Barcelona-Day Four

It's hard to believe it's been four days already. Today really felt like a vacation. We didn't have anything to do today other than to wait for delivery of some exercise equipment. So we had a very leisurely morning. We took the girls to play on the playground, then we had some lunch and ventured up the mountain. We saw a lot of breathtaking vistas and I took a lot of pictures. It seemed like every corner we turned had a playgroud! This place was built for kids I tell you! After our hike, we went up to our top floor terrace and just sat in the sun and chatted about how wonderful life is and how blessed we are as a family! I think I could sit and look at the sea and never ever get bored. It's just so beautiful!

This evening we decided to venture toward Castelldefels to have some more gelat and to get some dinner (our first dinner out besides McDonalds). We went to an italian restaurant called Casanova. It didn't open for dinner until 8:30pm if that tells you anything about the lifestyle here:)! But our dinner was absolutely delicious. We were each going to order individual entrees like we do in the states, but instead we decided to order things one at a time to see how much we really needed. First we ordered a pizza with bacon and frankfurters on it. It was heavenly! Then Alexis wanted to try the Fettucini Alfredo. We ordered "para compartir" - to share. They brought it out and it was covered in prusciutto or some kind of salty ham and was very delicious as well. We followed our meal up with cafe con leche; Kaylee had coco de helado (coconut ice cream) and Alexis had tiramisu. They all were extremely delicious as well. We didn't leave dinner until around 10 pm and the restaurant was just beginning to get busy!

We are all really beginning to enjoy our time here. And we all think our 18 months in Barcelona is going to fly by in a flash!

Barcelona-Day Three

Today was a good day. We didn't have anything to do other than a tour of the British School of Barcelona at 11:00 am. The girls are still showing signs of fatigue, but today was much better. Alexis really liked the school. She would be in year 5 next year (equivalent of US grade 4) and Kaylee would be in year 2 (equivalent of US grade 1). I think both girls would do really well there. They seem to really have a great appreciation for the arts, especially music and drama which I think with all the pretending my girls do is a great fit. Please pray that there are spots for the girls in this school. It is the closest to our home here!

After the tour, we came home and just played. I put some furniture together and the girls relaxed on the couch and I think Ryan did some work. It was an absolutely blustery day! There were white caps on the sea as far as you could see;0) And the sun was shining so the Med. was just beautiful! We all enjoyed a light lunch of smoked salmon and gouda cheese. Later on in the afternoon, we decided to take a walk to the beach. I even dipped my toes in the water this time and Brrrr! was it ever chilly!! But the sand felt really nice and warm on my bare feet. And once again, the sunshine was such a spirit lifter! Alexis and I both noted the "sea smell" when we were close enough to the water. It is one of my favorite scents! The girls played on our playground for quite a long time after we came back from our walk to the beach. I think they played up until it was time to make dinner.

For dinner we had calamari and broccoli. The girls both really liked that! We are definitely eating a lot of seafood! After dinner Alexis and Ryan went to run some errands while Kaylee and I stayed home and played some Uno. She beat me at almost every game and she had such a great time. We were saying the numbers and colors in espanol. I think she really enjoyed that:) When Ryan and Alexis got home, we had some ice cream and then it was time for the girls to go to bed. I'd say we had a very good day!

Barcelona-Day Two

I think I'll start with last night. I woke up at 3am (9pm Indiana time) and was WIDE awake. Ryan said that usually happens to him on the second night. Maybe that is a good sign...maybe I am a fast recoverer. I just hope so. So I laid in bed for a while trying to go back to sleep, but there was no clock in the room and our room is pitch black with the blinds shut and the lights off, so I had no idea what time it was. I eventually came downstairs to turn on my computer to see what time it was. Then once I saw that I had only been asleep for 5 hours I decided I needed to try to go back to sleep. So I went back upstairs and tried to fall asleep. But my mind was just too busy. So I grabbed my book and came downstairs to read. Reading is my fail-safe. It always helps me get to sleep. And it worked. I finished my book and was ready to go back to sleep. And I slept for another 5 hours, ahhh! The girls had a very restful night as well. They slept almost a full 12 hours. But you could tell they were still really sleepy today.

Today was our day for shopping. We are trying to make this place homey! I think it will help Ryan while we are still living apart if this house actually feels like a home. So we first went to window shop at Carrefour. It is a store similar to a Big K or Wal-Mart Supercenter (definitely not as nice as MY Super Target!). We let the girls look at the toys and got some ideas for what to pick up later in our shopping trip. Next on our agenda was IKEA. I had never been in one before and this one c-r-a-z-y! But where else can you buy an end table for 5 euros? We bought a lot of stuff and squeezed it into our tiny rental car. We had to lay one of the back seats down to fit a hall table in it. Alexis had to squeeze in the middle of the back seat next to Kaylee's booster. Even though our car was almost full to bursting, we decided to stop back by Carrefour for some other items and a few groceries. We also bought the girls some toys there. They had Bakugan but they were way more expensive than they are in the states. Kaylee picked a Spongebob Slingshot and Alexis picked a Power Rangers sword and shield.

So after a day full of shopping, we are all tired again. The girls are relaxing, playing Star-fy and we are getting ready to have dinner. I doubt any of us will have trouble getting to sleep tonight:)

Barcelona-Day One

This post will be short and sweet...bullet points of our day because I am not far from bedtime:)

• International travel-not my favorite thing to do. I don't think the girls are big fans either. This morning when we were de-planing we all looked longingly at the business class seats thinking about how much more comfortable those would be!
• The girls and I now have our first stamps in our passports!
• Ryan has done really well in selecting our Casa de Espana. The first thing we all decided we wanted to do was explore the yard and house. One thing we noticed though is there is quite an echo with all the marble floors and few furnishings. And the house has a distinct fresh paint smell.
• The second thing we all wanted to do was go explore the beach. The girls enjoyed the walk through the tunnels and they both wanted to stick their fingers in the Mediterranean Sea. (By the way, flying over Europe was beautiful. I saw snow capped mountains and many very old buildings from afar...just breathtaking!)
• On our way back from the beach, we stopped at the park across the street from our home. The girls enjoyed getting some time to run around and play after being cooped up for so long yesterday. Ryan and I enjoyed sitting in the sunshine:)
• We all decided it was time for a rest...I set up a movie on my computer for the girls and Ryan and I napped for about an hour. I don't think either of the girls fell asleep, but I didn't expect them to; they have never been good nappers.
• On the flight over, someone sitting behind Alexis said Barcelona was the skate boarding capital of the world. So after our rest we decided to do some exploring and we travelled to Gava (the next town north of where our home is, Castelldefels) to a skate park that we knew was there. We drove part of the way there, but then walked on the beach walk for a good jaunt too. Kaylee rode on Ryan's shoulders almost the whole time and several times she looked like she was going to fall asleep up there.
• After visiting the skate park we stopped and bought the girls some gelat (catalan for ice cream). They both got a vanilla cone. Alexis let me try hers and let me tell you....I have NEVER had vanilla that tasted so delicious! You could tell they used real vanilla beans for the flavoring! Kaylee immediately fell asleep after she finished her cone (in the car). Her poor little body was so contorted in the back seat, but she was so tired she didn't straighten herself up!
• For dinner we drove through McDonalds...crazy I know, but it's Sunday and it was about the only thing open. I kind of like that about Spain:)

That about sums up our day. I do have pictures. Ryan took some of the girls sitting in a tree they both decided to climb. But he doesn't know how to get pictures off of his phone. I also took some pictures of the girls playing on the playground from a distance, but I think I forgot my USB cable for my camera. But if I happen to find it tomorrow, I will post those pictures at least.

Eggs in a Nest

"Eggs in a nest"-sounds like a sure sign of spring, right?

Well, I'm not writing about eggs in a real nest...I'm referencing the fun breakfast that my mom used to make for me and Roger and Val. For some reason I was thinking about that on Saturday morning and I decided to ask the girls if they would like to try it. Of course they said yes! My girls just love eggs! So here are a couple of photos of our Saturday morning, "Eggs in a Nest".

Kaylee didn't want hers toasted very much (she likes her grilled cheese barely toasted as well). That's hers in the picture above. We topped our eggs in a nest with some sugar free syrup. Mmmm! It was yummy!

Time is a precious commodity!

We have so much going on these days in Casa de Willman! I'm trying to do my best to make time for the girls and I to have fun together. Their childhood and the enjoyment of it is always my number one priority! But it's really hard at times to keep it number one when there is so much going on and so, so much to do! For example, we have one night this coming week where we don't have something to do. It's hard to find a balance. But I think I am doing ok. Alexis's grades are not suffering and Kaylee seems to be as enthusiastic as usual, but as always, I am really hard on myself when it comes to my parenting. I am definitely my worst critic. I cannot tell you how often lately I have been laying in bed at night beating myself up over a moment I let slip by or over something I said that could have been said in a better way. I'm pretty sure the girls would tell me I've been the best mommy in the world, but I feel like I could be doing better. I could always do better.

We started our Spanish lessons last week. I have a lesson on Mondays for 2 hours and on Tuesday Alexis has an hour and a half lesson followed by a half hour lesson for Kaylee. I am not sure what I think about these lessons yet. I know I'm not fond of the big chunk of time that they take up. For now, my plan is to take the lessons as planned up until our Spring Break trip to Barcelona and once we get back I will discontinue them until we have moved. This will of course be dependent on our experience over Spring Break. If I feel like the language is going to be a barrier, then I will try to work something out for me to continue the lessons in the states a bit longer. Ryan however, seems to think that it will be fine to take the majority of the lessons once we're settled in Barcelona. I know I will have much more time then. There is just so much to do to get ready to move across an ocean!

That's about all I have time for...I just wanted to put out an update...

On the mend

I think the girls are finally getting over the "little" virus they had. Last Thursday evening I said to myself, "If Kaylee's fever is still over 100 tomorrow, I'm taking her to the doctor)." Well that next morning was when she slept in for a really long time. I think she finally woke up just before 10 and she's been fever free since then. The girls have still been coughing away...but the coughs are finally sounding better...not so wet.

We've really enjoyed having Ryan home this week. I don't think Kaylee realized how much she missed him until he was actually home. She didn't want to let him go last Sunday at church. And I hear she didn't enjoy Sunday school much because she just wanted her Daddy. He even sat with her during the Children's message.

Now we are all looking forward to our spring break trip to our home in Barcelona. My to do list continues to get longer instead of shorter. The girls and I get to start our spanish private lessons on Monday.