Hispanic Heritage celebration in Shawn's class!

So instead of a Halloween party, Shawn's class celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month!  The parents prepared a very nice potlock lunch and the kids preformed a little skit for us.  Shawn was Christopher Columbus!!  Here is a picture of our Christopher Columbus....I tried to download a video, but it wasn't working. 

Shawn as Christopher Columbus!!



Oct 21st...Blanco Paloma with Nina and Poppop!

My friend Kara calls this her happy place and you will soon see why....nice Italian restaurant with amazing views!  We took Nina and Poppop there when they returned back from their break from the crazy King house!  We enjoyed a nice meal, great wine, good friends and amazing views!



A bride and groom getting pictures taken, at one point we actually saw them laying in the sand!




Sun beginning to set.



The setting sun!

Alyssa and her friend Tatum!

Oct 16th...next adventure with Nina and Poppop!

So everyone says that Sundays around here everything is closed....well we managed to find a cute little town really close that appeared to have a lot open this day!  We got a late start and weren't really sure what the plan was, but we wanted to show Nina and Poppop something.  So, we drove through Rota and showed them the area by car...then we headed to Chipiona!  A beachy town with a boardwalk to enjoy right on the Atlantic Ocean.  As we walked we enjoyed amazing views of the water and cute little restaurants nestled on the beach.  An old castle, a lighthouse and a Cathedral were all sights we took in.  We enjoyed watching a cat make a jump up to the roof of a building while Spanish children below were ready to rescue and catch it with a towel!  I loved the beachside Cathedral!  Amazing views, beautiful beaches and what turned out to be a surprisingly nice afternoon with the family!

Alyssa and Nina with the beautiful flowers!

Cute little restaurant on the beach, with the lighthouse in the background.

To jump or not to jump?

These kids were ready to rescue if needed!

Everyone was waiting, this cat drew in quite a crowd!

Jumped and made it!

Mom, is that 2 pair of glasses?

Cathedral on the beach!

Dad dipping his toes in the water!

Messy ice cream eater...ice cream is a constant on our adventures!

Oct 14th...adventure with Nina and Poppop to Cadiz!

First trip for everyone on the ferry to Cadiz...very fun!  Stopped first at the information center for maps, and then picked our route from the choices of color guided walks through the city.  Very nice for the kids as Shawn could navigate by following the colored lines marked on the streets!  A little bit of whining started the walk, Alyssa's legs were already tired.  She powered through and then without complaint climbed up the tower of the Cathedral.  From the top of the tower you could see everything, including Rota in the distance!  Then we enjoyed a nice Spanish lunch, gambas ajillo, my favorite tapas so far!  We continued our walk and the kids we revived!  And they were rewarded with ice cream after a long day of walking for their little feet!



On the ferry!!!

Kids in the tower climbing!



View from the Cathedral tower.  Atlantic Ocean is the body of water!

View of Rota in the distance!

Another view from the tower of the Atlantic Ocean!

Poppop and Alyssa!

Don't get your heads stuck girls...they were looking at the fish below!

Nina, Shawn and Alyssa and the really cool tree!

That is one big tree and one little girl!

Shawn going potty!!!

Oct 12th...my parents arrived!!!

So after almost a month of off and on again trying, my parents made it on a Space A flight to Rota.  For all those that don't know Space A is military flights available to retirees and active duty and their families, but only on a space available basis.  However if it works out it can make for very affordable travel...free.  They were tired, but they made it up all day and adjusted quickly to the time change!  Kids couldn't be happier that they were here!  Let the fun and adventures with Nina and Poppop begin!

Barcelona for Columbus Day Weekend!

Our first mini-vacation/adventure by plane in Spain...hey that rhymes!  Fun big city adventure with our neighbors and friends the McMillans!  We did most of our travelling around the city by subway, it was really easy to use and the kids had a great time.  Saturday morning we headed out to Mont Juic Castle, we took the subway and funicular and cable car to get there...the kids had a blast already!

Kids on subway, Kelsey and Lee holding hands, taking care of each other!

Brian and the kids on the cable car.

Luke, Shawn, Victoria and Lee, climbing all over the old cannons, they thought that was great.

Mont Juic Castle

Alyssa, Lee, Victoria, Kelsey, Shawn and Luke being silly and taking in the view of the city below!

View of Mediterranean Sea from the castle.

After the castle, we headed toward the Olympic Stadium.  Then we wondered around a beautiful garden, that took forever to find our way out of.  We headed in the direction we thought would get us out, only to find the gate was locked.  The kids enjoyed running around the garden!


Family photo in Garden of Joah Maragall.



Beautiful fountain in the gardens!

After we finally found a way out of the garden we headed towards the National Art Museum and the Plaza Espana in hopes of finding something for lunch! 


Shawn, Luke, Victoria and Alyssa with museum in the background!

After a very quick lunch, because we were so hungry we ate so fast...we found an amazing park that entertained the kids for quite a while.

Alyssa and Shawn both climbed all the way to the top, this is Alyssa here at the top!

Even Kelsey was trying her best to make her way up the web!

And Shawn too!

And this zipline was a hit with all the kids, Kelsey and Daddy here.

Two tired 2 year olds after playing hard, Lee and Kelsey.

Main market on Las Ramblas, would have loved to see more, but it was very busy and the kids were tired.

This evening, we brought dinner to the apartments for the kids, and Dave and Brian went to a local Irish bar to watch the LSU vs. UF football game.  This was very important since those are the guys schools!  I think it is fair to say we all enjoyed our evening!  Alyssa actually asked to go to bed that night and fell asleep while the other kids all ran around and played!

Day two, once again subway toward the zoo, with a pass through the Arc de Triomf in Barcelona! Enjoyed a fun morning at the zoo.  Shawn and Luke enjoyed reading the map and leading us around the zoo, a great way to teach them how to read a map!

Arc de Triomf

Silly gorillas!

Kids enjoyed these bears, there were two and they really looked like they wanted out of there!

Kelsey looking at the penguin.  It jumped up on that rock and scared Alyssa, she took off!

Boys reading the map, where to next?



Checking out on the of train stations, it was really pretty inside!

 After the zoo we headed towards the old part of town and toward the Gothic Cathedral.  We stopped and had lunch at a nice Mexican restarant, that was really nice!  We passed another church on the way and had entertainment there by a street performer!  We didn't get to go inside the Cathedral as it was too late and  I am sure the kids we happy!

Daddy and Kelsey outside La Hacienda, our lunch spot!

Streets in Barcelona, love the narrow streets.



Our street preformer...Mr. Clown!

Kids watching the clown make fun of innocent bistanders, including a little old lady.



Kids running from the clown, after giving him a tip!

Onto the next innocent bistander...Brian, the clown pretended to rub Brian's bald head.  We all got a good laugh! 

Tired girl, she looked like she was going to fall asleep on daddy's head.



A peak inside the Cathedral.



One of the Gaudi houses, I love this artist, so whimsical!  This was just around the corner from where we stayed!

Last morning, but not the first time at this little pastry shop!  We were headed towards the Sacrada Familia Church and Park Guell before we went to the airport to head home.  Park Guell is another work of Gaudi, one of my favorite places.  Although the kids were a little dissappointed because it wasn't like the park from the other day!

The crew at the pastry shop!

Ali at the pastry shop!



Sagrada Familia

Entrance to Park Guell

Park Guell

Kids on the bus on the way to the airport!

Our sunset when we arrived home that night, really can't beat that!  Hard to believe we live here sometimes!