Hola!! While the rest of you went back to work last week, Spain was still celebrating. :) On Tuesday night there was a really nice parade in town to show the arrival of the Three Kings. They were all on camel-back, and the parade also included some horses, and floats of Disney characters. As we were walking in to meet with friends before the parade started, we passed by where they were trying to get the camels up and cooperating. Ha ha!
Luke with friends Adam and Sean posing nicely.
Luke with friends Adam, Sean, and Nil in the background, posing not-so-nicely! Ha ha.
And the parade finally started. Not sure what they're doing here, but Caroline liked this picture.
Drummers.
One of the royal post-ladies who was collecting letters for the Three Kings - same idea as letters to Santa I think.
Caroline loved this princess.
Donald, Minnie, & Mickey.
The next day - which was a holiday to celebrate the Three Kings Day - we were invited by our friends Josep & Teresa to celebrate with their families at their house. Here is Miquel playing with a toy we got for him at Montserrat.
Josep made a great treasure hunt for the kids to find their gifts! They loved it! Caroline's gift was outside on a terrace by his bike, and was a pink Barbie suitcase!! Inside the suitcase was a jewelry-making kit, which is right up her alley!
Luke found his shooting Spiderman gift behind the coffee maker - and we were all getting shot at the rest of the day.
After patiently waiting for his turn, Jackson found his gift in the dishwasher!
His was a Playmobile pirate ship, complete with pirates, treasure, palm trees, and sea animals. Could not have been more perfect for him! We hardly saw him the rest of the day. :)
Josep's mother Montse and his son Joan.
The first course of dinner was small bites of olives, dates wrapped in bacon, chips, and tortilla de patata. The second course was Catalan cannelonis - YUM. The third course was fruit. The fourth course was cake. The fifth course was coffee. What a great way to spend the afternoon!
They have a special cake that they only serve on this day, and it comes with a crown which Caroline thought I should wear. Inside the cake are hidden 2 things: a bean and a small king. Whoever gets the piece of cake with the bean inside has to pay for the cake, and whoever gets the piece of cake with the king inside gets to keep the crown.
The cake is served - and look inside Caroline's piece! It was the king.
Josep with baby Miquel.
Caroline was soon busy making jewelry. She made necklaces for Teresa, Teresa's mother, Josep's mother, herself, and me.
Also during dessert there was a plate of coal for all of the kids who had been bad. :) It was basically solid sugar - ha.
Josep & Teresa's mothers wearing their necklaces from Caroline.
Caroline posing with her crown and the king that had been in her piece of cake. Teresa had the bean in her piece. :) What a fun day!!
Then this past Sunday I ran in the 26th annual Sitges half-marathon! It was a great experience. I ran it with my friend Kim and our friend Suzanne's husband, which made it much more enjoyable. Brian and the kids did a great job getting to spots where they could cheer us on, I think we saw them 5 times! For those of you who have been here, the route consisted of 3 different loops, each one with a leg on the paseo which was beautiful. The longest loop included a leg which went over toward the next town of Villanova. There were 2500 participants! My goal was to run it in 2 hrs, and we did it in 1hr and 55min. We've already made plans to come back and do it again next year. :)
Just a few other shots from around home last week. I went out one day for something and came back to find this scene on the sofa. I think Jackson came over to tell Brian something, and the next thing Brian knew he was fast asleep. :)
One of our neighbors in Landisville sent over a school project - Flat Stacy! She came to visit Spain! So far she's only been playing with the kids Christmas gifts, but we're planning to get her in town soon. Here she is visiting Caroline's castle.
Visiting the nativity scene.
Then this past Sunday I ran in the 26th annual Sitges half-marathon! It was a great experience. I ran it with my friend Kim and our friend Suzanne's husband, which made it much more enjoyable. Brian and the kids did a great job getting to spots where they could cheer us on, I think we saw them 5 times! For those of you who have been here, the route consisted of 3 different loops, each one with a leg on the paseo which was beautiful. The longest loop included a leg which went over toward the next town of Villanova. There were 2500 participants! My goal was to run it in 2 hrs, and we did it in 1hr and 55min. We've already made plans to come back and do it again next year. :)
Just a few other shots from around home last week. I went out one day for something and came back to find this scene on the sofa. I think Jackson came over to tell Brian something, and the next thing Brian knew he was fast asleep. :)
One of our neighbors in Landisville sent over a school project - Flat Stacy! She came to visit Spain! So far she's only been playing with the kids Christmas gifts, but we're planning to get her in town soon. Here she is visiting Caroline's castle.
Visiting the nativity scene.
Visiting Jackson's castle.
And she even was allowed onto the aircraft carrier!Our other big news is that Tarheel went back to the US yesterday! It all came together somewhat quickly, and we didn't know for sure that they would let her on until the morning of Brian's flight due to the weather in NY and her weight. He had a meeting in Miami, and Atlas allowed him to fly through NY - but they only bought his ticket last Wednesday. So I took her to the vet Thursday and got all of her paperwork together. We scrambled around the house over the weekend looking for all of the parts to her crate, and now all of a sudden she's gone! But she made it fine on the plane and is having a great time at my parents house. :)
We hope the New Year is off to a great start for all of you! Wishing you lots of love -
Tonya
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