The beginning.

Here are the beginning pictures from when my family came out to visit. Beware, lots of pictures and a little bit of commentary. One thing that I really enjoyed was that Parker and Lincoln could spend time with family that they don't see very often. Our first day out we took everyone down to the Douro River. We had a late start but that was like most days of their trip. Who doesn't mind sleeping in every once in awhile?
Grandma took this picture of me because it was a great reminder of how the streets were in downtown Porto. It also captures the clothes hanging up on the line (you really have to look right behind me to see this though).
My mom and dad were so great to have around. They are sure to bring smiles to our faces. It's about ten times more fun with Grandma in the mix!
Boats!
The Parque de Cididad was a fabulous find. The Eucalyptus trees smelled wonderful. Here's my mom getting a close up sniff. There was this awesome drinking fountain at the park. You had to be careful or it would really get all over the place. We have some fun video of my Grandma attempting to drink from the fountain.

A nice pond where we could feed the ducks. Parker really loved chasing the ducks back into the pond. Lincoln loved walking around.
I love the pictures with Grandma and the boys.

This is one of my favorite pictures from their trip. Isn't Parker such a sweet heart giving Grandma a flower that he picked? What a gentleman.

By the park was the Atlantic Ocean. So with a short walk we could enjoy the sound of the waves and the view of the open waters.
We watched a few people fishing. Parker and Willie found a fun tunnel to go through. We picked up seashells and walked along the rocky shore.
A view of Porto from the Gaia side of the river.
We had planned to go on a boat ride up to the Douro Valley to check out the vineyards. We found out that they would start a week after my parents left. We were a bit disappointed. Instead we decided to take a long walk for the day. We found a playground for the kids to play at. My dad got us started into the fun.



We took a tour of the Sandman wine cellars. The casks and barrels were so huge. It was pretty chilly inside. The building of the Sandman company was in an old convent. It was interesting learning about the wine. We were really lucky, they gave free samples at the end of the tour. What a great opportunity to share the gospel. Too bad we didn't have more people to share the gospel with in our group.

Lunch at a little diner. Good food. Good company.


We made our way to a botanical garden. This was a long walk. Along the way Lincoln dropped his binky somewhere. We couldn't find it and we even went back to look for it. After visiting the garden we walked back the way we came and to some extend we had all thought of looking for the binky. My Grandma had huge success. She saw it on the ground next to a building. Amazing that she found it. Thanks Grandma.

We took a train ride another day. We visited a part of the Douro Valley. Since we couldn't get there by boat we decided to go by train.



It was a bit rainy on the way up. We did enjoy seeing the hillsides where the grapevines were just beginning to bud. Just after arriving the rain stopped and didn't start up again until later in the afternoon.


Mostly a group shot. On the far right you can see a figure on top of the hill, that's the Sandman Company vineyards.
Parker did well holding on to the umbrella. I realized that it would have been nice to have a rain guard on the stroller while we lived in Portugal.
So many bridges. I usually forget to get pictures of myself with those who come to visit. I'm glad I got this picture of me and my mom.


For Parker, a train.
You've gotta love Grandma!