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!

Grant moving all around

  

Yes, he is 11 months, and no, he is not walking.  He isn't even crawling yet!  But he IS getting up on all 4's and rocking back and forth.  And he can stand by himself at a table holding on to it.  And he rolls ALL over the place.  He can get clear across the room in the same amount of time it takes for me to walk it!

This does not worry me in the least because Natalie didn't crawl until 13 months and walk until 17 months.  Grant has been just about 1 month behind her in everything so far.  So I'm predicting crawling at a year, and walking at 16 months!  You heard it here first!

Natalie had a cookie in her mouth in the next picture and Grant looks like a deer in the headlights, but isn't he cute in his little Auburn shirt?  And Natalie is actually smiling normal and looks super cute except she has a cookie in her mouth.

Here we tried to do a self portrait but Grant wasn't having any of it.  Natalie was cute though!

Yo Gabba Gabba pictures

In my last post I said I didn't take any pictures last weekend.  Silly me, yes I did!  This picture is of Natalie and I with our DJ Lance Rock glasses on.  Pretty sweet.

And here's a shot of some of the Yo Gabba Gabba gang.  For those of you who don't speak "Gabba" talk, this is Muno, DJ Lance Rock, Foofah, Plex (in yellow behind Foofah), and Brobee.  They sing and dance and teach lessons about friendship, eating healthy, being scared, and other preschooler type issues.  I actually don't really like the show (it's SO weird) but the live show was fantastic and I was really surprised about how many songs we knew! 

And who doesn't love a little Biz Markie doing Biz's Beat of the Day?  Yes, he was really there, and yes, I swear he's only there to entertain the parents.

The highlight of the event was when Natalie took a late potty break at the end of the intermission.  Well timed, little girl... because we ran into Foofah and Muno near the bathrooms.  Muno gave Natalie a hug, and Natalie ran up and gave Foofah a hug.  What's funny about this, was for weeks she had been talking about wanting to give Brobee a hug.  I kept explaining that they would be on stage singing and dancing, but we probably wouldn't get to see them up close.  She totally proved me wrong!

During the intermission, you could text a message and having it show up on the big screen.  So I texted "Natalie Loves Brobee!!!"  and there it is!  Natalie was not as excited about this as I was. I... love technology. 

Great weekend

We really had a very nice weekend.  Yes, it was hectic and stressful, and no, I didn't get any pictures, but it was productive and fun!

Saturday morning, Todd went to CrossFit while Grant, Natalie and I went to gymnastics.  Natalie's coach (Gary) told me that Natalie was VERY strong!  It's funny to watch her out in the gym doing her gymnastics, because there are a lot of gymnastics moves that we do in CrossFit.  Things like knees to elbows, the rings, handstands, etc.  I saw Natalie doing knees to elbows with ease.  Meanwhile, I can't do that AT ALL!  She's going to school me when she's 4/5 and starts CrossFit Kids!

Natalie took a slightly early nap on Saturday and I went to get my haircut.  My normal girl was booked up and I HAD to get my haircut before I went to Spain.  It was insanely long.  The other girl, Jillian, did a great job and had a fantastic flat iron that I contemplated buying for about 5 minutes until she told me about chemical relaxing... and I am TOTALLY going to do that when I get back from Spain.  It's kind of expensive, but you only have to do it twice a year, and your hair will be super straight even right out of the shower.  I really need this, because after having my two babies, I got a crazy wave in the back of my head.  It started out fairly small with Natalie but grew to encompass the entire back of my head with Grant.  It's frustrating because flat iron's really don't even get it out.  So I'm excited to get it chemically straightened. 

I came back home and Natalie and I hopped in the car and headed into Boston for the Yo Gabba Gabba live show.  It was funny- Natalie kept telling me that she wanted to give Brobee (the little green one) a hug.  But I kept telling her that we would only see them from afar, and they would be on stage singing and dancing.  I wasn't sure she quite got the concept.  So the show starts and it's SUPER fun. I was a little surprised.  I really don't even like the TV show, but the live show was really high energy, lots of songs that we knew, and wasn't too long (so my toddler paid attention the WHOLE time!).  There was about a 15 minute intermission halfway through, and of course, at about minute 14, Natalie goes, "I gotta go potty!"  GREAT.  So we run up the aisle, down the hall, down the stairs and to the bathroom.  On our way out, we can see two of the characters, Muno and Foofah.  So we go halfway up the stairs (so as not to block their way- they were also coming up the stairs), and Natalie is in total awe.  Muno comes right up to her with open arms and she gives him a big hug!  Then we follow them upstairs as they are waiting to go into the audience to walk up the aisles back to the stage, and the lady who was leading Foofah around said, "Would you like to hug Foofah?"  So Natalie RUNS up to Foofah (cutting off the other little girl who was there!) and gives her a big hug!  She comes back and goes, "Foofah is soft."  All I could think of was meeting Peter Buck in the airport in Madrid and thinking about how excited I was to meet one of my idols!  The second half of the show was equally as entertaining and Natalie really had fun.  So much, that she had a little tantrum as we were trying to leave.  She didn't want it to end and was begging me to go to the next city.  I'm like, "What are you?  Me, following REM around?"  I went to 3 REM shows in the summer of 2008 (Raleigh, DC, and Jones Beach, NY).  I was amused by her obsession (although, NOT the tantrum).  I bribed her with muffins that Maureen had made with her and were at home in the fridge.  She immediately perked up and we went home and had the muffin treats.  Whew, muffins save the day!

Saturday was also a good football game- Auburn beat South Carolina in another close game, and Mississippi State beat Georgia!  I love it when both of my teams win!!!

Sunday we got a lot of things done around the house.  We even started getting ready for our trip to Spain next week.  Just buying some toiletries and getting the kids diaper bag and church bag ready for Grammi and Bean's.  I got a bunch of other things done around the house (sheets changed, floors vacuumed, swiffered, mail organized, etc.).  We also ate YUMMY food this weekend- Todd made homemade meatballs with tomatoes, zucchini, onions and squash in the slow cooker, and we had chicken apple sausage from Trader Joe's.  SO YUM.  The Patriots won in a nail biter, and the only thing that brought my weekend down was the darn Bucs lost to the Steelers!

Auburn-Clemson game

For my birthday, I got a weekend away.  I flew down to Atlanta Friday morning and a bunch of us drove to Auburn that afternoon.  (But not before having lunch with Bayless, who was not going to Auburn because she flew to L.A. to see her husband, who is the drummer for Skid Row, play at the Verizon Amphitheater!).

Luckily, Kim's husband Rick scored us a free sweet 4 bedroom condo/townhome!  His company owns the place and during the week, some of the workers who are working on projects in Auburn stay there.  But they leave on the weekend, so we got a free place to stay.  

Friday evening, we all went to Amsterdam's for dinner and a mini ZTA reunion (our sorority).  

My big sis Hope is in the pink almost off screen next to Ayala.  Then there's (and I'm only giving maiden names here!) Melissa Ayala, Kirstin Myers, Kara McLaughlin, Stacie Wright, Katie Allen, Michelle Motley, and Tyler Martin. 

While we were there, Kirk Herbstreit, Chris Fowler, and Erin Andrews came in and sat in a corner booth.  GameDay was live from Auburn on Saturday, so they were in town.  We love them because they always have great things to say about Auburn.  Plus Erin Andrews is a ZTA! 

Saturday we got up early to get to the tailgate.  Unfortunately, we couldn't get the TV to work, but we did have satellite radio and listened to some of the earlier games while eating burgers, brats, potato salad, brownies, veggies and dip, and cookies. 

Oh let's not forget my old pal, Maker's Mark, who made an appearance.  Ayala and I started drinking beer, but it was just making us sleepy.  Thankfully Maker's Mark (aka: brown liquor) was there to save the day!  I don't think you can see it very well in the picture below, but the normally red seal wax on the top of the bottle is actually orange and blue when you buy it in Auburn!

Katie (Allen Gust, blonde, long hair in the first picture above, next to Stacie) told me to meet her at the athletic center at 3:30 to get my ticket.  Her husband works for Auburn and scored me a nice, free ticket!  Hooray! Missy and I hit the bookstore before we were going to meet Katie.  I picked up some cute things for the kids- look for future pictures/posts about how cute my kids look in Auburn gear! Anyway, due to lack of cell phone signal (because you know, Auburn becomes the 3rd largest city in Alabama on Saturday's in the fall), I couldn't get ahold of her.  So Missy and I watched Tiger Walk and hung out with the Garner's (Kristen's parents!) before heading back to the tailgate.

The game was a good one.  Katie's seats were really awesome.  Hope and I sat on the 30-35 yard line, about 45 rows up.  It was so good to spend some time with my Big Sis too!  I hadn't seen her since 2008, and even then, it was brief.  Thank goodness for Facebook!  Speaking of that, if it weren't for Facebook, I wouldn't have know to wear blue.  You can see all of the Auburn fans wearing navy, because the Clemson fans are wearing orange.

The picture above is kick off.  War Eagle, hey!  And the picture below is probably my favorite picture of the weekend. We were down 17-3 at halftime, then took a 24-17 lead in the second half, only to have Clemson come back again (on dumb Auburn mistakes), and take it into overtime.  In overtime, we scored first (3 pointer) but then there was a false start by Clemson as their kicker MADE the field goal.  So they brought it back.  And guess what? He missed it!   I love a good Auburn win, especially for my birthday! 

Amused Baby

I just love this little guy.



More gymnastics

Just another shot of Natalie doing her gymnastics!  She just has no fear in her class.  Here she is getting ready to hang from the rings!  She just trots right on up and goes at it!

Picnic in the Park

Todd, the kids and I went to Boston Public Garden for Labor Day.  We brought along a picnic lunch and strolled around on a beautiful late summer day.

Natalie was a big hit, scoring lots of smiles with her angel wings on.  I mean, really, isn't she the cutest??? 

We also rode on the famous swan boats.  I had never been on them, and neither had the kids, so we took a little family cruise on the pond at the Boston Public Garden.  The sun was in our eyes, which is why Natalie has the sourpuss face on.  She was really good and had fun on the boat!

But I didn't have Grant facing the camera, so here is the big guy with his Mama on the boat.  Right after this picture, Grant grabbed my earring out of my ear and tried to fling it, but thankfully Todd caught his hand and took it away from him.  And thankfully I wear the kind of earrings that can pop right out when a baby grabs at them!

After our swan boat adventures, we went under a shady tree and had a picnic.  Of course, we forgot Natalie's lunch, so she had to eat some of ours.  G enjoyed a jar of green beans under the trees.  We didn't take any pictures of the picnic- it was a little chaotic!

The swans (the real ones - hey, they don't call them swan boats for nothing!) and the ducks were so comfortable around people, you could walk right up to them.  Here, Natalie had little interest in the birds, but was very excited about stirring a big stick in the pond.  Do you ever wonder what goes on in the mind of a 3-year-old?????  Fascinating stuff! 

Sippy cup

We keep trying to give Grant a sippy cup and this is pretty much all Ole Blue Eyes does with it:  not much.  But he looks cute doing nothing!!!

Sorry this next picture is blurry... this time, he kept trying to bend over to drink it.  He doesn't quite understand gravity yet!  But he did enjoy chewing on the rubbery spout!

Natalie's Gymstars I class

Natalie really enjoyed the brief, 10 week summer gymnastics class she took.  She was in the Tiny Tumblers class, but now she has moved up to the "big girl class" (as she calls it), also known as Gymstars I.  It's a little more organized now.  First, they sit in a circle and do songs and stretching and dancing. 

You can see here, she is doing a pretty good job of paying attention.  However, in the next picture, she is running around while all of the other kids are quietly seated.  Such is the attention span of a 3-year-old!

This picture is so awesome.  The only thing in focus is Natalie.  Pretty wild.  After the group sing-a-long, they go and break into smaller groups and do smaller obstacle courses.  Below, she is waiting in line to start one of the courses.

In the next shot, my little daredevil is climbing the ladder (with the help of one of her teachers, Mr. Gary). 

And lastly, here she is jumping on little squeaky pads.  Yes, that is her new leotard.  She was very excited to wear it and didn't want to take it off when she got home.  She said she wanted to wear it all day!