Barcelona: Day 3

Wednesday morning we caught the train back in to Barcelona for another day of sightseeing.  We grabbed lunch at The Boqueria--so tasty!  

This seafood was so fresh, the crabs were literally crawling around on the ice.  My kids kept waiting for them to fall off of the table-ha!

And the kids were dieing to see the street performers again, so we took one more picture with the horse-man.  He gave Kennedy a little twirl.

Then we rode the subway over to Barcelona's famous cathedral, Sagrada Familia.  

Got a few ice creams, then jumped back on the subway to get to Park Guell.

Afterwards, we went for a walk near the water, where Emory found another grassy patch to practice her cartwheels.

And we found another bubble man..

All was well until Kennedy started feeling like her hands were sticky from the bubbles...

If there's one thing Ken hates, it's sticky hands. 

If there's one thing she loves, it's making Baylor be her pet unicorn.

And mint chocolate chip ice cream.

On the train ride home, the girls slept and Baylor chatted with the guy in the seat next to him.  Love how friendly Barcelonians are!

Barcelona: Day 2

We spent today at the beach.  This part of the Mediterranean is a little chilly still, as you can see from the look on Emory's face :)

Barcelona: Day 1

For our first vacation since arriving in France, we decided on Barcelona.  Our villa is actually a little bit outside the city in a town called Argentona.  It's perfect for our family--plenty of space, a pool (that the kids jumped in the night we arrived even though it was freezing) and an awesome view.

And the best part was that the owner, Giovanni, spent an hour or so giving us all kinds of travel tips--what to avoid, what we should definitely see, the best way to get around.  He even gave us a few business cards from his favorite restaurants and offered to call to make our reservations since we don't speak Spanish or Catalan.  He also had maps and had even pulled together some stuff from the grocery store that we could have for dinner since stores are closed on Sundays.  Such a nice welcome!  

Giovanni had mentioned that the best way to get into town would be to take the train right into Place Catalunya, which is in the heart of the city.  So that's what we did.  

We spent the first hour or so just strolling around, enjoying the city.

And, finally, we found La Rambla--probably the most famous part of Barcelona.  It starts near Place Catalunya and stretches all the way to the port.

We stopped by the Boqueria market to grab a quick lunch.  They have everything--fruit, vegetables, meat, chocolates.  It's an incredible place!  My kids really liked the juice.  Baylor had kiwi, Ken got coconut (which was awesome) and Emory had watermelon.

Then we stopped by the empanada stand.  And all three kids did the unthinkable and ordered hotdogs.  I tried to talk them out of it, but they're their own little caucus--they tend to think as a group on these sorts of things...

Once you get to the end of La Rambla, you start running into the street performers.  They are so much fun!  We had to get a picture with every single one.

Emory and the Mad Hatter...

Ken staring up at Julius Caesar...

Ken and Christopher Columbus...

The girls' favorite...

Baylor with John Lennon...

Emory with Galileo...

The girls with alien...

Can you find the three American kids in this picture--ha!

After a quick Popsicle stop, we hit the aquarium.

On the walk back over to La Rambla, we passed a man blowing huge bubbles which made my little people pretty happy.  

You can see in this picture that there's a guy in the background selling knock off purses.  It's unreal how quickly they can pack up their things as soon as they spot a cop.  They tie ropes to the corners of the blankets that the merchandise is laid out on, and as soon as they see a cop they grab the ropes, throw it on their back and take off.  Hysterical.  Today I had a guy put fake Beats headphones on my head and say, "Don't you hear the boom boom, momma?!?  35€ for the boom boom!"  Ha!

LOVED hanging out with these little adventurers today :)

Just About Settled In

We are finally settled into a good routine.  The girls are both in gymnastics and Baylor is playing tennis and baseball.  Ken had her "Joyeuse Paque" (Happy Easter) party at gymnastics on Wednesday.  They had an Easter egg hunt, which made this chocolate lovin' girl very happy!  

We also found a church that we love!  It was planted several years ago by two Baptist missionaries who have been so welcoming and kind to us.  The sermon is in French, so I'm usually sitting there with my phone, google-translating as we go.  In Sunday school, the teachers have been working hard to help our kids understand the lesson.  Such a sweet-spirited place!

Baylor's class had a field trip last week to FRAC (Fonds Regional d'art Contemporain) the Contemporary Art museum...where had no idea what was going on because the whole presentation was in French.  Luckily, he has some absolutely precious kids in his class who are happy to translate for him.

And we celebrated Easter with the tackiest bunny cake ever made.  Less is more, evidently.  Oops!  It actually tasted worse than it looks, if you can believe that...ha!

Ethan wall-papered Baylor's room this week with a gray herringbone like this:

Love that guy!  Now, if we can just get rid of the wallpaper in our bedroom.  It's orange.

Have I mentioned how much I love the school schedule here?!?!  The kids are out for two weeks, and in France when they're out they're OUT--no school, no sports.  It's awesome.  We may take a couple of day trips the first week, but the second week we're heading to Barcelona.  Hoping for nice weather!