Happy Monday

Hola Amigos,

How are you doing?  I hope you had a great weekend, ours was busy as usual.  I know I haven't been the best poster lately, we have been working extra hard at adjusting to life in Spain and kids in school.  I write a weekly post for my sister, last week I talked about our adjustment to school. 

Zooming by on the scooter.

Sunday evening is always such a relaxing time, last night we went to the boardwalk for a paseo (walk).  In Spain the evening paseo is an important part of the culture.  The kids had a blast riding there scooters, and kicking a futbol (soccer) ball around.  There has been much discussion in this house if we should continue calling it a soccer ball, or because we live in Spain call it a football.  What are your thoughts could you call a soccer ball a football, I'm not sure I can make the switch.  Hope you all have a great week!

Besos, Katie

Kicking the futbol, trying to keep it in the water.  We only had to fish it out once.

My daughter the activist

When my girl was in 2nd grade we read a book about shark's and how they were becoming extinct, she was so distraught she made signs to hang around school that said "Save the Sharks".  When she found out our local dog shelter was closing she went to work again. 

She made signs, and talked her little brother into helping.  She talked to her teacher at school about hanging up a sign and then passed around a notebook to all the kids in her class, that she could communicate with, asking them how many dogs they could adopt.

After all this work I couldn't deny her request to hang up the signs in our local neighborhood. 

Sure am proud to be this girl's mom.  Watch out Mr. President in 10 years she will be marching on your lawn.

Spanish 101

Gasolea B is not actually unleaded gas it is diesel.  Won't be making that mistake again.

Beach Day

The family at the beach.  Notice how we are 1 of only 4 families.  So nice!

I have decided my favorite time to go to the beach is September.  In the summer the beaches are so full there are rows and rows of umbrellas.  But in September there are a lot less people, and the water is still plenty warm.  Last Saturday we went exploring to find a new beach.  I had heard that the coastlines west of us have protected waters and coral good for snorkeling, so we loaded up the van and headed out.  We went to Cabo Cope a beach surrounded by farming and one tiny town.  We enjoyed a day of swimming, relaxation, tossing the football in the water, playing futbol in the sand, boogie boarding, burying bodies in the sand, and spending time together.  

One of my favorite parts was when we went driving back on the dirt roads exploring. There were 3 of these beaches off the beaten path. I can't wait to go back

A Spanish Night Market

I have written before about our wonderful local Friday market. I go religiously every Friday to get all my fruits, veggies, and olives. And if I happen upon the 5 Euro shoe table and they just happen to have something cute and in my size I pick it up, much to the disappointment of my children. They would prefer if we kept moving, they aren’t big fans of me stopping and browsing at each stand.

This week I learned about a night market close by and since I needed to send some birthday gifts we made the trip to see it. The place was crazy busy and huge, we wandered down one path for quite awhile and never got to the end.

I love all the scarves, if summer ever ends here I am definitely going to be stocking up on some scarves for winter.

These dresses are at my market too, and I adore them.

My oldest wants the Ronaldo one for his birthday.

We didn’t stay long at the market, though it was longer than my kids wanted too. They were done, this is the look of a tired and cranky baby.

Happy 10th Birthday

My Aunt always says it is a miracle if the first born survives.  They are our experiment kid.  I am grateful this one has not only survived but flourished, and touched and blessed our lives in the process.  He turns 10 this Sunday, and I am hoping it is a good birthday for him.  We are going to go explore a new beach tomorrow, and spend the day relaxing in the sun.  He picked up his favorite cereal on our last trip to the base for breakfast.  And once he gets his gift, I think I might just win the best mom award. 

Hope you have a great weekend.

Spanish 101 - finding a jogging stroller

In my quest to bring you the best information on Spain, I thought I would bring you with me on my journey to master the wonderful language.  My Spanish as I like to tell people, I am trying to communicate with is, "muy mal" or very bad, so I still have lots to learn. 

Last week I went by the baby store in our little pueblo looking for a jogging stroller.  I had planned out in my mind what I was going to say and it really made a lot of sense.  I knew the word for run which is correr, and I figured I could wing the rest. 

What I said " Necessito un Stroller(point to stroller) por correos, en Estados Unidos es jogging stroller (said with spanish accent)"  In my mind I said "I need a stroller for running, in the United States it is a jogging stroller"

What I actually asked for was to have a stroller shipped to the United States.  You see correos is actually the word for the post office.  They were so confused as to why I would want to mail a stroller to the U.S.  Thankfully a friendly lady helped me out and told the shop ladies what I really wanted.  And in case you are wondering, no, they don't have jogging strollers in Spain, at least not at that store.  The ladies thought I was insane for wanting to run with a stroller. 


This picture has nothing to do with the story, it is just a picture of my last jogging stroller, and my cute kids.  Look how big they are getting.