Monkey Queen, Popcorn, Cave/Pit, Beach Walk

What a busy week! We had a lot of fun and some not so fun moments. All were greatly looking forward to the 4th of July (except Thaddeus who didn't really know what "fireworks" were). We decided to take a walk with the kids to get some jitters out early that morning and along the way, stopped at a playground.

Hannah chose to climb around the outside of the slide, bars, etc.--proudly announcing she was a "monkey" (a point which I'll agree with--she's always climbing and is rather good at it). Unfortunately for her, her hands were a bit slippery as she sat on one particular bar. She slipped and swung down face first and hit the bar below her with her cheek bone. OUCH! Tough girl that she is, though, she didn't let go until Daddy was able to pick her up.

Ryan ran home with her (I think he's getting used to this) and put her on ice right away. When I arrived home with the boys, we put Arnica on her cheek and kept icing. She had a nice shiner right away. Even now it looks like I did a pretty funky job of applying blue/green/purple eye makeup on her face. She was very willing to keep her cheek on the ice, though, which I'm sure has helped a lot. She doesn't complain about her eye at all now and only giggles when we put Arnica on her cheek (she claims it tickles:).

Since it gets dark so late here, the fireworks were scheduled to start at 10pm--Whew!--late for kids whose bedtime is 8pm! We tried to get Thaddeus sleep beforehand, but the sandman missed the house. The kids were pinging with excitement! Once the fireworks started Thaddeus was pretty sure he did NOT like the noise, but after Daddy picked him up in his arms and pointed out the neat show, he decided it was pretty neat. He still mentions the "BOOMS!" The big kids loved it of course. Have you ever noticed how fireworks, especially the little crackly ones, sound like popcorn (ok, loud popcorn) popping? I hadn't until this Fourth:). Great Popcorn in the Sky!

The following night, Mom and Dad went on a date and walked along the shore of Porto Martins (a nearby town)--it was relaxing and so peaceful. The weather was perfect, the sunset gorgeous, and the Portuguese company pleasant (though I pointed out about half-way through our walk, we should probably have been saying "Ola" in greeting as we passed our hosts instead of "Hi"... Ryan agreed with me and we continued to say, "Hi!" I guess old habits do die hard).

Then on Friday, we took a family trip to Algar do Carvão (a cave on the Island--more like a deep pit in a volcanic cone). The kids were tickled by all the sights and climbing. We were excited to be able to continue to venture out into our Island.

The following are the pictures of our week, the cave exploration and beach walking. Hope you enjoy!