How are you all doing? It’s been a rough month, as far as illnesses go, as you all know. Things, however, are looking up. Here’s what’s going on:
- DH doesn't have a lot of vacation time this year. However, we booked a room on the Navy base in Rota, Spain for this weekend. We'll hit the NEX and Commissary (American Stores). I need to see if I can find some Levis and am hoping to stock up on a few different types of flour that I can't find around here and that the NEX here doesn't keep in stock.
- After Rota, we'll head to Gibraltar. Gibraltar is a British overseas territory. We're looking forward to eating at some English pubs, shopping (okay, only I am interesting shopping) and exploring the area. Hopefully, we'll do some hiking. Matt has a great hiking/walking guide of the area.
- Liv has taken to whining ALL. THE. TIME. DH thinks she gets it from school. I'm not so sure. She cries when she wakes up in the morning and after nap. She cries if her chapstick and sippy cup are not aligned properly (her way) on her nightstand. She cries if I give her a red plate instead of a pink one, she cries if her backpack isn't snapped shut. She's becoming a bit OCD (compared to me who is not OCD about anything) about having certain things in a particular order and cries (read: freaks out) when things are not the way they are "supposed" to be.
- Liv has decided she does not like ballet, school or swimming lessons. As soon as she gets to school, ballet or swimming, she has fun. Getting her there, however, is a problem. I'm trouble-shooting, and hoping to figure out the root cause of this, soon!
- Liv has had a sudden change of heart in regards to nap and bedtime. She now proclaims she's sleepy and ASKS to go to bed. At first, we thought it was just because she was sick. However, she is mostly recovered now, aside from a cough, and she still goes to bed nicely. Some sort of mental illness going on there.
- Lila is starting to toilet train. We make it to the toilet at least once a day and have had success up to three times daily in both "departments." Slow but steady progress...
- Lila is becoming more and more perceptive. Today, she noticed that the flags were not up at daddy's work like they usually are. She took us both by surprise when she said, "Daddy, the flags are gone today."
- I am completely sucked into reading, "Twilight" (see sidebar for link). I cannot put it down. I am NOT a sci-fi or fantasy fan. However, I bought the book because so many people were raving about it. It's definitely, in my opinion, written for the young adult audience, but, I'm captivated nonetheless!
- I finished, "The Pillars of the Earth" last week and highly recommend it, despite it being a long read (see sidebar for link) and, often times, graphic.
- DH has been brewing beer like mad. He'll be moving onto all-grain brewing soon and experimenting with different recipes. There isn't much for great tasting beer here in Portugal (in our opinion) and everyone at work, who he shares his homebrews with, is quite impressed.
That's it on our end for now (above pictures are from our walk on the nearby boardwalk last night).
