More From the Weekend in the Alentejo

Anyone out there not bored of Alentejo pictures? Pec continues to compete with Proscuitto in the loyalty department. He is the sweetest, sweetest dog.

 The four boys had fun building a dam on our way down to the river to play Pooh Sticks.

 They threw their sticks and then quickly got on their tummies to see whose stick arrived first on the other side.

 Sebby heard the kids playing on the other side of this gate, and knocked the softest most gentle knock and said "primos? Freddy? Are you there?"

Freddy couldn't resist joining his siblings in the water and that quickly turned into a water fight. Another cousin joined and it became a mud fight. 

Sebby has taken to using the Portuguese oh-no-you-don't finger wag with some frequency. I caught him mid wag as he told off one of the other kids. We've since trimmed his hair. 

 I'm having so much fun with my new camera and getting in lots of practice with Miss Zita.

On Sunday we took a picnic to a property that we last visited in 2008. It's really and truly in the middle of nothing, and so far off any main road that it would be impossible to get to without 4 wheel drive. 

 There are enourmous boulders protruding out of the grassy landscape. It's hard to see the scale, but the the below rocks are well over 20 feet high. The boys spent hours climbing in the rocks and making forts. Sebby is in a Kung-Fu Panda phase and was doing "kung-Fu" as he jumped from rock to rock.

 Lots of turtles live in the pond and would poke their heads up much to Sebby's delight.

 Seb didn't have much success in the rock skipping competition, but he did love making big splashes with heavier rocks.

 We arrived home and reunited with Moojie and Prosciutto who short circuited he was so happy to see us. Just as Pai and I got everything unloaded, kids feds, and everything in the house closed up, Mooj called us to the third floor to see the moon. I have never see the moon so low or such a burnt orange color.

 It doesn't look like it in this picture, but it also looked huge. I'll put Freddy on finding out the scientific explanation.

Big Sister Zita Is the Best

 He asked her to sit on the "mota" with him because he loves the motorcycles, but is also very scared of them.

A little snuggle into Zita's back does the trick. 

Sebby is an expert in getting siblings wrapped around his finger.  "Zita, will you go in the water with me?"

Lots more pictures to organize and post from yet another weekend away.

Quinta Circuit for Easter Break: Part II

We had our bi-annual extended family quinta getaway at the end of March. The kids could not get enough of the litter of puppies that came along with Pai's uncle.  

 Pai was not moved enough to want to bring any home with us, and I was a little tempted, but one puppy at a time is plenty for me.

We tried to get in as many mini-walks between down pours as we could. 

 A puppy blanket is just about the cutest thing to ever happen to Seb.

 He remembered the tractor and wanted to spend ages at the wheel.

Easter Sunday mass was in the little village nearby. I had the job of keeping Sebby from causing a domino effect with these bikes as we wandered the street outside. He can't help but gravitate towards anything with wheels.

 Below: Easter Sunday egg hunt- no baskets, not many chocolates, just the hunt in the back garden after mass. Later that evening we had a more elaborate dinner at home with a few more chocolates.

All of my pictures have cousins in them so I can't post them here. I'll leave you with one of Zita's poppy doll creations. 

March/April Photo Dump- Before May Arrives

Starting with last weekend and working my way backwards: 

We had a family wedding in Lisbon last Sunday. I opted not to bring my good camera so unfortunately I only have some blurry phone snaps. 

 Just for reference, Pai is 6'2" so our Zita was quite the tall girl in her heels. As we approached the church, she said "get ready for a night of "you're so tall! How tall are you?" Sure enough, that poor girl got 7 or so hours of "you're so tall! How tall are you?" "How old are you?" One of Pai's cousin's has a Dutch girlfriend who said "don't worry, she's really not that tall." I wanted to hug her.

The reception was held in Monsanto park and was an unexpected modern, beautiful setting.

 What is not to love about this dog's face?

 We finally got the marble counter for our copa, which now has added urgency to the search for better cabinet knobs and pulls. I sort of settled on hardware from Restoration Hardware until it occurred to me this morning that perhaps there is some sort of rule about the faucet matching the hardware. If that rule exists, I'll have to start over.

 We discovered the joys of the carrousel  in downtown Cascais.

Our upstairs sala ceiling is no longer a dark almond/tan color and is now a bright white. The whole room looks so fresh and light now. I did a major toy clear out for the project and Sebby actually plays more with the fewer toys that I kept. 

 Another day in Cascais on the carrousel.

 Seb has had this balance bike for a year and a half and was never interested until one day this month it just clicked. He can finally glide all over the place.

 We had to pick up Mooji's new suit in Lisbon so Seb and I took in some sunshine in Parque Eduardo VII to break up the driving. This tree was made for three year old boys.

 I had a birthday:) Mooj was in Spain on my actual birthday so we waiting until he got home to have cake. We never actually got around to the cake so we spread cookie dough in the bottom of that pyrex and shoved in some dinner candles.  For the record, we woke up freshly-arrived Mooj from a deep sleep to come and sing and have "cake," and Seb was not having any of it. Good times.