We just had four fun-filled and crazy days with our neighbors Todd, Kathleen, Zachary, Reese and Nadia from Landisville. We had such a blast traipsing around Barcelona with six kids ages 8 and younger. :)
The Catalans are so friendly and family-oriented that we got plenty of smiles, laughs, and help as we were out and about. Everyone loved the kids! They arrived at 6:30am on Friday morning and after a big pancake breakfast we walked from our house in to the beach to enjoy some sunshine. The kids had SO much FUN playing in the sand and before long were completely soaked.
We had the most amazing weather while they were here. In the sunshine it easily felt like 70 degrees. We had beautiful sunny days, and just loved being outside. Here's Luke, Reese and Zachary building a fort. After we let them rest a bit we headed into Barcelona by train
to go to the aquarium. Here are the kids being eaten by a shark at the entrance to the aquarium. They really enjoyed seeing the beautiful fish and especially the shark tunnel. The aquarium is at the port right along the water, so you can enjoy the outside surroundings just as much as what you see inside.
On the way back to the metro we had to stop for our daily ice cream cone. :) We ended up getting home and finally sitting down for dinner around 10pm...welcome to the Spanish lifestyle!
On Saturday we had Caroline's 4th birthday party at the beach in Sitges, and it was SO special for her to have Nadia, Zachary and Reese here to celebrate with her!! I let her decide who else to invite, and she invited Joan (with Josep & Teresa), Miss Annette, her Sunday School teacher Miss Lydia, and our landlords Mr. Fermin & Miss Celia. Our landlords weren't able to come, but everyone else was there. We ended up with another beautiful day and a great time at the beach!! Everyone seemed to really enjoy it. Miss Annette made Caroline a beautiful chocolate cake, and we provided tapas and cheetos for Joan. :)
Caroline was full of smiles and hugs for everyone. Here she is giving Miss Kathleen a big squeezer.
I'm not sure she liked all of the attention when everyone sang to her, but she sure loved the chocolate cake!!
Brian spent HOURS making her a beautiful pinata of Thomas the Tank Engine. The kids then filled it till it was bursting with candy. Unfortunately 6 of the 7 kids at the party were staying at our house so most of it ended up back home!!
Jackson with chocolate on his face...a recurring theme!!!
She received the nicest selection of gifts, and just loved everything. Here she is opening a wooden Maggie Leigh doll from Nadia, who is busily eating candy beside her. :)
Here Caroline is giving Miss Teresa a nice big hug for her gift. Teresa was almost 9 months pregnant and had a c-section scheduled for the following weekend, but ended up having her baby the next day!!! She had a boy and they named him Miquel, we're anxious to meet him.
Miss Annette gave Caroline a mermaid Barbie doll, which did not leave her hand the rest of the day, or the whole night, or the following day in Barcelona. :)
By the end of the party the kids ended up...guess where...in the water. Here's a cute shot of Joan, Zachary and Luke.
Jackson and Joan playing with diggers in the sand. I don't think Jackson moved from this spot during the entire party, except maybe to get more candy!
On to Day 3! We went to the International Church of Barcelona in the morning, and then took the metro to La Sagrada Familia to show them this amazing cathedral. From there we started the double-decker bus tour of the northern part of the city. Here's a great shot of Kathleen & Nadia.
Luke & Reese having fun on the bus.
This part of the tour took us near Parc Guell, Tibidabo, Les Pedralbes, and most importantly, the FC Barcelona stadium at Camp Nou.
Todd & Zachary enjoying the ride, and listening to our personal tour guide.
I guess I took a lot of bus pictures that day!
We got off the bus at Placa Catalunya, and walked through the beautiful Barri Gothic district in search of "xocolate suisso amb churros", or something like that. :) Our Catalan neighbor in Landisville, Maria, gave us a treasure map of where to find some, and I'm not sure that we went to the right place but we sure enjoyed what we ate!! Here are some shots of the kids at Placa del Pi.
Day #4: We took the train from Sitges to Estacio Sants and picked up the double-decker bus to finish the southern tour of the city, along the sea. We first got off at Montjuic at the National Museum of Art to get a group picture with the city in the background. There were some reporters there shooting interviews with people because of a big conference that was in town, and guess who got on the camera!! The Walter kids!! It was pretty cute. They were trying to get people from all different nations and languages to say "Hello from Barcelona", so they gave them a good old American accent.
One of our many picnic lunches, this one at the park at Anella Olympic, the Olympic Ring.
Brian & Zachary trying to be human statues and make a little cash. :)
After touring around the Olympic stadium and surrounding area, we went through the Olympic museum where I did a slam dunk on Brian. :)
Our next stop was a cable car ride out over the port, with amazing views. Here Kathleen and the kids are watching the red cable car come to pick us up.
The views of the city and the Mediterranean from this cable car are just amazing.
Me & Caroline.
Miss Nadia enjoying the cable car ride. I think this was right before she fell asleep. :)
Back to the bus! We then finished the ride by Port Olympic, the zoo, and another ride through the beautiful old town area. We stayed on the bus until the train station and then rode the train back to Sitges. Once again we had a late dinner and then they had to pack up to head to Munich the following morning.
This is pretty much the reaction we got anytime we tried to take a picture of these two! Luke was really interested in the fact that Miss Kathleen had a baby in her belly, and throughout the day he would walk beside her for a while and hold her hand. It was very sweet. After they left I asked him about this and he said that he wanted to make sure she didn't tip over!!! :)Another funny thing about their visit was that we all kept confusing Brian and Todd for each other, and Caroline & Nadia for each other! It was really funny how often it happened! We just had such a nice time with them, and when Luke woke up the day they left he just cried and cried. We were so sad to see them leave!! They'll be back for a quick sleep-over this Saturday night before heading back to the US, so they'll have one more fun night in the tents Brian set up for them. Sorry for such a long entry, but you end up with lots of pictures and stories when you take 4 adults and 6 kids around Barcelona!
Lots of love to you all, and have a Happy Valentine's Day! :)
Besitos y abrazos,
Tonya
1 comment:
Pretty Pictures! Say hi to my cousins for me! Love, Emily
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