One fish, two fish

Gray decided he was tired of waiting the other night and started reading without me.

Vacation in Seattle

Two days after I got back from Portugal we headed off to Seattle for a vacation. We stayed with our friends Tom and Yaya where we were very well fed (Thank you Yaya!). We visited our favorite parks, saw lots of friends, and made a trip to a local farm. While Robert and his Dad watched the Sounders get whipped by Barcelona FC the girls spent the evening at Pike Place Market and having dinner overlooking Seattle Harbor.

Gray feeding Tilly the pygmy goat.

Gray and Molly after picking their squashes.

After I expressed a craving for real Ramen, Yaya made us a noodle feast.

Swinging at our our old favorite park.

Climbing with Will at PEPs.

Yaya and I, Cecelia and Bonnie (the MILs) at the Pink Door.

My Little Adventure

One of the things I wanted to do while in Braga was visit a linen factory that I had read about so yesterday afternoon I hopped in a taxi (keep in mind that I speak about 3 words of Portugese and the driver spoke no English). I gave him what I thought was the address but it turns out was not a complete address. We headed out of town and up a hill (he was talking to his dispatcher trying to figure out where we were going). He stopped 3 times to ask for directions, including ringing a woman's doorbell and telling me this was it but it was really just somone's house. We finally found the place and I convinced the driver to stay while I bought some beautiful hand woven linens and watched a woman do some weaving.

Still in Portugal

After two days of sitting listening to talks we went on a field trip yesterday to the Duoro (the port wine making area of Portugal). The stripes on the hills are terraces and grape vines.

A boat ride on the Duoro river.

Then a stop to do some wine tasting.

And we finally arrived at dinner. After dinner we watched a performance of Capoeira (a Brazilian martial art/dance).

And just to prove that I have actually been attending the conference...

Gray's Favorite Song

I meant to post this the other day with the other pictures of Gray painting and forgot. This is the first time that I heard him sing this the whole way through all by himself. (Care Bear, maybe we should get the boys together for a concert some day.)

In Portugal

I arrived in Braga, Portugal today. I am here for a week to attend a conference of the International Color Vision Society. The conference doesn't start until tomorrow afternoon so I had the chance to walk around the city center today.
There are amazing tiles everywhere that look like the ones all over our new house


And tile mosaics...


The oldest cathedral in Portugal, the SE...






And lovely little sidewalk cafes


Now I just have to convince myself to actually attend the conference...

Commissioned Art

So we moved into this house which has a fireplace in the living room with a giant space above it meant to hold a painting. The only thing we don't have is any art that will come close to filling the space. Rather than rushing out and buying something we might not love I decided to use a local artist to paint something to fill the space until we find the perfect picture.





And the final result...