Christmas Eve 2010

Now that I have kids, I am actually pretty thankful that we get to stay at home.  Santa knows if you travel, so it's not like he would forget us, but it's just hard to bring it all back home if you're flying on a plane.  So it's so nice to stay home!  So, we went to church at 4, and then went to Uno's for dinner.  Don't laugh, nothing is open Christmas Eve.  We managed to stay Paleo, amazingly.  It was actually a pretty good meal.  After dinner, we went home to get ready for Santa's visit.  Natalie had to throw some Reindeer Dust on the snow so that it would sparkle in the moonlight and the reindeer would see our house and know to stop.  Todd caught this awesome picture of her throwing it.  

Grant meanwhile, just wanted to play.  He sat on the couch with me and just laughed and fell over. He thought it was the funniest thing.  Both kids were crazy jacked up and we hadn't even given them any sugar.

So then they had to sit in Daddy's lap while he read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas.  Natalie LOVED it.  It's a fun little book that has little moving parts that move when you turn the page.  So it makes it look like a moving picture book and that things are happening in the picture (this is Todd's description of it!)

Natalie was into it... Grant, not so much. He just kept trying to climb on Daddy and get over to his sister to annoy her.

So he got banished to the Exersaucer while Daddy finished the book.  Merry Christmas!

Cookie Baking

Unlike last year, when I was on maternity leave and had lots of time on my hands to do a ton of baking, I just didn't have time to get 'er done this year.  But I didn't want the holidays to go by without doing some my baking with my best girl.  We made some slice and bake Frosty the Snowman cookies because she has an obsession this year with Frosty.  No kidding, she knows all the words to the TV show.  And most of the words to Frosty Returns (starring John Goodman as the voice of Frosty! Hysterical.)

We also made some plain sugar cookies to take down to Plymouth to decorate.  We also made these amazing chocolate cookies from scratch and then melt and Andes mint candy on top of it once it is fresh out of the oven and put some green sprinkles on them.  YUM.  These went fast in Plymouth.  I think Bean ate his weight in chocolate mint cookies! 

 

Official Santa Photo 2010

Without further ado....

Just about every picture we have these days has Grant with his fingers in his mouth or in front of his face.  Poor guy, he's getting his 1 year molars.  And it feels like he's been getting them for weeks!  Natalie had the funniest look on her face- and we must have snapped 5-7 photos and in every photo, she had the funniest look on her face!  So cute!  Both kids were very good with Santa (it helped to watch other kids hop onto his lap, totally unafraid).  Afterwards, we celebrated with some Friendly's!  (Salads and ice tea for Mommy and Daddy though.  See, you CAN do Paleo almost anywhere!)

Kids Official Christmas picture

I didn't put this one on the Christmas card that I'm sending out, so I wanted to share it here on the blog (and Facebook, and myfamily...).  Happy Holidays from the Bailey kids!

Fun times at Logan's birthday party

Since Todd and I started CrossFit, we've met some pretty cool people.  I met Chad in my Elements class, and he and his wife Liz are super awesome.  The kids got invited to their son Logan's 3rd birthday party, which was at PlayTown Express in Hopkinton.  We are definitely going back there at some point!  (Probably on a cold, windy weekend in January).  Natalie and Grant just had a blast.

Grant discovered the Cozy Coupe and didn't want to get out.  In fact, he screamed when you took him out (uh oh, here we go!) until you could find him something else cool to play with, preferably something with wheels.  He played with trucks, and rode on the Step 2 Up and Down Roller Coaster (google it if you aren't familiar with it). 

I'm sensing a reoccurring theme here with Natalie:  Daredevil!  This slide was pretty steep, and the first time she went, she wanted me to go with her.  I might have gone a few more times, because it was really, really fun, but she went all on her own (over, and over, and over again!). 

Grant and Daddy had fun too.  This is after G had his bottle, a slice of pizza, and about a half a cupcake.  He's a happy guy after he eats!

I love the chaos that is kids birthday parties.  Just food and messes everywhere, lots of screaming and movement.  Natalie is in the pink shirt with the green party hat on.  She had been waiting all day for her cupcake and quickly devoured it.  She wanted another, so I gave her half of Grant's (he never seems to care one way or the other).  Thanks for a fun party Logan!!!

Trip to Florida - part 2

The second in a two part series, the Bailey family enjoys the rest of their Florida vacation!

On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, we all got to go out in the boat with Nana and Pop Pop.  We drove up to Clearwater and went to Frenchy's for dinner.

The weather was really nice, if maybe a bit cool with the breeze off of the cooler water.  But Natalie had a blast running around the boat and yelling, "Faster Pop Pop!"  See?  She really IS a dare devil!

Grant, on the other hand, was not as enthusiastic.  He didn't hate it, but he definitely wasn't sure of the life jacket.  And he didn't like the breeze in his face, so he sat behind the "windshield" with Daddy.  Here they are coming back from dinner.  The next morning, Pop Pop and Natalie were on the porch and they saw a big fishing boat and Pop Pop asked Natalie what the boat was doing and she replied, "Going to Frenchy's!"  Of course!!! 

The day before Thanksgiving, Uncle Coco, Aunt Brie, and Auntie Britt surprised us and showed up a day early!  So we all went to Largo Central Park and played on the playground and threw a football around without our shoes on.  Aaaaahhh, I love Florida!   Of course, Grant was too little to play, but he had a fun time on the towel (we discovered he does not like grass!) with his toys and Uncle Coco!

Thanksgiving morning, Grant caught a comfy nap on Pop Pop.  He was out for over a half hour!  He woke up all sweaty though, ha ha.  Todd, Coco, Brie and I all went to run the Turkey Trot.  I'm happy to say that I DID achieve my goal of a sub-9 mile, and ran the 1 mile in 8:49!  I also enjoyed a big, fat Diet Coke from McDonalds (they are so much better in the south) after the race, as well as 3 donuts and a hot whiskey!

After all of that running, I deserved this big plate of food.  Ok, we know it's not Paleo, but if you're eating Paleo on Thanksgiving, a day of mashed potatoes, broccoli casserole, noodles, blueberry salad, and pie, you are CRAZY!!!

Trip to Florida - Part 1

For some reason, these "trips to Florida" posts are always in a series!

We left for Florida last Sunday to enjoy a week in the sun and 82 degree weather.  Whew!  Natalie started sweating as soon as she got off the plane!  Thankfully, I hadn't packed away her shorts and short sleeved shirts yet (Grant on the other hand, didn't own any shorts that fit!  But he did have a few short sleeved polo shirts).  We got to visit the Lowery Park Zoo on Monday and really had a blast.  More than I thought we would!  Both kids were very well behaved and Natalie was all jacked up over the animals and the rides! 

Oh the rides!  Natalie is such a dare devil.  I honestly can't believe it.  She always seems a little leery, but never really even hesitates to jump on bigger, scarier rides.

Such as this roller coaster.

The funniest part of this picture (other than Todd's dramatic face) is the little hand that is sticking up to the left of Todd.  She isn't even afraid to go hands free!!!!

We also rode the carousel.  She liked that the zebra went up and down as the carousel went around and around.  Geez, I seriously need a tan!!!

Lowery Park Zoo is much cooler than it used to be.  They have this great manatee tank that also has some fish and some sea turtles in it.  The manatees were so awesome.  But Natalie took a liking to this turtle that came right up to the big glass window and hung out while Natalie got up close and personal.

On the way home, she conked out while watching a DVD.  The DVD player was leaning on her face, she was out cold.  Must have been a good day at the zoo!!!

Grant's first haircut

Big boy was starting to look a bit like Tom Brady (shagtastic!), so we decided to get his haircut before we went to Florida. He was SO well behaved!  He moved around a lot - he wanted to see the lady cutting his hair, while she was cutting his hair, so it isn't the most even of haircuts, but at least he looks nice and trim!  He might be the sweetest kid ever!

A busy weekend

We had a pretty busy weekend, as usual.  It sort of started on Thursday when Todd was home with the kids all day for Veteran's Day. I don't get that day off, so I had to work.  But it looks like they had a good time.

On Saturday after gymnastics, it was such a beautiful day, we headed to the park.  Natalie and Daddy played while Grant and I hung out on a picnic blanket.  As you can see, Grant is showing his support for Cam Newton from all the way up here in Massachusetts!  Grant says, "I support you Cam Newton!  I sure hope you didn't do anything wrong, because I look up to you and love to watch you run around on the TV!  I hope you play for the Patriots some day!"

After our trip to the park, Natalie didn't want to get up in her chair to eat lunch (after repeatedly asking her), so she had to go down for a nap without lunch.  This was another massive tantrum, that wasn't finished by the time Grant had to go upstairs for his bottle of milk and his nap.  She heard Todd coming up the stairs, so she opened her door and followed him into Grant's room.  She laid down on the floor and promptly fell asleep!  And she was seriously snoring like crazy. I got some video of it- it's on smugmug.

Last but not least, Todd and I celebrated 5 blissful (!!!)  years of marriage on the 12th!  We went out to dinner at a Brazilian Steakhouse in Woburn - and yes, we ate Paleo!  Lots of meat, house salad, and sides of veggies, along with iced tea and Pellegrino.  They even brought out fried bananas!  YUM!   We didn't touch the other sides (although they looked good- rice, bread, beans, etc.) There IS a bottle of wine on the table, but that was unopened, quite sadly!

Happy 5th anniversary honey!

Kid update

I always feel like if I don't have pictures to post, what I have to say just isn't worthy. Okay, that is just crazy talk. My kids lives are totally worthy, to all 5 of my blog readers!

Natalie had her first progress report at preschool and it was a glowing review! She is polite and listens to her teachers. She loves playing on the playground with her friends (doing make believe/pretend) and really enjoys arts and crafts. The only black mark was her occasional tantrum that she throws when Todd comes to pick her up. It's usually when she is having a good time playing on the playground with her friends, and doesn't want to go home because she is having so much fun. As embarrassing as those tantrums are for Todd, I guess there are worse problems to have! As the teacher wrote in the report, "It's so good to see she is so happy here!"

Grant is moving all around now. He's a pretty speedy crawler, and he has started to pull himself to a stand. Todd has seen him take a step or two ("cruising"). But not really.

We have seen some great progress in Grant's eating too! I mean, he's always been a good eater. I've never seen him turn away from a food. He eats EVERYTHING. In stark contrast to his sister, who eats NOTHING. However, we were having some issues with textures, which he seems to be pretty much over. Lumpy, crunchy, you name it, he'll eat it. He will sometimes take too big of a bite and start gagging on it, but it's not because of the texture. His other issue was that he didn't want to be the one to feed himself. He wanted YOU to do it. He would cry and get upset if there was yummy looking food on his tray but you weren't giving it to him! I would just get up and walk away but the crying would escalate and... well... I'm an enabler, so I would go give it to him. Last night something must have clicked, because he just started picking up green beans and eating them! Todd said he ate about 12 (this is after I gave him about 12, then had to leave to go to the chiropractor). The thing is, he CAN do it. He was just choosing not to. I hope this trend continues!

Beast of the East

Todd, the kids and I went to watch some of the Beast of the East competition at CFNE this weekend.  I seriously doubt I'll ever be good enough to do something like this - those competitors were amazing!  But I have no doubts that I have the cutest family in the world!

Grant's 1 year statistics

The big fella went to the doctor for his 1 year checkup today.  The numbers are in: He's 31" tall (85th percentile), he weighs 22 lbs (45th percentile), and his head circumference is 47.5 cm (18.7 inches, 80th percentile).  That's a big boy! 

So a few things were going on... One, he's had crazy bad eczema for as long as I can remember.  But what happens this week/weekend?  Somehow, it randomly disappears!  Just in time for his doctor's appointment.  OK, so the doctor must think I'm crazy!  (Or Todd is crazy since he took him to the appointment!).  We also had to ask about switching to real milk, rather than formula, since he should be weaned off of the formula starting about now.  Todd gave him some milk on Sunday and he drank it right up, so I don't think we'll have any problems there.  We are also trying to give him "real" food but he seems to still have a problem with gagging.  He's making chewing motions and he likes the taste of things, he just can't get the idea of swallowing.  Dr. Meisheid said we just needed to KEEP giving it to him.  Last night he ate three tiny pieces of grilled chicken and did fine with it.  Obviously, the smaller they are, the less of a problem he's having.  But most of what we give him is pretty small. 

Lastly, he recently had an ear infection so Dr. Meisheid checked that too.  She said the infection is gone but there is still fluid in his ears, so she said this is the classic set up for get an ear infection, get some antibiotics, it goes away briefly, and 3 weeks later we are back at the doctor's for another ear infection (and then she eventually writes us a referral to an ENT for tubes!).  We were concerned about traveling for Thanksgiving, so Dr. Meisheid said for him to come back the Friday before we leave and she would check him again.

Oh one more thing, he got his chicken pox vaccine and his first flu shot vaccine.  He needs to get the follow up for that one in a few weeks.  They don't do the MMR until 15 months, whew.  Natalie got her measles shot at 12 months and was SO sick.  I'm glad that one is delayed!

Halloween 2010

Halloween was way more fun this year than I expected it to be.  We went out with our friends Tiffany and Chris and their twins Jackson and Samantha.  Grant this year was a lobstah (as they say up here...), and Natalie was a fairy princess.  This was the first year she decided what she wanted to be.  And she picked out her own costume.

My little lobster was told that he looked "good enough to eat with butter and garlic!"   

Natalie and Grant took over the Kelley's stroller!  The Kelley kids wanted to run around.  Mine wanted to sit and be pushed around.

Finally Natalie got out and walked, with Tiffany pushing Maddie and Jackson in the stroller, with Sammi walking in her Minnie Mouse costume (Maddie is Jackson and Sammi's cousin).

Natalie, how do you feel about this year's trick or treating adventure?  Thumbs up!

Grant's 1st Birthday Party

Grant's 1st birthday party was held at my in-laws house in Plymouth.  Todd's two sisters and their families (minus Madison and Uncle Gordie) were also there, as well as Aunt Betty.  We had some cake, witch cupcakes (hand made by Carole and they were so cute... I really wanted one!  But it's not Paleo, sniff sniff...), and ice cream, followed by some present opening.

 

We got Grant this funny hat, and he wasn't sure what to make of it at first... but he never tried to yank it off or anything!

Grant obviously can't blow out his own candle yet, so he had some help from his big cousin Seth, his parents, and big Sis Natalie.

I captured a couple of sweet pictures of the kids.  I love the first one where they are both laughing.  Grant didn't dive into his cake as I had hoped (but in reality, I knew he wouldn't).  He's just like his mama, in that he doesn't like to get his hands dirty.  He has never liked anyone touching or grabbing his hands either.  Natalie didn't like anyone touching her face.  But she was always fine with the hands (as evident by her first birthday where she shoved a whole piece of cake in her mouth!).  Grant really liked the cake, but only if you were spoon feeding it to him!

I also took this cute picture of some of the Bailey boys (well, Gordon is a Fitch!).  We have big, big cousin Gordon, Seth, Daddy and the birthday boy, who is sticking his tongue out.  They all look so cute!

Overall, I think Grant was a little overwhelmed.  He is getting over an ear infection and has some molars coming in, so he's been a little cranky lately.  I can't wait until next year when I think he'll be a little more into it! 

Happy 1st Birthday sweet boy!

Sniff sniff.  Can it really be true?  Can Grant be 1 year old? 

Pictures and stories about his birthday party are forthcoming, but this blog is going to be about Grant, and what he is like at 1 year old.

Likes:  Eating, toys that have sound and lights, putting anything and everything in his mouth, whatever his sister has in her hands, Mommy, the funny tall guy who also lives in the house, eating, patting things, such as the arm of a chair, taggie blankies, screaming/yelling for fun, and oh, did I mention eating?

Dislikes: When you are sitting down to dinner and you can't get the food shoveled into his mouth fast enough, when Mommy puts him down, and that's about it.  The kid is SO happy!  But his two favorite things to do are to eat, and to be held.

Other facts about Grant:
- Can say Da Da and Sis, but is still working on Ma Ma (it comes out like "Bwah bwah")
- Can identify lights, fans, daddy and Natalie.  If you ask him where they are, he will look at them.
- After his evening bottle, he doesn't want to be burped. Instead, he wants to roll around to a seated position and pat the arms of the chair.  He looks up at me with this look like, "Isn't this the funniest thing???" (nose all scrunched up and smiling)
- Favorite toys: Taggie blankies, toys that have sound and lights, like the driving toy with the steering wheel and lots of funny sayings like, "Outta the way!" and "Slow down little fella!", blocks (which he eats or likes to knock over if you stack them up), and whatever toy Natalie has.  If she has it, he grabs at it, and then there's lots of yelling and whining on the part of both kids.
- Favorite food:  This kid has seriously never met a food he didn't like. He eats anything and everything.  He eats lumpy things now, and crackers or puffs but he usually takes a bit, chews a bit and then spits it out.  He is still having trouble with his gag reflex.
- Grant has 8 teeth, but #9 is due to pop in any day now, and most likely it's one of his molars.
- On his first birthday, October 30, he started crawling!  He was in Grammi and Bean's living room, and only a few seconds after Mommy took Natalie to go potty, he started crawling, and I missed it!

Pumpkin Carving

Todd decided to carve a fun design in our Halloween pumpkin this year.  Bet ya didn't know he had such talent!  Natalie got to help again this year.  She was very excited to scoop out the pumpkin seeds.

Grant observed, but he was more interested in the Patriots game that was on TV.

And here is Todd's final finish product!  Pretty cool!  It's a spider in a spider web!

Cute baby alert, part IV

My two favorite men hanging out on the couch - not watching the Auburn game.  Grant preferred to look out the window.  He's pretty funny, he always smiles when the camera is around!

You can see we actually WERE watching the Auburn game.  G is representin' in his new Auburn bib.

I love this picture.  His sweet little profile and his awesome bib... War Eagle little buddy!

Hanging spoons on our noses

One night after Natalie went to bed, and Todd and I had an off night from CrossFit (so we were both actually at home for once!), we spent some time goofing off and hanging spoons on our noses.  And much to my surprise, Natalie was really good at it!

Here we are, the three of us, hanging spoons on our noses.  The family that hangs spoons on their noses together, sticks together!

Barcelona, Spain

For our 5th anniversary, Todd and I went (WITHOUT THE KIDS) to Barcelona, Spain!  For a whole, glorious week!  (Author's note:  For some reason, I did not blog about this trip back in 2010.  So I'm post dating it and blogging about it in 2017!)

We used my mom's Delta family pass and flew first class!  Seriously, it's the only way to travel!  "Ma'am, would you like a mimosa?"  Yes and please.

Many courses!  Soup and salad first though!  Either way though, first class food is still airline food. Meh at best!

Unlike our last trip to Spain, Peter Buck of R.E.M. did not greet me at baggage claim at the airport, much to my disappointment.  Instead, we went immediately to our hotel - Barcino 147.  Definitely a super cool hotel, great location and a really beautiful view!

This was our first room at Barcino 147.  There was a mix up and we actually got a bigger room!  Each room was unique.  One thing that I had never experienced prior to this was a shared bathroom. I was really dreading it, but it turned out to be ok!

After a quick nap, we decided to go out and explore Las Ramblas.  These Bostonians spotted a Dunks!  Not Dunkin' Donuts, but Dunkin' Coffee, of course.  I mean, really the coffee is the better of those two things anyway!

First stop:  La Boqueria.  There has been a market here since the 1200s, but today it's a great place to get fish, meat, spices, eggs, fresh fruits and veggies and even some tapas!

Here fishy, fishy, fishy....

Inside of the busy Boqueria Market.

Back on Las Ramblas.  While Las Ramblas is very touristy, it's a great place to people watch.  The tree lined pedestrian walkway is about three-quarters of a mile long.

At the end of Las Ramblas is the Monument to Christopher Columbus.  It's almost 200 feet high and you can take an elevator to the top, which we did.

Seems pretty harmless.  Statues surrounding the column near the base depict important figures in Columbus' life.

The view from the top looking east was nice but I seriously thought I was going to die.  I'm terrified of heights, and this column was SWAYING.  Like, left to right and I could feel it. 

Looking back north toward Las Ramblas from the Christopher Columbus column.

Phew.  Once we got down from that terrifying column, we stopped for some sangria to calm my nerves!

Heading back through the Place Catalunya where the fountains light up the square.

Batllo House, designed by Gaudi and built in the early 1900s is one of several buildings designed by the quirky architect in Barcelona.  The building façade looks like it was made of bones.  The little window balconies look like faces or masks from below.  Creepy and cool at the same time.  I love all of the color and shapes with the glass and ceramic.  There's so much to see in a Gaudi structure, and so much symbolism.

We ate dinner almost right next door and in the shadow of Batllo House!  YUM!  All of the food pictures we took in Barcelona were titled, "That's not paleo" since we were in the midst of a four month long paleo challenge at our gym!

Since we didn't have kids with us, naturally, we wanted to keep the party going.  In 2010, our semi-newly elected president was Barak Obama.  Time to stop into a bar that shares his name for some ales and stouts!

Todd having a pint of Guinness with the Commander in Chief.  I'm pretty sure they were discussing foreign policy here.  (2017 note: The front of this bar looks totally different now, and apparently, President Obama now sits in front of the doorway rather than inside!)

Back to the hotel and it's strange home plate shaped elevator! 

 

We fueled up with pastries and coffee on day two.  #thatsnotpaleopart2

We decided to ride along on the Hop On Hop Off bus to get general view of Barcelona.  La Seu Cathedral is in the distance. 

The Harbor area with it's pretty palm trees and the imposing Westin hotel in the distance.

One stop we wanted to make while in Barcelona was Monjuic.  Translated, it means, "Mountain of the Jews."  Up on this mountain, there's the Montjuic fortress, the Olympic Stadium and several museums.

You can get off of the Hop On Hop Off bus near the base of the hill, and take a gondola lift up to the top of the mountain.  The views are pretty spectacular, including this one of La Sagrada Familia.

Todd attempted to start World War III by firing off this massive cannon.  At one point, there were 120 of these cannons at the fortress!

The fortress at Montjuic.  The first stones were set in 1640, but the original castle was demolished and a new one (the current one) was built in the late 1700s.   It is now a municipal facility owned by the Barcelona City Council.

The fortress overlooks the harbor, with the hundreds of shipping crates and cruise ships in port.

EEK!  You guys know I don't love heights!  Someone get me down from here!

The Montjuic Telecommunications Tower was built for the broadcast of the 1992 summer Olympics.

Me and this guy at the Barcelona Olympic stadium.  (We did some burpees right after this!)

Comin' at ya live from BCN.

Montjuic Gardens and the Catalonian National Art Gallery.

Arenas de Barcelona where the bullfighting used to occur.  It was built in the late 1800s, but the last bullfight happened here in 1977.  In 2012, a ban on bullfighting went into place across Catalonia.  It now houses a bunch of shops, restaurants and a movie theater. Side note:  The Beatles played here in 1966!

I love the architecture across Spain.  There's more curves here than some of the other countries. (And I don't mean the lovely women!)

Casa Mila, or La Pedrera as it's known was Gaudi's last architectural work.  He was certainly a master of the curves.  Next time, I want to go inside!

Oh geez, I'm sure it's been like, 2 whole hours since we've eaten.  Let's have some jamon bocadillo and some sweet cheese and pineapple (which officially, over 6 years later, I'm still dreaming about).  We stopped into this place, Ciudad Condal on the recommendation from the guy who owned our hotel and it did not disappoint! 

Pan con tomate y tortilla de Espana.

Back out on the narrow streets of Barcelona after some tasty tapas.

The Torre Agbar, the newest and tallest building in Barcelona.  Not many people like it!  It's only 142 meters too, so although high, it certainly can't compare to other cities.  Construction limitations mean that no building can be taller than La Sagrada Familia, so likely there won't be too many skyscrapers in Barcelona.  The colored aluminum panels make it similar to something Gaudi might have done.

 Our Hop On Hop Off bus continued after lunch and took us to the outside of La Sagrada Familia, Barcelona's most famous landmark.  Unless you're there, it's very hard to imagine the sheer size of La Sagrada Familia.  Work began on the church in 1882 and as of 2017, it's only 70% completed.  When it is completed, it will be the largest church building in the world! 

I really like Gaudi. His buildings are unique and colorful and always tell a fantastic story.  One word that keeps coming to mind when I think about his work is FUN!  But I really, really dislike the outside of this church.  I don't think of "fun" when I think of a church.  It has a few interesting points but it's all over the place and I can't have any sort of feeling when I admire it because I have too many feelings about it, which makes me feel uneasy (like my ADD is off the charts here).  I get that that is the intent, but I don't have to like it.  I love a beautiful church but odd fruit and Christmas trees?  Very weird.

Once again, Gaudi's lines appear like the bones of a skeleton on the Passion Façade, which depicts, as it states, the Passion of the Christ. 

OK, it isn't really a Christmas tree.  But one can't help but think that when they first see it!  It's actually the Tree of Life.

Let's see Gaudi in perhaps a more suitable setting:  a park!  Our next stop was Park Guell.  This is a fun little place.  There's lots of color and rounded curves and the buildings remind me a bit of iced gingerbread houses.

We climbed up to the top of Park Guell and got some great views of the city.  Doesn't my husband follow the rule of three's so very nicely!?

Trees lean one way, and rock support columns lean another way.

Gaudi loved to use tile mosaics and you can see plenty of them here at Parc Guell.

A funky guy checking out a funky park designed by a funky artist.

AHHHH!  Our favorite wine!  We found it!  We drank this wine on our honeymoon, five years earlier!  Interestingly, we drank this wine with Thai food!  Yum!

When we were thinking about going to Barcelona, my friend Greg suggested we visit Sitges for a day trip.  It was only about an hour away, and we went SOLELY based on his recommendation!  It did not disappoint!

We happened to be there during the famous Sitges Film Festival, which specializes in fantasy and horror films.  Of course, we didn't know this when we arrived, so imagine our surprise when there were many people in zombie costumes walking around!

Todd in the narrow, curving streets of Sitges.  It's situated on the Mediterranean, and much of the city is somewhat steep until you reach the beach area, so there are lots of hills and stairs.

Oh hello there.  What's up, Sangria?!

They have a little jetty that goes out into the Med that you can walk on right near the Church of St. Bartholomew and St. Tecla.  We went inside and there was a wedding going on!  All of our pictures came out blurry though.

Hee hee, I'm peeking around the corner of Todd's little artistic shot!  Time to head back up into town and get some lunch.

You thought I was going to post a food picture but nope.  Just delicious beer!

We ate lunch at Al Fresco (to the right) and then went back down toward the Mediterranean for some more beach time.  I liked this picture because it shows how creative the restaurants have to be with their outside seating!

Prior to this, I had never put my toes in the Mediterranean!  Can you believe that?  Through all of my travels?!  Good thing I got a pedicure.

Todd and I on a windy beach in Sitges.

The zombies are here for the film festival! 

Sitges architecture.

We finally hopped the train back to Barcelona in the evening to catch some dinner (ummm, not literally!) at La Paradeta.  This place was awesome.

First, you go through the fresh fish and tell them what you want.  Good thing Todd speaks Spanish!

Then they cook it up for you!  Seriously, the prawns were the biggest I have ever seen!  (Please note: more wine is on the table.)

The next morning, we decided to do something crazy... something we had never done before!  We decided to take a Segway tour of Barcelona!  Eeek!  We had to meet our guide in the Plaça de St. Jaume.  This is the center of government not only in Barcelona, but in all of Catalonia.  However, as you see it now, it dates back to 1823.

Our Segway Guide Edgar met us in the Placa and gave us a quick tour of the area as we walked to where the Segway's were parked.  He said this was built when the entrance of Palacio de la Generalidad was moved to the front of the building and the governor of Catalunya was lazy and didn't want to walk!

Here I am with the oldest fountains in Barcelona!  OH MY GOSH I JUST REALIZED THESE FACES LOOK LIKE DONALD TRUMP!!!!  Stop.  Just stop.  Did those that build this in the 14th century foresee our 45th president? 

Barcelona (then known as Barcino) was founded by the Romans and some of the Roman walls still exist today.  This tower in the Plaça Traginers Barcelona was built in the 4th century, A.D.  (Although my notes say that we were told it was built around 100 A.D.)  At any rate, it's old!

 La Merce Basilica (The Basilica of Our Lady of Mercy) in the rain from a Segway.  This church was built between 1765 and 1775, and whenever a city sports team wins a championship, it is the custom for the team to go to the church to give thanks.

OMG what have we gotten ourselves into!?  Look at me!  I'm in the front and I'm not even falling over!  Edgar took us down to the Port de Barcelona and gave a really nice history of the city.  I know people on Segways are annoying, but this was actually a really neat way to see the city (if you can get over the fear) and Edgar was an excellent guide.  There's a reason why Barcelona Segway Glides are ranked so high on the list of tours of Barcelona.  Almost all of that is Edgar's excellent narrative!

Ummm, Todd... over here, please. You're going the wrong way!

We didn't let the rain stop us from having fun! 

Now that I've got my land legs back, we went back to the Plaça de St. Jaume to check out the Barcelona City Hall.  Construction started in the mid 14th century on the current building (and like most other old European buildings, additions and renovations followed over the centuries).  However, the city leaders had been meeting in this area since the 1st century B.C. (B.C!!)  This room is the "Room of One Hundred."  It's typically used for weddings and other celebrations.

Hold on, I must speak to my people.

I'm crazy obsessed with elevations.  Back in 100 A.D., this was the highest point of the city within the Roman walls at 16.9 meters.  The doorway behind me leads to the remains of the Roman Temple of Barcino!

I was quite amused that they went ahead and built some modern day buildings around the temple!  This temple, also known as the Temple of Augustus since it was a place of worship for Caesar Augustus, was built at the end of the first century B.C.  The ruins were discovered during an excavation of the area in the late 1800s.

Perusing the Gothic Quarter. 

Lunch at Los Caracoles.  This might be my hangry face.  And apparently I'm very thirsty because I've got FOUR wine glasses in front of me.  Love the photobombing lady behind me, too!

Los Caracoles translates to "snails."  Many famous people have eaten at this restaurant including Salvadore Dali, Jimmy Carter and Robert De Nero!

Oh I get it now.  Snails.  So, not like... the actual snail.  But bread that is shaped like a snail!

Shut up with all of this incredible flan.

In our pre-children days, Todd and I used to hit up a lot of museums, which we did after we filled our bellies at Los Caracoles.  We stopped by the Picasso museum and had to snap some clandestine pictures!  Picasso is one of the finest examples of cubism in the world.  I love his crazy use of color in many of his paintings from this period.  The Las Meninas paintings are actually some that he did later in life, in the 1950s.

Studies from Las Meninas, 1957.  No color in this one but still very interesting.  Las Meninas was a painting by Velasquez that Picasso did a series of paintings about, trying to recreate it in his own way.  In total, he did 58 recreations of it.

All of that art has made us hungry!  Time for some tapas at Catalana, one of the best tapas restaurants in Barcelona!

Mmmm, one of my favorites... patatas bravas!

WE DON'T HAVE ANY CHILDREN WITH US SO WE ARE GOING OUT DRINKING EVERY SINGLE NIGHT! Here I am pretending to be young again, drinking at the local college hangout La Taverna L'ovella Negra (the Black Sheep).  The outside of the bar actually calls it "La Oveja Negra."

It's got it's own tap and everything!  I'd be night night termite after drinking one of those!

Our last full day (sniff, sniff) in Barcelona brought us to La Sagrada Familia, one of the worlds most famous churches.  I touched on this a bit above, but today we were able to get tickets to go inside of the massive church.  The Passion Façade is one of the four facades at La Sagrada Familia. Construction on this façade began several decades after Gaudi's death.

As of 2010, the brown section is what is completed.  When the entire church is complete, it will include the black and white portions as well.  If you think it's big now.... just wait!

Different types of stone were used for the different columns, giving them a multi colored look.

The columns are load bearing (functional), and also appear to look like trees.  I liked the inside of La Sagrada Familia much better than the outside!

Todd and I both agreed that Gaudi looked a lot like Kevin Youkilis!  YOOOOOUK!

The Nativity Façade is certainly beautiful.

The cross on the top of the Tree of Life.

You can climb the towers of La Sagrada Familia for a fee.  It's not cheap to visit this church, but it's a must when in Barcelona.  Currently, tickets to the church, the audioguide and a visit to the towers is going to run you 29 Euros (about $31 right now).

 

But it does provide some excellent views of Barcelona and the Mediterranean!

There's no shortage of construction equipment here at La Sagrada Familia.  The construction these days is fully funded by entrance fees and donations to the church.

Last but not least, we decided to do a little shopping!  We went to the cafeteria at the top of El Corte Ingles for the sunset overlooking the Placa de Catalunya.

Until next time, Barcelona!