Our day off

 Yesterday was our day together (remember I don't work Wednesdays).  Too often it is a day set aside for catching up on household chores, things that need fixing or errands to be run.  It is also a day we reserve for medical appointments, etc. even though originally the idea was to have one full day a week together as a family. 

Yesterday was a perfect family day.  We did nothing around the house (minimal cooking and consequent clean up) and we had nothing on the agenda other than just being together and having fun.  It was wonderful!

We started off the day by loading everyone in the car and heading up to San Pancracio's ermita to walk Bela.  I just thought it would be a nice place to let Emily run around and explore, as well as the dog, of course; but we were completely and pleasantly surprised to find the whole area in bloom with tiny, beautiful flowers.  It was like a purple carpet had been laid among the pine trees--outstanding.  I immediately regretted not having thrown my good camera into the car, but I think the one on my phone gives a pretty good idea.

All the flowers also meant that the whole place was abuzz with bees.  I had a breif moment of motherly worry--what if Emily gets stung?--but I pushed that thought from my mind and decided to just keep a close watch she didn't actually try to grab any bees.  Our little girl certainly had fun wobbling around over the grass and rocks, picking flowers and grabbing sticks and pebbles for Bela.  The highlight of the morning may have been the butterfly we saw.  We spent about an hour total just enjoying the sunshine and the beautiful landscape.  Lovely.

After lunch and Emily's nap, we got back into the car and headed out to Campillos to get some information about the indoor swimming pool there.  We have been wanting to get back into the pool since Emily was born...and have yet to work that back into our schedule.  The instalations in Campillos are great and they have a smaller, warmer pool for babies.  I think we'll go ahead and buy the "bono" for 20 swims since it doesn't expire and that will force us to get out of the house and into the pool.

 

From Campillos we headed to Antequera with the intention of playing in a really great park they have there.  I have been eyeing this park for at least a year now and Emily is finally getting to an age where parks can be a lot of fun.  This particular park has all kinds of great swings and slides and climbing nets.  It's got a zipline and a little trampoline, too!  Honestly, I kind of just wanted to play myself...of course taking Emily was the perfect excuse.

She was pretty amusing.  For the first five minutes or so she was completely immobile.  She didn't even want to walk holding my hand.  She was completely blown away by the number of kids running around, jumping, swinging, screaming, kicking balls...  It was quite impressive.  And of course the colors and shapes of all the climbing equipment and big, tall slides were strange and new, too. I finally coaxed her to sit on a little, low climbing net and we just observed for a while.  Little by little she began warming up to the place.  By the time we left she was running around on her own exploring and interacting with other kids. :)

It was a cold day yesterday.  Although it was gloriously sunny in the morning, the afternoon was quite overcast and windy.  We were bundled up at the park, but after about 40 minutes it was time to look for something warm to eat/drink.  It is a well known fact that nothing warms you up on a cold day in Spain better than churros con chocolate. :)  So we sojourned up the main street to a churrería for a greasy, but 100% satisfying snack before heading home.

To top off the day, Emily fell asleep rather quickly and Angelines and I were able to watch a movie that's been on our list for about a week or so: Pride.  It did not disappoint and I highly reccommend it.  Not even Angelines, who can never seem to resist sleeping through TV programs and/or movies stayed wide awake through this one.  It was the perfect end to a perfect day.

I went back to work today perhaps not very rested physically, but certainly psychologically rejuvenated.

 

Mamá and Em going down one of the smaller slides.

Our delicious post-park snack. :)