making the most of our time

Friday we made the most of a beautiful day playing outside at a few parks, Heather had her last day of summer school and we celebrated with a picnic lunch. Friday night we took the kids to the pool party on base. Cameron loves the water and can’t wait to play in the pool that we’ll have at our new house. Jeff tossed him up in the air and Cameron would go under and come up sputtering but want more. The other two kids did great swimming around on their own with friends or sliding the slide or off the diving board. There was a raffle for prizes and we won four of the eight prizes (our friends that we came with also won two). Not that we really needed anything but it was kind of fun to win—now where to fit those giant darth vadar m&m guys in our bags…Saturday we packed in a lot of fun starting with a water birthday party in the neighborhood. All the kids got along great and played for hours with water, balloons, slip-n-slides and more. We will really miss the fun neighborhood activities that we’ve become used to over the past 6 years of base life. After a bit of rest we headed out for exploring around the rocks in Porto Martins and our last dinner at a fun restaurant which ended up being full. We managed to console the 5 kids and head to Praia for dinner at another little place. Sunday we did a bit more organizing and then headed out with some friends to a few geocaches and the Angra park. Again the kids played for hours (not quite as peacefully but still very well) before heading out to find a geocache (Which we did not find) and then home for dinner. We found our neighbors playing a game so we crashed their house for games. Yesterday we played around the house then went down to the pidgen park which was on Heather’s “to do” list. Today we headed to a cook out at a new families house in Biscoits. They had a pool and a beautiful view so everyone had a lot of fun! It is a beautiful place here and we will miss it a lot! (oh yeah and we will miss our friends a lot too!!)

fitting it all in

We're trying to fit in everything the last few weeks we're here. Friday Jeff and I decided to go out on a date for one last time and left the kids to go to a movie with a sitter (cameron sat in her lap the whole Shreck 4 and they all got to see the whole movie!!). We chose a place called the whale restaurant (it has a Portuguese name) because there's a huge whale diving through the outside wall and two dolphins hanging from the ceiling. We sat with a view of Angra and the ocan and enjoyed a delicious "steak on a tile" where we got to cook the delicious steak ourselves. It was probably the best meal (and most expensive) that I've had on the island. After we went to walk the walking strip in Praia and got a crepe with ice cream and caramel--it was DELICIOUS!! A beautiful night with the waves crashing-I am quite certain we will never stay in a place like this again...Saturday we took it easy and cleaned in the morning when it looked a bit questionable outside. Our friends had a going away type cookout and the kids played and played with their friends. Saturday night the kids had two friends over to spend the night and had a great time. In the morning we all headed for a park that the kids wanted to hit one last time, had a picnic, and then enjoyed the beach. We finished up with more playing outside.
Heather is enjoying the last week of summer "school" and had parents day today where we got to see what she had been doing. Charlie and I got the turtles ready to go to his teacher at the Santa Rita school where they wil l live their happy turtle lives. The kids were sad but knowing they were going to some other kids made it better. We've eaten with friends several times this week and have enjoyed a few game nights and just hanging out. We took all the kids and three sets of friends and their kids to the whale restaurant on Tuesday night so that they could enjoy. It was great and Heather was overwhelmed with the coolness of the place.

baby Adam

My sister had a baby two weeks ago and he's a cute little red-head with doting mom and dad and grandparents. We can't wait to see him in a few weeks until then we've gotten to see him on skype and the kids (especially cameron) like to say "hi" and point to him. Cameron is pretty good at identifying "be be a um" on the computer and now most babies in books are "be be a um". I can't wait to see what he does when he sees the real thing! Congrats to kelly and Bryan and we can't wait to see you guys ;-)

easy mondays

The kids have settled into playing all over the place on nice sunny days. I usually keep up with everywhere they are but with cameron napping and trying to get a few things done today I lost track. So nice to live in a place where I can let them just go from house to house and run around the neighborhood without worrying that something will happen. The kids are really enjoying their last few weeks on the island. I got to go out with the girls for dinner last night to a restaurant right on the water looking over split rock. We got chicken in a tile and they use roof tiles (not used ones) to cook the food and it was really good! Cool presentation and a nice time with friends who I will really miss (and know that because of the friends that have already left that I miss ;-(). We had a bit of trouble finding the place and stopped along the way to ask a lady with a pot of beans if she could give us directions. She spoke enthusiastically in Portuguese and then got a guy driving a truck to give us directions...you just go this way and then left and it's right there down. Clear as mud--we found it with no problem and a lot of laughs!

sleepover, friendship parties and the island from top to bottom

Heather and Charlie are trying to have as much friend time as possible so Heather had 3 friends spend the night on Friday. They played outside a lot and enjoyed High school musical as they sang and danced out of tune and off beat--the best way that 7 year olds can. It was very cute and Heather will really miss her friends from the island. Charlie spent a lot of the evening with a neighbor friend as well but decided not to spend the night--although he was enticed to stay with the offer of the wii. Saturday we took it easy and the kids got ready for their "friendship" party. They decided that the "going away" party they wanted to have should be changed to a friendship party. So the usual gang got together and we called it a special party so that Heather and Charlie could feel celebrated. The kids played outside and made friendship bracelets with pipe cleaners and beads. Did I mention that Cameron has pink eye--oh yeah! His assumed allergies seem to actually be pink eye according to our new neighbor the optomitrist. The kids had a great time and lots of fun was shared by the adults as well. I told one of them it was just a cookout and Heather responded, "it might just be a cookout for the adults but it's a PARTY for the kids".

Sunday we got off to a late start but accomplished some new island things (hard to believe that's possible on this little tiny place). We tried to go on a beach that we hadn't been on since last summer but it was closed (due to flood damage in the winter we think) so since it was clear we headed up to the top of Santa Barbara--the tallest point on the island--a volcano. It was pretty cool to be able to see all around the island almost in any direction to the water from a few different vantage points. The kids took pictures of each other and us and we headed to check out the inside of a different volcano. The Algar do Carvo is one of the few volcano's that you can actually go inside and see out the top. We went there with Heather's class and decided to take the rest of the family. It was very cool as anticipated. We headed back home for a short time and the kids played in the neighbor's sprinkler which was lots of fun for a few minutes. Jeff picked up a new couple to the base and we took them into Praia to walk on the beach, dip toes in the ocean and have some ice cream on the walking street. Dinner from the chicken house completes a great day!

On a Cameron note he is becoming very stubborn and exhibiting his free will more and more by running the other direction when told to stop. Throwing things when told "no". and doing just whatever he wants most of the time...with a smile on his face. He's cute but trouble--hopefully his will will become a bit more tamed and will mesh a bit more with mine...

happy fourth of july!!

We had a great day--started off by everyone sleeping in until about 7:45 after going to bed at 8 last night (we were a tired group!!). We enjoyed some pancakes and the kids played outside a little before lunch. Jeff took Heather and Charlie to the pool for a couple of hours while Cameron took a nap. After showers we headed to our neighbors for a cookout of delicious food and friends. We really kicked off the day around 6 when we headed for the fourth of July festivities on base which included bouncy castles, face painting, bands, dancing, and lots of food choices (i chose funnel cakes!). The kids had a blast running around with their friends and enjoying the safety that we feel here to allow them to have fun without seeing them every second. Eventually the fireworks show started and like last year here it was great. It's so fun to share the "freedom celebration" with so many friends and people in the military with music and enthusiasm that our little base offers. We had a blast and thanks to all our friends we shared it with--especially those that have spouses deployed right now. Heather made it through with flying colors, Charlie would have fallen asleep if I had let him and Cameron was out but enjoyed the start of the fireworks.

Sao Miguel--by heather

Heather kept a journal of or trip so we're sharing her version of our adventure--word for word with spelling corrections...

On the way to Sao Miguel
We were waiting for a boat to go to Sao Miguel. We waited and waited. Then the boat came. My dad drove the car in the boat. Then we got on the boat. The boat was so big and long. It took a long time to move. Then it started to move. It was a pretty view from the water. We san on some seats. Me and my mom watched for dolphins. then we saw a lot of dolphins. It was so cool. Then Charlie had daddy play the bean game. Then we saw more dolphins--like a group. Then we had lunchables. Then mom saw one dolphin. She told me and Charlie. I saw two, then three. And the most important thing of all...we saw a whale. It was really cool. I saw a dolphin by the whale. It was so cool. Then we saw a shadowy spot. It was the island. We went around the island and they stopped so we could get out. Then my dad drove the car where we were. Then we got to a house lomebody loaned us. I had some things to eat and I remembered I wanted to write in my journal. That's why I wrote this story.

The second day on Sao Miguel
First we were at the house. Then we got in the car. I was reading a book. We were in the car for a long time mom got out of the car. She took pictures of the flowers. Then mom got back in the car. It took a long time until we got there. I got out of the car and saw a beach because my dad said hat we couldn't go to that beach. so I got back in the car with my dad. We drove longer. Then we got out again and walked down some steps. Then we got to a beach. There was a cave. We climbed up rocks tto the cave. It was raining so we stayed in the cave for 15 minutes. Then we got out of the cave. We climbed down the rocks. When we got out of the cave we saw a waterfall. Then we went up some stairs and in to the car. Then we drove more. We got out of the car and went into a house. It wasn't any kind of house, it was a cave. We went down some stairs into a cave. We got to put on helments so our heads wouldn't get bumbed on a side of the cave. It was really cool. Then we went to the greenhouse. We saw pineapples.

The third day on Sao Miguel
First we went to the furnaces. We drove for a log time then we got there. We looked really close to them. It was really cool and stinky. Next we climbed a tree. We found three holes in the tree. There was a small one, a medium one, and a big one. Me cameron and charlie put our heads in the holes. Then we went to look at the humongous lake. Then we got some food. We got five plums and bread. Then we went over to the ducks. We saw ducks and one cat. Then we went back to teh car and drove to the pool. We got to the pool, mom and dad and cameron had to change into their baithing suits. Then me and mommy and cameron got into the pool. The pool was orange and hot. Me and mom and cameron swam to the middle of the pool. Then we got out of th epool. Then we walked around the lake and saw a waterfall. Then we changed into clothes. Then we went to see a lot of flowers. After that me and daddy and charlie stepped on rocks that were in the water. Then we ate dinner and went back to our house to take showers. Then we watched bakubon. last we went to bed.

The fourth day
First we got in the car. Then my mom told us a story about the princess in the shepherd. They cried for a long time becuase the princesses mother said she could not marry the shepherd. The shepherds cry was green. The princess's cry was blue. The we went where the princess and the shepherd cried. It looked like a lake. Then we went to a whale watch but it was cloudy. Then we ate lunch. Daddy asked if we watned to to to a natural swimming hole . Me and charlie said no. Then we went to the north side of the island but it was raining. Over in the north side of the island we looked for geocaches. Then we went to a rocky beach. Me and charlie and mommy and daddy and cameron found some shells. Net we drove some more. Then we got out of the car and looked at the pretty church. Then we looked for the geocache. Then we took pictures by the ocean. Next we say puddles. We played in the puddles. It was fun. Then we changed into our clothes. Then we went somewhere else to finda geocache but we didn't find a geocache. Then we ate dinner and went to bed.

**heather didn't journal the last two days but we tried to go to another lake and it was really foggy. We headed for a waterfall where we could swim. The water was supposed to be warm but it was cold. We drove up to the north coast and crashed a parade that consisted of lots of horses running through the streets with colorful decorations. Then we headed over to Nordeste where there were beautiful waterfalls, almost got the car stuck, and ate at a restaraunt all on our own. The last morning we went to swim in a pool by the ocean but had to wait for the guy to clean it and fill it with water which only was up to the kids knees when we had to leave. The boat trip back was rocky and no dolphins or whales joined the boat...