Most days that we go to the beach we go to surf or play in the waves in a beach a bit further from my village. But one day in early August we thought that we might meet up with some friends at the lagoa, aka the lagoon, at our local beach. Even though there is not a wave, we thought the idea of spending the day with friends was great. After checking in on the ocean side of the beach and deciding it was too rough, we went over to the lagoon. Nuno went off with his two teenage mates for a play. Not 5 minutes later, I turn around to see that my baby boy is being carried back by the boys. I quickly ascertained that he had stepped on something. I assumed it had been a spider fish, which I knew to be terribly painful as my niece had suffered one. He was trying to be brave and not cry, but I  told him it was okay to cry as I knew it hurt. Well, the flood gates came open and he howled. I quickly threw him on my back and carried him to the lifeguard station. Just as we near the lifeguard I hear, “Nuno, what’s going on?” I look over wondering who it could possibly be as all his friends are from Cascais which is over an hour away. Low and behold it was one of his girl friends from school. She, her cousin and her granddad just happened to be out riding bikes as the grandparents have a family home on the beach. They stayed with  us to see what was going on.

Low and behold it was not a spider fish, but a sea urchin, or two, that he had stepped on. The poor boy’s foot was littered with spines. So many so that wherever the lifeguard touched Nuno’s foot, it hurt. I figured the best thing to do was to get home and carefully take them out myself while the child was distracted watching the telly.

Well, before I could run and grab our things, Nuno had an invitation to ‘play’ at his mate’s house. I thought it was just the craziest idea, but the grandfather insisted he go over and have lunch while I got my things, my car and ran to the chemist to get the right tweezers for the job. When I arrived to pick him up he was sitting comfortably in a cushioned chair with his foot soaking and being pampered. Even though he couldn’t run around he was loving being with his friend. This unplanned encounter then led to an invitation to her family birthday party. I couldn’t have been happier. Nuno has had a difficult time this year with some classmates and this little girl is great. A good person to have as a friend. As is he I believe.

When we finally got home, we did everything we were told to do, and even tried to get a numbing cream the next day, but even doing that, removal proved too painful. Now if it had been one or two I would have held the child and yanked it out, but there were at least 50 spines that went straight into his foot! We encouraged him to try removing them himself, which he did each day with minimal success. So we did something you may balk at. We decided to let them come out on their own. Something I thought would happen naturally over the course of the week. I was wrong.

Life went on as normal, but Nuno still had heaps of spines in his foot. That was until he went to take a this week, two weeks after the fact, to a sailing class. After a day with his foot damp from his boat shoes heaps of the spines came out. Here you can see one of the ones he found in his shoe. It’s crazy to me how big they are.

And here is a picture of his foot with the evidence of the ‘missing’ spines. It was a crazy ordeal, but as someone who likes to see the glass half full, I think it was really great that he got the opportunity to spend some time with a friend and getting to know her amazing family.

We had a great summer. It started off with a bang with our trip to Pamplona and continued along at a wonderful pace with family, friends, heaps of beach and pool time, camps, more friends and of course food. Too much food really.

To document it all in one post would be insane, so I will have to retrace our steps. I had hoped to start doing daily posts, but with the absence of stimulants (except for coffee of course) I just couldn’t do it. I am a mere human, unlike some of the crazies from my village who have proven once again that they are a different breed and possibly super human, I need to sleep, and this limits what I can get done on any given day.

Today…

Me to my daughter: “Life is good, isn’t it?”

Lana: “No, life is great!”

One of the things that most surprises me, is just how many opportunities for enriching experiences that are on offer for my children here in Portugal. Am I wrong to be surprised? Perhaps. Now I am not getting ahead of myself, I know other countries might have superior programs, but the fact is that there are many wonderful things here for my children to participate in here in Portugal.

This week Nuno is enrolled at a science camp and the University of Lisbon. He is so excited and loving it. Unfortunately, I do think it’s more demonstrative than hands-on, but my son is loving it so I won’t complain. He is also quite chuffed that he got to go to ‘university’  before his ‘smart’ sister. Yes, Lana is a bright girl, but unfortunately he compares himself to her and I do not think that is fair with their age difference. That comparing of himself to his sister is truly the worst result of our time homeschooling.

The cutest thing about my son going to university was that I think he thought he was really off to university. He made a comment that when he was done he would then buy a house for him, his wife and his children. Bless his soul. I had to let him know straight away that I am only ready for him do be away from me during the day and only for a week. Mamma is not yet ready to let her baby go.

Meanwhile in the opposite direction to our apartment, Lana was off to try her hand at sailing. I do not sail. Nor have a really ever wanted to, but I know that if we were back in NZ she would already have taken classes at Kohi Yacht Club, so sailing, is something that we kind of insist the children try. After two days she has already asked to go again next week even though her friend is not signed up.

To tell you the truth, I just don’t think we could have found a more spectacular setting for sailing classes.

Okay, truth be told I had another post almost ready to go, but our neighbors showed up ready to have dinner and it did not get written. And now here I am 4 hours later AND a bottle of wine later and no post written up. So I present you with a family portrait that João (our neighbor) insisted we take. I am grateful he did.

Today started as many other days do, but the events were extra special as it was both the children’s last day of school in their ‘new school’ in Portugal, as well as the day my father, aka Vôvô, returned to the States.

Like I said, it started as my days have been lately. I woke up, made a coffee and read a few chapters of whatever book I am reading. Once done with my coffee, I have been going out to our patio and practicing yoga. I have been a runner for ages. I still am. Yet yoga just feels like something I must do these days. The practice has been very meaningful for me. I am not sure why, but I suspect it is because it is pretty much the only time during the day that I am concentrating on my breathing. The rest of the day I look something like a chicken without a head. My mother used to call me ‘acelerada’, which literally translates to ‘accelerated’. I do not think that I am hyper, but I am always doing something, even if it’s nothing. My brother José mocks me because I don’t work, but I assure you I do always find ways to busy myself. Here is the breakdown of the rest of the day to prove that I do keep busy:

6:45 – Go wake wake dad, but find he and Nuno are already up. Lana followed shortly getting ready in record time.

7:45 – Leave for the airport with dad. I had arranged with my neighbor to walk the kids in on their last day. She sent me this picture while I was at the airport with dad.

Aren’t they so cute? Am I not so lucky to always have the best neighbors?

10:30 – Even though we were in line for ages to check his baggage, I was able to have a lovely chat with my dad and arrange for him to get some senior assistance. (I think that is merited since he is days away from turing 80.) My father is in a complicated phase in his life, but I do think he enjoyed coming to Portugal and seeing my children. I sure hope he comes back.

11-12pm- I organized a few things around the apartment, including printing out and translating some recipes for friends. Our falafels, pita bread and chocolate flapjacks were a hit at the 4 ano picnic:)

12- Picked up the kids from school. By kids I mean Nuno and 4 other boys. These boys are American, but their mother has them in the Portuguese section of our school. I think that is so cool. She works full time and her husband is in the States, so I did her a favor to take her boys with us to the movies.

12:30 – God forgive me, but we fed all the kids McDonalds.

1:30 – Myself, 2 other mothers and 11 children went to the movies.

3:30 – Once the movie was done, Lana went over to her friends house. Truth be told I had no room for her in my car, so I brought the boys here. We had an hour to kill before they all had soccer practice and what better way to kill time that go int he POOL!

I have never had a pool before. And let me just say. It rocks! Our neighbors were also around so they joined in and added to the fun.

5:00 – Took the boys to soccer

5:30 – Picked up Lana across town at her friends house. Man that kid lucked out with the nicest friend!

6:00 – Picked up Nuno from his last soccer practice of the year.

6:10 – Ran to the shops to get a few things we needed for dinner.

7:00 – Called my neighbor and offered to make sushi for the kids (mine and hers) and host them for a movie so she and her husband could go on a date (her husband is often, very often out of town and anyways mine stayed up in Caldas yesterday) Plus there is the fact that I adore her kids.

9:00…I am about to say good night. And even though I promised every day. I did mean week days. Even us stay at home moms deserve a break:)

*I know how blessed I am. I am so fortunate not to have to work right now. I am lucky to have fantastic people around me. These life blessings are not lost on me I assure you.