Sunday, May 31, 2009

The Rest of May

Last week we got to go as a family to Brussels on a Young Life Regional retreat. It was really wonderful being with folks from all over Western Europe (Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, France, Belgium, Spain and Portugal). We got to stay in a 17th Century Chateau in the Belgium country side which was a ton of fun! It was nice to be in the "green" again after the arid climate of Madrid.

The View out our window
A View of the Room we stayed in...


The Remnants of some really neat castle on the property--Alice found the Key on top of the mantel that allowed us to go all the way to the top!

Inside the Tower

Inscription on the mantel

View from the road of our Chateau

View from the backyard

The Back Yard--the girls were really excited after playing in our tiny back yard!

Family photo in Brussels

Chase's glamor shot with Jonathan Banegas--the Area Director in Catalunya


Tallulah asleep on the van to the airport--supported by Chase's hand.


Our Community Pool opened this weekend! Tallulah's first trip...

A couple of Pool Videos!




Tallulah Photos... Thanks for the outfit Memmy!
Check out the shoes.





Tallulah and marble stairs...Bad Combination!

...Butt, if she were to fall, she does have some good padding...


Liza's Spanish

Picture from small group today...
WyldLife Event Saturday night



Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Bikes and Babies...

Well, Tallulah has officially sprouted four top teeth in a weeks time. Congratulations Tallulah! We are so proud of you!





Standing Tall!



Celebration of Alice's new bike!
Mae Mae enjoying yet another hand me down bike which was a little hard to adjust to, especially riding in a bathrobe with mismatched shoes and no underwear...

Alice's new bike--Another Spanish moment--I thought the bike shop owner was giving me a really good deal on this used bike! I thought I understood how much he wanted...Then I saw what he really said when I was signing my credit card receipt (Three times more than I had translated in my head!) Alice, enjoy your bike--and keep it nice for Mae Mae, Liza, and Tallulah!




Sunday, May 3, 2009

Puente

This past weekend was a "Puente" the Spanish word for "bridge" which they use for a long weekend. Friday (which was Spanish Labor Day) we went to Casa de Campo for a long bike ride-- from Pozuelo almost to the palace in Madrid. Going down was a lot of fun but the return trip had some big hills!



Saturday we got up early and went on a road trip with the Watts--a family from our church who we are in small group with and whose oldest daughter is a part of Wyldlife at the American School.
Our trip started in Segobriga--a Roman city that dates back to 500 BC. It was amazing that they let people climb all over the ruins--very unamerican!



Check out my new top teeth Pops!

Tallulah's new favorite way of communicating:

Ciudad Encantada--Stop number two:
(Kind of like Rock City--neat rock formations on top of a mountain...)





We ended our day in a town called Cuenca which was an awesome 15th century town literally hanging on the side of a mountain! We walked the steep streets, ate tapas for dinner and actually saw Mae Mae's teacher there which was bizarre!



Picture of the backseat on the way home...

Sunday was Mothers Day in Spain, so we celebrated with a breakfast and the kids Spanish gifts they made in school. What a great weekend as a family! Gracias a Dios!