Taking Risks and Reaping Rewards

Each week I feel like I’m making progress as far as settling down and getting used to the in’s and out’s of living abroad. The language, while still a challenge, no longer scares me. I communicate enough to get my point across most times and while I’m still studying and trying to improve my speaking skills, I actually find that I can understand more and more as time goes by. Though I often find that I just smile and say “si” or “vale” (ok) as a response if I can’t think of anything else at that given moment, but it’s a start. The point being, I’m not scared any more. Right now the only thing that I need to tackle that scares me, is driving here and I’m still not there yet. Someday, but not today.  Oh and speaking on the phone to someone who speaks Spanish...and I'm a long ways away from that one!

I think one of the realizations that has hit me recently and has been a huge help in my transition here (which I feel has been kind of painfully slow) is the fact that just because this is not my home in Attleboro, doesn't mean that I can't enjoy my time here and take advantage of all that Spain has to offer.  I felt a lot of guilt about leaving home - in a sense abandoning our friends and family to go on this new adventure.  And I've realized that they are still my friends and family, even from afar and there is no reason to feel guilty about this opportunity we have been presented with.  And that in fact, I should be embracing our lives here and so that is what I am attempting to do.  It's not going to happen overnight but I definitely feel progress.  And with the high speed of technology these days, most (not all) of them still feel close - thank goodness for Facebook, Skype and Vonage.  They make me feel close even when I'm far away.  So now is the time that I'm going to start taking some chances.  Doing things that may be slightly out of my comfort zone - at least for here.  The weather is getting nicer and between travel and sick kids I feel like I haven't done much exploring lately so that's definitely up there on the list.

So since I don’t drive, I had to take the train out to the burbs to make a trip to Premia del Mar last week where my friend Leigh lives. It’s on the coast about a ½ hr north of Barcelona.  I haven't left the city on my own til now and I thought it would be a pretty simple achievement though 2 months ago I would never have dared to attack this one on my own but I think I’ve become pretty proficient regarding public transit here. Or so I thought. Leigh told me that I needed to take the Renfe (like the commuter rail) out of Placa de Catalunya. So getting a head start that day, Liam and I set out on the metro to go down to the Placa. In our station that we always stop at, Passeig de Gracia, there are signs for the Renfe. And given that Placa de Catalunya and Passeig the Gracia are pretty much next to each other, I figured the signs were taking me over to Placa de Catalunya via underground (most stations are pretty big underground and you could walk forever).

Well that wasn’t really the case I guess. I thought I was doing so great. I went up to the kiosk and pressed Premia del Mar and got my ticket with a return fare pretty quickly. But then I went to the main desk to find out which platform I needed to go to since I couldn’t see it on my ticket. She replied that that train was not leaving from that station that day. Hmmm… ok well I have a ticket for it so I find that odd. Apparently I needed to take the train one stop and then switch. I called Leigh to ask her if this was correct. She replied that no, she’s never had to switch trains before and confirmed once again that I was in Placa de Catalunya. Of course I am! I’ve lived here for almost 4 months, I know where Placa de Catalunya is versus Passeig de Gracia. Apparently I assumed too much and no I was not in Placa de Catalunya. I asked a guy just sitting on a bench and nope, not in the right station. When I got to the correct station, the process was much easier. And well, now I’ll know how to do it for the next time right? And during this whole thing I did not break down and cry or freak out about asking someone. To me, that’s progress. A few months ago this would have set me over the edge and I probably would have given up, gone home and cried. Actually no, a few months ago I wouldn’t have even attempted to leave the city on my own. So we’ve made some big progress. And I have to admit, I’m proud of that. Simple things I know, but those simple things add up. Sure it took me an extra hour to get to Premia del Mar but the point is, I got there, on my own (ok, with perhaps a few calls to Leigh to make sure I was going the right way).

My reaction when I finally did make it to Premia del Mar? What a cute little town! It’s situated right on the water though the train and main road that goes thru the town both run right along the water which is nice for those traveling, but probably not so nice for those who once had waterfront property that now need to look at the train wires and passing traffic. Regardless, it was incredibly quaint and had historic detail that I would have expected of a little old coastal town. It was very very quiet which is different for me now. We didn’t see a lot of people and the streets were very quiet as well.  And because it's such a little town there weren't 50 pastry shops within a 2 block radius or a cafe on every corner but I can easily see how you could become a regular in a town like this where everybody knows your name because these are the places you patronize regularly.  We took a stroll down to the beach and sadly I was disappointed (I think Leigh was too) that it wasn’t cleaner. The sand was more pebbly than I expected as well. But Liam really could have cared less and just played and played til it was time to go back for Emma’s nap.

I absolutely loved Leigh’s home which has a setup similar to ours with the two floors and being long but narrow (like everything here – stores included) but with actual Spanish detail. While I like where we live, it’s only a few years old and the owners did not put in one architectural detail that would lead you to believe it’s in Spain. We enjoyed a few sangrias and brownies out on her patio which was just lovely and full of plant life (we need plants desperately!) while Liam entertained himself with Emma’s toys. All in all a great day and I did it on my own.

Feeling pumped by my travel outside the city on my own, I decided this was the week I was going to go to the mom n tots group hosted by BWN (Barcelona Women’s Network). It was kind of an iffy, coldish, cloudy day and it really took some motivation to go to this play group. I just joined the BWN a few weeks ago and haven’t been able to make it to any adults only events since I have Liam with me the majority of the time – and that’s fine – he’ll start school in the fall and I’ll have all the time in the world. But part of the reason I joined was for this weekly mom n tots group.

So every week the mom n tots is held in a building in Sarria, not that far from Aidan’s school. Probably 15 minutes closer to me. I hate going to groups for the first time and being in that awkward newbie stage. But I needed to do this for Liam. He needs some friends here and the fact that he’s not going to daycare doesn’t help. The poor kid needs more than his family to play with. And I need some mom’s to talk to. So I needed to suck it up and just jump into the group. And I did. I got there just before 10:30, the published start time. I didn’t see anyone else with kids, anywhere. Hmmmm… I walked around for a few more minutes. Nope, no one. Finally, I asked at the front desk and they told me where the playgroup is held but that no one was there yet. Finally at 10:50, a full 20 mins after the start of the group, someone shows up. Ahhh Spain. Why does this not surprise me.

The first woman I met kind of scared me from the group I’ll admit. I’ll leave names out to protect the “innocent” who may read this blog at a later day. But she and her very tough two year old made me want to just walk out of the group within about 2 seconds. But no, I’ve got to stick this out. She was abrasive, very forward and just a tell it like it is kind of person. Sometimes I like that kind of personality but with her, it was more just annoying. And her kid beat up on all the smaller kids – Liam was the only “big” kid there at almost 3 and so this kid stayed away from him. He must have realized Liam would totally take him on or something. Regardless, the other women were lovely and from all different areas, some the US, Denmark, England, etc etc. They all spoke English and the kids were cute. But like I said, Liam was the oldest and only one of two children even old enough to talk. And I don’t know if it’s that he was being shy or not feeling 100% (he’s still not fully recovered from Paris and now is sporting some fabulous boogers these days) but he wasn’t that into the group. We’ll give it another try though and hope it will go better the next time.

Wednesday was also the day that Aidan decided it was time to start his chore chart again.  I think he forgot how much he likes earning a little cash and so he decided it was time to chip in again.  However, sadly his enthusiasm has been short lived.  While he's still helping out each day, we can not top this day where he even vacuumed for the first time.  And of course, Liam has to do whatever his big brother is doing too!

Later in the week I met up with Cristy and her friend Liz who was in town visiting. We did a quick hike up to Parc Guell and then took a cab over to Sagrada Familia which is more in my ‘hood and finished the morning meeting up with Jami & Gina for a fabulous lunch. It was also my first time having cava sangria which I must say is mighty tasty and I highly recommend it!

Church at the end of Gran de Gracia.  It was just a pretty spot and I needed to take a picture of it.

 The hill gets so steep that there is an escalator at the end - enlarge this picture to see it!

Just left of the center of the picture you can see some of the spires of La Sagrada Familia.  I live just a few blocks north of this amazing church.  When you are in front of it, it certainly looks large, but you don't realize just how big it is til you see how much it stands out from the rest of the city.  It was foggy that day but you can still get an idea.  LW, the two twin towers by the horizon, your hotel is one of those.

The above are all from Parc Guell

Also on Friday our outdoor furniture was delivered!!! I was so excited – we can now finally spend time outside here. The kids spend time outside all the time but never Josh and I. Because I expected it to not be completely correctly, I was not disappointed. The lounge chairs wrong color – apparently roja (red) and lila (lilac) sound exactly the same so instead of getting my red chairs I received some very loud purple ones. They also sent us seat cushions that are too big for the table chairs we got. They work and are doable but definitely not the ones that are supposed to go with the set. But overall, looks great. I had ordered some wood panels to go over the rocks in the back area but did not order enough so instead of our table going out there, the lounge chairs live there instead. So we’ll make a trip back to get more of those panels at some point but it works for now and is definitely an improvement on how it looked before. At some point I will also need to add some greenery out there but one step at a time. The highlight though was getting a grill. It’s a no frills charcoal deal but it works and we’ve already bbq’d on it twice since then. The kids are especially excited about grilling!

My new patio furniture!  It's not fancy and the patio still has a ways to go til it's a comfy space, but it's a start!!  Also added to the mix is our new bar (which expands - probably should have taken the picture with it open for full effect... oh well)!

We overall had a nice mellow weekend which was much needed after the hecticness of the last few (Valencia, Paris, just crazy busy plans last weekend). As I said, we spent some quality time outside, really didn’t leave our house at all and just chilled. Perhaps even lazy. So Saturday night we had to fix that and we went out with a group of new friends – all with connections to Josh’s work. It’s funny how at home we never socialized with his work friends and now they’ve become our network of close friends.

View of restaurants along the waterfront in Villa Olimpica

We went down to Villa Olimpica to a restaurant called La Fonda. Apparently it is known for it’s paella and is supposed to have the best in Barcelona. LW, it’s close to your hotel so we may want to consider that when you come for a taste of Barcelona. We laughed a lot, ate some fabulous food and in general had a really great time. Josh apparently had a little too much of a good time and left without me, apparently forgetting that I had no money on me therefore leaving me high and dry with our portion of the bill (good thing for credit cards). Thanks Joshy… and yes, I know none of you are surprised by that. And thank you again Shawn and Cristy for the cab fare. Some things never change!!!

On the left - some of the appetizers (can't say I had any - not my cup of tea) that the group had.  On the right - this is a tribute to my Long Island Girls Weekend gals - you know who you are!!  Just had to take a picture for you!

Today I will say, I came alive again… I shopped.  The shopping bug has found me here in Barcelona.  And Josh will probably drop from the bill. But it had to be done. I need a Barcelona makeover – not Spanish mind you, but Barcelona. Totally different. On our trip to Valencia I realized that they do not dress nearly as daring as they do here in Barcelona. And I would like to say, my purchases today were not so much daring – I will not be mixing polka dot tights with a striped orange shirt or wearing gold leg warmers. But they were definitely out of my normal, preppy realm and I have to say I’m excited to wear them. I’ve been slowly visiting some stores and have made a few small purchases to date but I just haven’t been able to figure out how to assemble things to make them look even slightly European (other than my skinny jeans and boots). Thanks Gina, for taking my pathetic sense of style, guiding me and helping to make it just that little bit cooler. I look forward to Friday’s trip to look for shoes!!!

In other news, I’m sure you have all been seeing or have been affected by our European neighbor Iceland and the volcano. She’s affecting all the airline travel here which thankfully has not affected us, though has affected some that we know. You’ll be happy to know it was a very sunny day here in Barca today and no ash has come our way. I did hear our airport closed for some reason related to the ash but not really sure why and I have heard that people are travelling by train and car down here because it’s been one of the few airports that have been open. I find the articles amazing though and I think I’m more fascinated now that we live in Europe. They are saying that the transportation has been affected from the ash more than from 9/11. And my favorite thus far “Mission Impossible: Escape from Europe”. I was secretly hoping that this standstill of European travel would mean the euro would drop in relation to the dollar but unfortunately for us (Josh still gets most of his pay in dollars which we then have to convert to the stronger euro) it has not really been affected. To my friends in the US, I hear the ash cloud is heading your way… well Canada at least. After the floods you just had, I wish you luck!

Julie

Spring and Easter in Barcelona

Spring has arrived in Barcelona.  Like at home, this is my favorite time of year.  The leaves are starting to bud, flowers are blooming, people are coming out of hibernation and it's just an awakening to the senses.  You can't help feel good this time of year.  We've just come off two great trips with the kids - Valencia and DisneyParis - and while a lot of fun, definitely exhausting!  So it was nice to get back to "normal" this week.

Well, I'd like to say normal but in reality is life ever really that simple?  Liam has actually been sick all week.  I'll spare you most of the gory details but after throwing up upon our arrival home from France, he then proceeded to run from the other end for several days.  Poor kid!  Late in the week I attempted to take him out for a stroll down to the beach stopping at our new "favorite" lunch spot, McDonalds (gulp, did I really just say that?  Someone hurt me please!), when he decided that perhaps McD's was not such a good idea and vomited all of it up right in the middle of the sidewalk and on himself.  So maybe we should have laid low for another day or so...

Liam likes to go to "work" all the time.  If only we could all enjoy work that much!

Because we were in Paris for Easter Josh and I decided we would do easter eggs with the kids this past weekend.  The kids still believe in the Easter Bunny and we would have felt bad not doing something to celebrate.  In Barcelona they do not have the Easter Bunny, nor do they have plastic eggs or egg coloring kits (thanks Sue for sending both of those!).  Kids here receive giant chocolate art - mostly in kid themes like Smurfs, Simpsons (soooo popular here), Disney, etc.  I checked one of the smaller ones out and it ran around 60€ so not cheap.  But these are what the kids get here and the bigger the better!  Aidan of course wanted one but I told him it was the Easter Bunny from the US that was coming to him.

Chocolate figures for the kids of Barcelona.  I actually took this after Semana Santa so there were very few left on display but you get the picture.

Now Aidan's a smart cookie.  He knew thru talking with kids at school this week that Easter had already happened.  So he questioned me on it.  It went something like this:

Aidan:  Mommy why is the Easter bunny coming this weekend instead of last weekend?
Me:      Well honey, we were in Disney for Easter and so he understood that we couldn't really celebrate there and he didn't want you to miss out on finding those easter eggs.
Aidan:   How did he know to come this Sunday?
Me:       The Easter Bunny and I were texting and he told me he could come here on Sunday
Aidan:   Do you speak Rabbit though Mommy?
Me:       No Aidan, but that's what google translate is for

That's all it took. I do love this age just for that kind of reason. It was a lot of work trying to put a basket together for the boys. First off, they don't have Easter baskets here. So I finally found a sand bucket for each of them (to the tune of 3€ each for a tiny bucket!). Then trying to find a small toy to put in each bucket was a challenge. Candy however, easy. Barcelona definitely has a bit of a sweet tooth so candy was plentiful!



So now we are prepped for Easter on Sun.  Friday night we had a low key night.  I went out for a pedicure appointment that I made on my own.  However, I was almost late because Josh was running late.  Why was he late?  Because on his way home he was almost pickpocketed.  They say that you should really just plan on getting pickpocketed here.  That it's the most common crime here in Barcelona.  On one side it's nice to know it's a relatively non-violent city - on the other hand, I'm not so keen on having my wallet stolen.  I've heard so many stories in just three months and am hypervigilant about my wallet at all times.  Thankfully Josh realized what was happening and chased down his attempted pickpocketers to whom he shared many a not so nice word (of which they probably understood very few since they were all in English). 

Saturday morning was slightly more exciting.  On Thursday we realized that Sailor couldn't walk.  She was fine after returning home from the kennel on Monday evening as well as Tuesday and Wednesday.   Thursday I went to let her out for dinner and she couldn't get up.  The poor thing.  I had just found a vet that morning and set an appointment for some vaccinations and so I decided to wait out the night and see if she had perhaps slept on it funny.  On Friday she still wasn't doing well so I walked down to the vet's office and he said he could take her immediately.  My problem?  No car and I had Liam with me.  So I made the appointment for Saturday morning.  Still, we had the issue of how to get her to the vet which is about 3/4 mile from where we live.  She's 70 lbs and it's not like it's realistic to carry her that distance and no taxi is going to allow a dog her size.  Being innovative and using what we had, we put her in the stroller.  Yes, Liam's umbrella stroller.  Just kind of propped her up in it.  And no, I don't have any pictures though I wish I had because it was a sight to see.  You should have seen the looks we got walking down the street that day.  Both kids walking with us and a 70 lb black lab in a stroller. 

The vet was incredibly nice.  Very small office and I think only one, maybe 2 exam rooms.  There was no wait and given the amount of dogs in Barcelona (surprisingly an amazing amount for a city - it's very dog friendly here sans the taxis) it was surprising.  They took Sailor in immediately for an exam and asked about her history (and yes, they spoke English) to which we told them that she has had several surgeries in the past - both knee and hip.  It was her knee this time and it was very inflammed.  She also had a fever.  He did not xray her which concerned me and I voiced my opinion about and he said he wanted to see how the anti-inflammatory drugs would do first before taking that step.  So we have a follow up appointment next Mon.  And even more surprisingly I received an email from him today asking how she was faring.  I can tell you that I have spent thousands of dollars on my dogs and never once has my vet at home called or emailed to see how one of them was doing after any kind of incident.  And the bonus?  Full exam, 2 shots, 2 prescriptions - 80€, a bargain!  At home that would have easily have run us $300 or so.  Take that Lloyds - sorry but true!! 

But thru this experience we also had our first trip to the pharmacy.  My understanding is that many drugs used on people can also be used on animals, albeit in different doses.  For example we've used Benedryl for Jake for his allergies.  The vet had given us a prescription for amoxicillin for Sailor and told us to go to the pharmacy next door.  I walked in, handed her the prescription... again NO wait.  30 seconds later, she came back, put the amoxicillin and the prescription in a bag, charged me 3€ and out the door I walked.  No questions, no insurance, just wham bam, thank you mam, you are all set to go.  I may get to like this place after all... at least from a veterinary and pharmaceutical standpoint!

Josh took Aidan to the movies Saturday afternoon and it was Aidan's first time going since we've been in Spain. They have what is called VOS – versión original subtitulada (or version original subtitled) - in other words, the movie was in English and they only have it in one theater here to my knowledge. So Aidan was super excited to go see How to Train Your Dragon, which he gave a thumbs up. 

After the movie Josh and Aidan met Liam and I by the metro station and we walked down the street to a playdate with new Aidan's new friends Sophie & Hannah and their parents, Nikki and Dave. Sophie is in Aidan’s class and they live about 3 or 4 blocks from us – super close.  It's really nice to have some kids his age that live close and we've spent the last 3 months in a bit of a funk thinking no one really lived close by us.  At Aidan's parent teacher conference the teachers told me that two of his classmates actually live a matter of blocks from us.  Then a few days later I picked up Aidan from the bus stop and he said, "oh that was Sophie that just walked by us."  So I contacted her mom and this was actually our second playdate.  We really like the parents a lot and can totally see us hanging out with them more often; laid back, intelligent and funny. We met up with them in a Placa (or plaza as we would call it in the US of A) in Gracia which is really just an open plaza with some open area and a bunch of tables that go with the restaurants there.   There were a ton of kids were playing – we honestly weren’t even watching them which is good and bad. The Spanish live like it’s the 70s at home… very trusting and caring about kids. That’s not to say we shouldn’t be alert and perhaps especially more so with Liam I should have been in hindsight but they had so much fun just running around. Though I guess Liam climbed into a water trough … again hindsight there, perhaps should have been watching closer and I will in the future.

So we were there just hanging out, kids were playing, adults chatting and having some drinks, and then suddenly a festival started!! There are tons of festivals in Gracia and this one we believe was for Sant Jordi which actually isn't til next week. There were fireworks and sparklers and a LOT of noise along with performers, musicians, and Castellers. What are Castellers? They are these human towers that are famous here. This was actually the first one I saw and I actually missed most of it and only caught them on the way down. For more information check out this website: http://www.barcelona.de/en/barcelona-castellers-human-towers.html. The kids had a blast but got home late around 9. All in all though, a perfect spring evening!

Left:  Castellers     Right:  Fireworks and sparklers for all.  Looks safe doesn't it??

 Liam looking on in the crowd and Aidan's new friend Hannah poses for him to take her picture.

More fireworks and then the kids watch a street entertainer do some juggling.

Our busy weekend was in no way over yet.  On Sunday early morning the Easter Bunny made an appearance at the Marcus apartment with baskets (or buckets) for each of the boys and hidden eggs for them to find.  They were both so excited!!!

On Sunday late morning we had a birthday party for another of Aidan’s classmates, Santi.  It was up in the Sarria area at an indoor playspace called Waki Park.  It was a cute place and the kids had a ton of fun (it was very nice of them to include Liam too).  From what I can tell, I think that you invite all of the classes – so for 2 kindergartens, that’s 36 kids that you would invite to a party. Even Aidan said that he’s heard that at school… so no one gets left out. I need to look more into this before I plan something for the boys for their birthday in a few weeks as that could get expensive depending on how many RSVP! 

After the birthday party we had one more stop before calling it quits for the weekend.  We still had an Easter Egg hunt up in Valldoriex, a suburb on the other side of the mountains, maybe 15 mins from Aidan's school (going north).  Nick and Brenda know how to entertain and we were thrilled to meet so many ex-pat families and hear their stories about how they ended up here in Barcelona.  The kids had fun searching for easter eggs, ok Aidan did.  Liam realized that they had a pool and immediately became more fascinated with that than with the hunt for candy (must not be my kid).  It was also nice for us to get out of the city and into the 'burbs again.  We have only been to other cities so far but hadn't seen what life was like with a yard and grass and yes, I missed it.  But at the same time, city life must be getting to me because it kind of seemed a bit ho hum there too.  Though I have no doubt that I want to return to the burbs again someday but right now, right now I'm ok with life in the city.  I was really anxious that going to their house and seeing an actual house instead of an apartment, a yard, a pool... I was afraid that I was going to have a breakdown but was pleasantly surprised that I'm happy with where we are right now.  Will I still want the city life after a year or 2 years?  Who knows, but for now, I kind of like it.  Wish it had a little less dirt and some more grass, but hey I like it otherwise.  The boys weren’t interested in playing with the other older kids – they were the two youngest there with the exception of one little girl. I think Aidan was tired and being shy because normally he may start off shy but eventually will get into playing with other kids and today he just didn’t seem to care. Got home around 6 so it was a loooonngggg day but fun way to end the weekend!

Left:  Group of kids getting ready for the hunt.  A much smaller (and slightly older) group than we normally have at home but still a good time.  Right:  Liam and the Easter Bunny!!

And they're off!!!  These were the only two eggs Liam got because after he found these, he found the pool.

Aidan with his stash of eggs.

Ahhh the pool.  He keeps forgetting he doesn't actually like to go in the water though.  He was perfectly happy just splashing by the side however.

All in all, it was another great weekend.  Every week I feel like we are getting more and more settled.  Today I went to Bauhaus, the Home Depot of Spain (on a smaller scale).  My mission - patio furniture and a grill.  And without speaking much Spanish I managed to get across everything that I wanted AND the fact that I needed it delivered.  We shall see on Friday if I get everything I ordered.  I was surprised, well sort of, that they had none of the furniture actually on display but all still in boxes.  So you only had the catalog to go back - no toca (as Liam would say which means no touch) - I would have liked to have the opportunity to check the cheap quality to see if it was far superior than the other cheap quality option that I had.  So I went with cheap quality option A which was probably no different than option B.  Stay tuned as there will be before and after pictures of the back "yard" when it's semi complete (we'll need some greenery to make it complete so we'll have to do this in stages). 

On the way home from Bauhaus (I decided to walk which was probably a good 4 miles I'm going to guess - I'll have to mapquest it another time) I walked thru Placa Espana which I hadn't done before since it's on the other side of the city.  I'm going to go back here to explore on another day when I have a sitter again but it was a scenic area and looks to me like there is lots to see if you head up towards Monjuic and the Magic Fountains. 

Left: Former bullfighting ring that has been under construction for last 5 years to become a mall.  Not very efficient!  Right:  Behind the museum is Monjuic.  From what I understand, there is a fountain in front of the building that is similar to the fountains at the Bellagio in Vegas.  Again, something I'm going to have to go back and check out again.

Center of the Placa Espana.

Have a great week everyone!!

Julie

Disneyland Paris - Day 4 (Our final day and the journey home)

Monday was our last day in Disney.  The kids were incredibly sad to be leaving as were Josh and I (especially since the sun was FINALLY shining).  We had such a great time the last few days - no arguing, very little whining, just a good time had by all.

Sleeping Beauty's Castle looks so much nicer in the sun!  Still not as spectacular as Cinderella's but a big improvement with a little blue sky in the background!

Random pics of the park in the SUN!

We had decided that we would take one last ride on Buzz Lightyear before heading off to the airport.  In the hopes that we could get into the park early, we were out the door just after 9.  We figured that on Sunday they just scanned our card and we got in early because we were with a hotel on site.  Worst case they would make us wait til the gates opened at 10.  Well, luckily we got in early and headed right to Buzz Lightyear - and there was still a 20 minute wait!!  I still think something was wrong with my laser blaster because I only got 2000 points to Josh's 150,000 or so and even Liam scored 1000 points.  I think Aidan was somewhere around 7000.  Yup, something was wrong with mine - my aim can't possibly be that bad, right??? 

Aidan being the shopper that he is (he's definitely my child in that way) wanted to check out the shops on the way out so we stopped in the Disney Village at the giant Disney store.  I convinced him to skip the Princess and the Frog set since all he really wanted was the alligator and isn't so into princesses these days... I think he's finally starting to grasp that I won't buy him an entire set of something for just one guy.  He told me the same thing about a Buzz Lightyear set - "We have all the guys except Zurg on this one Mommy, so that means we can't get it"... yes, finally sinking in.  However, we have a new addiction thanks to Aby ;)  - pin collecting. 

We were on a mission for some cool pins to collect on Aidan's new lanyard.  Thankfully I bought these when Josh was outside each time with Liam, because if Josh had seen how much they were each he might have put the kabosh on this collecting thing.  I think he collected around 8 or so pins and is excited to show Aby his new collection though is concerned she'll want to trade (which is part of the point of collecting them).  I'll take a picture eventually but right now he won't let me. 

Off to the hotel to grab our bags from the consierge and make our way to the VEA shuttle.  We made it to the airport unscathed which was good.  I could tell the kids were coming down from their Disney high but they did a great job.  We arrived at the airport just 2 hrs before our flight, not too bad.  EXCEPT that there was a long line at the EasyJet counter that we sat in for over 1/2 hr.  The kids hadn't had lunch yet.  We got to the front of the line and yup, once again we had to go to another counter (that was hidden off to the side or else we would have started there) to pay for the luggage and then go back.  Because there was a huge line at the security and we had less than 40 mins before boarding the plane, we decided against lunch (which would have been another fabulous meal from McDonalds anyways) and went with the vending machine lunch - yes, we are fantastic parents aren't we??? 

The plane ride was good - nothing exciting.  The kids watched a movie and the tailwinds were in our favor and we arrived 20 mins ahead of schedule with a very quick flight time of less than an hour and a half!!  The meltdowns started once we landed but we made it home!!  And really it wasn't so bad.  They were tired and hungry and who can blame them.  We got home, unpacked and grabbed a pizza for dinner.  Liam wasn't super interested in it and eventually we'll find out why.

Finally the time came for baths and bed - whew!!!  While a super fun weekend, it was exhausting and we were looking forward to a low key evening of just sitting on the couch doing well, nothing... I got Liam into bed and while Josh took care of Aidan's shower, I heard some screaming.  Yup, it was Liam ... puking.  He managed 3 different locations before I got him back into the shower.  The bed, the hall and the bathroom.  It still smells slightly of curdled milk.  Nice huh?  Great way to end the weekend but I think it was a sign of a good time had by someone in particular...perhaps too good of a time!  We're now working on getting back into a schedule with some healthy food added to his diet unlike in Disney - no naps and a lot of crap to eat.  Today, Tuesday, he seems much improved.

Both kids have said they already miss Disney and that makes me so happy to know they had a great time!  Aidan is already planning our next vacation he says - this time to the WB Parc in Madrid.  He's dying to see Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck!  We shall see...

Julie