"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".