Familia!

Hola Familia y Amigos!
My sister Nellie and her husband Josh, and two of my cousins Burnie & Brandon arrived safely last Friday after a long night with USAirways. Ha! Here you can see Brandon, Nellie and Burnie crashed out by the pool while the kids are playing loudly around them. :)
No rest for the weary! We walked into the beach, along the paseo, and then to the miniature golf course.
Jackson jumped on the trampoline by himself this time!
Jumping is still Caroline's favorite activity.

"That guy fall down!" He says that all the time.
This time Luke rode the little four-wheeler around the track and actually did really well! Only went over the tires a couple of times. :)
Saturday we showed them around Sitges, here's a shot of the four of them in the old town near the church by the sea.
Josh and Nellie on a cute street off of Caroline's favorite street.
Me and Nellie on Caroline's favorite street!

Taking a break by the beach.
We just couldn't keep Jackson out of the sand!
Jackson discovered a fun ride on Josh's legs, and wanted to do it over and over and over again. :)
Brandon decided to take a nap in the shade and it wasn't long before he had some company.
Jackson was so funny pretending he was sleeping!

The kids just loved the extra hands to hold!
Brian told Josh that the trimmed trees looked like his nub finger, so he made him pose for a picture! Nice glasses, huh! :)
Josh, Nellie, Caroline and I posing by the tree by the church by the sea.
Group photo at the base of the church steps.
A pretty walkway in old town Sitges.

Nellie getting her feet wet in the Mediterranean.
On Sunday we took them to our church, and then rode the metro to La Sagrada Familia.
We then rode the metro to Placa Espanya, and walked up the hill toward the National Museum of Art.
We stopped on the way up for a picnic lunch in the shade.
Jackson was all full of "cheeses"!

Once we got up to the museum we sat out front and listened to some nice live music.
Jackson trying on Brian's sunglasses.
From the National Museum of Art we continued up the hill and walked around the Olympic Ring.
After walking around the Olympic area, we took the cable cars up to the Montjuic castle. Here's Burnie, Josh & Nellie enjoying the views.
Boys by the olympic stadium (taken by Luke).

Girls by the olympic stadium (taken by Luke).
View from the cable car overlooking the city with a view of La Sagrada Familia in the distance.
View of inside the cable car: Brandon, Burnie, Luke.
View of the other cable car!
Luke and Josh playing by a cannon up at the castle.

Luke and Burnie playing by another cannon up at the castle. Can you guess who we couldn't get off the cannons?
Caroline and Jackson on the ride back down.
We then walked up Las Ramblas and found this beautiful plaza that I had actually been looking for previously and hadn't found: Placa Reial. It was very beautiful!
Monday morning we went for a tour of Codorniu winery, and everyone enjoyed the train ride through the 30 kilometers of underground caves! Okay, maybe Burnie got a little train-sick. Ha!
Caroline said "oh good, it's cracker time!" They give a basket of crackers for the cava tasting and they remembered that from last time!

We then took the train into Barcelona, and walked around the Barri Gothic old town area. There are so many beautiful old churches.
Luke having fun with Burnie.
Stopping for a rest in old town.
Josh and Caroline having a conversation - well sort of! It's kind of like talking to an old Roman wall. :)
The gang in front of one of the churches, I think it was Placa del Pi.

We showed them La Boqueria market and then headed to Port Vell for a ride on a golondrina.
Everyone enjoyed a little relaxation!
Josh and Nellie enjoying the ride!
Burnie with his cool shades.
We then walked across the bridge over to the Mare Magnum area, and Burnie looked so funny wearing a kids' backpack and pushing an empty stroller with a big pink balloon stuffed in the back!

We had such a fun time with the Bare's and Smucker's, and are so, so glad they came to visit! What great memories! They are touring around Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy now and we look forward to seeing them again on Saturday night. Caroline peeks in their room each morning to see if they are back yet. :)

Hugs and kisses to all!
Tonya