Birthdays!!

I have been a total slacker with this blog and am taking New Years Day to catch up! We recently had two birthdays in our family!

James turned two on the 14th of November. James has been unlike any child I have ever known! I never see him sit still and he has an amazing ability to assess a room and zero in on all things most likely to cause damage and then find those things in a matter of seconds! There is not a stroller, car seat or highchair created that he can't find a way out of. Even when I have his car seat straps so tight I am worried I am cutting off his circulation, sure enough, a few minutes later I hear his triumphant, "Did it!" and I know he's out again! He is also unfailingly sweet and those few minutes at night when he nuzzles his face in my neck while I sing him Silent Night (his favorite song) mean the world to me! Happy Birthday James!

Isaac turned seven on the 18th of December. Isaac is special to me as all oldest children are. He has had the hardest time of the three adjusting to life in Dusseldorf. The kids in his class have been moved around a lot and it shows in their behavior. Friendships have been hard for him to find but he has hung in there and his sweet, fun personality is winning out and he is becoming a much happier boy. I am always proud of him and love him lots! Happy Birthday Isaac!

The Rain in Spain Turned out to be Snow!

Ryan and I decided that we were not going to go home for Christmas this year. While we really miss friends and family, we really want to make the most of this experience and see all that we can see before we are sent back home. Our trip to Spain was born back in October when a good friend told me about great deals on Air Berlin. We checked it out and saw we could get the whole family to Spain for little more than a song and decided to make Spain our Christmas break destination. The only catch was you had to fly in to one city and out of another to keep it cheap so, we decided to fly into Barcelona, spend a few days there, drive down to Madrid and spend a few days there, then drive down to Seville and spend a few days there and fly out of Seville back to Dusseldorf. Ryan served his mission in Madrid so we were excited for him to take his first trip back and this way we could kind of get a tour of Spain in the bargain! So we booked the tickets!
Life got busy and we kind of forgot to plan a few minor details like where to stay, setting up a rental car and hey, how far apart are these cities!? So, a few weeks before our departure we were frantically making reservations. Did you know that a lot of the hotels in Spain don't let children under the age of 18 stay? And you can't have five people in a room? We sure didn't! After a very looooong and painful process involving Ryan having to break out his rusty Spanish (it was pretty good!) we were all set...we hoped.
Our flight there was about two and a half hours and went really well. James made friends with a very patient man behind him by constantly popping over the seat shouting, "Hallo!" (James didn't learn "hello" before we left so instead he has learned a perfect German "hallo")
One of the reasons we picked Spain is we thought it would be a nice warm break from cold and dreary Dusseldorf. I am pleased (insert sarcasm here) to announce that all three cities we visited had record lows with a rare snow in Madrid thrown in for fun! It was freezing! But hey, we're from Colorado, we can do cold right! Our first day in Barcelona we went to the zoo, probably not the most popular tourist spot in Barcelona but with three small kids our tourist spots are a little different from most folks! The zoo was really fun, it was so cold we were literally the only people there so we got to see everything. We were also "lucky" enough to catch feeding time for a lot of the animals, the most memorable being the feeding of rats to the snakes. My sweet little Adam found this to be a bit disturbing and exclaimed on seeing it," This is NOT what God would want!" Thus began our first discussion of the circle of life! We had fun watching a dolphin show, seeing the hippos up close and we even had our fries stolen by a peacock at lunch time! We had a great time even though we froze. Unfortunately the kids woke up the next morning with snuffly noses and coughs but we pushed on to our next stop in Barcelona, an amusement park called Tibidabo. It was Isaac's seventh birthday and we wanted to do something fun for him. After a looong journey involving a bus, the metro, the bus again and then a tram up the mountain we arrived....to find most of the rides closed due to the cold! There were a few lame kiddy rides open and we were again the only ones there so there was no waiting in line :) Our poor kids just sat perfectly still on the rides as they were so, so cold! We gave it our best effort and lasted about and hour and a half before beginning the long journey back to the hotel. It was a unanimous decision to order room service and stay in watching Disney Channel that night!
The next day it was off to Madrid and we were so happy to see some sun on our last morning in Barcelona! We took a quick trip to the beach to let the kids collect shells and run away from the tide. Even though Barcelona was so cold I was really sad to leave our hotel. It was right on the beach and from the two big windows in our room you could look out over the Mediterranean forever! I could have stayed there forever but Madrid was calling and it was time to go!
We discovered that it was about six hours to Madrid so not too bad, factor in kid time and we reached downtown Madrid a little after nine pm. There was crazy traffic in the city as we made our way to our hotel and at this point Adam tells me that he needs to throw up. I could not find anything for him to throw up in so I did my best to distract him until we could make it to the hotel, which we did and I will forever be grateful for not having to find a way to clean up barf out of our rental car at ten pm in Madrid!
Our first day in Madrid was a Sunday so we took a day to rest and walk around a bit. On Monday we woke up to snow and sleet but we headed off to the Prado anyways...to find it closed on Mondays. There was a shop nearby that sold Lladro and other souvenirs so we decided to take a look before deciding what to do instead of the Prado. Ryan and I both wanted to see the Lladro so we took turns staying with the kids at the front of the store to keep them away from the expensive statues. As I was leaving to go take my turn to see them, Adam decided to follow me and before Ryan could grab him he tripped over James stroller right into a shelf of Lladro. I heard the crash and felt the blood drain from my head. All I could think was how many did he break and I hope they take credit cards!! Fortunately he only broke one, a 440 euro elephant, so it cost about 600 dollars. I felt just sick but at least it was just one! Not only was it expensive but it was ugly. Of all the beautiful statues in there he broke the only ugly one. The shop assistant to it to the owners to see if anything could be done but told us we would most likely have to pay for it. By some miracle, the shop owners decided it could be fixed easily and so we did not have to pay for it!! I am so glad that I am not the owner of an ugly, broken 600$ Lladro elephant!
After that adventure we decided to swap Monday's plans to tour the Prado with Tuesday's plans. So we headed off in the opposite direction to the Royal Palace. Ryan had always wanted to tour it on his mission but couldn't afford the admission so he was excited to see it. After a very long and very wet (our shoes were all squishy wet) we made it to the Royal Palace just in time for the doors to close for a private ceremony. Not to be defeated we trudged on another block to a large cathedral to discover they had just closed fifteen minutes ago!!! The day wasn't all bad though because we got to eat at Hard Rock Cafe that night which was just awesome because we miss American food like crazy!! They even had ice in their drinks!
On the walk back to the hotel from the restaurant Isaac started coughing really hard which led to (moms you already know) yes, throw-up all over his coat and scarf and the sidewalk! I have never washed barf out of a coat and scarf in a hotel sink before and can't say I want to again. Despite my best efforts his coat still had a bit of a smell to it so poor Isaac got a liberal dose of dad's cologne each morning after that!
Tuesday we finally got to tour the Prado before heading off to Seville. I really wanted to see the Rembrandt's but, of course, they were closed for maintenance and repair :) Maybe next time!
We were also sad to leave our hotel in Madrid as it too was beautiful. Despite the challenges we experienced there we really loved Madrid, it is a beautiful city with really friendly and helpful people. They we so kind, especially to the kids. It was also great to walk up and down the same streets that Ryan tracted so long ago :) (ok, not that long ago!).
So it was off to Seville and the hope of better weather. It was another six hours to Seville not counting the crazy hour and a half we spent trying to navigate Seville narrow, narrow streets with our navigation on the fritz. Mom and Dad were not the best of friends by the time we arrived at our hotel at about midnight. It didn't help that this hotel was clearly not what it had been advertised as! It was awful. I don't think the bathroom had ever been cleaned, the beds were pretty iffy and they had given our requested baby cot to someone else. It was not a restful night. Grumpiness reigned the next morning as we searched for a new hotel. Strawberries and Cream shakes from Starbucks did help all our moods though and gave us a chance to enjoy the amazing architecture in Seville. We also took a trip down to the river ( I am ashamed to say I don't know which one!) and the kids had a great time throwing rocks in the water. It never ceases to amaze me how this one simple activity always thrills them!
We were lucky to find better lodgings for the night and all rested peacefully! We headed home the next day which was Christmas Eve and I was so happy to see snow when we got there. Not the slushy nastiness of Madrid but crisp, crunchy snow that I have been surprised to discover I really miss!
We learned a lot from our trip and despite the setbacks are thankful we got to see another part of the world and learn more about that place and its people. I was proud of our family for keeping our spirits up (most of the time!) and we made some really good memories. I love my boys and my husband and really look forward to our next adventure! Next time better planning and warmer weather!!

Picture Descriptions:

Picture 1: On the beach in Barcelona with our hotel behind me

Picture 2: Frozen at the Royal Palace in Madrid

Picture 3: Boys on the tram up to Tibidabo

Picture 4: Boys playing on the beach in Barcelona

Picture 5: Adam eating lunch at the zoo