Can I see my new stamp?!

We returned yesterday from our 10 year anniversary trip to the Algarve, Portugal. It was simply amazing, so incredibly beautiful and such a great family vacation. We stayed in a beautiful resort with 6 different pools, in a gorgeous 2 bedroom townhome. We did exactly what we wanted, which included primarily swimming in the pools, followed by a trip to a beach surrounded by limestone cliffs for some swimming in the ocean, followed by a nightcap swim in the pools again. We've all agreed we'd love to go back again.

This was our first trip onto the continent and we are already planning our next! (OK, I am already planning our next!) One of my favorite things was seeing how excited the boys were to get their stamps in their passports. Owen eagerly asked "Can I see my new stamp?" immediately after we passed through customs both times. There is a boy after my heart, for sure!

Ready for your breathe to be taken away???

Exploring Praia do Carvoeiro just after we landed.

O - poolside at 'personal pool'

Close up of the limestone cliffs from the Jurassic period...yes, we were looking for dinosaur bones! 

W relaxing on Praia de Vale Centeanes 

Peaking over at the Algar Seco

W at Algar Seco

10.11.12...10 years of wedded bliss!

Not so successful self timer at Ferragudo.

More to come...

Ten years and counting!

Ten years ago today Jer & I were married! Its been a pretty great ten years and I look forward to many more decades together. Here are a few photos from previous anniversary celebrations...I'll add ones from our 10 year anniversary celebration when we get home. (Which we are celebrating in the Algarve, Portugal!) I love you, Jer!

Dinner at Jax - 2007

Visiting Nicollet Island - 2008

Visiting Nicollet Island - 2009

Visiting Nicollet Island - 2010

The big 6-0!

Happy Birthday Mom! We love you so much & wish we could be with you to help celebrate...actually, I think we'd rather have you here with us to celebrate...we are in Portugal! :)

If we could be with you, I'm thinking the boys might reenact these shenanigans...

We love you and miss you, Mom/Grandma! May your day be wonderful and your new decade spectacular! xx

Wow, so our grandpa was named after him?!

On the way to school Friday, Walter was asking me about my childhood. He asked if Jer and I lived together as kids. I reminded him who we both grew up with and then he was asking me about my grandpa's. He is lucky enough to remember my Grandpa Armstrong and knew him right away when I mentioned him. I then told him about my Grandpa Harala, who he never got to meet. Right away he said "Wow, so our grandpa was named after him?!" (They call my dad Grandpa Harala, just like I called mine.) Pretty sweet.

Owen has been patiently waiting for a trip to the skate park with his pal, Cassius. They talk with one another about their trick scooters and riding at the skate park all the time. Two weeks ago we planned on going bright and early on a Saturday morning, only to get rained out. Last weekend, he was out of town, so when we woke up to a beautiful sunny day yesterday, we knew what we were doing. We loaded up the car with scooters, skate boards, pads, helmets and my camera to capture the momentous event. When we got down there and settled in, I immediately pulled out my camera and realized my battery was dead. Luckily, I had my phone and took a few videos instead...now let's see if I can share them with you successfully. (We were due for a video anyway, right?!)

Scooter dude O is here.

Skater dude W is here.

What does our house look like in Minnesota?

Walter asked me this yesterday. He couldn't remember the animal wallpaper on his bedroom walls until Owen & I reminded him...he couldn't remember our (beautiful) kitchen until Owen & I reminded him of a few elements...crazy how that little mind works.

Speaking of Walter, I never shared photos of his first day of school. He is a kindergartner now! Such a big boy. (Thankfully he still loves to cuddle his mom!) School has been going great for him. He's been making some great new friends and his teachers continue to remark "It feels like he's been here for years!" It's such a comfort knowing he is happy at school. He's been busy working on action cards with his pal, excuse me, mate, Rudy. Together they read, draw and act out different verbs and it seems to be quite the popular work at the moment. I've also heard of work with teens, maps and flags and I'm sure there is plenty more I don't hear about.

We call each other Mate.

I'm having issues getting my photos to download. My computer is not reading my USB cord, hence the unattended blog. I have an appointment with the Apple store on Monday, so hopefully it will be resolved then. In the meantime, I've been itching to share a little story with you...photo or not.

All our bets have been on Walter picking up an English accent sooner or later. Well, he now can pull out an impeccable accent when he wants to. He is constantly correcting my incorrect English (its FOOTBALL not soccer) and telling me he needs a plaster (not band-aid) or tried a tomato (where the 'a' sounds like 'awe'). Yesterday he had a friend over after school and as they were racing cars around the house I heard him declare "I'm nearly finished." But my favorite one yet was when he was telling me about his new friend, Rudy. He said they were playing at recess with one another and that "we call each other Mate."

It's Paralympic Day!

After trying and trying, the boys and I finally gave up on trying to get tickets to the Olympics this summer. Instead, we turned our focus to the Paralympics and ended up scoring tickets to Archery. Owen was particularly excited about the tickets and the countdown began long before the ticket date.

Last Monday night as I was figuring out our train route and other logistical items I started to wonder what in the world I was thinking doing this alone with them. It was going to be an early train, combined with a long commute and crowds. As I went to bed, I told Jer maybe they'll forget about it and we'll just skip it.

Tuesday morning Owen came bursting in to our bedroom and exclaimed "It's Paralympic Day!" squandering my previous night's thoughts. So we headed into London, braving the commute and crowds and had an absolutely amazing day! We've been so fortunate to have all sorts of amazing experiences since we've arrived, but this one might simply take the cake. To start things off, we ended up only needing to take 2 trains instead of the 4 I thought we'd need (!), then once we got there, we realized our tickets were good for all the events at the facilities that day! Everyone was so happy to see and eager to point us in the right direction, it was fabulous. The facilities were amazing, there was face painting, we held the real torch, and we all had a go at archery ourselves. We saw medal matches, we went to shooting trials, we basked in the beautiful sunny day. It was great, great, great...and here's some of the proof:

Every Queen needs a bathroom.

We are having a great time with Al & Joanne here and on Saturday morning we were joined by Jer's brother, Jon, who is working this week just outside of London (visitor #5!). While Jer went to pick up his bro at Heathrow (please note intentional rhyming), Joanne & I took the boys into Brighton to the Mini Maker's Fair. The boys were in heaven admiring all the robots, computer generated 'stuff', arts and crafts. While we composed a symphony with rocks, made fish out of willow and tissue paper, made remote control vehicles, the highlight of it all was the spray painting record art they did. Joanne & the boys have been planning their business of doing the same thing back in MN at local art fairs someday...

Yesterday we split up for the day. Jer, his dad, brother & O went to see the horse races while Joanne, W & I went to the Arundel Castle. We had a great time exploring the beautiful gardens and sampling a few beautiful red and yellow raspberries that were just too irresistible to leave untouched. When we went into the castle to use the restroom, Walter said "Every Queen needs a bathroom, right Mom?"

Dinner at the beach = perfect.

Test tube division and cleaned Peebles' cage.

Yesterday was a big day for Owen; it was his first day as a second grader, (or a third year as they say here) at The Montessori Place! He was pretty darn confident and didn't have any reservations when I dropped him off. I, on the other hand, left quickly as my eyes were filling although I tried my hardest to keep the tears at bay! When I picked him up from school, he was all smiles and said he had a great day. When I asked him what he did, he told me "Test tube division and cleaned Peebles' cage." Peebles is the class hamster.

On Tuesday we had our 4th set of visitors arrive, Jeremy's parents. The boys and I had spent the day at the Paralympics (more on that later...) so they were at our house when we got home. They arrived with all sorts of goodies from home - Goldfish, our favorite gluten free pizza crust mix, Legos, a dinosaur excavation activity, a new board game and some serious Mac & Cheese!

Today, while Jer was at work and Owen was at school, Al, Joanne, Walter & I headed to Birling Gap & Beachy Head to see those famous salt cliffs. (Yes, if you ever come to visit, I will take you there, too!) While it was wonderful to see the sights, my pride came from driving us there. I realized, it is almost feeling natural now.

Hakuna Matata

Our third set of visitors arrived last Sunday. The Cunningtons are dear friends of ours that we met at Sunny Hollow and just so happen to have two girls the same ages as our boys. Jer and I often talk about how much we adore those girls...and their parents are pretty wonderful, too, so it was great to have some time with them and show them around our new digs.

When they arrived, we welcomed them with a barbeque in our back yard, followed by a walk down to Hove Park. The following day was a Bank Holiday so Jer had the day off and we all went into London together. We saw all the major sights like Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Parliament and Tower Bridge and finally had a chance to ride the London Eye. The kids loved it!

At Buckingham Palace

This horse nibbled my shirt!

On top of the Eye! 

Hanging out with Wenlock.

We also showed them rock pooling at the Seven Sisters. We spent a few hours digging around in the sand and looking for sea creatures in the rock pools. It is a place that always makes my jaw drop. It is stunning.

On Wednesday Jeremy & Chris spent the day golfing - 36 holes! Jer shot his best round ever...his golf lessons are paying off! While they golfed, Carrie & I took the kids to The Lion King at the Lyceum in London. It was amazing...we will have to go again and bring Jer...until then, we will continue to sing Hakuna Matata.