Over dinner last night and again this morning, we went around the table and did our trip superlatives. Everyone had to pick their favorites across a bunch of categories, and it got competitive fast. Best accommodation was all over the map: Sofie picked Naxos, Lukas and Chad went Switzerland, and I picked Portugal. Top three places though? Naxos was unanimous across all four of us. After that it split. Sofie went Dolomites and London, Lukas said Portugal and Paris, Chad had Dolomites and London, and I went Dolomites and Portugal.

Best meals got fun. Lukas picked the Mexican in Lagos, the lamb skewers in Athens, and the gyro pita in Naxos. Sofie said Greek food, the Mexican in Lagos (apparently that place made an impression), and the smash burger takeout in Lagos. Chad went lamb skewers in Athens, mussels in Naxos, and the British pub with a Guinness during the England game. I picked the gyro pita in Naxos, Rotanda, and the shrimp risotto in Lisbon. Best vibes: Sofie said Naxos for the clear water and beach, Lukas picked Portugal for the beach town feel, Chad said Athens for the chill food and coffee (Freddo Cappuccino forever), and I went Naxos.

Then we did top five memories. Chad had six because he's special. Sofie: Disneyland, F1 Race, the Seceda hike, Warner Bros Studio, kayaking in Lagos. Lukas: going to Europe (the whole thing, just the fact of it), surfing, Warner Bros Studio, Disneyland, F1 Race. Chad: F1, surfing, the Seceda hike, watching the England game in a pub, Super Panda Circus, and driving a Sidekick in Naxos. Mine: visiting with family in Dresden, F1 Race, the Seceda hike, surfing, and kayaking in Lagos. Naxos, the Dolomites, and the F1 race kept showing up on everyone's lists. Pretty telling.

And that's it. 52 days. Four of us. One parking ticket of unknown value. We did it.

Me and Lukas hit the pool one last time in Lagos before we loaded up the car and pointed it toward Lisbon. Straight shot up the coast. Dropped the car off at the hotel and set out to squeeze as much of Lisbon as we could into our final hours.

First stop was Time Out Market. Crazy busy but always cool to try different things. Fish balls with cheese happened. A proper pastel de nata happened. So good. So different than what you get back home. It was more of a food tour than a walking tour, honestly, but we hit the pink street, saw the elevator cars, wandered the shopping streets. The kids grabbed a few new pieces for school.

And then there was the gelato. Not once. Not twice. Three times. I couldn't get enough. Pineapple mint first, then lemon basil (incredible), then back for another pineapple mint. Probably the most refreshing gelato I've ever had. Lemon basil and pineapple mint had me absolutely hooked. We also found a really great coffee shop, apparently one of the top 100 best coffee shops in the world or something. Selfie game has been strong this trip.

We checked into our hotel just after 6 and headed out for one final dinner. Hit up Contraband Mexican for a toast to a once in a lifetime experience the four of us will never forget.

10 countries. 14 stops. 10 books read by Sofie and a 22-day Duolingo streak for Lukas' German. Hearts are super full having gotten to spend so much time together.

Last full day in Lagos. Day 50 of the trip. We did exactly what we wanted to do, which was all our favourite things one more time. Ocean bowls, poolside hangs, games, and just soaking it in.

Even got a little poolside workout in between rounds of doing absolutely nothing. The kind of day where you earn your relaxation with a few sets and then immediately undo it by not moving for two hours.

Chad and I took a sunset stroll along the coast to close things out. Beautiful view, SUPER windy and chilly, and the clouds blocked the actual sunset, but it was a perfect way to end our last day here. Catching one last sunset with my ride or die.

After we got back, Chad asked Lukas if he wanted to take a quick dip in the pool. Lukas was PUMPED. This is all he's wanted to do since we got here, go swimming when the pool lights are on. I decided to surprise them and jump in too. Windy and chilly but we didn't care.

Sofie was on video duty, and when she ran to let us back into the condo she ran straight into the glass patio door. Left a full nose, mouth, and chin smudge on the glass. We were all dying. Wish we had THAT on video. Memories all around for the whole fam. What a way to close out the most amazing trip.

The kids spent a lot of time together on their own today and it just melted my heart. After the massages we all posted up by the pool for the afternoon. No agenda, no sightseeing, just sun and water and doing absolutely nothing.

Headed into Lagos for dinner. The town keeps delivering on food and we keep showing up for it.

Post-dinner walk with these goofballs. And you probably guessed it, we made a quick stop at Lidl for our bottle return and picked up some yogurt and buns to redeem the refund voucher. The bottle return system has become a whole routine at this point.

We had big plans this morning. The Seven Valleys hike was on the schedule, but the heat had other ideas. It would have been a 40-minute drive plus a 10-minute uber just to reach the starting point, and with a 7am wake-up there was no way we'd actually be walking before 9. No shade on that trail. I was getting nervous about it, and honestly the kids were thrilled when we called the audible and decided to just walk the boardwalk along the cliffs instead.

About 3km in, even the "easy" version was scorching. Little by little the kids started losing their patience with the heat. Can't blame them. But the views along those cliffs were wild, and we pushed through enough to feel like we'd earned the end.

Chad and Lukas jumped straight into the ocean at the end of the walk to cool down. We grabbed an uber back, had lunch, and I snuck in a nap. I stayed out of the sun the rest of the day and caught up on a bunch of work, which was honestly a welcome call. The boys spent the afternoon working and drawing.

Three more nights in Lagos. Not ready to leave.

Then it was time for a grocery run at our usual spot, Intermarche. We also brought along our 10+ empty 1.5L water bottles to return for a refund because that's how it works here in Europe. BUT the machine was still broken. So we're just... hauling empties around now. Also, can we talk about the nutritional scoring on food here? Every product has a letter grade right on the front. A and B's are a go. C's are a sometimes food. The rest are a no go. So easy. Already dreading going back to the stuff at home and having to avoid yogurt and milk.

The rest of the day was a whatever-you-want-to-do kind of day. Mostly that meant hanging by the pool. Chad and Lukas did a CrossFit Games workout though, swimming laps and burpees. I thought for sure Lukas would need to scale the swimming since Chad's taller and has bigger strokes. I was wrong. Lukas was determined he didn't need to scale it. He crushed his dad.

During the morning grocery trip, Chad had made sure we had everything we needed so we wouldn't have to go back tomorrow. We were positive we had it all. I get the sense he hates going there. Then around 5 we headed inside and realized we were out of toilet paper. A little weak of the host to not have more available, but all good. So back to the store we went. We came for the TP and then some.

We've both always wanted to try surfing. Like, always. And somehow in all our travels we'd never been anywhere to actually do it. Lagos was the spot. We booked a 2.5 hour lesson yesterday, originally set for 9 am, but got a message last night that it changed to noon. Portuguese time. People are never on time and always underestimate the travel time.

So we headed into Lagos town around 11 and hit up Coffee and Waves again for acai bowls. Kind of perfect for the day ahead. From there the surf shop loaded us up and drove us about 50 minutes out to the west coast. Beautiful sandy beach. We got our wetsuits on (I'm a bit claustrophobic apparently, and getting into a wet wetsuit took every ounce of calmness I had not to panic). We each grabbed our board and headed down this long boardwalk staircase, then trotted through soft sand for probably a kilometer to get to the right spot. Then we waited another 30 minutes because of the tide. Surfing is a whole lot of waiting for the right conditions. You don't really realize that.

Into the Water

Sofie and Lukas went with one instructor who had the four kids in the group. We were all heading into the water and didn't have the camera ready to catch Sofie get up on her board. She's the most cautious and was super nervous, so watching her pop up was so exciting. Until she went down, got hammered by a wave, and taken out by the board. That left her pretty shook up. These waves were no joke. They were supposed to be beginner waves this time of year but at one part of the beach you just kept getting hammered. It was HARD work and definitely looks a lot easier than it actually is.

My first attempt going in was less successful. Trying to battle the waves was insane and I kept getting plowed. I was heading back toward the beach to chill with Sofie and got nailed on the head by the surf board. So Sofie and I just sat on the sand for a bit with another young dude who'd just gotten his eyebrow cut open by someone else's board. It was wild. The instructors ended up moving everyone further down the beach where the water was less unruly, and that's where things clicked. I went back in because I wanted to give it a fair shot. So glad I did. Got up on the board a few times with a smile on my face.

Lukas crushed it like we all knew he would. Such a natural athlete. And I got up not once but four times. I've always wanted to say I stood up on a surfboard and now I can. Sofie tried it and got up on her knees, then decided this was more so not for her. Can't blame her. These were the biggest waves I've seen in person. What was supposed to be a 2.5 hour lesson turned into a full day. Hearts are full. Bodies are sore.

Got home, had work meetings, and ordered smash burgers from Uber Eats for a lazy dinner. They were so good. Then worked till after 1 in the morning. The part people don't see. Late night work sessions after a full day of getting pummeled by the Atlantic.

We're into our final week. It's hard to believe. London, Paris, and Greece feel like they were so long ago, but also like we just left. That weird time-warp thing that only happens on long trips.

Lukas has started scheming up ways to make money so he can save for his Celebration Set, and Chad's body is absolutely crushed, especially after adding a run into the mix this morning. So Lukas gets a workforce and Chad gets free labor disguised as entrepreneurship. Win-win.

Six days. That's it. Wild.

We're really just winging it at this point. No real plans, just a loose list of things we'd like to do. This morning we walked down to the beach to see if the kayak tour booth still had availability for the 10am slot. The group was capped at 12 but Cristiano made it work and added us to his group of 11. Sofie and I paired up, the boys paired up. Cristiano was a phenomenal guide.

Kayaking along the coastline and going into the caves felt like living IN a postcard. Some had cool holes in the ceiling letting light pour through, others were just very small coves you had to duck into. The water was very cold but also super refreshing while you're out there paddling. We hit about 10 caves on the itinerary before Cristiano told us we were 5km in. It was both a relief and a disappointment to hear we were getting towed back. We felt like it was a good way to get a workout in, but once we got back to the beach we could already feel it in our arms. So maybe the tow was a good thing.

We were all pretty tired in the afternoon. We'll be feeling that tomorrow for sure.

Hit the old town after. Empanadas, then meatballs, then gelato, then the grocery store again. That's just the rotation at this point.

Chad and I decided to hit the little farmers market that only runs on Saturdays. The market was cute. Lots of olive oils, nuts, local fruits, chilli peppers. I picked up some flowers, because given how long we're in Lagos, why not? I love flowers. Some people see it as a waste of money since they die but they brighten my days and bring me so much joy when I walk by and see them sitting on the counter. Even at home I always have them around.

The kids made their own breakfast and went about their morning. Sofie is about to wrap up her 9th book and Lukas is deep into Pokemon, stressing that his celebration sets will be sold out as soon as they come out. Chad and I enjoyed our breakfast on the balcony while Lukas headed down to the pool.

Rest of the day was nice and easy. Poolside, researching what we want to see and do while we're here. We're super central to everything so tons of options. We did decide to squeeze in a little fitness poolside though. 100 squats, 80 sit ups and v sits, 60 push ups, 40 lunges, 20 burpees. Lukas crushed us.

Also, heatless curls by Sofie with socks. 10/10 recommend.

We walked to the coffee shop and had an incredible breakfast. Peanut toast for Lukas, avocado toast for Sofie, an acai bowl for Chad, and papaya with yogurt, granola, honey and berries for me. That papaya situation was pure deliciousness. Definitely making that as an afternoon snack back home.

Afterward we ended up wandering toward the market and poking around the surf shops, bathing suit shops, and souvenir spots as they opened up. We spent way more time in the old town than we anticipated but we'll definitely go back.

The fish market was an experience. The kids and Chad couldn't stand the smell. I tried to scope out salmon filets for dinner but got worried about lugging fish back to the car in the heat and then leaving it there while we did a full grocery run.

We came back to the Airbnb and spent the rest of the day poolside while Chad was up on the deck taking a jam-packed day of work meetings.

Lukas woke up this morning and said in the saddest little voice, "we're going to our final destination." He's been waking up the past few mornings feeling a bit down that the trip is going by so fast. Honestly, same. It's been such a fun and amazing summer. So many memories, a lot of laughs, only a couple of tiffs. I feel very grateful we've gotten to spend SO much time together as a family.

We dropped the rental car off and headed into the departures lounge at Zurich. Every flight here in Europe so far has offered to check our hand luggage free of charge because the plane is full. Of course we take them up on it every time. For those wondering about the luggage situation: two check bags and then we each have our own rolling carry on. The check bags at this point are basically shoes (yes, all 12 pairs), Jagermeister bottles, a bottle of wine, and a bunch of chocolates and candy from Germany. We really haven't bought much at all. It helps to be restricted with your luggage.

Lagos Bound

Landing in Lisbon was a breeze. Travelling within the Schengen countries has been so easy. We haven't had to deal with the long wait times that other travellers are reporting at passport controls. The one time we needed to go through, the kids and I used our European passports and Chad, being the only Canadian, was able to tag along with us. Picked up a new rental car that looks like it's from space, and pointed it south toward Lagos.

The drive was about three hours. We stopped at a supermarket on the way and grabbed rotisserie chicken with rice and potatoes for dinner, plus the basics for breakfast and more fresh OJ. Fresh orange juice in Europe hits different. The Airbnb is another great find, a whole new look and feel compared to everywhere else we've stayed. Portugal already feels like its own thing.