January Re-cap

The three stooges on a walk :)

Oh dear...how has an entire month gone by without a word from me?  It's embarrassing to admit that my first post of 2016 is on February 4th!

Before I begin back-blogging, today is Emily's monthday: 15 months and she is up and running.   Although she technically took her first solo steps before my parents' visit, it wasn't until the end of their time here that she really started walking alone.  And just in the past two or three days she has become so confident that she'll brush our hands away when we try to hold on to her.

It really is amazing to see how quickly babies change at this age.  She is developing so quickly it's ming-boggling.  Of course physical changes like being able to walk and practically run, are most obvious, but it is incredible, too to see just how much she understands of what we say: Spanish or English.  She knows exactly what's going on and is watching every little move we make.

Okay, now for the re-cap of Januaray:

The holidays were a blur.  As I mentioned in my New Year's Eve post, this year was busier than past years--I take it as a very good sign for this new year.  Although we weren't starting from zero when we opened Pub California, it really is a totally different place/venue from the old bar.  We never used to have concerts, the locale itself is bigger, it's much more modern and far better deccorrated; it's a whole different feel.  We have maintained our clientel, but I think we've also gained some new customers. 

They say that a new business needs three years to get stabilized and really begin turning a profit.  This past October was three years at the new place and maybe it's just coincidence, but as I say, this holiday season was the best we've ever seen by far. :)  I am hoping that this is proof of successful business management and evidence that people are able to recognize a good thing when they see it. ;)  Needless to say I have high hopes for 2016.

Emily got snuggled into our rental home's armoire right away.

But with all the craziness of Christmas, New Year and King's Day, there wasn't a lot of relaxing that happend over the winter holiday.  Thankfully, my parents treated us to a lovely four days vacation in Cádiz the second weekend in January.  Angelines closed the bar for some much needed R&R and rest and relax is exactly what we did in Caños de Meca a small coastal village about 2 hours from La Roda.

The beaches in Cádiz are world famous and for good reason: fine white sand stretches for miles along the beautiful turquoise waters of the Atlantic Ocean.  We were on the Western side of Gibralter.  The geography is really quite spectacular because there are beautiful pine forests practically right up to the beach so there is a lot of variety for hikes and easy walking.  Bela came with us too, of course, and so we were especially thankful for the many natural areas to explore with a dog.

This was the beach not half a mile from our rental house.

Aside from short excursions from our rental casa rural (the Torre de Meca, Trafalgar lighthouse), we also explored the nearby ruins of the Roman city Claudia Baelo at Bolonia, another small village along the coast of Cádiz.  Another day we spent exploring a still functioning Roman aqueduct in Santa Lucia and feasting on truly gourmet cuisine in Vejer de la Frontera.  It was a fantastic vacation and just what the doctor ordered after what can only be described as a stressful holiday season.  We came back to La Roda refreshed and ready to get back to our schedule.

Our trip to Cádiz, was unfortunately the beginning of the end of my parents' time here, however.  Their three-month visit last year for Emily's birth will make all successive visits seem incredibly short; and sure enough, their three weeks here this year flew by before we knew it.  I do think, nonetheless, that we were able to take full advantage of our time together.  I was working for the last week and a half they were here, but that provided extra bonding time with Emily, since I think Angelines was happy to have the live-in help. ;)

It is true that after having lived here for three months (that's as much time as a college foreign exchange!), my parents really have an idea of what our life is like and how to fit right in.  The fact that they have both continued studying Spanish was especially helpful this time, and although I am a bit of a brat in terms of helping them with their studies, I could immediately tell how much both of them had improved in the year they'd been home.  I am pleased to report that even they could tell a difference in their level of comprehension and ability to communicate; so often others can see our improvements when we are only blinded by our faults.

The remainder of January was relatively uneventful.  The weather was fantastic on our holiday and although the temperatures have gone down some and it has rained once or twice, we are still having an amazingly mild winter.  Just two days ago it was 27º C mid-day (that's eighties F!).  It's a bit frightening to think what July and August will be like if these trends continue, but it certainly was pleasant to have such perfect, warm, sunny days while on holiday.

I'll leave you with some pictures from our trip--hard to choose just a few! 

Artistic selfie on one of our walks near "home"

Em and Grandma looking for shells and playing in the waves at Bolonia

Cool "painting" setting on my camera: Trafalgar lighthouse

Grandma and Grandpa enjoying the view of Vejer

Happy family :)

...And this is why my mother is Emily's new favorite! ;)