Bem Vindo á Portugal!

Given that a picture is worth 1,000 words, Papai could have saved himself a lot of trouble here. We missed out on the perfect photo opportunitiy to illustrate the journey over to Portugal.

The missed picture: LS, in the car ride from the Lisbon airport to the final destination, slumped over in her car seat fast asleep. It was the epitome of a hesitant surrender to exhaustion.

The trip over could have been worse. We'll start by saying that.

The first leg of the flight, from Boston to Philadelphia, went very smoothly. No lines to get the ticket at Logan airport and no real line through security. And the flight itself was easy.

The second leg of the flight was a little more challenging. 7 hours from Philadelphia to Lisbon, starting about an hour after bed time. Not exactly being set up for success.

Too many details to cover, but the summary is that LS slept off-and-on, crying when she wasn't sleeping, and needing to be nursed back to sleep each time. Luckily Mamãe had the pacifier handy also. Papai tried to get a little sleep, Mamãe didn't get any.

Happily, if you have little kids, you get put into an expedited line through the passport check. This allowed LS to be changed and a bathroom stop made in the passport area bathroom, and we still got through before any of the non-kids-having passengers on our plane. Thanks LS!

Another picture opportunity of sorts was missed too, but this is for the best - especially since no one really saw it exactly. The feat - Mamãe using the airport bathroom; without touching the toilet, while holding LS, with a backpack on, in a stall barely big enough to turn around in. And even with the door closed.

There was no line at the car rental counter - sweet! The car seat was installed for us with no delay, and the car ride over was a breeze.

When we got to the house, LS's Avô (grandfather) was doing some final preparation in the house. Papai and Avô finished putting the crib together that is being borrowed from one of the cousins.

We weren't smart enough to get the camera out for LS and Avô's meeting. LS loved that Avô likes to whistle, sing, and dance. It was enough to get some smiles out of an exhausted little girl. His prediliction for whistling bird call imitations has earned him the nickname "Avô Pássaro" - which if you don't quite pronounce "Avô" right kind of rhymes (Ah-voo' Pah'-suh-roo).

Since arriving, LS has slept well. She's staying on US time, which means getting up at noon, naps during the afternoon, and bedtime is midnight. The use of shutters, which keeps a Portuguese room pitch black in the middle of a bright day, is very welcomed.

We've only gotten to about 500 words here, so you're only getting half the picture. But really, it was safer then crawling around to get a camera and taking a picture while speeding down a Portuguese highway.