Wednesday

It's been raining and cold for a week now and poor Emily is getting cabbin fever.  The sandbox we built her has become a permanent swimming pool and even when it's not raining, the swings and slides at the park are too wet to play on.  We are totally unprepared for this weather and so my little girl doesn't even own a pair of rain boots or a rain jacket...  This late in the season, I think it's not worth buying her any, but they're definitely on the shopping list for her second birthday, because there is nothing she loves more that jumping in puddles!  We have to be fast to grab her whenever a door is accidentally left open as she makes a mad dash to get outside and get wet.  Yesterday the rain caught us outside with Bela on a quasi walk (I had a hunch it would rain and so I wasn't planning to go far...still I had left my umbrella at home!).  Emily started cracking up when I began running home, screaming at Bela to come and dodging puddles along the dirt road (she was on my back). 

This Wednesday, however, we managed to have another wonderful day out with the family despite the dreary weather.  When my sisters were here we went out to eat at an Italian place in Antequera we'd never been too and noticed that right next door is an indoor park/play area for kids.  I was able to find their facebook page to check they were open and after siesta and a morning of household errands, we took off to go explore and play.

It was a great place.  They had a big climbing structure with slides, a trampoline and a ball pit for older kids, a dress-up room with costumes and mirrors, an area to play a little soccer, a "race track" for little tricycles, and even a little baby corner with a small ball pit and mini slide.  And of course, since this is Spain, there was a full bar inside, too. :)  We got a coffee and scoped out the scene before jumping right in. 

When we first arrived there were tons of kids!  Apparently there were two birthday parties and I am sure that the weather was also a factor in the number of children running around in there.  It was a zoo and I was a little worried that maybe we wouldn't even be able to let little Emily play.  The woman taking children's shoes told us one of us could go in with Em since she was so small, and she kicked the bigger kids out of the baby area for us. 

As expected Emily was pretty shocked at first by all the noise, all the kids and all the movement.  She is an observer in these situations.  She is not one to just go out there and get into stuff.  She definitely prefers to wait and watch and figure out just what's going on before she has a go at it, so we took it slow in the baby ball pit first.  When I set her in the balls she stood stalk still.  I think she wasn't sure she could move (and maybe she legitimately couldn't on her own!) with all those balls.  Gradually, though, she got more comfortable and as you can see in the pictures was climbing up and going down the slide all by herself after not too much time.  About 15 minutes after we went in to play, the birthday crowds left and we had the whole place pretty much to ourselves so Emily and I went off exploring the bigger kid toys.

She fell in love with the trampoline!  When we go to the park she always sees older kids jumping around and often tries to immitate them, but she just can't seem to figure out how to get both her feet off the ground at once!  It's pretty cute because she stands there stomping with one foot and flailing her arms up and down like a bird. :)  When she saw some older kids jumping on the trampoline, that was it.  We waited until they got off, and then she climbed up the steps and onto the springy black square.  When I told her to jump, she began her typical flailing and stomping routine, but this time she actually bouced!  She was totally thrilled.  It was adorable to watch her discover how to move and bounce and jump.  She was throwing herself down onto her bottom and then flopping over onto her back, then scrambling up and bouncing around.  It was great!

When we were able to pry her away from the trampoline we headed next door, ordered a pizza to go and had a quick beer while we waited for it.  Emily made it home without too much fuss and we quickly gave her some dinner and put her to bed, then Angelines and I sat down to watch Once Upon a Time on my computer and eat (cold) pizza. 

It was a lovely afternoon.  I was once again thankful for the flexibility of my work schedule which allows me a free day in the middle of the week to enjoy my girls. :)
  

Her first time on a rocking horse--the kid's a natural.  Must get it from Grandma!

The Best Birthday Surprise

I am long over-due for a post, I know.  April has flown by.  Lately I feel like the scene in an old black and white movie when the wind blows away the calendar pages to fast forward.  Seriously, where does the time go?  Does this sensation come with motherhood? 

Whatever the reason, I can't seem to keep up with myself these days, much less blog...and yet when I sit down to reflect I can't really say what it is I do with all my time.  I have undoubtedly been busier in the past and still managed to blog or read for pleasure or keep up with email correspondence; and yet now, just the thought of any of those things seems like a far off luxury most days.  I don't think I'm wasting my time in any way; I don't think I've suddenly become lazy.  Anymore, I hardly ever have a proper siesta, so you can't blame my adopted culture either!  Don't get me wrong, I am happy, healthy and in love with my life; but it is perplexing when month after month flies by and each time I feel as though I've hardly had time to blink.

...But I digress. 

I wanted to post about the most wonderful and by far the best ever birthday gift from my "Mom".  I say, from my "Mom" because as many of you already know she had the idea and organized the logistics of it all.  She even brought a fair share of the gift over herself when she visited (the other half or so was snuck over unbeknownst to me by my wiley sisters in March);  but in fact, the actual gifts so to speak were from various important people in my life--friends and family. 

I had told my mother, an incessant and prolific gift-giver, specifically NOT to bring me a birthday present (her visit coincided with my birthday).  I asked only for her to bring me a good book in English.  It's not that I can't read Spanish or don't enjoy it, I do; but I sometimes get the feeling that I need to work on my English skills as much if not more than my Spanish.  It's not that I forget English per se, but it is true that many times the words come to me first in Spanish.  And my sisters have endless fodder for teasing when I inadvertantly let slip a literal translation from Spanish: It makes such good weather today! (Not joking, I have been known to say such things).

So I wanted an English book to keep my brain working in English, plus it seems as though more often than not I am attracted to books that were originally written in English (coincidence?) and reading a translation when I could read the original is just silly!  And why didn't I just order a book off Amazon?  Well, it's true that I could have asked for a recommendation and then ordered the book myself, but knowing my mom, she was bound to bring me something no matter what I said to her and so I figured it was best to play it safe and just tell her what I wanted.  What I was not planning on at all were the 22 books I was presented with when my mom lugged her roller bag adorned with a ribbon down the stairs on April 18th. :)

As it turns out, my mother, queen of gifts and surprises, had braved the mysterious and unknown realms of social media to track down college friends of mine and ask them to please send me a book.  She got a book from most of my family--my sisters, dad, aunts, uncles and cousins; and she asked for books from my closest childhood friends and their families. My sister Maggie dubbed it the "Viola Wilbanks Charitable Book Foundation". ;)

I didn't cry, when I opened the suitcase, but I was close.  I was so touched to be receiving this palimpset of love: authors who loved their books into creation; family members who deliberated and carefully selected a book with me in mind--many of them used copies, which I like to think were their own that they have read, lauged and cried with and whose pages they have caressed; my sisters and mother whose love defied the baggage weight limits hauling them all the way across a continent and an ocean to me.  I was struck by the beauty of it.  And of course reading the lovely inscriptions and beautiful birthday wishes from so many of my loved ones, was a gift in itself.

Needless to say I have plenty of reading material for the summer.  Now I guess I'll have to make time to curl up and treat myself to a few pages.  I am tickled to have my own little library.  I've got fiction and non-fiction and virtually everything in between: from historical novels to science fiction to autobiography.  Reading each one throughout this thirty-third year will be a wonderful reminder of how much I am loved and a great excuse to write and thank each one of you who took the time to send me a book.  I can't wait!

I promise more soon, but my book is calling. ;)

The new hire

Just another benefit to having my mom around: endless video footage of Emily. :)  She loves cleaning...truly a Spanish baby, and so we bought her a little broom and dustpan to help out when we clean the bar weekends.  She enjoys it, as you can see in the video, but the jury's still out as to whether or not she is very helpful!

"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. :)

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. :)