Sundays in Barcelona #9

Hola amigos y familia!

We hope you all had a great week! This week our friend Annette took me into Barcelona to see the Christmas fair outside of the Cathedral. There were TONS of nativity items for sale, including some very beautiful and elaborate stables. It's hard to describe what all was there, it was so much. I bought a stable and nativity set for the kids, and we've been opening one small piece a day for each of them as we do a daily advent devotional from a book I brought along. It's been very fun, the book has games to play and crafts to make, they love it! The first picture is of the kids opening the stable.

An American/Australian couple with a son Luke's age invited us over on Saturday to help them decorate their tree. Caroline did most of the photography work, so the next picture is of Jackson in front of the tree, and the third is the finished product after being decorated by 6 kids under the age of 6! Ha ha.

Today the kids and I went to church and then attempted to have a picnic at Parc de la Ciutadella with two other families with small kids. It was so windy that we ended up with dirt in our eyes and mouths, yuck! The next picture is of the kids hopping on a rental bike for a photo shoot. From there the kids and I went to the Museu de la Xocolata, but didn't get there early enough to do the tour, they were closing at 3pm. They got some free chocolate anyway and were probably just as happy! From there we walked through the beautiful old town area to the Cathedral because I wanted to show them the Christmas fair and pick up some shephards that I forgot. There is a picture of them on the way to the Cathedral. Then we went back to the Parc for the car, got a nice shot of the Arc del Triomf, and went to the port for a relaxing ride on a golondrina (ferry boat) along the port and coast of Barcelona. It was very nice. The next picture is of the kids on the top of the boat, the next is the view of the port as we were leaving, and the last is a beautifully decorated building that was off to our right as we got off the boat, sorry I can't remember the name of it.

This week we are getting ready for Jackson birthday party on the beach next Saturday which should be lots of fun!! I'll be sure to post pictures of that.

Love to you all,

Tonya

Sundays in Barcelona #8

Hola friends & family!

We hope this finds you doing well! We've had a couple big developments in our family in the past week: Luke played futbol and Caroline stayed in gymnastics by herself! We were SO proud of both of them. They are really doing well and you can tell they are proud of their accomplishments too. Jackson is doing great as well, the first picture is of his latest get-up. :) We are going to have a digger birthday party on the beach for him on the 15th with a couple of his little friends and their families.

We also had another very fun day in Barcelona on Sunday. We went to the 10am service at church, and one of these pictures is of Luke practicing with the Christmas chorus. We then went to a Spanish village on Montjuic called Poble Espanyol. It was first created for the International Exhibition held in Barcelona in 1929. It showcases architectural styles and artisan craftsmanship from many different parts of Spain. We loved the cobblestone streets and beautiful buildings. We had a picnic lunch in the main plaza, where the kids spent a LONG time being entertained by the pigeons. We then went to an area of Montjuic called Jardins Costa i Llobera, where there are beautiful gardens and a cable car that takes you out across the port to Barceloneta. The kids were SO excited to ride this. One picture is of the cable car coming to pick us up, and the next is a view from the car. The last picture is of the baroque church of San Miquel del Port in Barceloneta. We are really enjoying all of these areas that we have been able to explore, they are so beautiful.

We've also had fun decorating the house a bit, hanging stockings, and listening to Christmas music. We're going to participate in some Christmas caroling in the main square in Sitges on the evening of the 15th, which I think the kids will love. We've also been able to finalize tickets to come to PA for Christmas! The kids and I will be there from the 17th to the 31st, and Brian will be there from the 24th to the 31st. We're looking forward to seeing many of you then!

Con amor,

Tonya

Sundays in Barcelona #7

Hola!

We hope you all enjoyed a nice holiday weekend! The kids and I ended up going to the aquarium after church on Sunday, and really had a fun time. It's along the sea in an area called Port Vell, which had a lot of nice open spaces for walking and enjoying the sun and sea. The aquarium itself had a very nice selection of fish, a cool shark tunnel, a big kids play area, and even some penguins! They were very cute. The pictures here are of Caroline waiting to get into the aquarium, Luke & Caroline playing in the submarine in the kids play area, all 3 kids on a big turtle in the play area, and the three of them watching the penguins. It was great how you could see them waddling around on the ice/snow and then sliding down and swimming as well.

This week we got our annual basketball edition of the Daily Tar Heel from friends of our's in Chapel Hill! I couldn't believe they sent it the whole way to Spain. :) They even included stickers and tattoos for the kids, which they loved. The boys happened to be wearing Barca jerseys that day so I couldn't resist a UNC-BARCA picture. Actually, the funny thing is that I had put a UNC jersey on Jackson that morning. But when he saw what Luke was wearing he went and got his Barca jersey and brought it to me saying "soccer ball! soccer ball!" He's way too opinionated for not even being 2 years old yet!

The other funny saying of the week came from Luke when we were leaving the aquarium. We had to walk through a shopping area to get to our car, and of course we passed a candy shop. So I let the kids each pick out a small snack, and Luke chose these huge fat red licorice pieces. As he was eating them he was fussing about how good they were and wanted me to try one. I really didn't want any so I kept saying no thanks, and finally he said "they're really good Mom, they kind of even taste like salad!" HA HA! I guess he thought that would put me over the edge.

We hope you are all having a great week!

Hasta luego!
Tonya

Thanksgiving!

Hola!

We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving day and holiday weekend! We really had a fun time creating our first feast and doing Thanksgiving activities. The kids painted turkeys all morning while we figured out how to cook the thing. With much advice from our friend Annette, it all went very well and actually tasted great! We stuffed the turkey with ground pork, a seasoning mix, eggs and apples, and it cooked for about 4 hours. We also made brown-sugar glazed sweet potato wedges (found the recipe on http://www.myrecipes.com/), which were excellent, a ton of vegetables and some bread. I picked up a chocolate mousse cake roll at the local Patisserie, which was way better than anything I could have made! The pictures here are of the kids painting and their artwork, eating dinner, and the last is one of Jackson "going to work". He started doing this really funny thing when they play. He puts on a hat and sometimes a coat, gets some sort of bag strapped over his arm, and says "Bye-bye, adios, I goin a work." Sometimes he says he's going to the airport. Then he'll come back in a few minutes later and announce "Hola! I home! Howya doin?!" And of course he loves when Luke & Caroline make a big deal about him being home. It's so funny!

Well we are certainly thankful for all of you, our family & friends, that God has blessed us with. We hope you enjoy the next couple of weeks and are reminded often of the true meaning of Christmas.

Love,

Tonya

Family Outing & "Bydnastics"

Hola friends & family!

We hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving tomorrow!

I forgot to post a couple photos from Sunday, and I now also have some of "bydnastics" today. That's what Caroline calls her gymnastics class. She was very cute today, and did many more things than last week! The first two pictures are of the family picnic with some families from church. We went to Parc de Collserola, which was over the mountain behind Barcelona, and very beautiful. We were only in one small part of it, I'm sure there was lots more to explore. The rest of the families went on a hike, which we didn't do. After leaving the park we actually drove back into Barcelona to a used car fair and bought a car! We don't have it yet but are waiting for the money to be transferred. The third photo above is one just like the one we got. The last two photos are Caroline at bydnastics. :)

Hopefully I'll have some to post tomorrow of our Thanksgiving feast and Luke playing futbol!

A VERY HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU ALL!

Love,

The Kings

Playing at the beach in Sitges

Hola!

We spent some time yesterday playing at the beach in Sitges and I thought I'd post some photos. There is an area where dogs are allowed, so we took Tarheel along. After throwing the tennis ball about a hundred times she was finally tired! She loves the beach, along with the kids. They brought all their diggers and animals along and had a blast. Caroline and I had fun finding pretty shells, and she liked the ones she could stick on her fingers. One photo is of Brian and Luke by the water where Luke is getting a lesson on where sand comes from. :)

Luke has been living in his futbol gear (even sleeping in his shin guards one night!) But the past 2 weeks we have just watched the practices, he has been a little timid. Next week we are meeting up with 2 of the boys at a park to play on Tuesday, and then they will wait and go into the field with him next Thursday and we'll see if that helps. He was excited about the idea. It's actually his first organized activity, and the language issue makes it a bit scary, so we're taking it slowly.

We were also able to find a sort of gymnastics class for Caroline last week! It's at a local school close to our house. At first she stayed with me on the bench to watch. After about 20 minutes her shoes eventually came off, and about 10 minutes later she was out on the floor! I was so proud of her.

Jackson is talking up a storm and is so funny! First thing in the morning he yells from his bed "Mommy! Where awe you? Mommy! Come ewe! I'm hungwy. I want food. Mommy! I'm cwying!" He copies whatever the other two are doing, and the three of them actually play really well together, especially with their train set or animals.

The other exciting find was that a new small group has started in our town from our church in Barcelona, and it's even in our neighborhood! The couple leading it is from Brazil, and they seem like wonderful people. We're excited about getting to know them better. Tomorrow after church there is a gathering for families with young kids in Barcelona, so we'll do that and then see if there is time for any sight-seeing afterward.

We have ordered a turkey from a local market and are going to have our own little Thanksgiving feast...should be interesting! We hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!! We certainly have a lot to be thankful for.

Lots of love,

Tonya

Tibidabo

Hola!
We had another very fun day with our Spanish friends Josep, Teresa, and their son Joan. We met them after church today and they took us to the top of the mountain behind Barcelona to an amusement park called Tibidabo. The views of the city and the sea from up there were amazing! The kids had a ball. Luke loved the roller coaster, Caroline loved the carousel, and Jackson loved the trains. It was a gorgeous day, but definitely cooled down up there when you weren't in the sun. Here are pictures of the view from the amusement park, three cowboys, a cool airplane ride, a beautiful church on the top of the mountain, Brian and the kids on the ferris wheel, and Jackson at the end of the day.
Have a great week!

Love,

Tonya

Olive Picking!

Hola!

On Friday some of our neighbors (from England) invited us to their "farmhouse" today to help them with their olive picking. They get them pressed into olive oil, which they said they would share with us. Well it turned out that their "farmhouse" was a beautiful old Spanish masia out in the countryside about 40 minutes from here. It was gorgeous! Here is the link to the masia, apparently they rent it out from time to time: http://www.dosroures.com/. The pictures are amazing. It was a gorgeous day, and they had lots of fun things for the kids to do. The olive picking was very fun and relaxing, and the kids helped quite a bit as well. This family has 2 girls, and then 3 other families also came to help pick, all with young kids. It was a great day enjoying the beautiful weather, countryside, and meeting some really nice people.

Tomorrow we are headed into Barcelona for church and meeting up with Josep, Teresa & Joan at Tibidabo, an amusement park for kids on top of the mountain looking over Barcelona and the sea. I'm sure it will be fun and I'll post more photos tomorrow night! Brian leaves Monday morning for training in Miami but then is home for a long stretch after that.

Adios for now!

Love,

Tonya

Sundays in Barcelona #4

Hola!

Today we went to the International Church of Barcelona again, and really enjoyed it. There was another new family there from Pennsylvania, and the pastor's wife just returned from being in Pennsylvania for a month for the birth of their granddaughter. Too funny! And did I tell you about the woman from Philadephia? I met her the other week, and she said she came to visit Barcelona 50 years ago and never went back! I couldn't believe it. She knew all about Lancaster. Anyway, after church we met Josep, Teresa & Joan at a nice park near the church. They brought us panallets, which were excellent. They are a traditional cookie made by the Catalonians around Halloween.

We then went for an excursion on a double-decker open-air bus that the kids have been wanting to do. It was actually a great way to see a lot of the city, and if you had a lot of time and energy you could get on and off the bus and do a TON of things in a day. We really enjoyed seeing La Sagrada Familia, the Old Port, more of Montjuic, and of course the FC Barcelona stadium. :) For part of the trip we sat in the front of the upper deck which the kids just loved. Here are some photos of today.

Some other highlights of the week were that (1) Brian came home Wednesday night for a couple days, (2) Caroline & I had a little outing in Sitges Friday night which was VERY fun; we explored more of the old town area near San Sebastian beach which is just gorgeous, went to a market near the church, to the library, and ended the evening with some chocolate croissants, and (3) we finally got phone/internet service at the house yesterday!

Hope you all are well!
Love,
Tonya