family

Residency Renewal and Travel Updates

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I forget how exactly this happened, but all of our residency cards have different expirations. I know they had messed up Leo’s and only gave him two years instead of three, so his residency permit expired in May 2026. We spent over a month gathering everything and sent it in via their online portal a few days before it expired. I know AIMA had been having a lot of issues when they took over and I heard of some people waiting a year for their card to arrive. We really weren’t sure what to expect, or even if we would get approved. Well a little over two months later we got the email that he was approved and then we received the card a little over a week later. And this year they did give him three years. So I am really relieved. If his card got approved then in theory we should all get approved. In a few years we will apply for permanent residency, so we’ll see how that goes. But first me, Kyle, and Sofia still need to renew our permits. Mine expires in November, so they should be opening the portal for me soon. I’m really hoping mine processes as quickly as Leo’s because I booked a trip for me and Leo during Spring Break next year.

I found cheap flights to Switzerland over Spring break. After booking I remembered that Switzerland is not actually cheap at all, only the flights were lol. We are going to Zurich (technically Winterthur because they have a great museum there that Leo will love), Basel, and Lucerne. We will be going for a week and I’m excited for that trip. Leo can definitely handle some longer trips now. I guess I am about to become pretty familiar with Basel because I will be flying in and out of there for my upcoming trip in September/October. I’m really excited for my trip and have been learning about making the perfect travel wardrobe. Lots of layers and merino wool. This is my first time owning merino wool, so I will get to test out all my new stuff in September.

Next year is finally going to be the US year. We haven’t been back to the US since moving here. Kyle and Sofia’s permits expire early next year. I’m really hoping they open the portal in January for them so we can apply ASAP. Sofia’s expires in March, so I feel like that could be a tad close for an August trip to the US. But Leo’s permit came in only two months, so fingers crossed we will have the same experience with Kyle and Sofia’s permits. We haven’t finalized the US plans yet. Since my parents live on the US West Coast and that’s really far and expensive for us to travel we all agreed to meet on the US east coast. We have been looking at places like Florida (but we used to live there and no way are we going to FL in August) or Pigeon Forge, TN but I think we have settled on the Poconos Mountains. It should be cooler over there and me, Kyle, and the kids have never been. We would fly into NY and spend two nights there to deal with the jet lag before meeting up with my parents. That means we would get one day in NYC. None of us have been, so that would be fun. Also overwhelming that our first stop in the US in 6 years will be NYC. I know one day there is not enough, but we will get to see a tiny bit at least.

Kyle got a job earlier this year, so we have just been working and living life. Mostly working. Since it’s almost August the kids’ school is going to close for the month. And then they will head back to school in September. I can’t believe how quickly they grow. I do wish that I could pause time for a bit.

I am excited about all of the upcoming trips. My solo trip to the Alsace in September, me and Leo to Switzerland in the Spring, family trip to the US in August. Since I usually do my solo trips in the fall I will have to push mine back next year, if I get one. I was thinking of going somewhere to see some Christmas markets. But I would rather prioritize me and Sofia going back to Keukenhof. We can’t go again next year because her permit will be expired. But she said she wants to go to Keukenhof every Spring Break and I think that would be a really fun tradition that we would both love.

Summer Plans

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I know it has been too long since I wrote a post. I have just been working and trying to save some money for our upcoming plans. Classes for Sofia and Leo officially end in a few weeks. School will be open in July, but there won’t be any classes. We will probably send the kids for a few days a week, but they will stay home a lot too. They are required to take an entire month off during the summer, so they are going to take August off.

The kids have adjusted really well to school. Sofia’s Portuguese is great. She has a best friend and those two are joined at the hip. Unfortunately her best friend will be changing schools next year, so that’s going to be tough on Sofia. She says no one else plays with her, but when we pick her up from school she is obviously well liked by lots of her peers, so I wonder if she is ignoring them for her best friend. Leo has adjusted even better than we expected. He has numerous friends in his class. His Portuguese is coming along well. I think that sometimes he doesn’t even realize when someone is speaking Portuguese or English. He will say that he doesn’t speak Portuguese, but then when he is with friends he does speak it. If we ask him how to say a specific word in Portuguese he will say that he doesn’t know, but then he is able to speak to his friends just fine. He’s shier and more introverted than Sofia, so it’s nice to see him doing so well.

Their school is offering a week of fun activities after classes get out. Things like a trip to the beach and other local places. Sofia’s best friend is going, so we signed Sofia up. It will be nice for her to have a last great week with her best friend. I don’t think that we will see her a ton after that. I feel really sad for Sofia and hope she makes some other good friends next year. Her best friend is not Portuguese and I wonder if that is part of what bonded them at the start of the school year.

I wasn’t planning on taking July 4 off of work, but all of my clients canceled that day. I think I will take Sofia out somewhere fun that day. Last year I wished I had gone to more water parks. There is one about 40 minutes away that looks really fun. I’m excited for some of the summer activities this year. I want to visit a few water parks and maybe I can finally try some river swimming. Every year I see a picture of a river swimming spot that I want to visit. I can’t remember the name, but I know there are quite a few in the area. I guess I just want more swimming in my life this summer.

Since the kids will be taking August off each year, we will probably have to start planning our family vacations for August. This year we are headed to Italy. Somehow I stumbled upon Lake Garda when I was looking at potential trips. It looks amazing and I think it might actually be a perfect place to retire one day. We are going to be flying into Verona and then staying in the Lake Garda area. We’re going to visit Gardaland amusement park and a water park over there too. I’ve heard that Italy gets pretty hot in August, but I’m hoping it will be tolerable since we will be in and around water everyday.

I think we might finally try for a US trip next summer. My parents really want to see us. I need to go to Florida at some point for one of my work licenses. I’m really hoping to fit it into our US trip so that I don’t have to go to the US twice next year. I’m trying to plan the trip with non-stop flights and our own layovers. We would fly from Lisbon to Miami, since that is a nonstop flight. Miami doesn’t have nonstop to Portland, Oregon but Orlando does. So we would take the train to Orlando and then fly to Portland. I don’t love Miami, but it would be okay to spend a night or two. Summer in Florida is miserable, so in Orlando we would try to spend some time at some water parks. For the moment it’s just an idea because it’s too far in the future for me to even book flights.

I would love to take one of the kids on a trip during one of their school breaks over the year. The US trip would cost a lot, so I already need to start saving if we’re going to make it happen. We’ll see how things go, but I really want to visit Siam Park in Tenerife and I know Sofia would love that. I really miss getting to travel with her.

The kid’s passports are up for renewal in March of next year. I want to start the process as soon as we get back from Italy. If there is a chance I can take her to Spain in November she might need a new passport since there won’t be 6 months left until it expires and some countries will refuse entry. In order to get their passports in Portugal we have to appear in person at the US embassy in Lisbon. It’s by appointment only. I keep checking to make an appointment, but August isn’t available quite yet, so I’ll keep checking until we get one. So I guess in a few months I’ll have a post about getting a minor’s passport in Portugal.

Back to School

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The kids started school a few weeks ago. They began going to school about a week and a half before classes officially began. That was nice because they got to adjust before having classes and a bunch of extra students. Not all of the students started early, so on the official start day things were much busier. The first day dropping them off was a bit rough because of course they were nervous. Sofia is in first grade and Leo is in pre-school, so they won’t spend time together and will only see each other in passing.

Leo actually loved school right away. At his old school a big complaint of his was that they made him eat soup, so we used to practice how to say “nao, obrigado” but he still complained. Every day we pick him up at the new school he ecstatically tells us that they don’t make him eat the soup. They just take it away and give him chicken instead! He loves his new school and apparently all it took was the option to not eat soup.

Sofia did not like school the first few days. We thought she would have an easier time because her teacher and some of her classmates speak English, whereas Leo’s teacher and classmates do not. Also, Sofia is much more extroverted and loves being around people. For about the first week she had a tough time and didn’t really like school. A few days before classes officially started she began to enjoy it more as she made some friends. Ever since classes began she has really enjoyed it. She loves math class.

Their school offers extracurricular activities, which we’re excited about. Somehow going to school has given the kids even more energy and they’re more crazy than ever when they’re home. So maybe some extra exercise will wear them out. Each of the extracurricular activities take place once per week after school ends and we will pay a monthly charge. We signed Sofia up for dance class, which will cost 22 euro for the month. They have yoga which I really wanted to sign her up for, but it costs 40, which is a bit steep, and the brochure didn’t say which day of the week it is, which we really need to know for planning purposes.

Leo is going to take judo class and that will cost 16 euro. They also have a class about understanding emotions which we really love for Leo, but since he is still learning Portuguese we’re not sure that he would really understand it quite yet. There’s also a chess class, which Sofia would probably enjoy.

You can also sign them up for swim lessons through the school and the school will transport them to swim class, but we decided to just do that on our own. The swim school was closed in August, so we signed them up to begin again in October. This time they will just take classes once a week (for now at least). So they’re already in school 40 hours a week now and come October they will be even busier. They seem to really love their new school, so Kyle and I are obviously really happy about that.

So we have been back to the grind for a bit now. We were planning on going to Disneyland for Christmas, but when I booked it I didn’t know the exact dates of the kid’s Christmas break. It turns out we would be going the week before. Sofia can only miss 10 days of school without a doctor’s note and we don’t want to use up 5 for a vacation, so we’re going to have to skip Disneyland this year. I’m really hoping to take Sofia to the Netherlands in spring to see the tulips, so that will be our next big trip.

In a few weeks I’m taking my solo trip to Seville, Spain. I’m really excited to see the city. It will be weird without kids but will also be nice getting to see palaces and other places on my timeline and without worrying about being too loud. My first day there I’m going on a two hour walking tour. I don’t think I have ever gone on a walking tour. Kyle just got back from his solo trip to Vienna. He had fun, but he ended up missing a connecting flight home so the trip turned out to be a bit longer than expected. But he made it home eventually and I survived almost a week taking care of the kids by myself.