Sintra

On Saturday we headed just a short distance out of Lisbon to Sintra. We have been hearing about what a beautiful and fun town it is and we were not disappointed. Sintra is beautiful!

Caroline, our new friend/journeygirl, went with us which made the day even more fun. We enjoyed getting to know her a little better. We hope she will agree to go anywhere with us again- she tends to get a little car sick and we drug her around round-a-bouts, thru narrow curvy road as we wove our way up a mountain to the castle we went to see. She was a trooper and we had a great time- the views were amazing at the top! We had to take a trolley to get to the Pena Palace, that was at the very top, and let me tell ya--- I was terrified. It was a tiny, windy road and nothing on the side... if someone had sneezed wrong we went have gone over the edge and rolled all the way down to Lisbon. Well, problay not but it felt that way, especially coming down when the angry French lady was leaning over us because they loaded some may people on the tram...

Anyways, other than the tram the day was awesome! After touring the castle and having lunch in town we headed back to Lisbon for Bria's new sweet friend's festa (birthday party). All the girls had a blast at the party, it is great to see Bria with such a sweet friend too! There were several families there from the girl's school so we we able to practise our Portuguese and chat with some parents of the kids.

Then it was out to dinner at Chili's with Buck and Donna, which is always a blast and the food wasn't too bad either!

This Week

I have several fun things to post about... fun treats for the girls from Auntie Heidi, and our CRATE arriving!!!
But I am worn out... today was try #2 for us to get our visas renewed. Long story short, Mark and the girls got theirs and I still don't have mine. After a trip to the US embassy (where strangely enough I did not see one single American) and post office, all I can do now is wait for paperwork to come back from the States before I can do anything else. And there was nothing especially awful about the events just that it takes a lot of energy and I have to do it again, bummer!
So I am back to putting away all the fun stuff from the crate and soon I will get up pictures, maybe after a little nap:)

Boat Ride

On Friday, after spending the morning trying, unsuccessfully, to get our visa renewed we needed a fun afternoon. My friend sent me a text and asked if we were interested in taking a boat ride with her and her girls. We quickly said yes and headed out to door. Sahara and Tirza were excited and Bria was nervous. We later realized she was imagining more of a raft than a big boat because she kept asking how wet she was going to get:)
We rode on a small passenger boat across the river, it was all enclosed and the girls thought it was a great adventure. When we got to the other side there wasn't much there so we took another boat back across the river but this time up the river to Belem. Belem is one of our favorite places to visit. It was a small ferry boat and we went right under the huge April 25th bridge. We had gorgeous views of the city as well as the bridge and the Belem area. The second boat had an outside deck area that Sahara and Mark stayed on the entire ride. Bria stayed inside and Tirza went out a few times, it was super windy outside.

Once we got to Belem we walked to the train, over a freeway overpass, and rode the train back to where we had parked our car. Boats and trains... the girls loved it! Oh and the car broke down later that evening and they got to ride home in a taxi...

Just FYI... Tirza cut her own hair last night! I will eventually take a picture and post about the event but I am just not there yet.

Bibes

At most schools here in Portugal the kids are required to wear bibes, or what I would call a smock. Really it looks like a dress to me, and yes, the boys have to wear them too but the boy ones button up the side of the front. I don't know what age they stop wearing them. I think as they get older they have uniforms.

Anyways, Bria's and Tirza's came in last week, we are still waiting for Sahara's. The girls don't really like wearing them, but they will get used to it. I have started just taking Tirza's to school and letting them put it on her:) It is cute but I think I will vote for uniforms next year.

Field Trip

The other day our teacher realized we had about had enough of his teaching methods... he had barked, yes like a dog, at me one to many times and I was getting irritated. So he suggested we go to a museum for our next class. This picture above it the museum we went to... Museu de Marinha (Maritime Museum)
This part of the museum had old boats used by the royal family... fishing boats as well as some airplanes. Oh yeah, and inside the mesuem was a little box with an explanation that inside was a wrist bone of Vasco da Gama, given to the museum by a 17th generation descendant- also named Vasco something something something da Gama.
Mark and I had a lot of fun, seeing a museum without kids... There were some amazing OLD maps, painting and we learned tons of history about the time of the discoveries. This part of history is HUGE in Portugal. Portugal has an incredible history and a large part of it is from that time period.
We also went to another museum, Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga (seriously old art). This was a really great museum... my favorites were the pottery, the tiles and the jewelry. They also have a large collection of Portuguese sacred art. There was a stunning painting depicting the angel telling Mary that she was going to have Jesus.
It was a nice break from class room learning...

Bria's 6th Birthday

We had a blast yesterday celebrating Bria's 6th birthday!

I took brownies, coke and candy to her school class in the afternoon and we had a festa with all her friends. It was really fun to get to spend a little time in her classroom. The kids all sang "Parabems e Voce" to her. They also yell, "Bria viva um, Bria, viva dois.... all the way up to Bria viva seis!" Then they all cheer and clap for her, it is so fun! Bria is still very shy at school but she did a great job handing out napkins, cups and candy to her friends. (Sadly, I was so into the event that I totally forgot to take any pictures. I realized it as we walked out of the building, agggh! Oh, well.. next time.)

Then we rushed home from school to get ready for her make your own pizza and decorate your own cupcake party at home. A couple families that we work with came over and we had a fun party... good pizza, lots of playing and Bria got great present that she has been playing with all day today!

After all the kids had gone home we finished the day off by watching Barbie and the Diamond Castle!! Bria had a great day- and realized today that she now has to take 6 bites to get up from the table instead of 5!

Before the Birthday

This was Bria's pre Birthday, birthday. Since Mark was going to be away in Spain over Bria's big day we had a pre-party with Mark. Bria wanted a cake from the store, that she picked out herself... A couple of her presents from Mommy and Daddy:)

And pizza for dinner!
So we had a fun time with Daddy and we plan to have just as much fun tomarrow, her actual birthday.

We will have a festa with her school class tomarrow afternoon and then another party with friends here at the house tomarrow evening... make your own pizza and cupcakes! yummy

Happy Birthday my sweet little Bria girl!