We had a really wonderful Christmas Eve! We had heard about a nearby town, São Martinho do Porto, with some big sand dunes and a lovely beach, so we decided to check it out on Christmas Eve. First Steffen, Olivia and Luisa drove down to see if it was worth the trip while Hannah, Charlotte and I finished Harry Potter. They came back so excited! And once we got there, we all understood why. We walked along the beach a bit and found a delicious restaurant. The waiter was so friendly and helpful! Then we continued walking along the bay, then through a tunnel to a view of the open ocean. We went back along the bay all the way over to the other side, where the huge dune is. We all made it to the top (through great effort) and the view was incredible. It felt so good to be outside in the sunshine, exploring together.

We drove home and had a nice Skype dinner with Steffen’s dad, sister and brother-in-law. Then the girls opened one present–we told them that our next apartment has access to a heated indoor pool, so they are very excited to swim every day for three weeks! Then they watched Frosty the Snowman before heading off to bed.

And then Santa came right before Steffen and I headed to bed!