Let’s go to the Ex… - August 28, 2006

Helen, Richard, myselaf and Gabriel went to the Ex on Monday afternoon. Surprisingly enough, the place was not that busy.

Gabriel was not too impressed with the buildings or displays but, as soon as we got to the kid’s farm, his face just lit up. He got up close with piglets, goats, ponies and ducks. Although he was too scared to feed them, he didn’t seem to have too much problems petting the animals. Some of them even got up close to give him a kiss but he wanted none of that!

All in all, took us about 4-5 hours to walk through the Ex with a 2 year old child who, besides the farm, enjoyed the swings and slides the most. Go figure!

Let's Go To The Ex Photos

Happy Birthday to Richard - August 26, 2006

We were invited over to Susanne and Simon’s house for dinner (we meaning the Pereira family+2). Simon and Susy went all out for us. We had crab legs, salmon steaks, curry chicken, spicy shrimp brushcetta bread (?) - really quite good, vegetables and more! It was a wonderful dinner.

After dinner, we had birthday cake as it was Richard’s birthday. We got to embarrass him by singing Happy Birthday (he turns red so easily) and enjoyed the cake with some wonderful coffee.

The kids were running around and around their backyard and having a great time too.

It was a wonderful evening altogether.

Happy Birthday To Richard Photos

New York…New York - August 4->August 8, 2006

Neil and I went back to New York over the August long weekend for our ten year anniversary. Yes, I said ten years. We stayed at the Rihga Royal Hotel, which is no longer called that. Wasn’t our fault, really. I think it was just hard to pronounce. Come Fall 2006, it will be called London NYC. See, easy to say.

Anyway, we decided this time to partake in all the activities we didn’t get a chance to do last time since we spent most of the time being ‘tourists’. So this time around, we went to all the zoos! Hey, we like animals. More so, we like taking pictures of animals. Especially when Neil buys a new digital camera and wants to try it out. So you will see in the photo album tons of pictures of animals. They’re so photogenic. And they never squirm!

We went to the New York Aquarium (skip if you go), Coney Island (for kids), New York Central Park Zoo (it’s pretty good for being a small zoo) and the Bronx Zoo (which was great! - definitely go if you ever get to NewYork).

We tried out a few restaurants - California Pizza Kitchen (still great), Grimaldi’s Pizza (which I loved - this place has been there for years - small mama and papa restaurant), went back to Johnny Rocket’s (still have the best burgers around) and had the original hot dog at Nathan’s Famous. Well, not the original… come on… I think that may have caused a quarantine by now. But a facsimile of. Any they are right, it is the best hot dog around.

We also went to see a broadway show. Now I can say I’ve seen a broadway show in New York. We saw ‘The Producers’ and I honestly think it would have been really funny with Nathan Lane (the original lead actor). The two Brazilian gay guys sitting behind us really enjoyed it. For those who don’t know, it is a gay show. Oh well…still had its moments.

It was fun, we had a great time.

New York New York Photos

Gabriel’s 2nd BD - July 16, 2006

Gabriel turned 2 on June 30! I remember the day he was born…gosh how he’s grown.

We had another great turnout for his birthday at Helen/Rick’s house. She had the water slide and water toys out, great food, folks and fun.

Interestingly enough, Gabriel was one of three boys there, the under two under a year old. He was surrounded by girls! Guess you’re not too young to start!

He got a lot of presents which he liked a lot especially the car(s) and the soccer ball (s). Pure guy!

Gabriel's 2nd BD Photos

Mariana’s BBQ and World Cup Final - July 9, 2006

Today was World Cup Final (Italy vs France) and we were invited to watch the game at Luis’s house in the backyard. Which, of course, begs the question, how would we watch the game in Luis’s backyard? Well, apparently Luis “borrowed” a flat screen monitor from work and hooked it up to the cable so we could watch the game in high definition. Worked out well except for the sound but I think we all know what a goal looks like by now. :) [After 4 weeks of watching soccer, I would think so.]

So, everyone came from far and near to watch the game, swim in the pool, chat, drink, eat and yell at the referree. It was a blast.

Mariana's BBQ And World Cup Final Photos

Germany vs. Portugal - what to do

So, if your mom is Portuguese and your dad is German, who do you cheer for at the World Cup Final third place match of Portugal versus Germany? You don’t…you sleep through it. :)

Gabriel’s mohawk - June 18, 2006

Stephanie cut Gabriel’s hair today and she decided he would look cute with a mohawk. And well, she was right.

Gabriel's Mohawk Photos

Portugal Day - June 10, 2006

Happy Portugal Day, or as we say it in Portuguese, Happy Portugal day!

‘Dia de Portugal’ started off with the traditional portugal day parade. It was another hot June day but we (Mom, Grandma, Me and Rui) sat in the shade so we were ok. Helen, Richard and Gabriel walked for Abrigo once more this year then sat with us to watch the rest of the very looooooooong parade…although I think this year it was only an hour and a half. :)

Gabriel seemed to enjoy all the colorful floats although he did try to get away a few times. :)

It was good.

Portugal Day Photos

Spring is in the air…

So it’s been a while. Nothing much has happened since Christmas…We just celebrated Easter at the Pereira house. Everyone came over throughout the entire weekend so that was nice. Ate lots of massa…:) best part of Easter.

Christmas 2005

Christmas was great this year. We had the immediate family over for Christmas lunch and then everyone else started arriving within the next few hours. Except for a few people, we had the entire family over for Christmas this year which was nice.

Catherine and Christine worked on a gingerbread house.

All the kids had fun playing with their new toys although some enjoyed playing with others’ toys more. All in all, a good Christmas.

Until next year.

Christmas 2005 Photos