Not Quite as Sweet of a Ride

This morning we left Spain for Portugal and the end to our one night hotel stands. Hopefully this will help 3rd M sleep through the night since he has been getting up at least once each night for the past few days. Our ride to Portugal was in a comfortable aircraft where every seat was either a window or an aisle seat. Once again I had to search under most of the seats near us to make sure I collected all the things 3rd M distributed around the cabin.

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Below is the view from our hotel room. Below that is the same view a few hours later. When we arrived there was a nice breeze. Later on it is no longer a breeze. If you windsurf or kite surf, this seems to be your destination.

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We have definitely left the calm warmth of the Alboran Sea and have the much cooler Atlantic to swim in. This also means the offshore breeze is refreshingly cool. Finding a sheltered spot on the beach was a challenge but once again 3rd M’s charm got us a spot with a wonderful set of German twins and their mother in a sheltered spot right next to the snack shack. It is amazing what you can do with a smile.

Dancing the Flamenco in the Streets

We are in Granada close to the center of where the flamenco originated. We were worried that we would not get a chance to enjoy the dance since 3rd M would not be up late enough. Luckily for us there are spontaneous gatherings where a guitar appears and the music starts to flow. I am sure a professional show is a more spectacular but dancing with the locals would most likely not be possible.

3rd M got a chance to work on his dance steps with 3 young ladies. I am not sure what step includes showing off your belly but he makes it work.

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The added bonus is the view. That is Alhambra in the background

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Cordoba

It is hot and dry and we all agree that is a much better combination than the hot and humid we had on the coast. At least this way you get wet playing in the fountain. Today was actually quite cool with rain but yesterday and tomorrow will be in the 100’s.

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The best part of the long drive to Cordoba yesterday was at the end. Our hotel is in the city center and sine the city center was built before cars, cars only kind of work. Getting lost did not help. At least the streets are all one way and there is usually no choice on where to turn. Expecting people to stand with their back to the building so the car can squeeze by was a little embarrassing.

“Excuse me, coming through. Yes we are lost. Yes I know we just came through a minute ago, is it OK if you do that maneuver again? Thank you!”

At least we had a nice tour of the city in air conditioned comfort and I am very happy we have a small car with a tight turning radius. Go VW Polo, go. I am not sure the picture below does the size of the streets justice. We tried to get a picture of the car but we had technical problems.

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Name That Object

Can anyone identify the object below?

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I am sure most of you said a bidet. As a parent with a curious and active one and a half year old, I like to call it a bathroom fountain. These things, when placed in the right hands, like 3rd M’s, can flood an entire bathroom in less than 10 seconds or about the time it takes a grownup to get from the bed to the bathroom of a standard hotel room.

In the photo above you can see 2nd M’s clever mechanism for disabling the fountain portion of this device. So far in this hotel we have a dry bathroom floor.

Guess Where We Are

We had fish and chips for dinner with a pint to wash it down.

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Maybe this next picture will help.

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Yep that is the rock of Gibraltar. Down here at the southern end of Spain is a little slice of the British Empire. At only 2.5 square miles there is not much of it but it sure is an abrupt culture change. The Royal Post, red double decker busses, phone booths and the British accent.

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On the way here we detoured through Ronda. A white painted town in the rugged hills. It is very picturesque and on the edge of a cliff with a very old bridge called the New Bridge spanning the gap between the old town and the newer commercial portion.

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One noticeable difference as we have headed south is the heat. We left the mid 80’s and are now in the high 90’s. It has hit all 3 of us.

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We find relief where we can.

Seeing Barcelona from the Playground

Some of the best playgrounds are right next to some of the best sights in Barcelona. Take this playground right next to La Sagrada Família. Why bother standing in line for tickets and shuffling through the place with all those people when you get such a great view from the playground right across the street? No lines, 3rd M had a blast, and we even got a bench in the shade.

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Just kidding, we did go inside but the park was a relaxing way to study the exterior without all the crowds. That place was packed and not just inside, the sidewalks near it were swarming with people most with selfie sticks so not paying attention to anyone but themselves. I also think the exterior was more interesting than the interior so sitting in the park while 3rd M played was great.

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On another note, 3rd M is doing a great job of charming his way into free stuff. So far he has gotten a cookie at the ice cream shop, a memory card game from the pharmacist, and the best one today was an apple slice. The apple was not a big score but it took some chutzpah to get it. A mother was sitting on the ground with her kids cutting up an apple and 3rd M sauntered on up with a big smile and waited until he got his slice. On one hand it is so cute to watch him do it since he is just charming. On the other had as a parent the thought goes through your head like wait, what does that mother think… “that poor kid does not get fed by those bad parents” or maybe “how can they let their child beg like that” but all we can do is laugh. It is so funny to watch and it is not like he scores all the time. He does it to all kinds of people who do not give him anything other than a big smile. He just likes to interact with everyone.

Making Friends, Popping Bubbles

Our first full day in Barcelona and 3rd M is having fun and making friends. Africa (pictured below, what a great name) and 3rd M had a great time running back and forth, up and down on the steps in front of the harbor. Her mom is from El Salvador and her dad is from Guyana and they have a restaurant here in Barcelona. The mom was surprised when we told her we not only knew where Guyana was but that we had been there.

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Farther down the path we got to pop bubbles. These were not your everyday bubbles mind you. These were huge, run after, jump into the air and throw your hat at to pop bubbles. What a great way to make money. Parents are happy to give up a few coins for someone to entertain their children. 3rd M spent more time going for the can full of change than the bubbles though. I would like to think that has to do with making shaky can noises but I could be wrong. We eventually had to pry the can out of his hands after he had run a good distance off from the bubbles clutching the can to his chest. In my parent panic I did not catch a picture of this theft but I think the bubble makers understood once we brought the can back and took a crying 3rd M away.

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So far we have had perfect weather. Warm enough to go swimming but not so hot you get soaked on the walk to the beach. It rained last night and we were told that is the first rain the city has seen in 2 months. Las Ramblas was packed with people all day but especially tonight as we walked home from the beach. We are all enjoying Barcelona and happy that we will be here for a few more days. Having Uncle G with us for the first few days is nice and 3rd M was happy to see him. We also appreciate an extra set of hands to corral 3rd M.

Sweet Ride

Thursday afternoon we were picked up in this sweet ride pictured below. 3rd M had a bed and everything but he chose not to use it for more then half the ride.

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Pet the nice birdie
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Nice bed but I am not going to use it much

The 747-400 got us to Frankfurt and then 3 hours and a cat nap later for 1st M in the most comfortable airport chair I have ever been in, we boarded a not as sweet ride to Barcelona. We all slept on that ride and 3rd M was out before we were even airborne.

Traveling with a 1.5 year old is a lot more challenging than it was to travel with a 9 month old last year. Luckily 3rd M is still his usual happy self, walking up to strangers and starting conversations. When he does cry it is usually short and abruptly ended with a smile.

I Don’t Know

For a long time I tried to capture this gesture that 3rd M was making. After many failed attempts, I finally got a few good shots and then never made a post. So as a lead up to our big trip this year here is the “I don’t know”.

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Oops missed that one
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Hey M, where is the dog?
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Where is your hat?
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Where is your binky?

 

Someday it would be fun to capture him playing hide and seek with his binky when he wakes up. Unless someone is secretly recording the camera in his room though, I do not think that is going to happen.

Murder

3rd M what have you done!

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You are covered in blood. What did you do!

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Did you do it in the garage?

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You used the hammer,

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nails,

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clamps,

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and wrenches.

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And then you dragged the body down the alley.

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Oh wait, you went to the farmers market and ate all the cherries. Honey, get the hose!

Playing Stay-at-home Mom

The Third M loves his school. He’s learning a ton and is very stimulated during the day. (Today, he didn’t even cry at drop off!) However, given that we’re still in the first few weeks of a new school (aka Petrie Dish), the Third M has been under the weather, so the Second M took off from work for a half day and we walked around town. We saw the trains, took an elevator, went grocery shopping and visited our developer’s new office. (It’s in the background of the pictures.)

Note the bag of dried Strawberries.  He ate them all up!

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Yummy Raspberries!

The Second M found these wonderful dried fruit and vegetables from the store. Normally the Third M loves eating peas, but in the last few days he was crazy about the Raspberries and Strawberries. Not the evidence on this picture! You would say that he was caught ‘red-handed’, too. (But I couldn’t get a picture of that. )

 

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Happy Birthday!!

The 3rd M is listening intently to everything we’re saying and speaking up! Most of the time, it’s this amazing little semi-monologue where he gabbers away and tells us about…well, we don’t know what, but he’s really animated!

More and more he’s repeating what we’re saying.  I’m amazed I got this one on video. We were creating a Happy Birthday video for Aunt Lynn and during the second take, he started saying “Happy Birthday”, but I didn’t catch it at first. (It was pretty clear, too.)

Go, 3rd M, go!

 

Knock Knock

After school when the weather is nice we usually walk around the block. 3rd M likes to visit with his best friend Miss O. He walks right up the stairs and bangs on the front door. Unfortunately no one was home.

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Inspection

3rd M likes to inspect the work 1st M is doing in the shop. He also likes to play with 1st M’s toys and wear his ear muffs while doing it. It has been cold and the dog hat with the ear muffs made for a great combination.

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New School!

It’s been a wild few weeks as we thought that we could enroll the 3rd M in preschool when he turned two. That’s six months from now, so we thought we were ahead of the curve! Not so! All the good schools have a 1-2 year waiting list. Luckily, the 2nd M was not deterred and she rushed around for a week researching and calling schools and touring them with the 3rd M. She determined that Montessori would be best for him, but really wanted a dual-language program. (He already understands Spanish, so, let’s keep that going.)

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She found a dual-language Montessori in the local area on a Saturday and it turns out that a friend of hers in on the board. On Sunday, the board member told her all about the school, but that it had a waiting list. The 2nd M called the school Monday morning and they said at 8am that they had an immediate opening, but that she had to let them know by 4pm if they were going to take it! So, after consulting with the 1st M, they enrolled the 3rd M!

This is the end of his first week and he LOVES it! The teachers (one Mexican, one Honduran) said the 3rd M is very happy, helpful and social. He loves washing his hands at the sinks, loves the gym and enjoys playing his music on their CD Player. He can do all these things by himself (except walk to the gym.) He also loves to help set the table, prepare food and eat. The 2nd M is thrilled because the school has catered lunch by an excellent company, Michael’s of Denver, that serves the kids organic and local foods and bakes their own bread. (They even has a blog post about why gluten and wheat are bad! Click here if you are curious!!) So things like humus and vegetable salads are on the menu. The 1st M loves the fact that they’re potty training right away, so, fewer diapers for the wash!

Meanwhile, the 3rd M comes home and he’s calmer. It’s obvious he needed the intellectual and social stimulation.

It’s been great, but the 2nd M did loose a lot of sleep. The transition was harder on her than the 3rd M. Typical.

Coordination

Sometimes 3rd M wants to dress himself. Today was no exception and when I came home from work he was in rare form. Even Suri was not sure what to make of him. He sure loves his snow boots!

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The HUNI HOUR

Since he was born, the 3rd M has been attending our monthly neighborhood socials (called HUNI hours.) In this last one, the 3rd M decided to walk out into the open during the raffle prize announcements. Perhaps it was because he wanted the microphone.

Everyone whipped out their smart phones to take a picture. He couldn’t resist mugging for the camera. (See below.)

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Later, he sweet talked the HUNI Membership volunteer to let him up on his lap so he could play with his computer and mouse. He’s cute and he puts that to use. It’s all about the end game.

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Boat Boxes and other fun things

The 1st & 2nd Ms devise increasingly more complicated (and more dangerous?) activities to keep the 3rd M engaged. He’s a busy little bee and if we don’t want all the items in every drawer removed and then randomized throughout the house, we’ve got to keep him occupied. (So far, we’ve found chicken and crackers in with the kindling for the fireplace, his binkies in with the 2nd M’s makeup and little shoes underneath the bed.)

Our latest, devised in collaboration with 2nd & 3rd Ms is Stroller Racing and the Boat Box. See here:

We then progressed to Speed Boat Box Racing. You really need to be in repose for the aerodynamic nature of the sport. Luckily, the 3rd M doesn’t get too upset when the 2nd M bashes his head into a corner or a chair. Perhaps this sport should have a helmet?

Try to keep up…(It’s really fast!)