Monday March 30, Glenn and I had plans to meet with some friends at the Juan Carlos I Park. It was close to Paul's work so he was going to walk with us there. He then decided to go with us! He had days off later in the week, so he just switched the days he would work/not work.
It was a good thing he did come with us. It is a HUGE park and their meeting spot was ambiguous and since we didn't know the park very well, if we didn't have his phone and What's App, then we wouldn't have met up with our friends. Glenn and I would've wandered around, probably gotten lost and tired and sad.
So we were happy to have him along for that reason, plus we also like spending time with Paul! And so do the other kids. They all knew him from when he had come alone before and he was always coming up with fun games and things to do with them. It was fun for me to watch these other kids love and respect Paul.
One thing that I really love about the parks here in Madrid is the fact that they have several playgrounds here and there all throughout. They have trees and running/biking paths and all kinds of trees and plants. We were at the park for about 6 hours and we went all over, finding new playgrounds--and trying to find ones they had been to before, but couldn't remember how to get there. One of our first stops was to a sports court. The kids, with their scooters and roller blades, rolled around trying not to get hit by the ball that Paul would kick towards them. The 2 other moms of all the other kids thanked me for bringing Paul--the big kid to take care of all the other kids. :D And that's really what it was like. They would flock around Paul and he would create a new game.
Then we tried to find this giant rope playground, going off Franki and Kirsten's (the other moms) memories. The kids really enjoyed riding all around the paths and squares in the park.
We didn't find the rope playground, but we did find a zip line and these bouncing tires. Paul helped each kid for for a ride--he was so good to them!
The parks here always seem to have strange little things to play/sit on. I love this picture of Paul and Glenn. There's something about it that is so cute.
Then we piled several of us on the bouncing tires.
Then we moved on. There is a river/some kind of water going through the park. For some reason, this picture won't rotate. But I wanted to keep it to show the water. They had several large bridges crossing it, and even had some strange statues and artwork in the middle of the water.
This part of the water had turtles and birds sunbathing.
Finally we found the giant rope playground! The kids loved climbing all over it! Even Paul, Franki and I got on it. Kirsten is pregnant, so she had a good excuse to not climb on. :D
It was a warm, sunny day and we were all worn out and tired by the time we finally left. We had such a fun time though! We took some time to relax in the grass and shade.
On the way home we stopped at McDonald's. We hadn't brought a lunch--our original plan was to go to lunch with Paul at a somewhat nearby restaurant. But by the time we left--6pm--it was during their in-between meals time when not many places are open. But we were so hungry and thirsty. So we went to McDonald's because it doesn't follow the strange operating hours. Never did a chicken sandwich taste so good. :D
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