The Loons Have Landed

Nailed it. Our kids rocked the 7 hour night flight that departed at midnight, and landed in a time zone 5 hours ahead.  They revelled in unlimited screen time in the TO airport, and once we took off, passed out for entire flight. Yeah.

We were met with a balmy 32C. Customs was a breeze, thanks to a law in Portugal wherein all pregnant women, people living with a physical disability, and families with children under 3 are given priority in all lines (grocery stores, post office,  etc.). Thank-you Catarina. My family was waiting: I was flooded with memories of past trips being met by the same loving smiles :)  Within a few hours we were on the beach soaking up the waves and a sunset.  Sigh.



Then night hit. Oi. We passed out at 8:30pm. At midnight our youngest woke up and screamed "I want to get up!" for an hour.  Then Gabi woke up, 20 minutes later, Jonty...we lay in the dark surrounded by my silent prayers! I think we all fell asleep again around 3am. Whew. Up at 11am.  Then one puked, 10 minutes later, another...Maybe it was just the big change in time/meals/sleep/heat? Because we skipped along to the beach again that evening.

Best line of the trip so far goes to Jonty: I often discipline my kids in Portuguese--a trick I learned from my mom so that others don't know the infraction or the threat. Jonty was on the receiving end; he smiled mischievously and said: "mom, Portuguese isn't our secret language anymore!".  Noted.