Summer Fun Part III - Porto!

Our last stop was Porto, in the north of Portugal. There we were able to visit with my Aunt Maria João, my cousins Inês and Filipa, my uncle and my great aunt Augusta who is now 91 years old. I hadn't seen them in almost 14 years so it was an incredible experience to spend three days with them and see them connect with Joana and Julia. As you can see from the picture below, Filipa and Joana bonded particularly well and had a blast playing with dolls and doing silly games.

This picture is my aunt and the one below is Filipa with the girls.
We also had the opportunity to meet my cousin Victor's family. I had not seen him in 14 year either and we loved meeting his wife and two boys during a very active dinner (the boys and girls enjoyed playing together and running around in the restaurant). Above is a video of some funny moments at my aunt's house. I truly cherish the moments we spent together. Thank you for your hospitality and love!

Summer Fun in Portugal Part II

Ready for the second part of the summer fun? I hope so, because we have filled this post with pictures and videos galore!

A week had already gone by and in between visiting with relatives, eating delicious meals and enjoying the sun (with some wind, which was unexpected), we decided to take a trip to the famous Slide and Splash. It's an enormous water park, ten minutes from Portimão, that I had enjoyed quite a few times during my childhood and teenage years.

We enjoyed the company of our cousins João, São and the girls Mariana and Leonor (pictures below). Leonor, had a camera that took incredible footage underwater so we decided to show off the skills that Joana and Julia had learned before arriving to Portugal. Take a look at the video and decide for yourself if it isn't pretty impressive what Ms. Carol (their swim teacher) was able to accomplish in just two weeks.

One more adventure we undertook was the boat trip along the Algarve coast. We ventured on a pirate boat through the turquoise sea and visited the beautiful grottos along the coast. It was an incredible experience. It's a shame that many Portuguese who live in the Algarve don't take these trips. It's not just for tourists, in fact it should be mandatory for the locals. What a memorable way to appreciate the beauties our home town has to offer. The picture below was taken on the boat. Oh, and enjoy the video also :)

By now we only have a few days left. So we attempt to spend as much quality time with relatives as possible. We visited my uncle Armando and Aunt Felismina, who are now retiring in Portugal after living in Germany most of their lives. Below is a pictures with all of us and one with their son, Fernando, my brother Jorge and my husband John - the guys!

But there was still some time left to enjoy the beaches, at least for a few more days before leaving to go to Porto, the northern "capital" of Portugal. That, by the way, will be Part III, because there isn't room in this post for everything. So here is a nice family picture and a video of the fun at the beach.

The last evening was spent at my brother's apartment on the 12th floor, enjoying yet another glorious meal, the stunning views of the city, the mountain and the river (see pictures below), we some more moments together as a family. We were also able to snap a picture of the proud grandparents with their three princesses: Clara (7 months), Julia (2 years old) and Joana (3 years old). Part III will be our trip to Porto. See you then!

Summer Fun in Portugal Part I

Dear all,

Get ready, this is long post full of pictures and videos. We have a lot to tell you!! So this is Part I of the summer extravaganza.

At the beginning of July 2011, John, I and the two girls flew to Portugal to spend three weeks visiting relatives, friends, going to the beach and eating A LOT of good, healthy, fresh Portuguese food. So after a taking off and landing three times, we finally arrived in Lisbon, the capital. Namaw and Mawmaw joined us in Lisbon where we spent sometime visiting the city in the great company of friends that have known me pretty much most of my life.

Thank you to Ana Escoval for picking us up at the airport and hangin

g out with us, Miguel Maia and his wonderful family, Lia, my Aunt Marieta and cousin Mário for spending time with us - I missed seeing all of you and loved the moments we spen

t together- and, of course, Kika and Paulo for taking Namaw and

Mawmaw to visit the beauties of Sintra. Above all a big thank you to Lena and Rodolfo a couple that has known me since I was born, my neighbors from Odivelas. After visiting the Lisbon Aquarium (pic above) , one of the largest and best in the world, we had lunch with Lena and Rodolfo and then we spent good quality time with them at their beautiful apartment overlooking Parque das Nações.

They also took us to see Belém (picture above) and treated us to a feast that they called "lanche" but that could actually have fed a whole army. Those figs were sooooooooooo sweet!!

The two days in Lisbon flew by, but our mission was Portimão, the Algarve, southern Portugal known for the sun, ocean, beaches and fresh food and seafood. So off we went on a 3-hour train ride to Portimão. Joana and Julia were so excited to ride and I quote "the biiiiiig choo-choo train!". Below is a video of that experience.

Upon our arrival in Portimão, Vovô and Vovó were thrilled to finally see us and especially their little granddaughters! Their house went from a quite 2 person home to one filled with 10 to 14 people almost everyday for the next 15 days! Below is a video of the wonderful dinners prepared by my mom. Vovô and vovó are, undoubtably exquisite hosts!! Thank you for everything! We love you!

One of the most exciting moments for me, in particular, was the moment when I would get to meet and hold my niece for the first time. Clarinha was at the time 6 months, now 8, and continues to be a darling, quiet, easy-going baby. She loves to smile at everyone and has no trouble sleeping wherever she is....lucky parents!! I wish I had more opportunities to hold her but Julia made sure that every moment was cut really short. Joana, on the other hand, was not jealous and loved to tickle her, kiss and hug her and attempted to play with her. Below is a picture of Clara.

We were also very lucky to have the opportunity to spend time with my cousin Fernando, from Germany, who made sure to schedule his vacation at the same time as ours so that he could meet Joana and Julia for the first time. And it waspretty clear that they loved to play and cuddle with Fernando as much as he did with them.

Of course, one of the most important things to do in Portimão besides spending time with family is going to the beach. And we wanted to make sure we would see as many as possible so we went to a different beach every time. Below is a video of a couple of those beaches and some pictures for you to see how beautiful the scenery and the water are. The first picture shows the view from the beach apartment where Namaw and Mawmaw stayed. That is exactly what they saw every time they looked out the window or the balcony. Nice huh? More pictures and videos on the next blog. So go and check them out!!

Summer Fun!

This is part 1 of a three-part Summer extravaganza! The summer began nice and hot as it is common in good ol' Texas. Joana and Julia were enjoying the pool, the school activities, and playground and all of their friends. The most important thing was that we were approaching the date when we would all go to Portugal to visit Vovô, vovó, Uncle Jorge and Aunt Ana and meet their first child, Clara (or Clarinha as Joana and Julia like to call her) for the first time. We would also have a chance to see cousins and uncles and aunts and friends....oh my!! AND Namaw and Mawmaw were joining us on this adventure.

But to make sure the girls would be ready for the sea and the beach fun we decided to enroll them in swimming classes! This was an incredible experience. Ms Carol (the swimmers' whisperer...lol) is able to teach little babies and children to swim in 2 WEEKS!!! I was a bit skeptical, at first, but here is what happened at the end of two weeks. Thank you

Ms. Carol (wwww.swimwithcarol.com) for such a great experience and we will be back next year to perfect the skills learned with you.

In Julia's class the parents get to swim with the children because they are younger than 2 years old. They play games, chase toys in the water and sing songs. Daddy got a chance to enjoy the experience on the last day of class after returning from a long trip. Here is what Julia was able to do after two weeks!

Joana's class was different, the children were on their own with Ms. Carol as the parents watched from a few feet away. Ms. Carol had little games

and competitions for them everyday and they all did so well! Check out the last day of class.

At then end, they all received a little diploma and below is a picture of both girls with Ms. Carol!

Joana's 3rd Birthday!!

Joana is now 3! Our little girl is growing up so fast! We celebrated her birthday with the Strawberry Shortcake them (see cake picture above) in the company of our closest friends and relatives and had a blast! John prepared his now traditional crawfish boil extravaganza, the kids enjoyed the bounce house, games, cake and food and we were all exhausted at the end of the day. What a great birthday! Joana got tons of new cute clothes, some princess outfits and accessories, a pop-up princess house with a tunnel, tea sets and cooking sets, and so many other wonderful gifts. She was in heaven!! She also got a bounce house from mommy and daddy so that she, her sister and her friends can have fun bouncing throughout the year.

Joana and Julia are now communicating a lot better and playing with each other more frequently, which is a relief for us, the parents, who don't have to be the entertaining act as often. Below is a video with a couple of funny moments. The first one is Joana is the bathroom shouting "Oh Baby, Oh Gary" as she is trying to make #2.....ehehehehehehe......don't ask us why she says "Oh Gary"...it's a family joke. During the second clip they are both playing hide and seek in our closet. Check them out.

Julia is doing great and speaking more and more every day. She has moved on to full sentences, though short, they are complete. She likes to ask "What happened, mama?", "Where's daddy?", "Mana, (sister) come on!", "Whatcha doing, mama?", "I want it." , "What's that/this?", "I (don't) want it", "Come on!", "I'm coming!" and our favorite, "I love you too, mama/daddy". She is also counting in both English and Spanish but she always skips #7, ...in both languages! Well, at least she is consistent. ehehehe. She also likes to count backwards starting with 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, and then she shouts "Blast off!". As far as the alphabet is concerned, she knows the song but skips quite a few letters still. It's wonderful to see Joana teach Julia news words and songs and asking Julia to repeat them to make sure she says them properly. A natural teacher, oh boy!

She is also now going to the same day care as Joana's and is loving it. She only goes once or twice a week but it is a great start because she will start going full time at the beginning of 2012. She loves her teacher Ms. Donna and everyone at school even though she cries for the first 15 to 30 seconds as I leave. She says "It's MY school" and they both claim ownership of the school. The word MY or MINE has been quite prevalent in Julia's vocabulary in the last few months: "Mama, my car", "Look, my truck", "No! It's my ball". Aaaaaa the terrible twos all over again :)

Next month we are going to Portugal to spend about 3 weeks with vovô, vovó, Tio Jorge, Tia Ana and baby Clara, now 6 months old. Namaw and Mawmaw will come with us and I cannot wait to show them all the beauties of the Algarve and enjoy the beach every single day we are there. Check back in about a month to see all the great pictures and videos.

Spring Time

Here are some pictures we took during the bluebonnet season and below is a picture taken on Easter Day with Landon after spending Easter with all our friends at Roger and Barbara's house.

Cousins and Tigers and Sharks...oh my!!!

It's been two months, I know, so you get twice as much excitement this time. The highlights of these last two months were having Mawmaw and the four cousins at the house for a few days. Not only did the boys spoil Julia and Joana with hugs and kisses and playtime but they also chauffeured them around the house in their stroller and play car throughout most of the day.

Here is a video of one of those moments.

We also had a great time in New Orleans where we spent Spring Break Week. We had a chance to surprise Namaw, who had no idea we were coming, and we were lucky to have beautiful sunny days so we went to Audubon Park, the Zoo and the Aquarium! The first picture below is Daddy and his two princesses at the park looking at the ducks in the water. The second one was taken at the Zoo with Namaw. We had a great day learning about all the different animals.

Check out the video of us at the zoo.

We then went to the Aquarium, and both Joana and Julia loved to see the turtles and stingrays swimming in the water. The tunnel was their favorite part of the aquarium and the frog too.

They did not want to leave the big giant frog so we took a picture for posterity. :)

Back at Namaw's and Pawpaw Steve's house we enjoyed the company of the cousins and their little pooch. Joana loved to walk around the yard with the puppy and played with him every chance she got. Here is a picture of the two sisters hanging out with the puppy.

After a great week with our family we drove home. It was such a long drive (8.5 hours) and we were sooooooo tired, that we decided to end the day watching TV. Just like this......See you next month!

2011 - Bring on the snow!!

This month, the highlight was, definitely Mawmaw and Uncle Bill's visit and the fact that one day later, we had a beautiful white surprise. SNOW! Here is a picture of the girls in their pajamas with Mawmaw and a couple of pictures of the girls all bundled up and ready to play in the snow. Check out the video also.

Other than that, it has been a month of getting sick, recovering, feeling great for less than 24 hours and.....getting sick AGAIN. We are sooooo ready for the summer.

Julia is now 18 months and doing great. She is eating better and becoming more and more inquisitive. Above all she is showing a very independent and strong personality. She goes to sleep by herself and is very timely about her naps and bedtimes, and we love that! She is also very strong physically and incredibly adventurous. She loves to climb on...well...anything really. At the park near our house, she was the youngest child on the slide, climbing the steps and going through the tunnels. She wants to keep up with Joana and is making sure she is not left behind even if there are obstacles in the way. In fact, it looks like the obstacles make it more fun.

We did this list for Joana when she was 18 months so we wanted to do the same for Julia. Here are all the words she knows in Portuguese and English.

Portuguese:

1 - Mama (mommy)

2 - Papa (daddy)

3 - Mana (sister)

4 - Vovó (grandma Toya)

5 - Vovô (grandpa Jorge)

6 - Tio (uncle)

7 - Tia (aunt)

8 - Fecha (close)

9 - Abe (abre - open)

10 - Nana (banana)

11 - Não (No)

12 - Xim (Sim - Yes)

13 - Lua (moon)

14 - Abião (avião - airplane)

15 - Chão (floor)

16 - Mumu (vaca - cow)

17 - Gato (cat)

18 - Cão (dog)

19 - Naniz (nariz - nose)

20 - Abança!! (avança - go)

21 - Pára (stop)

22 - Dado (quadrado - square)

23 - Tchau-tchau (bye-bye)

24 - Mão (hand)

25 - Pum (Fart)

26 - Papato (Sapato - shoe)

27 - Tasato (Casaco - jacket/coat)

28 - Xixi (pee)

29 - Tótó (cócó - poop)

30 - alda (fralda - diaper)

31 - Mais (more)

32 - Deita (lie down)

33 - leitinho (milk)

34 - Água (water)

35 - Luz (light)

36 - Dentes (teeth)

37 - Olá (hello)

38 - Dedo (finger)

39 - Piu-piu (bird)

40 - Dois (Two)

41 - Doi-doi (bobo)

41 - Mamos (Vamos - let´s go)

42 - Tampa

43 - Mais alto! (higher - that´s what she says on the swing)

44 - Pio (frio)

English

1 - Mommy/Momma

2 - Daddy

3 - Namaw (Grandma Pat)

4 - Dimpaw (Dampaw - grandpa Johnny)

5 - Mawmaw (greatgrandmother Whitney and Osborne)

6 - Yes

7 - No

8 - Thanks

9 - Thank you

10 - Bess you (bless you)

11 - Ball

12 - Cat

13 - Hand

14 - Nose

15 - Hat

16 - Dum (Drum)

17 - Tatat (Chocolat)

18 - Puppy

19 - Shoe

20 - Outside

21 - Moon

22 - Star

23 - Dance

24 - Bubbles

25 - Sit

26 - This

27 - Mine

28 - Flaloo (flower)

29 - Tatch (catch)

30 - Teet (Teeth)

31 - Baash (brush)

32 - Hello? (pretending to be on the phone)

33 - Bobo

34 - Eye

35 - Tar (car...she can't say the "c" very well...lol)

36 - Keys

37 - Pop (as in...to pop bubbles)

38 - Belp (belt)

39 - Batpap (backpack)

40 - Dora (her favorite cartoon)

41 - Boos Toos (Blue's Clues - her second favorite cartoon)

42 - It´s dood (it´s good)

43 - It's hot

44 - I ub you (I love you....first big sentence...very exciting)

Joana continues to love her school and everyone who works there. She is learning so much everyday and we are so very proud of her. She is almost completely potty trained at school and we are making a big effort to make sure she reaches the age of 3 and is no longer wearing diapers. Can't wait!! She is talking quite a bit...sometimes too much and too fast and saying words that we are certain do not exist....and saying complete sentences, negative sentences, asking questions properly and even telling her little sister what to do...oh yeah...she seems to enjoy that a bit too much, though....:)

Here is a video of a very sunny and warm day during January when we took the girls to the park to have some fun, run, and play with other kids. Apparently most of the parents in the area had the same idea because the park was full of children running around. See you next month!