Birthday, Hike & Basketball

Hola todos!!

Hope you all had a nice weekend! We had a gorgeous day on Saturday, so the kids and I took a hike. Here is a view of our town of Sitges from the trail. More on that later, I just had to start the blog with this photo. :)
Feliz Cumpleanos Caroline!! Caroline turned 5 on Thursday, February 12th. Brian wasn't home, but my aunt and uncle Toots & Dale arrived that morning, and we had Mya and her parents over to have a little party with Caroline's choice: donuts instead of cake!
Caroline opening ladybug tea set from Pop-pop and Grammy.
Great new clothes from Auntie Nellie and Uncle Josh.
A mermaid doll from Luke and Jackson.
And a jacket and make-over set from Auntie Tootsie and Uncle Dale! What fun gifts!!
Saying thank-you to Auntie Tootsie.
Saying thank-you to neighbor Maresa.
Having fun with the make-over gift from Auntie Tootsie, a nail/tattoo/sticker set!
Then on Saturday, the kids and I set off on a hike from the top of the neighborhood Llevantina to the Ermita de la Trinitat, a beautiful setting on the edge of the mountain where I had been to a birthday party.
View of the port from the trail.
View of Sitges from the hike - just beautiful.
Jackson did not want any help, since he's big and huge you know. :)
First lunch stop - Luke enjoying his sandwich along the trail.

Caroline with her favorite - jello.

Hiker Jackson eating his jelly sandwich, yep - just jelly.

Luke did a great job being the leader of the hike, and they all had fun looking for the red and white paint to make sure we were on the right path.

Second lunch stop.

Loved this sign in the middle of nowhere!

On the path to the Ermita. We thought it just HAD to be right over the hill. :)

We found it!!

At the very end of the path, right along the edge with views of the sea all around, was this great gazebo.

Lunch stop number 3. Finishing off the gummy bears!

Smiling Luke.

And smiling Caroline! I asked her why she didn't smile like that for her birthday pictures, and she said she didn't know she was supposed to. :)

Jackson running around the gazebo in circles.

Caroline taking a siesta and preparing for the return hike. I love this picture.

Group shot thanks to the self-timer.

Great places to explore and play at the Ermita.

Kids outside the Ermita.

Funny face picture.

Gorgeous day, pretty flowers.

Luke peeking through the stone hand-rail.

Caroline's turn.

Last but not least - Jackson with rabbit ears.

Beautiful spot with breath-taking views.

Caroline by the wall of seashells - still all smiles!

The walk home started off as a parade, which helped to distract them from the journey ahead.

Made it to the Sitges sign and stopped for a snack.

We found Sitges again!!

This is my favorite, they were saying "We made it!!" I was SO proud of them! They actually said the return trip wasn't so bad and went by really fast. :)

Incredible views of Sitges.

Then today, Brian arrived at the Girona airport at 8.30 in the morning, took a bus to BCN, and met us at church! The kids didn't know he was getting home today - so it was a great surprise. I then surprised all of them with tickets to the Barca basketball game. We went with Josep & Joan, and had a great time!

The player in blue & red near the middle of the picture is Daniel Santiago, who we had actually met at our church a few weeks ago. When he's in the off-season they have a place in Sarasota, small world!

There are also two videos posted below, one of Jackson showing his different pirate faces, and one of the kids at the Ermita on Saturday.

Toots and Dale left on Friday morning for Italy until Wednesday. When they return we will spend a few days around here, have Caroline's birthday party on the beach in town, and then take a short trip to the Costa Brava. We're looking forward to a fun time with them.

Take care and God bless you all -

Tonya

Time with Dad!

Hola!! It was so nice to have Brian home for a stretch, but it was much too short. Yesterday we had a really lovely day and the kids couldn't wait to show him the new castle by the sea that we found, so off we went. In case you think the scarves look a bit strange on a day of sun in the upper 50s...

this is how they looked for the past week - with the flu (luckily not the stomach kind). From the day Brian got home until yesterday, they were all fighting the flu and it was raining. This combination provides no real opportunity for taking any sort of decent photos. :)

He managed to get them off of the sofa long enough to try on their carnival costumes that he picked up at the Chinese market in Dubai.

On Sunday we had plans to meet up with Josep, Teresa, their boys, Teresa's brother and mother for a birthday lunch at a restaurant in Casteldefells called El Avion. We've been trying to schedule this for about 6 months, so we went thinking we have to eat anyway, right? :)

Miquel seemed to be the only one who was feeling okay!

Although they were troopers, they clearly weren't feeling well. And neither was Joan.

Carlos blowing out his birthday candles. We had a really nice lunch together, and then each headed home with our sick kids in the rain. :)

The sun is back! By yesterday it really seemed like the kids needed some sun and fresh air, and the afternoon out did us all good. We arrived at the castle and started on a hike along the coast, here's a little fort where we stopped for a snack.

Luke took some photos so that we actually have some of us together!

Now I know where the looney comes from. :)

Brian along the edge of the cliff.

View along the trail.

Cool rock formation in the sea.

Los ninos y yo.

Closer up, looks like Luke is about to sneeze - nasty!

Brian by the sea.

We hiked to a point where there was a small cove with lots of fun places to play.

Caroline in the sun.

Dad & kids.

Caroline had fun climbing all around.

Crashing waves.

Jackson found a little "pond" and was fishing with his stick. :)

Brian trying not to think about going back to work.

The trail looped back around toward the castle, and it went past this watch-tower with a fence around it and nice blue gate. It really looked like someone lived in there!

Back at the castle. By this point they had had enough and it was time to head home.

On the way out, a cool little archway of stones.

And a view through one of the outer gates.

This morning the kids and I drove Brian up to catch a flight out of Girona, which was a first. He usually flies out of BCN or Reus, which are much closer. But the views of the mountains were just beautiful on the drive. Here is a shot on the way home where you can see the snow off in the distance. Skiing is actually quite popular here, and there are many resorts on beautiful mountains within 2-3 hrs from where we live.





Next week is Caroline's 5th birthday, and my aunt and uncle Toots and Dale Smucker are coming for a visit! They're going to Italy for 6 days and will be here for 6 days. It will be fun to go around with them and do many of our favorite things for the "last" time. :( I can hardly believe our time is coming to an end in a few short weeks. It has been such an amazing experience that is almost hard to put into words, but I'd say it was life-changing for sure. More on that later, I'm trying not to think about leaving. :)

Hugs and kisses to you all!
Tonya