Hola Familia y Amigos!
We just had a wonderful week of relaxing and exploring with friends and neighbors from Landisville, Glenn & Janice Burkhart.
Within 5 minutes of their arrival, Glenn was wearing a princess crown, being hit by spiderman spiderwebs, and being eaten by a shark. Welcome to the King House! :)
We spent some time by the pool the first day, and then went into the paseo for a walk in the evening. They were so good about offering to take family photos of us, so we've got lots of new ones now! Here we are by the sea in Sitges, with the church in the distance.
Caroline with her pink dress, pink crocs, pink pearls and pink scooter. She was quite the sight. :)
Glenn & Janice walking on the paseo.
The next day (Thursday, Sept. 11th) was actually a holiday here. Alisha Sangrey from Lancaster, who the kids and I met last weekend in Barcelona, came to spend the day with us in Sitges. Glenn & Janice knew her from church in PA and we thought it would be fun to connect with her while they were here. We showed them around old town Sitges, with a stop at the canon for Luke.
Caroline took this picture of me, Jackson, Luke, Alisha and Janice in front of a pretty door near the church.
Family photo on Caroline's favorite road.
We stopped by a placa near the church where they were having a ceremony related to the holiday (National Day of Catalonia). There were lots of flowers, but everything was in Catalan so we're not sure what was being said. :)
They did a single tower of people with a child on the top holding the Catalan flag. It was impressive, but the guy on the bottom was REALLY shaking by the end of the song and we were all relieved when they came down.
Here is Caroline in old town by the door to our library.
Friday the 12th - off to Barcelona!! Here we are in an elevator at the train station.
Jackson in the elevator making his favorite face.
We took the train into town and then the metro to Placa Catalunya. Here's a family shot at the top of La Rambla.
Glenn & Janice on La Rambla. Ready for a day of sight-seeing and people watching.
On a street that runs parallel to La Rambla we found a market where they were selling ceramics and pottery. Here are some replicas of Gaudi creations from Parc Guell.
And some really pretty pottery.
As we walked down the street toward the Cathedral, we passed a shop called "Happy Pills", which was full of jelly beans and other gummy candies.
Caroline posing by the "C" in Barcelona in the placa by the Cathedral.
We came across a lot of live music in the streets that day. Here Janice is people watching while Glenn is looking at all of the great pictures he has taken. :)
The kids checking out a cool chess set in a toy shop window.
Walking down a street from Placa Sant Jaume toward La Rambla in search of a Starbucks - ha!
We stopped for a picnic lunch at Placa Sant Miquel and found some benches by a playground - perfect! Caroline took a picture of the grown-ups enjoying lunch.
The kids enjoyed playing and eating, and a break from walking around...
so they could run around. :) Caroline was the photographer for this one as well.
The kids and I then left Brian, Glenn & Janice to take the train back to Sitges while they did more sight-seeing. We have heard so much about the thieves in this area of town, but hadn't had any trouble personally until this day (besides Scott & Karen's camera being stolen at Port Olympic). Jackson was asleep in the stroller and I came upon a long set of stairs going up to the train station from the metro. A woman came by and offered to help me carry the stroller up, so up we went, with Luke and Caroline slightly behind me. On the way up the stairs Luke said "Mom, some lady is in your purse!" I turned around just in time to see a gypsy pulling her hand out of my purse. All I could think to do was yell "WHAT ARE YOU DOING??!!!" at the top of my lungs. :) She acted all shocked like she didn't know what I was talking about, and quickly ran down the steps. Some people stopped and looked, but others kept walking by minding their own business. She had unzippered my purse the whole way, but thanks to Luke she hadn't gotten away with ANYTHING!!! I was SO proud of Luke and thankful that he noticed something was wrong. Luke saved the day!! On the train ride home we talked about it over and over, and Luke said that I should write about it on the blog and say that Luke saved the day! :) We were very thankful for God's protection this day!
That weekend (Sept 13th - 14th) was the Sitges Wine Festival, celebrating the grape harvest in the Penedes region very close to us. They had some things set up for the kids on Saturday the 13th, so we went in town in the evening to check out the activities. Here some kids are stomping grapes with their feet, but Luke & Caroline weren't interested in doing this.
This was sort of a relay race where they carried water back and forth between buckets.
And the best part was having to eat grapes with their hands behind their backs. It was great!
They got free t-shirts and a bag of other goodies for participating.
The best part of the evening was the sky, the sun beginning to set, and the beautiful pictures we were able to get of the Sitges church!
Here are signs advertising the wine festival.
Sunday the 14th - Castell d'Emporda! We took Glenn & Janice to our favorite castle-hotel in La Bisbal d'Emporda near the Costa Brava for a time of relaxation. There is a beautiful terrace by the pool with huge white sofa-chairs over-looking the countryside. Here are Glenn & Janice enjoying some sun and time to read.
And Brian enjoying some cuddling from Jackson.
While we were sitting by the pool Glenn noticed that there was only ONE cloud in the sky and the sun happened to be behind it!
Luke and Caroline showing their...well, you get the picture. :)
Glenn & Janice posing nicely for Luke to take a picture for their Christmas cards this year!
Caroline got to sleep on the window seat in our castle room, and she looked just like a princess!
We connected the cot to the window seat so the kids were all in a row. They loved it! And they actually slept great.
Here is a view from the window in our room.
Some shots from around the castle.
Out of our doorway.
We climbed the tower stairs and there were some animals mounted on the walls. Luke wanted his picture taken with one. :)
At the top of the tower the views were just amazing. Luke & Caroline did a great job of getting Jackson to smile.
View of the countryside from the tower.
Outside of our room there was an amazing miniature display of one of the Napoleanic wars. Luke walked around it and took pictures from every angle, I decided to just include one of them. :)
Luke & Caroline took Janice to the top of the tower to show her the views, and I got a picture of them from down below.
There was a path through the woods so we took a little walk Monday morning.
A small chapel was connected to the one side of the castle.
Family shot as we were leaving the castle.
We then drove from the castle to the Costa Brava on our way up to the little fishing village of Cadaques. This is a view of some coves in the town of Begur.
It took us a little longer than expected, so Janice and Jackson decided to take a nap. :)
We had to wind our way up and over a mountain to get to Cadaques. There were some pretty vineyards along the way.
And we finally arrived at Cadaques, which was as quaint and picturesque as I had read!
The water was a beautiful shade of blue, and very clear due to the rocky beaches.
We found a playground right by the sea that the kids enjoyed.
Brian and the boys exploring some rocks at the edge of the water.
Family photo at Cadaques!
Great shot of Glenn & Janice.
We had a nice lunch/dinner at La Gritta along the walkway by the sea.
Luke was REALLY hungry and ate a ton of spaghetti!
We walked around after dinner until dark, and Glenn & Brian were able to get some beautiful shots as the sun was setting.
Cadaques at dusk.
The following morning (Tuesday the 16th) we walked around town a bit, and tried to capture the way the sun was just glistening on the water.
Cadaques in the morning.
We walked around town and found some really quaint, pretty streets.
Brian, Caroline, and Luke...being a 6-year-old boy. :)
Here's a shop where we found some fun clothing. Brian got a striped Joseph shirt, and Glenn went for a solid salmon.
View of Cadaques in the morning from the church.
Caroline posing nicely.
Glenn & Janice relaxing...really I just wanted a picture of the salmon shirt. :)
Jackson playing by a huge tree trunk.
Walking along the sea again.
Luke and I at the rocks. I bought this whole outfit there the night before for 13 euros total!
Luke directing traffic.
Brian wearing his Joseph shirt enjoying the shade...Brian and Caroline usually go for the shade, the boys and I like the sun.
Jackson running! After we met up with Glenn & Janice again we had a light lunch by the water and then headed out of town. It took us about 3-3.5 hrs to get home to Sitges from here. We had a nice dinner together at home, and then they got packed up to leave the following morning. We had a wonderfully relaxing time with them and are so glad they could come to visit!! We hope it was equally as restful and relaxing for them...despite the constant chatter of three little kids! :)
Hope you are all doing well!
Con mucho amor,
Tonya
Hola Amigos y Familia!
As we left the port in Vilanova, we saw this nice boat with a pretty backdrop of the town of Vilanova and mountains in the background.
Our friends who joined us: here is Uncle Yves (as the kids call him) from Belgium,
Patricia from Brazil (she and husband Lisaneas are our small group leaders).
Caroline, Jackson and Yves watching for huge jellyfish.
Brian, Luke, and Lisaneas enjoying the sun and the views. We were so thankful for a beautiful day!
Closer view of Sitges, with a nice view of the church.
This is actually up the coast a little further near Luke's futbol field.
Lisaneas enjoying the views.
Dad the pillow!
Brian and Luke doing some snorkeling. To our surprise, Cala Morisca appeared to be a popular place for nude sunbathers, so we swam near the boat. :)
Jackson attacking Brian on the "trampoline". 
Our skipper, Nicholas, was very friendly. He let Luke sail the boat for a bit...maybe that's why I got a little green. :)
Family shot on the boat.
Happy 40th Birthday Brian!!!
The next day we went into BCN for church and a picnic lunch by the Tower of Columbus at the port.
The kids have been wanting to ride the lion statues ever since we got here, so they finally got their chance! Here's Luke...
and Caroline.
Driving through town we also happened to see a random parade of horses and soldiers. The kids loved it!
On the way home from BCN we drove up a road to see where it went and found some nice views of the coast along Sitges.
Brian then left on Tuesday, and that evening we visited a new gymnastics class for Caroline with some neighbor girls. At one point I peeked around the corner at her and she said "Mommy this is so much fun!" She was so excited. I'm so proud of how much more confident and brave she has become!!
It was hard to get very many good shots, but we tried to get a couple.
Luke snuck in and took a few shots too. :)
And then tonight it was his turn, first night of futbol!! After how hard it was for him last year (new language, new kids, new coaches, new sport), he did just incredible tonight!! He wasn't afraid at all, and was also so confident and brave compared to last year. I was so proud!! He's the one in all blue (head to toe!)
What a difference a year makes. They've both just learned to get in the back of the line and follow the other kids if they don't understand what they're supposed to do.
Jackson and Caroline playing at the futbol field. They were both excited about futbol starting too, so they wore their Barca jerseys. :)
Jackson wanting some attention: "take a picture of ME!"
Luke kicking the ball during a scrimmage at the end of practice.
Caroline wanted to take a picture of Jackson and me.
And I just loved this one...team huddle on the field with the palm trees and Mediterranean in the background. Can't beat the views!
