California Snapshots

A few pictures from my sister's phone:

Zita got her hair curled with a Miracurl hot iron. Might need to bring one of these back; it gives her otherwise straight hair beautiful body.

Pump it Up

My nephew turned 3 and his party was the perfect way to snap Seb out of his it's-one-in-the-morning mood. Slides and cake and Seb says "hooray!"

Mooj has been driving around on errands and things and is a natural on the road. He's also reconnected with his friends in the neighborhood so he isn't stuck with all the little kids in the 

Romper Room. 

Jet-lag wise we are doing the best we've ever done with a 5am wake up today. That's pretty close to a normal Portugal wake up. 

We're Here!

Summer has officially begun! We arrived yesterday after a relatively painless day of travel. Despite our 4am wake-up and Air Traffic Control strikes, we arrived in good spirits and ready for cousin time. 

The big news of day one States Side was Mooj getting his driver's permit. He passed the test and has his first behind the wheel lesson tomorrow. 

Other things accomplished: 

Burritos (most important!) 

Pool time 

Park 

Walks around the neighborhood 

World Cup 

Another Driver in the Family

Mr. Freddy had three driving lessons over the weekend. He can start the car, put it in first (not an automatic!) and drive all over the farm.

Not bad for an 8 year old. 

When I asked him how his second lesson with Pai went, he said " Pai tried to teach me to reverse and back out of a parking space. Let's just say it didn't go well." 

Looks Can Be Deceiving

Things are anything but calm around here. We are down to the wire before we leave for the States and the list of things to do keeps growing.

I think I'll feel calmer when I have a good supply of M&Ms, mints, and other flight goodies tucked into my carry-on.

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.

 

Getting Ready For the Flight

I'm little by little getting Seb used to headphones. A child who can't do headphones makes for difficult flights! So far, he'll keep them on for around 4 minutes. 

We have a ways to go, and I anticipate some frustrating moments on the flight, but there's still a little more than 2 weeks to work on it. 

Failed Photoshoot: Take 6 Million

We went to my nephew's first communion last Saturday, and as we arrived home, I realized it was the perfect opportunity to get some pictures of the kids.

Since Seb was settled on the steps, I called everyone over to the steps. Seb of course immediately found staining berries, slighlty less potent than lilly pollen, and began smashing them on the hot stones.

By the time Freddy got to the steps, complete with a balloon for bribery, Seb said "All done."

 

So there you have our spectacular family photo shoot.

Mooj appeared a few minutes later in boxers, having taken off all of his nice clothes, so there was that small problem as well.

 

Zita had also changed clothes, but took a seat and smiled.

 Doesn't Seb look thrilled?