Monthly Archives: July 2009

almost

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When I arrived in the States my plan was to post every few days to keep up with all the things we were doing and people we have seen, but it has just been too busy. There have been so many lovely moments, yet each time I was with someone it just felt like it wasn’t enough time. Saying good-bye always came too quickly. Normally after a couple weeks on holiday I am ready to go home…Well, I do miss my husband heaps, but I am not yet ready. The next two days are going to be a race to hug & kiss everyone one more time. I am so fortunate to have so many wonderful people in my life…too bad they won’t fit in the NINE suitcases I am bringing back.

LBI ~ 2009

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The other night after a great day of beach, fresh bread, kayaking, belly laughing, UNO and so much more, I was thinking how awesome my older nieces and nephews are. I know the original Mana Lana & Bonnit are not here, but you are include in this comment. It is so lovely to see what great people they have grown up to be. They are all so funny, smart and have such gentle souls. Not only were they SO good with the little ones, but they are also so gorgeous to their vovo.  And when you’re having a difficult time getting back on your kayak they come to your rescue. Not to mention they kick a#$ at beer pong.

The main reason we came back during the American summer rather than Christmas time was to go on our somewhat annual family holiday. One of my favorite things to do (& Fabiana’s too) is take photos. Not only do we always end up with some classic shots, but looking back on the photos we can see how the kids have grown up. With all of us spread all over the world it is a very special time for us to reconnect. Having these photos will bring us all a bit closer when while we wait for next year. Enjoy them here.

Playtime in America

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Since arriving in the States it has been all go. We had barely walked in the door and Lana already had company which immediately led into a sleepover. CRAZY!!! We have just barely been here a week and I am exhausted from all the partying, as are the kids. But we are not ready to slow down yet. We are taking in every second of family and friends that we can. We have had heaps of time with catching up with people, but yet somehow it never feels like enough…so we’ll squeeze in every second we can. To see some of our pictures click here. There will be many more pictures to come as we still have loads of people to see.

out of nothing at all…

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Well God works in mysterious ways. And last night when my camera ran out of battery I was really upset. But this morning on recuperating reflecting on what a great time I had last night, I realize fewer pictures is probably a good thing….especially for my political career.

A bunch of us went out to Panchos & Gringos. Now I know some of you may want to blame the lime, strawberry & mango margaritas, however, the beauty of this bunch is that this silliness has always been a part of how we interacted from even before any of us drank. From the moment Leslie walked into the bar with Kimmie & the room erupted, I knew it was bound to be a great night.

I know it sounds corny, but last night was a gift. I had such a fun time with some really beautiful people….who just happen to be insane.

 

See all the (decent) photos here.

Yum….my!!!

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I know this post should be titled Bianca’s Graduation. She deserves the honor as she is a very smart and extremely hard working student, not to mention a sweetheart. So yes, congrats Bianca.

However, I can’t help but share how excited I am about having timed my trip to include a party at her parent’s house as their food is always DELICIOUS. They really take the idea of dinner party to another level.

I have two friends in Sydney who were very kindly raving about my cooking. In overhearing this, my darling husband informed them that in Portuguese circles I am barely considered a woman because my cooking skills are so relatively poor. Normally I don’t take to kindly to such comments from him, but he is dead on about this one. I tried to explain to my friend Cherie that no matter what I do I will NEVER be able to throw a party like Tony & Isabel.

To illustrate this point I have taken a shot so the ladies back in OZ can see where I am coming from.

 Click here for more photos from the party. Most were taken by Lana.

4th of July

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Part of the reason I extented our holiday to include another week was so that we could be here to celebrate the 4th of July. It’s certainly a nice way to embrace being American. I also thought the kids would love to see some fireworks. Having arrived yesterday the thought of dealing with the crowds at the mall was too much to even consider.  But when we heard them start last night I threw the kids in the car & we found a spot right near Vôvô’s house to view them. It really is magical…

Well, after waking up with my two jet-lagged kids (Nuno was up at 1am & Lana at 3am) we hung around waiting for everyone to get up and get the day going. 

Arriving at Ti Ze’s house, it was as if we never left. The kids were completely at home.  Soon after we arrived, Auntie Maria & Uncle Rob showed up with the two newest members of the family, Bonnie & Clyde.

The weather was perfect and the kids played in the pool for hours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But then my kids started to hit the wall of exhaustion. Nuno came over to me and I kid you not, no sooner was he in my arms then he was asleep. Not surprisingly, my brother ended up using my son as an excuse to take a nap.

 

 

Lana was next. I tried to get her to come back to Vôvô’s with me. But even though she was going to pass out, she insisted she wanted to be with the ‘family’. So there she stayed.

We’re off!!!

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On Friday morning the kids & I took off for our American holiday. No sooner did we arrive at the airport did the party get started. Since we were on Delta’s inaugural flight from Sydney to LAX they were celebrating. There were balloons and a bongo player. We were even treated to an assortment of drinks and pastries all gorgeously presented and served to us by waiters as we entered our gate. There were also television news crews. They filmed us, while we photographed them. Although it was a decent flight, I am still a bigger fan of Air New Zealand for this long haul. They just have more practice I suppose.

After hauling butt through LAX (we had 1.5 hours to make our flight) we made it to our connecting flight back to NYC. Since the kids had barely slept on the first leg, I wasn’t sure how it would go. Fortunately they both passed out and slept though most of the flight.

We were all so excited to be home & we hit the ground running. Ti Ze & Vôvô picked us up and Fabiana had made us a gorgeous meal that was waiting for us when we arrived. Carlos had made some bread. (I am happy to report that his baking is coming along. He’s really trying to get as good as his little sister at baking.)

The kids were thrilled to see Du…AND a young lady who is almost family. The kids were having such a great time that it rolled into a sleep over because that’s how we roll!

 

 

 

..and then she asked me to buy her a rubber

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On my birthday, Lana came home with a card that she had made at school. It was a very cute card with a picture of her & me inside. The thing that struck me was that on the front was written, “Happy Birthday Mum.” I could however make out that she had first written mom, but that it had been erased with MUM written over it.

Since my birthday was in February, she had only been “exposed” to Australian kids for a month. This surely was not enough time for her language to be corrupted influenced by her peers. Well, it ends up that she had made me the card and her little friend I.L. in seeing that she had misspelled ‘mom’ erased it and ‘correctly’ wrote out mum. At that moment I knew Lana & I needed to have a mother to daughter chat. I explained to her that I liked her saying ‘pardon’, rather than ‘why’ and that I could accept her calling ketchup, ‘tomatoe sauce’, but that I drew the line at mum. I told her (and her father who quickly saw this as a weak spot) that no matter where we were living, that I would always be her MOM!

A few weeks later, we were in a very cute stationery shop. As I looked around, Sophia approached me and asked me if I would buy her a rubber. My immediate response was, “Hell no! You’re six,” but as the words came to me, I saw she was holding up a cute little pig eraser.  I’ve had to capitulate and allow her to use that word as it’s difficult to explain to a six year old why that word does not sound right to this mom’s ear when spoken by a child.

Since our arrival in Sydney, all of us have had our language impacted by this experience. Just yesterday in LAX I was trying to sort out where to retrieve my pram. After being asked what a pram was I said, “You know a push chair.” It was only on my third try that I remembered that it’s called a stroller.

Our neighbor and Lana collaborated on some videos that highlight some of the differences between our languages: clothes, school words & school words 2.  (I apologize for how quickly they fly through the reading of words, but I can only load up short videos.)

I am not sure if you noticed that ‘er’ at the end of words sounds like, “ah”. For example, rubber is pronounced /rubbah/. The weekend after my friend and fellow American Jenny pointed that out to me, Lana had September as one of her spelling words. As she read them over I almost dropped the plate I was holding when she pronounced it /septembah/. When I screamed that she was turning into an Aussie she quickly responded, “Would you prefer I say SeptmebER?” It’s so interesting to see how aware she is not only of her speech, but mine as well. She is always the one who notices when I say Gar-ahge or when I offer the kids TomAtoe sauce.

Rather than fight the ‘Australianization’ of my kids English, it’s something we chuckle about. Yet once when we were discussing my hesitating to use Australian English she came backat me with something I told her in Portugal. “When you’re in another country you should respect the native language, by trying to use it.” I guess she got me there.