Jasper had a rough day today. He didn't get quite enough sleep last night, but this grumpiness was next level.
He did have some fun exploring the property that our AirBnb is on. The host gave him a motorcycle that he rode around for hours.
He also amused himself by playing "avocado farmer" in the backyard by picking, sorting and selling them in his store. Aunt Kate made some yummy guacamole from the fresh avocados and limes growing in the yard.
There is lots to keep you amused on the property, and great views of El Tiede and the ocean to relax by. It would be easier to relax without the screaming child.
Luckily, Ellis was in good spirits today and kept us amused with her antics.
She wants to do everything Jasper does, and has a much less hassle trying it out when he's not around.
Hopefully after a good long sleep, Jasper will wake up happier and ready to do some exploring of the island tomorrow.
We have arrived in the Canary Islands, Tenerife to be exact. Today was a challenging travel day. It wasn't really a long trip, but I just couldn't seem to get organized. Pat's rain coat got left behind at our apartment. We were late to the gate for our flight, because it left early for some reason. I forgot to download the map of Tenerife, so we got lost several times. The cheap car seats we bought were a fight to install (and I still don't think they are quite right). Meal times and nap times were all out of whack which resulted in tired, hungry and grumpy kids (and adults). I am ready for bed.
A highlight of the day was meeting up with Aunt Kate in the airport. She took 4 flights to meet us in Sevilla to fly to Tenerife.
The kids loved playing at a little play area in the airport with Aunt Kate, Grandma and Grandpa.
It's Wednesday, so of course we had to show the family 100 Montaditos. We didn't anticipate all the one way streets and pedestrian right of ways to get to the restauraunt.
The car seats are front facing, so it's funny to look back and see both kids. They even held hands for a little while, but the moment had passed by the time I found the camera.
We made it to our house right as the sun was setting. As advertised, it really is a spectacular view. There is a pool, a playground, a basketball court, a ping pong table and a little motorcycle that Jasper is obsessed with. Tomorrow we will take some time to really explore the house property and hopefully relax a bit too!
Today we did a lot of sightseeing in central Sevilla with Grandma and Grandpa. The first stop was the Alcazar. It was a bit rainy, but that also cleared the crowds a bit.
In the gardens, Jasper waved at a man on a tractor who was working and he immediately stopped what he was doing and came over to give Jasper a piece of bread to feed a peacock.
The kids were less into the inside parts of the museum, but we still looked through some of the rooms. The castle is so huge you could spend all day there and not see everything.
After the Alcazar, we went to a tapas restaurant recommended in the Lonely Planet. The food was delicious, and there were some great vegetarian options.
Next stop was the bull fighting arena. We did an audio guide tour of the arena and associated artifacts in a little museum.
The tour was interesting, but assumed that you already knew the basics of bull fighting (which I didn't really know).
We then walked along the river towards the Torre del Oro.
Jasper enjoyed seeing the tour boats and paddlers going up the river.
We climbed up the Torre and looked at the little navigation museum inside.
There was a nice view of the river and the city from the top of the tower. Jasper even climbed up some of the steps himself.
After the tower, we were all pretty tired, so we stopped for a snack before walking back to the apartment.
While Pat and I went to buy carseats, Jasper got to check out some of the mall toys with Grandma and Grandpa.
Tomorrow morning we head to the airport to meet Aunt Kate and catch a flight to Tenerife!
Grandma and Grandpa arrived in Sevilla today! Our day revolved around taking the bus to meet them at the airport. We ate lunch at the cafe in the arrivals area and met them at the door when they arrived.
After the airport trip, it was a low key afternoon of naps and resting. The kids are getting better, but are still a bit under the weather. We're saving up for a full day of touring Sevilla tomorrow.
We made a quick trip to the park in the mall courtyard. It includes a huge tube slide that starts on the 2nd story of the mall. If you look closely, you can see Pat and Jasper in the window getting ready to go. Jasper went down by himself, maybe some of Ellis' slide confidence is rubbing off!
Back at the apartment, we had a birthday dinner for Grandpa, including "happy birthday cake" that Jasper devoured with gusto, right before bedtime.
Tomorrow, Jasper wants to show Grandma and Grandpa the yellow castle, and Pat wants us all to try riding the 6-person bike.
This morning during breakfast, Jasper was looking at the pictures in our Lonely Planet Andalucia book and decided he really wanted to go to the "yellow castle" on the front page of the book. We didn't have any plans for today so we decided to give it a go.
We weren't sure which building was in the picture, since it isn't labelled, but I thought it might be the Alcazar. It turned out to be the building at Plaza Espana, which luckily is right behind the Alcazar in Maria Luisa Park.
Jasper was still feeling pretty sick today and wasn't in the best mood. He fell in a puddle by the fountain and got his pants wet. Since we didn't have a spare, he went without pants while the pants air dried.
We decided to rent a 4 wheeled bike to explore the rest of Maria Luisa Park. It was a fun way to get an overview of the whole park. We should have done it when we first arrived and were looking for a playground and a cafe. We saw at least 5 of each on the bike ride.
Steering was a challenge since the park was busy on a Sunday morning. We had to navigate around horse and carriages, other bikes, buskers, segways, strollers, joggers, a wedding, and lots and lots of pedestrians.
Since the kids were both still a bit sick, we spent most of the afternoon relaxing at the apartment. Jasper wanted to be held most of the time, and he is getting heavy!
This apartment is on the 4th floor, but there is a (very small) elevator, which makes getting up and down with the stroller much easier.
Everyone at school was sick last week, so it was just a matter of time before we caught it. Jasper and Ellis both have coughs, runny noses and fevers. Ellis still in pretty good spirits, but Jasper is miserable as soon as the Advil starts to wear off.
This morning we packed up all our stuff and walked over to the train station. We had a few hours to kill between check-out and our 1:30 pm train, so we cafe-hopped along the way.
The train ride was 1.5 hours, which passed quite quickly. Jasper fell asleep sitting up and was upset that we didn't have time to go to the snack car once he woke up.
Our AirBnb host's mother met us to check into our new apartment in Sevilla. She didn't speak English, so our Spanish study came in handy! The apartment is very close to the train station and across the street from a grocery store. We found a nice big park when we were exploring the neighbourhood, but Jasper was too sleepy to try it out.
Ellis is really starting to like to be read to, which is cool to see. She can turn the pages on board books and will pay attention for a couple minutes. Sometimes, if he is in a better mood, Jasper will even "read" to her. He has memorized most of the books that we brought with us on the trip, plus the English ones from the Cadiz apartment.
Hopefully everyone will be well enough tomorrow to do some exploring around the city, then Grandma and Grandpa arrive on Monday!
Today we finished our 4 week Spanish course at Gadir language school. It was a great place to learn with amazing teachers. November is their slowest time of year, so we never had more than 4 people in the class at a time. I feel that I've picked up quite a bit in the short time we've studied, but since Pat and I each studied only half the course (and took turns looking after the kids) we have some major gaps in our knowledge. For example, I missed all the lessons on how to conjugate verbs in the present tense. We both think we'd like to continue to study when we get home, the only problem is how to fit it into regular life!
All of us have been a bit under the weather in the last few days. Jasper, Ellis and Pat have colds and I have hurt my back from carrying too much. Pat has been great about carrying the kids today and making sure I rest. My back is sore but still functional, and I can't afford to be out of commission!
Pat took the kids to the "bump slide" park near school one last time. I can't believe what Ellis is able to do. The slide must be at least 6 times taller than her. The girl has no fear.
Jasper enjoyed watching a bubble-making busker in the cathedral plaza. We have seen an interesting variety of buskers here in Cadiz, from very talented guitarist and flamenco dancers to a guy who has a little doll that dances to music from an old boom box. All the buskers come out on days with multiple cruise ships in port.
After nap we went for a walk following one of the historical trails around the city. The interpretive signs weren't great because they didn't give any context, but we did get into a few areas we hadn't been before.
For our last dinner in Cadiz, we took the kids out for tapas. Most kitchens don't open until 8:30 pm, but the bar we went to has a Hawgs Breath style kitchen of microwaves and toaster ovens. The bartender opened the kitchen just for us.
We ate a nice tapas meal of tortilla, olives and bread. Jasper got a Cola Cao (hot chocolate) and we had beer and some sherry. Even though we were 2-3 hours early, it was a good local experience to have on our last night (the sherry was poured directly out of one of the barrels visible behind the bar).
Jasper ran the whole way home, weaving in and out of people on the pedestrian street. He definitely turns heads with his blonde hair, baseball cap and t-shirt. It's 20 degrees here tonight and most people are in jackets and scarves.
So long Cadiz, it has been a great month! Next, on to Sevilla and Canary Islands!
The Spanish school is offering a guided tour of tapas restaurants tonight, so Kristin has gone out with some of our classmates for wine and snacks. Not too much to report today beyond the usual routine of going to school and deciding which park to go to.
Jasper had his first true meltdown down since we have been in Spain (there were a few in Madeira). He was giving out a lot of "don't even talk to me" stares (see photo below) in the morning, but eventually managed to have a bit of fun once he found a pair of "movie star" glasses. He ran around the apartment looking for a "movie star farm" so that he could sell me some movie stars. I'm starting to think the college fund we started for him might have been a little bit too optimistic.
Ellis loves popcorn and tried her best to reach up and steal some from the top of the stroller.
