4th of July

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!!!

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!

 

 

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