What a long strange trip it's been

Want to know how to age yourself 10 years in about a 20 day period? Buy a house, lease out your old house, pack up the old one, plan an overseas trip, schedule a move for when you are out of the country, and then go on a 17 day trip with a 9 month old and a 3 year old with diabetes.

And don't forget to come home from your trip exhausted, jet-lagged, not having slept in 24 hours to a new house with all your possesions in boxes. Add in having no hot water or stove because your gas isn't turned on, and no phone/TV/internet because a company that sounds like "Verizon" screwed up your install, and you'll look a decade older in no time!

And I mention that our old house (which we still own and are leasing out) was broken into the night everything was moved?

Although the trip was amazing... it was also so very hard at the same time. I'm not sure what I was smoking when I agreed to it, but I sure wish I had some more right now. Planes rides that are 10+ hours are tough with babies and kids with diabetes.

This trip also had a very strange theme... locking ourselves in/out of things. We did this at least three times. I blame the very strange Portuguese locking system. Two of the times we did it, Elise was locked in somewhere with insulin active in her system (meaning she needed to be eating in the next few minutes). It was a little scary.

We visited some beautiful beaches, amazing castles, ate all sorts of yumminess, and had a great time with Fred's family and friends.

I will say this about the Portuguese people. They are some of the warmest, most welcoming, friendly, gregarious, and giving people I have ever met. Lest you think we're independently wealthy (buying a house then taking a 17 day vacation); our trip was booked with miles The house on the beach we stayed at in Cascais belonged to a friend. Another friend loaned us a car for the entire duration of the trip. A cell phone was also loaned to us, and when we went to the Algarve, we stayed at a friend's condo. I think the entire cost of our trip was about $2000.

And I was so proud of Elise's Portuguese speaking ability. She pretty much spoke Portuguese the entire time; with family, her little cousins, even strangers. One time she went up to a kid at a playground and asked him in Portuguese if he would be her friend!

It's hard to wrap up a 17 day trip in one post, so expect the next few posts to be all about Portugal, with a whole bunch of pictures thrown in! Hope you enjoy them.

The beach (Guincho) that was located right outside the house where we stayed in Cascais

Ready to go!

Let's get to the beach!

The girl loves her some ocean!

View from our backyard

How you bathe a baby when there isn't a bathtub