Family Fun Time

Matt was supposed to work all this week. However, he surprised us and was able to get a four-day-weekend! A real treat for us as Matt no longer gets four-day-weekends. In the Army, when he's not deployed, he gets a four-day weekend for nearly every National holiday. However, this job is very different and he works all the holidays except Christmas. I've had a hard time getting used to that. While I was a bit irritated that he found out at the last minute he would get it off - because we could have planned a trip to Spain given more time - we've been having a great time.

The girls just love waking up in the morning and discovering daddy home. This morning, he awoke to both girls yelling, "daddy, daddy, daddy!!!" Excuse Olivia's pantie shots. While it has become quite chilly here and we haven't really started to heat our house and, therefore, must dress warmer, we cannot keep Olivia dressed. She always feels cold to me. However, she proclaims that she is, "just fine." We have been putting our foot down, especially now that it's cooler-but, it's still quite a challenge. I mean, if she's hot, she's hot. Right? We have wood being delivered tomorrow and as soon as we get the fireplace going, I can imagine Olivia saying, "my babies and I are just too hot!"

We spent the day together getting haircuts and eating lunch together. Tonight, we went out to a rotisserie chicken restaurant. Delicious chicken, homemade french fries and good Portuguese "vinho tinto." We split two half pound chickens with the girls. Lila's behavior, as always, was wonderful. Even Olivia was decent. Hey, I can't complain tonight. As we were leaving, a five-year-old, American boy was throwing a fit so badly that his parents had to leave the restaurant and take their food to go. It's during moments like that I am thankful that Olivia, while going through a rough stage, isn't nearly as hard as some other children her age and older.

To keep Olivia quite tonight at dinner, we engaged her in conversation about her babies. What she thought they might be doing at home. She explained it this way: "Tyrone fell down the stairs and hurt his hand and I took him to the doctors. The doctor said nothing was wrong with him. Now he is sleeping. Maria, Ellie and Ming Lee are sleeping too. Matt proclaimed that they all sleep a lot. She responded, "Yeah, they do."

After dinner, we wandered around Cascais. I love Cascais. It's a city eight miles from our house. Sometimes, I wish we lived closer to the area. Many American families live in Cascais. There are many great restaurants, shops, coffee shops, weekly markets, shopping mall, and the marina nearby. However, I wouldn't trade the distance to the beach in which we live and the very short commute Matt has to work. Cascais is lit up with lights right now and, in some ways, it reminds me of my hometown, Burlington, Vermont, at this time of the year.

After dinner we went to a small dessert shop/bar and had dessert. I don't know about Lila, but Olivia looks forward to finding a cute shop to have ice cream or a Portuguese dessert (Matt and I love the coffee).

Now, the girls are tucked into bed. Olivia has given Matt and I instructions not to enter or turn on the lights to certain rooms because her babies are sleeping. We are also to be very quiet.

When she's like this, you just want to eat her up! It's so darn cute!