first grade field trip

I got the pleasure of accompanying the first graders on a field trip to two of the caves on the island which turned out to be quite fun. We got to ride a school bus and Heather picked the very back seat for us to sit in. We toured through two caves on the island--the first was the only volcano that you can walk in (?) which was very coo. It was a cave formed when the volcano which is now extinct erupted and you could see out the top where the lava exploded. The second cave was the "gruto natal" which we had gone through with our family. Heather got to crawl through a small space along with some friends so she thought that was pretty fun. We then went to the gardens in Angra to have a picnic lunch and on to a volcano museum which was educational but not so interesting to the kids. We then wandered down to the marina for a short time where Heather played sharks and minnows with the boys--and she kept up pretty well. Apparently she has been participating at lunch time and is attempting to draw in the other girls to help her out. After a fun bus ride home I was ready to crash for the day.

pictures

Our friend is a self-employed professional photographer (if he's not a "professional" he's good enough to be) and does stock photography which is generic pictures that magazines can use for a small fee--he gets a small fee for them through the website he uses. He has taken pictures of the kids and taken some of our family pics as an unofficial tradeoff. He took a nice family picture and some cute ones of the kids but the kids weren't cooperating with a picture together or with me (oh well). Otherwise we have some cute pictures which I'll probably try to post on facebook...After playing around in his studio and having lunch we headed down to the town below his house--Villa Nova where they were having one of the holy ghost festivals (you can google it to find out more) which are held each of the first 6 sundays after easter. They have huge loaves of bread that they hand out, wagons with food in them for family and friends, and wine that they just pass a cup around and refill--the guy stands there while you drink it which was a little unnerving...It was fun to walk around the Portuguese who were all dressed up and smiling and listen to the little band that was there. They really have fun with their small little festivals and celebrations. The kids liked the ice cream we bought them the best.

bye-byes, birthdays, and base ball

We spent a lot of our time the last week with friends who left on Friday. We did dinners and games and lots of hanging out. Thursday was my birthday and I got the best of most worlds--the kids made cards which I opened along with a few gifts (wii remotes) while we ate breakfast and they got ready for school. Our friend watched Cameron while Jeff used his birthday pass (supposed to be for his birthday but why not use it on mine!!) and we went to Angra (the "big city" of the island) for some shopping and lunch. We found the oldest jewelry store on the island and I selected my "big" present--a lava rock necklace and earrings. We then wandered around a bit before heading out to a tile shop that we had found on the coast of the island. It was fun to just explore and stop to take pictures on the way back home without kids screaming and wanting to be home, hungry, etc. (although since Jeff and I explored so much and missed lunch we were kind of hungry). Then I got home and played with the kids a bit before heading out to Lucky Squares (bingo that can't be called bingo) with a few friends. Although I didn't win anything it was a fun way to spend the rest of the evening and Rory's last night on the island. Friday we put our friends on a plane and saw them off. I wasn't really too emotional until I hugged little Lanie (2 1/2) and thought about how different she would be the next time (if ever) we see them again!

Baseball on Saturday was great! It was a beautiful day and the kids were excited. Charlie had some good hits although he also missed the t like 6 times before hitting one (he NEVER misses so it was odd!). He also played first base and did pretty well. He got the ball once and ran over to first and then they threw it to him a few times and he picked it up and tagged first--although he was in no real hurry to do so. Heather had a great game also. She plays around a shortstop position (with all the kids playing the field it's a bit hard to tell exactly where she is...) The first ball that came her way she got and ran over to 2nd and touched the base just before the runner for the 3rd out of the inning! She was pretty happy with herself. She only got to bat once during the game but she made a nice hit (i think to the left of the pitcher) and made it to first. She then was safe all the way home on the next few hitters. She seemed pretty happy about the game. Saturday afternoon Heather went to a birthday party at the bowling alley and Charlie and I had a bowling date. It was fun and I even treated him to ice cream (that's how I got jeff!!) while bowling over 100 each game despite losing to charlie in the second game for the first 3 frames (no I wasn't using bumpers.)

bridging and going aways

Some of our best friends here will be leaving in about a week which is very sad. We very much enjoy what the island has to offer but really almost anywhere the people make the experience great. They have been here since we moved in and both families went through deployments at different times with dad's stepping in as babysitters and surrogates as necessary. The kids have spent time probably 6 days a week together and we will REALLY miss having them around. Jeff's squadron had a going away for several people in the flight who will be leaving so we had lunch all together and then went out to dinner. It was nice to get out without the kids for a change and they were well taken care of while we were out. Today we got up and did a run with the kids--a kids run--where the kids went 1 mile. Charlie was due for the 1/2 mile but we kept both of them together and he and jeff outran heather and mom. Both kids ran almost the whole thing and seemed to have fun. Heather did an art project at the craft center which she enjoyed and then we headed off to the daisy bridging ceremony. Heather crossed over into brownies (very shyly and quickly) with several friends in a cute ceremony with the other girl scouts on the island. The kids and sara ended the day at a going away for Heather's scout leader and then a campout as a last hurrah!

mother's day and art show

I enjoyed a nice mother's day last sunday starting off with banishment to my room. I was greeted downstairs to breakfast of smiley face crepes, eggs, and bacon with cards and a book from heather. It was a very nice start to the day then we headed to the duck pond to find a geocache which was nicely hidden in the green mossy rocks. With all the rain that we've had the stream was really pretty and the kids had some nice photo ops together. We headed home for a late lunch and cameron nap before heading out to a friends for dinner. Heather and a few girls posed for some pics to be used as possible stock photography--so keep your eyes out for her in magazines ;-). A friend showed us how to make pancit which Heather really liked so despite the effort it takes I will have to try to make it for her. It was a nice relaxing end to another busy day!

On Wednesday Heather's school did an art show and had an opening night with snacks and art displayed on the walls everywhere. The kids had a good time looking at their friends pictures and finding their own on the walls (We found 4 of Heather's and she said that they were only supposed to have 3!!) She was very proud of her work.

baseball, spelunking and bull fights

We had a busy week filled with rain and sun mixed in each day--more rain than sun most days ;-( Charlie decided to stay at school all day most days and seemed to really like it so I got a few minutes in the afternoons to myself--and my friends laundry, dishes, dinner...My friend and I have started watching glee and are so addicted--this week we were the moms that get together and watch soaps (i've heard of them) but instead we caught episodes of glee. It was quality time for the kids to play together ;-). Friday Jeff and I went to a yummy asian heritage lunch and then the kids enjoyed the carnival at their school. Just a few games, bounce house. Heather and Charlie did the cakewalk and since jeff didn't know what was going on Charlie picked out some goodies while Heather played the game and actually won! They each brought home a plate of goodies that they "earned." I went out to dinner with some friends afterwards and had great food, company and crepes to top off the evening. I came home to find that Jeff and 3 husbands, and 10 kids had played games until about 10 and then all headed to bed. Apparently it was also boys night and kids night as well.

We started out today with some tired kids and rain which surely would cancel baseball but no. Charlie and the t-ballers were out there playing in the drizzle and wind. Charlie does great hitting the ball although the coach has to be reminded he is lefty (he hit pretty well righty the first game when no one told the coach...). His fielding needs a bit of work as he does not charge the ball and by the time it would get to him usually someone has picked it up and made the play. Apparently he made a nice play at first, picking up the ball and touching the base, however I was tending to cameron so i missed it. Heather followed and the sun had come out to join the game. She didn't get the ball in the field, only one came her direction and a faster boy went and got it--I think she was planning on picking it up if it had rolled 10 more feet...She hit a foul ball her first at bat but ultimately didn't get a hit in her allotted pitches. Her second at bat she made nice contact past the first baseman but wasn't quick enough to get to first before she got out. She was a little sad but seemed to be OK. Jeff decided it was a good day to take tired kids on a hike in a cave with a friend. When we got to the entrance of the cave and looked 20 feet down into a rocky black hole I decided that Cameron and I would not be making this adventure. Heather and Charlie armed with bike lights taped to their bike helments carried on into the cave with Jeff and our friend Rob. They had a good time until Heather bumped her head and they had to turn around. They were in some pretty narrow spots that the kids had to crawl so it sounded pretty impressive that they were able to brave it--not sure that I would have liked it even if I went and Jeff said definitely not for Cameron yet! Cameron and I explored around the entrance to the cave which was quite pretty and watched some doodle bugs crawl around. We ended the day with a street bullfight at a friend's house. Again it was pretty much a social event with a bull wandering through every so often--but still fun and full of Azorean culture. It was a VERY busy day and I am amazed that the kids made it through all of our activity seemingly without any trouble.

the rest of the weekend

We continued our busy weekend saturday night, Heather Charlie and i made derby hats (after being inspired by some pre-derby coverage) to wear for the Kentucky Derby. They kids had a good time desigining with feathers, beads, foam, stickers and more. Unfortunately I read the times wrong and the derby wasn't on here until 10:20 so the kids watched a movie and fell asleep instead. We got up in the morning and decided to try out a hike that we hadn't tried. We hiked up Mount Brazil which was quite fun. With Cameron in the backpack we made it to the top with minimal complaining. We looked for a geocache along the way but couldn't find it. Then at the top there was another that we found, however it was just a small roll of paper in a film canister that we signed our names on. Heather was then VERY angry that we hiked all the way to write our names on a piece of paper and was a bit grumpy the rest of the way down. Cameron took a nice nap and then at the bottom the kids enjoyed some time at the Angra playground. They fell asleep on the way home and took a nap in the car with Jeff.

Opening Day

Today was opening day for baseball here--Charlie started the day off with the longest inning of t-ball in history and did great batting but never got the ball hit near him in the field. He seemed to have fun and I think he enjoyed having Jeff out there helping out with the game. Cameron was a good spectator, clapping occasionally while munching on granola bars. My favorite part of the game was where Charlie ran to third and then looked behind him (where we were sitting) and gave us a classic "hi mom" wave with a big smile. Heather's team was next--back to back is kind of nice--she spent charlie's game running with her friends who also have siblings on the little team and warming up with her team before the game. She didn't get the ball hit near her in the field and got two at bats. The first time she swung at 5 pitches but didn't make contact (it's coach pitch). Despite my concern she wasn't upset and just headed back to the bench with a shrug and hi-fived her coach for effort. Her second at bat she hit the 4th pitch foul and missed the next--fortunately they gave her one extra shot for her foul ball and she got a little hit to the third base side. She was pretty excited and made it all the way to third on the next two hits. Both Heather and Charlie were pretty happy about their games and Cameron seemed to enjoy being out and about as well.