Random Portual Post 3 - Obidos

Once the wedding present of a queen, the preserved medieval town of Óbidos lying 100 km north of Lisbon is without doubt one of Portugal's most classic walled settlements. Walking the ramparts, visitors can enjoy views of windmills, vineyards and surrounding farmlands. In the residential area below, narrow cobblestone streets are lined with whitewashed houses sporting terracotta roofs. The shops are piled high with local handicrafts, while in spring the town is ablaze with geraniums, morning glories and bougainvillaea.

Here are the boys walking the castle walls. The rest of our party could not quite stomach the height!

Random Portual Post 2

Doesn't EVERYONE let their 5 year old use a gaint hatchet to crack walnuts that fall from the tree in front of your house?

Francesca's Waterfall

A pretty cake for Gabriella

Random Portual Post 1

I can't even begin to tell you everything we did, but I will throw up some random posts now and then to let you know some highlights of the trip.

This is on the beach in Nazare - the ladies bring the codfish and lay them out on the racks to dry in the sun all day.

Tiago's lunch of lulus (aka - squid)

When at the beach you can rent a tent and set up your towels, leave your bags and even have a place to change. Now if they only had a shower for me I'd be all set!! Thank you Tony and Mary for letting us crash your tent and your home later that evening!

Here's Tyler looking down on the beach

And finally our "Postcard Shot" of the beach we went to in Nazare.

Pictures Held Hostage!

We are back from Portugal - however all our pictures are being held hostage on Tiago's computer!! I will make sure to burn my CD's tonight so I can post soon.

Highlights to look forward to:

• Bull Fighting
• Rush Hour
• Cow Milking
• Castles
• Churches
• Beaches (keep an eye out for this one Aunt Val!)
• Villages

And much more! We had a great trip and hope to visit again next year!

Stephenisms III

So Stephen brought me a peppermint candy last night. Then he brought out the huge bag he had found and told me we had "plenty of mint for Mojitos!"

When I told him we needed the mint leaves he said that it was okay - we could plant some of the candies and they would sprout.

Which is funnier? That my 5 year old thought we could plant a candy and it would grow into a mint plant? Or that he knows you need mint to make a Mojito?

So what do YOU think it is?

A friend of mine has a Mystery Cookie Cutter - she has no idea what this is. What do you think?

Well they were SUPPOSED to be in School yesterday....

Poor Daddy had to work :-(

More First Communion Cakes

Dominic's Duffle Bag

Dominic's Birthday cake - had a great time at the party - more details and pictures to follow!

Henry is Here!

Henry David Kennally

9.1 lbs

May 7, 2007

Typical Weekend

So this past weekend was typical. Lacrosse practice Friday night, and up until all hours finishing 2 cakes - 5 hours is more than enough sleep for anyone, right? Thank goodness Tiago let me sleep in until 9:30.

Saturday we had to run by The V's to drop off Ryan's cake for his birthday bash, he is getting so big, looked adorable in his little crown. Gabriella is just a doll and growing so fast as well. So glad they had a nice day for all the kids.

But no staying there - we had to rush off to Franklin for Emily's First Communion - she looked so pretty, but was out of that dress and veil so fast that we only have one picture of her at the church. Her cake came out very cute, which is good since I will have to make it again this coming weekend for another First Communion. Tiago and Tyler had about 15 minutes back at Russ' house before they had to run off to a baseball game (they were ahead 14 - 2 in the last inning - don't ask the final score. Let's just say it won't happen again).

I stayed until we cut the cake and then had to run back to the house to get a few things ready for Heidi's cake for Sunday, then as soon as Tyler was home, he and Stephen and I had to run out to meet the Mojito's for Dominic's birthday dinner. We had a great time at Samba the Japanese steak house, great chef, very entertaining for the kids. He spent a lot of time throwing vegetables at them. The kids begged for a sleepover and Kristin was brave enough to take them all!

Sunday, up early to decorate Heidi's cake for the party at 3:00. Everything was going fine until Tiago realized he was not going to make it on time from golf to baseball practice at 12:00. No problem, I brought the kids and the stuff, thank goodness for a few dads and Lefty's mom who helped me coach until Tiago made it there at 1:30. Then Tiago ran to Heidi's to set up the moonwalk and ran Tyler over to his Lacrosse game. Back to the house to finish the cake, shower and get to Heidi's for the surprise at 3:30. Tiago and Tyler showed up after the game. We had a great time at the party and stayed until everyone else had left. The St. Bridget Mom's are always the last to leave a party!

Yesterday we picked up the new van - adore it!! Will post a picture of that soon, only downfall to it will be the fights over watching a video for the 3 minute ride to the grocery store! I tried to tell the kids that the video did not turn on until the car had been driving for more than 30 min, but they did not fall for it.

So all in all, just another typical weekend at the Anes Household. You can see the weekend pictures in the other posts below. Can anyone out there top that? Hey cousins - bet you can't wait 'til those kids grow up!!

God Bless Emily

Happy Birthday Heidi!

Well it was a surprise until about an hour before the party, and Heidi arrived unshowered - so I count that as a success. We had a great time at Heidi's surprise 41st birthday, the kids had a blast outside in bathing suits with the hose (yes it was freezin - they are nuts) Chris made everyone cry with his adorable compliation of voice messages and photos of Emma and Ava on DVD for Heidi. But the best part was when one of the little guys burst into the bathroom on one one of the other kids, and when he realize the toilet was occupied - he promptly used the trash can! Aren't kids great? Note to self - never use wicker for bathroom trash cans.

Happy Birthday Ryan!

I can't believe Ryan is already 4!! LOVE that smile and he has THE cutest husky little voice! Watch out ladies - he's coming!

I Am So Proud!

This is my godchild Francesca with the Ziggy cake she made all by herself!

Stephen Makes Banana Cake

What - you don't squish your bananas that way?

We don't run - but we do cheer....

So many pictures to post - so much laundry to fold...

Felt guilty leaving all those runners in the rain with no one to cheer them on, so I made the kids put on their snow pants (Tyler was SOOOO thrilled about that!) and bundle up to make sure that the Boston Marathoners would be able to make it past mile 4.

Mom - all those years you asked me to go watch the marathon with you and I wouldn't go because I was SLEEPING - one word... Payback. For those of you who aren't familiar with the marathon - it starts at noon.

Anyhoo - my kids are young enough to be forced to go and have a good time. Wasn't as cold as I thought it would be, arrived just in time to watch the elite men run by, we stayed for about 2 hours watching them run past. Tyler says when I am 40 he will run the marathon with me - according to Tyler that will be in 11 years. If anyone corrects his math they will be immediately disowned.

If you have never seen the Marathon up close it's worth a trip. We usually pack up the cooler and kick back for awhile - give us a call next year and join us, hopefully the weather will be better and we can go home for the traditional cook out afterwards.

A few Boston Marathon heros - as Tiago says, "You're all winners!"

The King is not dead -he was just in training.

Look carefully at this man's inspriation - floating in front of his face....

Hopefully some of you will join us for next years running!

Dilbert Rules!

Spring is Here!

It only took two days to trick the flowers into blooming! Still nothing outside though.... Hopefully soon.

Romp Bomp A Stomp

For Aunt Val....

http://soundpedia.com/music/MjM3ODY=/Romp%20Bomp%20A%20Stomp/14/listen.html

Believe me - with those 2 little boys you will be taking care of... you will know ALL ABOUT the Romp Bomp A Stomp! You'll also know how to wake up Jeff, do the Tiger, and point your fingers and do the twist. Hey it's better than Barney! And watch out for those Boo Bah's!

Eating Eater Eggs

Lightning McQeen - wish I could have been there to see those kids after eating all that red and black frosting!!! I bet they order a Casper the Ghost cake next year. Or better yet a polar bear in a snowstorm.

Buzz and Woody were at this party - these guys do not get paid enough to do what they do (and they were not cheap!) 5 kids there, 2 were crying the whole time, 1 for part of the time and another hid under the table. All the adults had to sing along and clap so the guys would not be putting on a show for an empty room. That's being said, it's very sad to see a grown woman doing the "Romp Bomp A Stomp" with Buzz and Woody - for those of you who are twisted - that is a song and dance performed by The Wiggles. Okay, really, stop thinking those thoughts. Just look at the cake. Really. You are sick.

Trying to force Spring

The cat and I decided to see if we could trick the Forcythia into blooming - hopefully in a few days these branches will have flowers on them.

The look on Cat's face seems to show he does not think it's going to work.

Friday is Pizza Day! And all the cool mom's work in the kitchen at school and serve pizza to the kids. Papa Gino's delivers, so it's really my type of school kitchen job!

And after many weeks of uneaten salad tossed into the trash the school has finally gotten rid of the Fat Free Salad dressing that the kids would not touch! We are all very happy at Friday lunch now! It's low fat - but it's Fanny's!! The kids ate a lot more salad today! Of course I was not able to push any on Tyler today - his class was upstairs having a Pizza Party (see the irony here?) in their class room because they won the Penny Drive. Ice cream followed the pizza, that and the fact that they actually had HOT pizza was the real reward! By the time his class is having lunch the pizza has been delivered for over an hour - we can only keep it so warm. Just not the same. This is the reason that Stephen will not eat Papa Gino's pizza anymore.

I know - you WISH your life was this exciting. Off to work on the 2 cakes that are due tomorrow!

Spring is Here?

Cold, rainy, with over 40% chance of snow. Welcome Spring in New England!

Sad News

The crepe maker was throwing sparks yesterday morning at Easter Brunch. We will be sending it off to Canada to have cousin Eddie, Master Electrician, take a look at it in the hopes that it is not gone for good. In the meantime our weekends will be suffering greatly.

We are all very sad, that our beloved crepe maker may be done. I am on the lookout for a replacement, we can't go on for long without one!

PLLLLLAAAAAYYY BALL!!

GO SOX!!