The Twins in London

We are spending a week in London over Easter. More details to follow.

More Stuff from Spain

I had to share more from our trip.  On one of the tourista days the boys allowed me to plan we drove thru the Serranía de Ronda (The Ronda Mountains) to Ronda. It is a beautiful city on the edge of the deep ravine, El Tajo.  What we did:

Ate at a tiny little Tapas bar with only 6 little tables.  It was decorated with a large picture of the Rat Pack which spurred a conversation with some other American tourists.

This is the oldest bull fighting ring in Spain.  We were told it is where bull fighting was "invented".  It is still used today in the fall.

Walked around the town of Ronda and had coffee on the edge of the ravine.

This is the the Puente Nuevo or "the new bridge" completed in 1793

 that crosses over the ravine into Ronda.

On the drive back to the condo we drove through several "White Cities".  Small towns with all white buildings scattered throughout the mountains. Some date back to the 1200's.

And one more thing I have to share is the best salad we have ever had.  That evening we went to an Italian restaurant that was recommended to us and ordered the Chef Salad.  The kind of Chef Salad we are familiar with has turkey, ham, cheese, boiled egg and blue cheese dressing.  This restaurant's idea of a Chef Salad is the Chef's Choice!!!  And what a choice:  thin zucchini ribbons, mixed greens, truffles, shaved Parmesan cheese, tiny croutons, and a truffle dressing! Peyton got the recipe from the Chef!

Costa del Sol, Spain

We just returned from Marbella, Spain.  We visited there during the boys' winter break.  You would think that would have been the break at Christmas but they get another week off six weeks after the New Year. Who are we to complain???
Here is a list of the top ten things we did or saw:

1. Drank sangria on the beach.
2. Toured the Royal Palace of the Alhambra in Granada.
3. Caleb and Peyton practiced their newly learned Spanish with the locals.
4. Drank sangria on the beach.
5. Drove through the "White Cities" nestled in the mountain range of the Serrania de Ronda.
6. The boys ran around the ring of the oldest Bullring in Spain.
7. Drank sangria by the pool overlooking the beach.
8. Ate the best salad that the four of us have ever had! 
9. Had coffee in Ronda over looking the sheer-sided Tajo Gorge. 
10. Had quality time with the family!

Touring the Alhambra was especially thrilling.  The boys are learning Spanish and their Spanish teacher asked them to find out why the throne room of the palace was significant to the USA.  We found out that this is where Columbus went to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella to ask for support to explore the New World.  Can you imagine?  We stood in that same room. The ceiling was amazing and its design is said to symbolize the "divine power of the Sultan".
All three of my "boys" asked me not to schedule too many touristy items on our agenda.  They all wanted to rest and relax but they told me that the Alhambra was "better than we thought it would be".

Peyton on the wall overlooking the courtyard of the Nasrid Palace.

Caleb under the arches leading into the throne room.

A corner in the Throne Room.  You can see part of the ceiling and the carving on the walls. Very intricate.

The "stalactite" ceiling in the Nasrid Palace.

The Boys at the Alhambra.

Our Firsts...

I have seriously been a slogger!!!! That's a new term that a friend coined and I stole it to describe my "slow blogging". It has been a very busy few months and I have had so much to say that I kept waiting until I had a long enough time to sit down and write every thing I wanted. That large block of time has been VERY elusive. We have just returned home from a winter break vacation to Spain.  I realized that we have been experiencing so many new things and so many firsts, especially the boys!

Been in Seven countries
Flown over the ocean
Caleb joined the cross country team
Peyton tried the tennis team
Peyton joined Glee and sang in front of his school
Caleb flew to another country and stayed with a host family by himself
Skiing in the Alps
Drove on the autobahn (on my bucket list)
Had the best hand squeezed orange juice ever from a German gas station
Have four different currencies in my wallet
Have visited royal places in three different countries
Stood in the surf of the Mediterranean Sea
The boys have spoken three different languages all in one day
Taking an Asian cooking class
Joined a Writer's group

There are probably more but these are the ones that have come to mind.  Moving here has definitely offered us some wonderful opportunities!

A Return to Normal Weekend...

Beautiful weather.
Playing some soccer.
A Farmer's market.
Lunch with my goofy kids and husband.
A little shopping.
Chinese takeout.
A walk through town.
Riding bikes.
Lunch on the patio.
Paid some bills.
Some chores.
Some homework.
Dinner and a movie in front of the TV.

Sounds kind of dull doesn't it? But it was one of the best weekends we have had here in Prague. We are starting to find our groove!!! It finally seems like life is settling down into normal!!! And then you have the added bonus of discovering new things and exploring our new hometown.

The boys and I went for a walk/bike through our village Saturday and then all four of us headed off to the famer's market. Caleb and Peyton found a booth of apple juice slushes. Apple trees are every where here and everyone sells them but a very enterprising person has created slushes out of fresh fruit juices. And I have to say they are fabulous.

We ate lunch at a Lebanese restaurant which is Peyton's new favorite thing. He can't seem to get enough baba ghannouj. He and I met the owner of the restaurant and found out his brother lives in our village. He also lived in Tulsa for some time and then gave us his number for delivery. I will have to hide it from Peyton!!

      

All three of my boys at the U Cedar the Lebanese Restaurant. 

Caleb has an abrasion on his cheek from a soccer collision at school.

We have also started a picture collection of buildings.  We are copying Chris and his bug photo collection.  Below is a building that Caleb wanted to add. 

 

Brunch with Caleb

Caleb and I had a lovely meal on Sunday. We went to a cafe named Giraffe. We were sitting outside and it ended up raining but we were under umbrellas and the wait staff handed out blankets and it was perfect!! Caleb had hot chocolate and we were very cozy sitting in the rain. It was also a first for Caleb - he ate escargot for the first time. You can see him holding a shell with one of those special clamps in the picture. He was very sweet and held the umbrella over me as we walked to the car. On the way home he told me, "thank you for the very nice lunch, Mom". I want to just wrap up moments like these and put them in my pocket. The boys are growing up so fast!!!

Tramming Day Courtesy of Peyton and Caleb.

The boys did not have school on Monday, September 12, and Bret was in Belgium so they wanted to go tramming. Both of them prepared with maps and scheldules that Peyton had researched and off we went.

What we did:

Bought extra tickets at train station since this is the only place I have found them but need them in our remote village if we need to take the bus somewhere.

Found a very cool memorial statue to the victims of communism. But the boys were disturbed by the naked man.

Ate at the "best" Mexican restaurant in Prague

Rode the tram around town for four hours

Ate some great ice cream

Found many more mosaic sidewalk designs.

Had a break in a plaza with a beautiful church turned museum.

Both boys did a great job navigating the city with the different trams and reading schedules. It can be quite confusing but they are already pros!!!