Summer adventures: Eurocup soccer and Algarve beach

Eurocup soccer hopes ended for Spain in the semifinals in a match against Italy last week. Of course Jose has been following the national team's advancement through the tournament and admittedly there were some exciting games which went into the penalty phase (which is completely unfair in my opinion). But alas, his team neither won, nor could he convince any of his girls to share in his excitement. Maybe next time.



Ok so I don't particularly like soccer (not football which is another sport entirely that I'm not interested in) but I do enjoy the social aspect of watching soccer when important games are on. It's like the Super Bowl. I probably don't know who is playing but getting together with people, eating food and "watching" is fun. The same thing happens here in Spain. One game we watched with my in-laws and another with some friends while our kids swam in their pool. I'm bummed for Jose that his team didn't advance but I also think the stress may have killed him.




We also spent the day at one of our favorite beaches in Vila Real do Santo Antonio in Portugal. We first got to know the beaches there because my in-laws had an apartment that we would frequently visit all year round. They recently sold it which sort of breaks my heart but I understand that they weren't getting to use it as much as they would have liked and are looking for beach property in a place with more things going on. That is precisely the reason why I love this area of the Algarve so much. It is quiet, the beaches are gorgeous and not crowded and we even had local haunts where we have been going for over a decade.



That said, we drove out on a Saturday morning with picnic and various other beach-related gear (which only seems to multiply when kids are in the equation) and spent the day in the sand and sun. Gone are the days of Jose and I going to the beach for a relaxing day with only towels and beer. Now I am in full-on Mom mode at the beach, complete with sun visor and copious amounts of sunscreen for all. (Although admittedly we all got a bit burnt on our first day out, especially Jose). It was a beautiful if not exhausting day and I look forward to a few more this summer.



I'm also happy to report that I successfully defended my Masters thesis this past week and have completed another degree (with another on the schedule for this upcoming year as well). Although I finished my undergrad and grad degrees in the US before moving to Spain, they don't allow me to find the kind of work I'd like here so I've decided to continue studying now that the girls are a bit bigger. This has meant that Jose has had to watch them in the afternoons when I had my classes and that I only went back to work part-time this year (and probably next). I know the sacrifices we are making will be worth it and we went out with the girls to celebrate (see pictures above). Now that I am truly done with everything, our summer adventures are to be continued...


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