Camping, Birthdays, Biking, and Guests!

HOLA to all!!
This past week we experienced a lot of firsts: our first camping trip in Spain, my first birthday in Spain, Luke riding bike without training wheels for the first time, and going to pick up people at the airport that we didn't know for the first time. HA! It was a GREAT week! We camped at the "finca" of Luke's friend Dylan. It turned out to be very much "roughing it", but we had such a fun time. Here is Luke giving the thumbs up on a hike.
Their property had almond trees, and a few cherry trees, and you could tell that at one time there was a very nice terraced farming system up the sides of the mountains by the stone walls and terraced levels.
Here is their shed, which they've turned into a cute little living space. They have plans to add on this summer. There is no electricity or running water, but they plan to keep it that way. We cooked over an open fire and stored food in a deep hole in the ground.
They were so kind to sleep in a tent and let us sleep in the shed! Luke slept up top, and Caroline, Jackson and I slept on the bottom (Brian wasn't home yet).
We all went on a hike to look at the old shepherd's shelters and old wells.
A view across the valley of their property.
Brian arrived home on Monday, and then on Tuesday we had a very fun day together as a family for my birthday. We went out for lunch to a restaurant at the very end of the paseo. All you could see was the sea! It was wonderful. Here's Luke giving the thumbs up, I guess it's his new pose. :)
And Jackson giving his version of thumbs up! Ha ha!
Sweet Caroline.
Family picture. My dish was black noodle paella (in case you were wondering!) and it was awesome!!
The kids posing after lunch before heading to the beach.

We then spent the rest of the day at one of our favorite beaches, where there are rock islands you can climb out to when the tide is out.
Caroline happy at the beach!
It wasn't long until Brian was sculpting in the sand again.
Brian and Luke going out to jump some waves.
This time the sculpture was a 747! Big surprise!

Then on Wednesday, Brian's uncle Barry and his wife Janice arrived from Africa on their way back to the US. It was so nice of them to drop in to see us! We took them around Barcelona and had lunch at Sagardi.
Here is a plate of tapas from Sagardi. I don't think we've included a picture like this from our other trips there, but now you know why we keep going back!
Just down the street from Sagardi is the cathedral Santa Maria del Mar, it's very beautiful.

After leaving Sagardi we walked by a soap shop which was very interesting!
We then went to Sagrada Familia, and Barry took some great shots of it with our camera.


This is a view of Sagrada Familia from Avinguda de Gaudi, which Nikolina and Jaspreet found and told us about. It led from Sagrada Familia to the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau that Gaudi designed, and it was just beautiful.

Here is the hospital.
We then took the train back to Sitges and walked through town. Here's one of our favorite bakeries...yum!
A view of some of the beaches with the Sitges cathedral in the background.
Janice in the Mediterranean.
Barry in the Mediterranean.

The following day we spent some time on the paseo riding bike! Here's Brian working with Jackson. He mostly just likes to sit on it and honk the horn. :)
Luke made GREAT progress this day, and rode for the first time without Brian holding on. I will try to post the movie I took below. We were so proud of him!!
Jackson got tired of riding his bike and decided to drive our car instead. :)
Our friend Josep found this bike for Luke (at the neighbor of his wife's mother), and they kindly gave it to us! Brian helped Luke paint it green and then got some flame stickers for it, he was thrilled!

The following day Brian left on a long trip, and the kids and I went to a birthday party of Luke's friend Adam. They had an outer space theme, and his Mom had made a rocket pinata, I was impressed!
She also made a solar system cake, which the kids loved!
The little guys in the swing: Jackson, Nathan, and Gabriel.

After the party we headed to the train station to pick up Amy Schulz and her friend Casey who had arrived the night before and had just spent the day exploring Barcelona. Amy and Casey are Penn State students who are studying in Seville for 6 weeks and came to Barcelona for the weekend. I went to pick them up at the airport on Friday night and then realized I didn't know who I was looking for! It was so funny, I made a quick sign that said "Amy & Casey" and tried to spot some American-looking girls. Our friend from home Linda Hershey had connected us with Amy, who is dating her son, but we had never met her before. Luckily we picked each other out without too much trouble! We had such a great time with them!! So after picking them up at the train station in Sitges Saturday night, we showed them around town and got some beautiful shots as the sun was setting. Here's one of the Sitges church.
Here's Casey, Amy, me, Jackson and Luke by the sea (except you can't see it!) - taken by Caroline.

And Caroline making a funny face on our walk through old town.
Hanging out and making funny faces!! Jackson wore his Carolina jersey because Amy's boyfriend Mitch is a huge Carolina fan too (GO HEELS!)
Then on Sunday morning we took them to the International Church of Barcelona, and then had a picnic lunch by the National Museum of Art. It was a very hot day so we were happy to relax in the shade!

We walked through some pretty gardens to get from the museum to the Olympic area, and the kids wanted to take turns taking pictures. Here Luke was the photographer.
We then rode the cable cars up to the castle on Montjuic, and had some ice cream!
Amy, Casey and Luke in a look-out by the castle.
Caroline in her own look-out with a nice view of the bridge and Barcelona in the background. She just learned how to blow the dried dandylion petals off the stem. :)
We made one last stop by the port before taking them back to the airport. What a fun day!! We really enjoyed having them here and getting to know them.

Family Time and More Friends!

Hola!! We hope all is well with you!

The kids and I were so happy to have Brian around for a week. We went to a new playground in a neighboring town one day, and the kids had fun playing with Dad. Getting dressed is sometimes an issue with Caroline. This particular day she wanted to wear her Sunday best, so Sunday best it was. :)
Maybe she was just celebrating Dad being home.
Luke was climbing up everything in sight.
And Jackson just ran.
At one point they were throwing some boomerangs and one got stuck in a tree. I thought this was a funny picture!
On Friday Brian and Luke were invited to go flying with a neighbor of our's who is in a club at a local airport.
Our neighbor Tim, from England. His family owns the masia where we picked olives last fall.
Some beautiful shots of Sitges and the Mediterranean.
Here you can see the series of coves and beaches along the coast in Sitges.
And they even flew to Montserrat, so here is a nice aerial view.

Also on Friday my friend Nikolina from Hershey arrived with her boyfriend Jaspreet for a week in Barcelona. Her 30th birthday was on Saturday, so we all went out for a really nice dinner in the city. We ended up at a GREAT restaurant high up on Montjuic overlooking the city. It was fabulous. Her friend Jerin was also in town and joined us for her birthday dinner.
Great shot of Nikolina and Jaspreet.
Brian was playing around with the night-time lighting settings on the camera and was able to get some great shots.
We were on the outside terrace which had great atmosphere but was actually a bit chilly. Luckily they had the tower heaters!

On Sunday we went to church and then had a picnic lunch by the port.
Hmmm...I wonder what Brian is looking at?
Boats and restaurants along the water at Port Vell.
I thought this was kind of cool, a picture of boats, a cable car, and an airplane all at one time!
Jackson on the metro, he had way too much fun!

On Monday Nikolina and Jaspreet came by train to Sitges and we showed them around our town. We started with a nice lunch at Cafe La Nina on the sea front.
This restaurant had actually been recommended by Becky & Les, and we all loved it. We will definitely go back there again!
Here's the famous spot at the base of the church where we take everyone's picture. :)
Kids running through old town Sitges.
Caroline running down the street by our library, towards San Sebastian beach.
Jaspreet and Nikolina on Caroline's favorite road.
Family shot, we haven't had one of those in a while!
After walking around town for a bit we stopped at the beach so Nikolina and Jaspreet could feel the Mediterranean. It was a bit cold!


Luke was in his glory!
Hanging out on the beach.
Jaspreet and Luke decided to jump the waves for a bit, and Luke just had a blast.
Cold, wet boys in the back of the Doblo. :)
On Tuesday Brian left for training in Miami, and Wednesday we went to "bydnastics" (which ends this week). Caroline wanted to take ladybug cookies for her class and teachers. So we actually made whoopie pie ladybugs which were a big hit!
Then on Friday we saw Nikolina and Jaspreet again before they flew out Saturday morning. We started off at Catalunya en Miniatura. We had a picnic lunch, had fun looking at all of the miniature sights in Catalunya where they had been...
and of course rode the train.
The driver let the kids pose in the captain's seat.
Since we were out that direction we then took them to Montserrat. Nikolina wasn't too sure about the yellow cable car ride to the top of the mountain!


I never get tired of seeing the beauty of this place. Here are Jesus and the twelve disciples. It's amazing to think about how this was built high up on a rocky mountain such a long time ago.

Jaspreet, Nikolina and the kids outside the cathedral entrance.
Jackson was a bit of a crazy man wanting to push his stroller around everywhere!
View from the top.
Kids waiting to ride the cable car back down the mountain.
Caroline and Nikolina having a good belly laugh. :) We all really enjoyed our trip to Montserrat, and all of our time with them during their trip to Barcelona!! Happy 30th Birthday Nikolina!!

They flew out Saturday morning, and then the kids and I drove to a "finca" in the country owned by Luke's friend Dylan's family. It's basically a small working farm with a shed on it, that they've made into a really cute cottage and have plans to expand it. They let us sleep in the shed and they slept in a tent. It was the most "roughing it" that they kids have done thus far, that's for sure! We cooked over an open fire, the refrigerator was a deep whole in the ground, and only saw 2 other people the entire weekend! It was very relaxing. I'll have some pictures to include with the next posting.

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers in our families and lives, we love you all!

Adios for now!
Love,

Tonya