatory. It's more demanding than the music they were taking before, but we're giving it a year and then deciding how it goes after that.

Zita's day is longer and now goes from 8:20-4:50. They incorporated more study-hall type hours (5 of them!) and will give less homework. Less homework works for us!

She still has tennis three times a week, plus orchestra on Saturdays.

Moojie is in his critical junior year of hichschool where the work load is heavy. He has 10 hours of sports a week, not counting rugby games so Mooj barely has time to eat. I'm doing a lot of running after him as he walks out the door, trying to make him take a water bottle, or a hearty sandwich, or a rain coat with him.

Freddy has the same teacher as last year and is a little unhappy that his best friend left his school. He's navigating the playground without his fellow non soccer playing pal, but I know  with time he'll be okay. Another change he isn't too thrilled about is having to do chorus and a music theory class on Saturday morning, but it's a package deal at the conservatory and one can't take lessons without doing the rest.  He still loves tennis and has started training with Moojie in the basement gym.

Our back-to-school cookies this year were chocolate, chocolate- chip oatmeal. I baked half and saved half the dough for the next day, but elves broke into the fridge and polished off the dough. Strange, I know.

Scheduling-wise, this year is a challege for all of us. Thank goodness Seb not only tolerates the car now but loves it! His obsession with all things moving-vehicle related makes for exciting trips. I also input locations on my Google calendar so I get alerts on my phone saying "you need to leave now to get to tennis on time." Genius. Love it.

One day this week, we had 3 tennis lessons, rugby practice, a cello lesson, and two parents meetings at two different schools.  Not all days are like that, but they are mostly packed.

So far so good, one week in. We only have 9 more months of this pace unitl we can breathe easy again.

June Photo Dump

 

Just before we left for California, Zita went down to the Algarve with her orchestra. They camp in Armação de Pêra in a place complete with pool, restaurant, proper showers, and electricity. It's not exactly wilderness camping, which is probably why she loves this trip! They have three performances over the weekend and it kills me not to get to see them. 

Seb was still asleep when I left to drop off Zita at the bus, but I came home to these two sweet boys waiting for me outside the front door.

Here's Zita on her last day of 5th grade,

 and Moojie on his last day of 10th grade

 and finally two weeks later, Freddy finished up 2nd grade

 Here he is opening the end-of-year school show

 Normally shy Freddy is so at ease on stage that it never ceases to amaze us. He also has some stellar dance moves.

 Pai always zooms from the office, just catching Freddy up on stage, has a quick bite and chat with Freddy, and then zooms right back.

I think that about wraps up June. Time to get ready for a new school year.

Catching Up

Our beloved 13 year old Pipocas died last week. She's been a part of our family from the moment we arrived in Portugal, so there's a huge hole in all of our hearts.

Zita played clarinet and bass parts for Coldplay's "The Scientist." She started out on clarient for the first half, and then quickly put it down and played bass for the second half. She has been learning bass in school and loves it. There just aren't enough hours in the day for her to have the number of lessons that she wants.

 Sorry so grainy- major zoom with Seb in my lap.

 I glimpsed Moojie sitting by the window in his classroom as I was leaving the music show. I'm just hoping his chemistry lab doesn't have such inpenetrable bars on the window.

 Seb has taken to pushing this stroller around every time we visit the cousins. This was his first day as a 19 month old.

 Freddy still has one more week of school left, but it's "easy school" so he's not too bitter that his siblings finish first.

 Have I ever mentioned that Seb goes down a slide non-stop, every chance he gets? He loves playground equipment and has no notion that he's too small for most of it.

We set up a ping pong net on our outside table. Ping pong is the best activty for all ages.

 Freddy waiting his turn

 The table is too narrow, but no one seems to mind.

Seb stalked Zita's Iced Tea  kept Zita company while the big boys played.