Good Friday...

Good Friday promised to be a sunny warm day so we decided to load up the family and go to Park Guell. Though we'd been there many times with family and friends during their visits this was the first time that Nick and the puppies joined us. This time we ventured along the paths that lead around the entire park and found some more stone benches... a charming gate to one of the houses built on park property...

A view back toward Tibidabo....

And the hill of crosses that Gaudi designed...

Alexa climbed up to where the crosses were and got some good pictures out to the Med.

The view on the path of the park below...

It was quite crowded at the park and we decided to go further into the city for lunch. We decided on Ciudad Condal for Tapas.It was a bit chilly so we asked for them to turn on the outdoor heaters.

Then Jess and Joe decided to ham it up for the camera...

Hope everyone has a Happy Easter tomorrow!!
Love you all,

Bren

Come Sail Away...(or not)

It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon when we packed our car and headed north up to Costa Brava to begin our week of sailing lessons. We arrived at the boat around 5:30 pm and checked in with our captain Susie and she showed us around the boat we'd be in all week. We decided to take her suggestion for a Chinese buffet in the port for dinner, got a quick lay of the land then called it a night. We woke up to sunny skies and what appeared to be a beautiful day for sailing. getting the ship ready for launch...

This particular harbor is very protected and the lack of wind and absence of waves was not what the Mediteranean was experiencing. Once out the sea the waves quickly took it's toll on Jess...and the rest soon followed.

Andrea manning the depth counter for Susie as we headed out to sea.

The Scenery was beautiful...(note the white caps on the water)

After a few hours we headed back into port...

Nick getting ready to lasso us in...back in the calm port once again.

Happy to be back on land once again.

We rewarded ourselves with some bowling...

After finding some Italian food for dinner we headed back for a peaceful night sleep...only to be woken in the morning by the sound of rain and wind rocking the boat. Luckily by the time we had gotten up, showered and ate breakfast the sun was out. On the way back from breakfast Susie found us and said the wind and seas were still too rough this morning but she'd check in the afternoon to see if we could go out then. So we went back to the boat and reviewed the sections of the boat...

and how to tie some knots...

how to tie up the fenders....

and how to throw a lasso to help dock the boat...

When Susie came back to the boat at lunch it was clear the seas were not calming and so we opted to wait until morning so we could avoid another sea-sickness episode. We decided to go the beach for lunch and enjoy the rest of the afternoon.

Andrea, Alexa and I walked up along the beach to get a better look at the coves.

Andrea was bored because she didn't have a camera to take pictures...

Steps down into a cove...

further up on the beach...

heading back...

We went back to the boat to relax for a bit before dinner, which was at a bar watching Manchester United play...someone I forget the team. We woke in the morning to more rain, which we hoped would clear as quickly as yesterday until it turned into Hail...Hail.

Clearly this sailing trip was not meant to be. When Susie showed up and offered us an option of leaving and returning for a weekend in June we took a family vote. It made sense to cut our losses and come back when we knew the weather would be better so we could actually get some sailing in. So we headed home and enjoyed some lunch in Sant Cugat...

Then we went home to play with our puppies and work on getting a gas leak fixed so we could have hot water. And I was able to pick up our keys to the new house too. So it was worth cutting it short. I think we'll be by the house later today and I'll try to post pics of that too.

Love you all!
~Bren

Public Service Announcement

Hi All,
Just wanted to post a note saying that I finally finished my London post with pics and commentary, and apparently it posted on the date I started it...so you'll have to scroll down some in order to find the post. So sorry about that!
~Bren

The week after the great snow...

Hello again,
Some of the ex-pats say about 8 years ago it snowed enough to stick to the ground but pretty much everyone agrees it's been about 30 years since we've had a snowfall like this. Our school bus was only about an hour delayed, although I think it technically only made one stop where all the kids had to get off. Luckily not a far walk for anyone. Joe's friend Oskar stayed the night as his father wasn't able to get to the bus stop by car and by foot it's a long walk. They made him abandon his car on the road and wouldn't let him drive home either...and that sort of explains the bad traffic inside the city as cars and more importantly buses were abandoned on the street. Out by us the problem was more accidents and downed trees. Nick tried to leave around 8 pm, normal time for him...and by then the trains were no longer running because trees were down on the line. They told him that the trains should be running by 10 so he went with a bunch of his co-workers for a drink. A couple of hours later the trains still weren't running and they couldn't get a cab out of town. They heard that they could get a train to Sarria and then a bus to Sant Cugat. So they took the train but no bus...and eventually found an adventurous cab driver who got them home-ish. They had to take another exit as our was closed...and the next exit is not one we ever take so it took them to a section no one recognized...and they were dropped off at the circle at Can Cadena in town because he couldn't get up the hill. Then he and his co-worker who just recently moved onto Mas Fuster, the road that runs on the top of the ridge that we walk along to the bus stop, walked the rest of the way. He got home around 12:45. Long day. At least the kids got to sleep in the next morning but Nick had to go in to work again. Thankfully the trains were running...and by mid-afternoon most of the streets were passable.

I took a walk to Sant Cugat since we were out of milk....and bread...and eggs.

It was so pretty with the snow on the trees/flowers but also dangerous as trees lost a lot of limbs on Tuesday from the weight of the snow.

Then Wednesday I went to pottery and was surprised that my pitcher was glazed and ready to go home!

On Friday Jessica didn't have school because of Parent Teacher Conferences. I scheduled all mine for next weekend...and so we took the opportunity to have a special Mom-daughter day. I arranged for Jess to go with me to my pottery class. The kids have wanted to go for the longest time but it's not a kid place. I got special permission and they treated her like a queen.

Jess making her mug...

Drying it a little to get it to hold it's shape.

Here is her finished products....minus the firing and glazing.

And we finished our afternoon with a little birthday present shopping for some parties we had this weekend and lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe.

Today Andrea had arranged for the cast of Godspell to perform for our church congregation as a bit of free show publicity. Here are some pictures of the two songs....Andrea has the role of Judas.

Nick is in NY for the week so it's just me and the kids. Hope everyone has a fun St.Patrick's day!!
Love and miss you all!
~Bren