"Special Sister Time"

Sadly, the only picture I have of the three (four) of us together.

When we were kids, my mom used to reward us for getting along by extending bed time or nap time if we were enjoying "special sister time".  As we grew older we learned to take advantage of this.  When bed time rolled around (or anything we didn't want to do such as a dreaded "house job") we would claim to be having "special sister time", immediately inventing some fascinating game to keep up the ruse.  More often than not, we got away with it, so to speak; but looking back on those times now, I think we were really playing right into my mother's grand plan.  Of course, we weren't going to bed on time, or dusting; but we were learning to enjoy each other and those moments of confidence helped cultivate the wonderful relationship we have today.

As we grew older, we made fun of the sweet term my mother had coined that smacked of cliché.  We would repeat it in any of our many voices used to incessantly tease her, but the truth is those times really were special.  There is no other word for them; and this past week was undoubtedly special, too.

If not both at once, Em always had one of them by the hand!

Aunties Maggie and Lucy arrived on Saturday and I picked them up alone at the airport.  Angelines was working and I didn't dare drive the hour to Málaga with Emily alone in the back...she's bad enough at times with someone back there to entertain her!  Nor did I want to ask my sister or mother-in-law to accompany me to the airport.  I wanted my (now coveted) "special sister time".  In the end I asked my sister-in-law to come to the house and stay with Emily; and so it was just me and my sissies on the drive home--free to be silly and talk non-stop without a certain little person there to demand our attention.

Special sister time disolved to "special auntie time" as soon as we arrived home, however.  Emily was quite taken by her aunties from the get-go and she made clear from the beginning that they were here solely to do her bidding.  From Saturday evening through the end of their visit, our time together was limited to nap-time and post bed-time, otherwise I was only able to be with one sister at a time as the other was inevitably playing with stuffed animals or reading stories to Emily.

The light was gorgeous, but Em wouldn't cooperate...too busy looking around!

They were here for just a week, but I think we did a very good job of filling our days to the maximum and still managing to enjoy ourselves.  Rather than take any very long trips, we opted to stay close to home, making three trips to Antequera (only 20 min. away) except Monday when we visited Benalmadena on the coast.  On our day trips, we visited the wonderful city park I've posted about previously, had churros with chocolate; toured the dolmens (megalithic funerary monuments) and also spent a day hiking at the Torcal.

At the park with her Aunties :)

A windy, but glorious day at the Torcal...my legs were sore for the remainder of the week!

Friday and Saturday were stay at home days.  They are also two biggest days of Holy Week here in La Roda.  The brotherhood that does Friday's procession is the one that Angelines and most of her family belong to.  For the second year now, little Emily dressed up in the brotherhood's purple tunic and white cape to watch the procession.  Though she didn't take part, she wore her outfit from before the saints were out of the church until around 10 o'clock (bed time for my Spanish baby). ;)  She was enthralled with it all and after an initial scare on Thursday, Friday evening she was perfectly happy to walk among the pennitents lined up behind the pasos.

The cutest penitent in La Roda ready to go!

Emmy sandwich with Jesús Nazareno in the background.

Of course, she was the talk of the town in her tiny little outfit with her blond, blond hair, blue, blue eyes and pretty purple ribbon in her hair.  Even members of the rival brotherhood (the one that goes out Saturday), had to admit that she was the cutest thing they'd ever seen in a purple tunic. ;)

Maggie and Lucy, who have never been here for Semana Santa, were duely impressed by the music, the dedication and the people's show of faith, if not a bit put off at first by the penitents outfits which but for the colors are identical to those of the Ku Klux Klan.  It certainly is a spectacle, and one that I enjoy.  It was nice to have my sisters here as an excuse not to follow the processions all around town as I have in previous years; but the little that we did go out to watch reminded me just how much I really do like it.

Alseep at lunch on Easter Sunday.

After watching the procession Saturday and having dinner at a friends house, we came home to begin egg dying for Emily's first ever egg hunt. Emily was asleep, of course, but I don't think she would have enjoyed it much.  She's still too young to have patience for that sort of thing and anyway she probably would have ended up dying herself more than any of the eggs!  It was another late night for us, but the eggs turned out lovely despite my worries that brown eggs wouldn't take the colors well.  I was plesantly surprised.


Sunday Angelines decided not to open the bar, which was fantastic because it meant we were all together for Maggie and Lucy's last day in Spain.  It was rainy in the morning so our egg hunt was postponed, but we had bunny-shaped pancakes for breakfast to welcome Easter the the all-American way.

Around six in the evening, when we got home from our late lunch out (we had daylight savings Saturday night...), we discovered that the Easter bunny had come and hid our eggs around the patio.  Emily wasn't quite sure what to do at first, and her basket was a bit unweildy, but she caught on fast and seemed to really enjoy herself once she got the idea.  She even spotted a few eggs herself!  One of the most beautiful eggs that had been broken just after being dyed (knocked to the floor in an alleged fit of jealousy on my part...), was too tempting for little fingers.  Before we'd even finished the hunt, Em had it peeled and without any reservations dug right into her first Easter egg. :)

Nothing like a freshly hunted Easter Egg for a snack!

The house is awfully quite now without the aunties around and Emily really misses the undivided attention.  Lovely visits like this one remind me how far away we are from each other; skype and whatsapp can only do so much.  I am so grateful that we were able to spend this week together (thank you, mom), and especially thankful that I was off work!  It was without a doubt a "special sister week".

Ready for Summer

The weather is quite summer-like already here.  We've had the warmest winter in 55 years, and unfortunately a very dry one too.  Spring sprang nearly a month ago...although we did have a wave of polar cold a week and a half ago, which may have comprised the lowest temperatures of the whole season.  It is especially unnerving to think of what July and August will look like.  We've consistently had day time temperatures in the high seventies for weeks now.

But I am not posting to give you a weather update.  We have finally begun swimming again!  It's taken nearly two years, but we found a new covered pool closer to home and with a warmer small pool especially for babies.  Last week was our first trip and Emily was wary at best.  She spent the 40 min. we were there clinging to us like a little monkey.  We take turns with her while the other of us swims a few quick laps to get in a bit of a work out.

This Wednesday was our second visit to the pool, and Emily was noticeably more comfortable.  She doesn't quite understand about kicking her feet (maybe she's too small), and she just stares in wonder as I blow bubbles--doesn't want to try that herself.  She did have a great time with a little water ball that we took along with us.  We had the pool to ourselves and spent our time throwing and chasing the ball.  She was even squealing with delight; but 40 minutes is about her max. so we have to swim fast!  Each of us were able to squeeze in 15 laps, though Angelines headed to the changing rooms before I had finished.

I am hoping that this early exposure to water will make for a fun summer at the pool in town.  There is a small wading pool here and I anticipate that Emily will have a grand time splashing about in it come July.

To top off our summer preparations, we spent a day at the beach a few weeks ago and Emmy finally overcame her dislike of the sand.  This past summer you'll remember she was a bit intimidated by the sound of the sea and she refused to leave our towel--the feel of the sand on her skin wasn't something she was fond of.  Now that she's walking we wanted to see how she'd do with the sand but on previous visits she would have none of it, picking up her feet and refusing to stand when we'd try to set her down on the beach.  This time, however, we were able to coax her onto the sand and once she got comfortable with that, she was running up and down the beach chasing pidgeons and picking up shells. :)

Our summer promises to be quite hot, but at least we're well prepared to spend our time cooling off in the pool and the Mediterranean.

Visitor Season

(NOTE: I began this post Sunday afternoon, but haven't been able to finish it until now)

Visitor season is upon us! :)  A wonderful family friend (Maggie's childhood best friend's older sister...to be precise) arrived Friday afternoon from Germany and is staying through the weekend.  Next Saturday Maggie and Lucy arrive to spend spring break here and just a week later, on Apri 6th grandma is coming back for some more of her little Spanish nieta.  We are in full hostess mode.

It is always a pleasure to have visitors, especially those who have visited less often than my family.  This is not because I ever get tired of family visits, but rather because it allows me to revisit fun places near home that my family have already seen.  Kira's visit has made for a very fun weekend.  We have been taking full advantage of having an excuse to get out and about.  Thankfully the weather has also been cooperating.  It's been cold, but this weekend has been fairly warm and very obligingly sunny.

"Grey Bryce Canyon"

Friday was spent catching up and Kira met Emily for the first time.  They were fast friends, because just like my mom, Kira is very gentle, softspoken, patient and attentive with Emily.  My daughter will hardly leave her alone long enough to go to the bathroom! :)  That night we had drinks out at the bar and then headed to bed early to rest up for a full day of adventures yesterday.

The next day we had a leisurely morning and got out of the house around 11 to head to the Torcal of Antequera.  Several years ago I posted about the Torcal when I took my Aunt and Uncle there for a visit.  It's a nature reserve in the moutains behind Antequera with views that extend out over the Mediterranian to the south and to the west even the peaks of the Sierra Nevada can be glimsped.  The views alone make it worth a visit, but it is especially spectacular because of the strange karstic limestone formations formed by wind and water errosion.

Though, I've never been, these skirt formations looking like pictures I've seen of Capadocia, Turkey.

With the clashing of continental plates, the ancient sea floor of the prehistoric Mediterranian (which covered a large part of the Iberian Penninsula) rose up  to form the coastal mountain chain north of Málaga--and indeed many of the mountain chains in Spain. But it is here, in Antequera where some of the most outstanding rock formations can be found.  For those of you who have visited the Southwestern U.S., I liken it to a grey Bryce Canyon. The formations are similar to the hoodoos, found there, but rather than looking like boulders stacked on one another, the formations at the Torcal often look like stacked pancakes! 

See the pancake-like formations?

We didn't have a lot of time to explore because of our late start and also because we had to wait unexpectedly for a shuttle to the top because everyone else in the area thought a hike in the sun sounded like a good way to spend a Saturday and the upper parking lot had filled up.  We had to be back for lunch, mostly because we were unprepared for a picnic, but also because we'd left Angelines behind.  In any case we were still able to enjoy the day and the scenery--it was absolutely stunning and I'd really like to go back soon to explore the little interpretive center they have at the trail heads. 
Emily had fun wandering around too, but when I put her on my back to begin hiking in ernest, she quickly fell asleep.

Sunday I took full advantage of Kira as a babysitter and we headed to the sierra for a meeting with some of the moms in my breastfeeding support group.  Emily was more than happy to explore with her new friend and leave me to my meeting.  It was a wonderful afternoon and we finished off the evening with tapas out with Angelines who closed early.

Washed-out, but still cute selfie before Emily took her nap

Kira left Monday morning and now it's time to begin preparing for my sisters and Easter.  I am stocking up on white eggs (surprisingly hard to come by) for dying and have bought extra butter for cookie baking.   I have told the girls to bring egg dying kits and I am really looking forward to Emily's first egg-hunt. Her aunties are leaving Monday just so that can be here when the Easter Bunny arrives.  Now that Emily is a legitimate toddler, I cannot wait to see what she does with Easter eggs.  I suspect she'll pick up all manner of things indiscriminately, but I'll be sure to post a video for you all to see for yourselvs. :)