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!

My birthday girl, Rita!

Eleven years ago, I delivered my third daughter, Rita, in a hospital in Lisbon... We had just been transferred from London to Rabat, Morocco (my husband was assigned as a Detachment Commander in charge of the Embassy Marine Security Guards). Mark was already working in Rabat and I stayed with my mom in Lisbon, awaiting the birth. He had taken a week's leave to come to Portugal, but was supposed to fly back on the 21st to host the Marine Corps Ball in Rabat and then return the next day... He never made it out of the airport, as I assured him over the phone that this baby was waiting for no one!! Rita (named after the Beatles song) was born at 6 pm after only two pushes... She has been a ball of energy ever since!!! She is a very animated, funny, smart and caring girl, she is a terrific athlete and definitely knows how to have fun!!! Our lives are truly enriched by her presence, and we are so proud of her! Happy birthday, sweet girl!!!

Halloween 2009

The kids had a wonderful Halloween this year, it landed on a Saturday so they were able to sleep in the next day!!! We had one less child dressing up this year, as Anna is getting a little old for that, she stayed home with me and handed out candy!! One of my favorite things is to see the kids that ring our bell, especially the little ones... Too darn cute!!!
















This year, Alex decided to be Optimus Prime, from The Transformers... He had fun at the little party in his classroom decorating cookies, throwing hula hoops at pumpkins and making little black bats!

Rita wanted to be a "gangsta" boy, complete with hip hanging pants and underwear showing...

Clara was a female firefighter (I didn't know they wear miniskirts...)

The best part... Candy overload!!!!

A great soccer season!

Anna just wrapped up her season playing Junior Varsity soccer in high school!! The team came out strong, with only two losses out of about 14 games!! We enjoyed watching her play and can't wait for the next season!! She loved her coach and the girls in her team were absolutely awesome... She truly had the best time!!