"Moooom...... We're hooooooome!!!!"

We are all enjoying some well needed rest, somne great food and some motherly pampering at my mom's home in Lisbon!!! It has been hard to adjust to the new time zone, but the kids are having a great time visiting with the family, enjoying the pool and shopping!!!

Anna with my sister Teresa

Watching Portugal play in the World Cup surrounded by our family and friends has been a true priviledge! These pictures were taken after Portugal's game against North Corea, where we saw an incredible win of 7-0...!!!  The crazy lady dressed in flags in my sweet mom!! GO PORTUGAL!!! 

My little Amelia

My daughter Rita chose to embody Amelia Earhart at her fifth grade Afternoon of Achievers... They would stand in class and wait for a parade of parents and students who would ask them questions in order to guess who they were... She did awesome, she really mastered her knowledge of Amelia and was very fluent and confident in her answers... So we had to improvise with ski goggles... Oh, well!!! And I had to cut off a camisole in order to sew her a head cover.. Minor detail!! She was a bright star yesterday and we were very proud of her!!!

Look who's driving....!!

Anna just turned 15 a couple of weeks ago and couldn't wait to get her permit... She now wants to drive any chance she gets!!!! What a long way we've come, wasn't she just born yesterday...??

My little entrepreneur...

My son is all about making a buck or two.... Which is why it was no surprise to me when I found him set up outside by the street, trying to sell empty water bottles for $1 each...!!! Oh, to be young again!!!!

Fun in San Diego

My daughter Clara and I took off a month ago for  a long weekend in sunny San Diego, where she competed in a gymnastics meet. This trip had special meaning to her, since she was born there, in the Balboa Hospital, while we were stationed in Miramar... This was a huge meet, with over 1300 gymnasts, and our girls struggled with the brutal scoring and the crushing competition, but remained in high spirits!

One of the best parts of this trip was having special bonding time with my daughter... When you are a busy mother of four, these times are rare and precious! We spent a day at Seaworld, and had a blast!! Clara had never been there, since she was only nine months when we left San Diego... She had the chance to get a taste of feeding, training and touching the dolphins, and what a treat that was! What beautiful creatures!

Visiting Shamu and the other killer whales was one of the highlights of this visit.... Simply magestic!!

The sea otters show is always very entertaining, and it made us laugh so much!!!! It still baffles me how they can train these creatures so well!

A visit to the Kobey's swap meet yielded some fun and inexpensive shopping...

...There was swimming at midnight and bonding time with the coach....

... and a visit to San Diego would not be complete without sunset at Coronado Beach (topped off with a few hand stands and back walkovers in the sand!!). We truly had an amazing time... There were no medals coming back in our luggage, but the wonderful memories we brought back will warm our hearts forever!!!

Finally, an update!!!!

I've been a bad, bad, BAD blogger!!!!! I've neglected this blog and there is no excuse!!! I will attempt to catch up, as I have many pictures to show you.... Here are some pictures of our Christmas, Avô (Grandpa) came and spent Christmas day with us and we really enjoyed it!

We also celebrated Alex's birthday and Rita's birthday party... Rita invited 16 friends for a mall scavenger hunt followed by cake and games at our house!!!

Anna had a lot of fun getting ready for a Winter Formal dance at her high school!! She looked sooo cute!!!

I will be back soon with a post about Clara's and my trip to San Diego!