More Ericeira!

During our stay in Ericeira, we did some visiting. One place I've always wanted to visit (and apparently I already had visited when I was a kid) is the Mouinho. Basically its just a really big windmill that we always pass while driving. All I knew about it was that it had a shop there with all handcrafted typical Portuguese ceramics. I want to go check it out. Little did I know, there was much more to see.
It was a whole recreated village. With life sized mannequins and everything. The man who created this village had a passion for this. He turned his passion into something truly fabulous. We walked through the village enjoying every little house. It was equipped with everything from the shoe maker, seamstress, school, etc....to a fort in the back and a functional bakery where you can go taste some fresh bread with Portuguese sausage baked in! YUM! It truly was this man's passion because you do not have to pay anything to visit. There even was a miniature village. Very cute! It really was something nice to see and I'm glad I finally got to see it.

Miniature Village

Average Household

Yummy!

Fort

Ni-xox-

Brush those 2 Pearlie Whites!

I decided that it was time that my little man learn how to brush his teeth, even though he only has two. I figured never too early to start. Turns out he loves it. I dont use toothpaste or anything. Just water!

Ni-xox

Toi et Moi Centre de Maternite

My good friend Mommy J invited me, baby and our friend LilV to come join her and her friend at a new maternity center. So we went to check it out. It's a very nice place for mothers and mothers to be to hang out, have a coffee and let the kids play together. The also offer many other things like Osteopath, massage, etc. You can even go there for blood tests. Anyways, its a very nice and clean place. Wednesdays between 9:30am-11:00am you can go and hang out in their living room and have a coffee or hot chocolate while the kids play. They wont kick you out either if you're there longer.

So come check it out! http://www.toietmoicentredematernite.com/

Here are some pictures of the kids playing!

Ni-xox-



Baby's First Birthday Party!

Two weeks later I'm finally posting baby's first birthday party. It was on Saturday, September 17. The day before, mom and I made the cake. It took us allllll day. It was a double chocolate cake, with chocolate ganache filling, topped with vanilla butter cream and homemade vanilla fondant. Yum right?? I decided to go with a jungle theme for the whole party. This summer in Portugal while we were doing some groceries, I spotted the whole collection of Jungle Junction toys. They don't seem to have them here in Canada, so naturally I was excited and bought everything. Then I thought of the brilliant (at least I thought so), of using the toys on the birthday cake. And that's how this theme was born. So without further adue, here is our beautiful masterpiece. So excited and proud about it!

I also made a batch of vanilla cupcakes with a butter cream frosting. I really wanted baby to make a mess with his cake, but fondant isn't really messy. So I figured the green frosting on the cupcakes should do the job! I found these cute cupcake liners and toppers to go with my theme.

As for the food, I made a big lasagna, pulled pork sandwiches (which were a big hit....I love me slow cooker!), chicken from the Portuguese place, spinach/feta quesedillas, Quinoa Salad, Green Salad, potatoes, pizza and some other little side dishes. Everything was delicious. Not too many leftovers....awesome!

All day I was trying to get a good picture of me and the birthday boy. This is the best we got. Eh!

Here he is having fun at his party and we had't even had cake or opened presents yet!

The birthday boy and his Uncle Joe (althought he looks more interested in the monkey).

I'm really happy at how all the decorations turned out. It was a realy jungle in here. I ordered balloons of monkeys and giraffes. I had an inflatable monkey hanging off the chandelier. Lots of green and orange streamers everywhere and lots of balloons. It was really festive.

Not so successful on trying to get a picture of the birthday boy in his party hat. Actually forget being successful on the picture, we werent even successful on getting the hat on! LOL!

And now for the moment you've all been waiting for! Cake time!!! YUM! I wasnt sure what he would do. The last couple of first birthdays I've been to, the kids werent interested in the cake. I really wanted baby to smush it all in his face. And guess what....HE DID!! YAY! I actually still found some frosting on his highchair yesterday!

Of course the first picture I go to take of the birthday boy and daddy was beautiful! LOL! How about mommy... :o( LOL!

There were some older kids at the party, so we decided to have a pinata for them. It was fun. They loved it! Of course, why wouldnt they? Swinging a broom stick around, trying to hit a colorful snake and then the best part, the candy and toys that fall out! Awesome! Baby didnt really enjoy himself at this point....a little scared of the noise.

In the end, I finally got a pretty nice picture with hubby and Mr. Birthday Boy! My little family!

Present time! Baby got lots of nice toys. Of course at the time he was more interested in the tissue paper and bags that the gifts came in. Thats kids for you!

I guess he really liked the next gift....he went to sit right on it!! LOL!

All in all, the party was a great success. A very memorable first birthday party for my first baby!

Mommy Loves you!

I guess he had fun at his party. Here he is the next day! POOPED!

   Ni aka Mommy -xox-

Happy 1st Birthday my Baby!

One year ago today, after 18 long hours of labor, the light of my life was born! A BIG Happy Birthday to my little man. Mommy loves you more than words can say.



Ni -xox-

Visiting Friends!

While our visit to my grandma's, we went over to our friend's house for a BBQ. It was really nice to see them after all these years. We ate very well and got to visit their newly renovated house. Beautiful! The kids fell in love with baby and played with him a lot. All in all it was a really nice day spent in good company and good food!

Ni -xox-

Ericeira Time!

After a 4 hour drive south, we arrived in Ericeira. The happiest place on earth (well at least for me!). My grandmother lives there during the summer. She used to be in Portugal full time, but when my grandfather passed away in 2008, she decided to move here with us and only go to Portugal during the summer to visit her sister. Anyway, Ericeira is my home away from home. When I was young, we went there almost every summer for a month or so. It is my favorite place in the world. My grandma lives in a small condo, 5 minutes away from the beach (walking). Actually there are 4 beaches all walking distance from her place. It is such a cute little town. Full of cafes and little stores. There is a town centre where on weekends during the summer, there are shows (music, dancing, etc). Such a nice ambiance. I truly love just walking around the little streets, going for coffee and pastry in the town centre, looking at all the little typical shops and of course, going to the beach. It truly is a little paradise for me. The sites, the sounds and even the smell brings me back to my childhood summers. If I could move my whole family there (yeah right!), I would move there in a heartbeat.

During our stay in Ericeira, my parents where also on vacation and staying with my grandma. Even my aunt and uncle drove down and were staying with us. It was a full little condo, but a truly happy one. We did a lot of beaching, relaxing and most of all...EATING! Yum!!!!! I dont know if its just because we were on vacation, but the food tastes so much better there. Here are some beach pics!

The beautiful waves of the South beach

Baby loved the beach

Drying up after playing in his boat

Grandpa and daddy passing baby back and forth in the water



Baby LOVING the sand (so much that he ate some...YUM!)

Ni -xox