Museo del Ferrocarril--Railway Museum

Last Saturday--the 16th of March--we headed out to the Museo del Ferrocarril.

Walking Tour: Historic Madrid

This past week in Spain has been rainy and windy and kind of chilly.  But Saturday the 10th the weather was better.  The sun actually came out and there were times when it felt kind of warm.  So we ventured out for our first real walking tour of Madrid.  

We got a copy of lonely planet's Spain book from Uncle Kim and Aunt Shannon--thank you much!!  So we looked in that book and found this recommended walking tour.  We first took the metro to the historic part of Madrid.  Glenn was really excited to take the 'underground train'!  

The beginning of our tour started at the Plaza de la Puerta del Sol, which means Gate of the Sun.  

This is the official center point of Spain!  

Bienvenido a España!

Tuesday March 5th, we loaded up our suitcases into our friend Rebecca's car and off we went to the Austin airport.  We had a short flight to Dallas and then a couple hour layover there.  Things went so well with our flights and with the airports.  I was very happy about that--no extra waiting or anything.  Even going through security was a breeze! 

I only took one picture during all of that--and it was in the Dallas airport.  There was an interesting looking statue thing and Glenn was playing around in it.

Fire Station Tour

The week before we left for Madrid, I got an email about playgroup--they were going to take a tour of the fire station!  I was so excited about that--and even more excited when I saw that it was the day before we left!  Perfect!  Glenn and I would be able to go!!

So Glenn and I stopped our packing and headed to south Austin for the tour.

Guests of the Week

Our last week at the hotel we were nominated as the Guests of the Week!

We got a nice little basket full of goodies and some vouchers to buy some more at their little store at the front of the hotel.  As we were checking out, we grabbed a couple more snacks for the airplane trip.

Dust Bunnies

Last week Glenn and I found some cute books at the library.  They were written by Jan Thomas and we instantly became fans of hers.  (We have since read other books by her, and we really like them all.)

These books were about Dust Bunnies. 

Austin Science and Nature Museum

On February 25, Glenn and I went to the Austin Nature and Science Center.  We had been invited to join a group going through our new friends, Christine and Lily-who we met at story time at the library.

This Past Week

This last week has been good.  Last Sunday we had some new friends come over to play games and have dessert.  They have an adorable, chubby little girl named Evelyn and she was very giggly that night.  She loved watching Glenn--it made her laugh and laugh!

Her parents were amazed that I was getting it on film because whenever they try, she stops.  So I'm glad I got these videos of her cute girl laughing!

Let's Go Fly a Kite

On Friday Paul came home with a surprise for Glenn and for me.  My surprise was from Ferrovial--they gave us a membership to Rosetta Stone so we could learn Spanish!  Sweet!  Rosetta Stone is expensive and it's really great of them to provide this for us.

Glenn's surprise was from a co-worker.  He is also a new employee and will be going to Spain about the same time that we go--we still don't have a definite date yet, but they told us to look at flights to find a good price and when we would want to go, so that's what we are doing.

Anyway, Zach--this new co-worker--came to work with a small gift for Glenn.  It was a kite!

Black Eye

Glenn got his first black eye on Wednesday February 13th.  We were on our way downstairs to eat dinner that the hotel provides for us (Tuesday-Thursday because we don't have ovens in our room).  We decided to have a race down.  Paul went down one staircase while Glenn and I went down another.  When he got to the third level--we are on the fourth--Glenn was so excited and was going too quickly and he turned right into the hand rail.  It instantly bruised and we had to go back upstairs to get his little penguin ice pack.  We then went back down to dinner, and while I was holding Glenn, he fell asleep on my lap.  So I didn't get any pictures that night, but I took some the next day.

Fun

Here's another post about some fun we've been having lately...and of course some silliness that goes along with that fun.  

(Half) Birthday Present

After the post office tour and playing at the park, we headed home.  We stopped at our post office to get the mail.  We received a package from Grandpa Dennis and Grandma Robyn for Glenn.  Turns out it was a birthday present, but because of the house fire they had, they hadn't been able to send it until now.  It was good timing because Glenn's half-birthday was just two days later.  So it was perfect!  It almost made me realize that Glenn is now closer to being 4 than 3.  He sure is growing up!  We love him so much!!

Post Office Tour

Last Wednesday--February 6th--Glenn and I went with a Church/local playgroup on a tour of a post office. I was really looking forward to it because I've always wanted to see what the back looks like.

We didn't know the other people in the tour because we just got on the sign-up emails, but that didn't matter.  We were included right away--and I even was asked to take pictures along the tour.

Sorry for the blurriness of this first picture, but this is where we started...

We first gathered in the open area where we've all been before to buy stamps, send mail, etc.  We had a post master talk to the kids about what goes on at a post office.  To be honest I think most of the kids were too young to really understand or care, but the older kids thought it was cool--and the moms too. 

"Gravity"

Glenn made up this song the other night--hope you enjoy it!

Our First Trip to see Downtown Austin

Yesterday, February 2, we did a little sight-seeing in downtown Austin.  

We saw the Capitol Building and the Visitor's Center there.

Magic Trick

Last Sunday we had a couple from our new ward come over for dinner.  She made a salad and she made the most delicious fish!  Seriously!  I'm not a fish person and it was so good!

We had a good time getting to know them better and spending the evening with them.

Just before they left, Ryan showed Glenn this magic trick.

Start of Life Here in Austin

We have now been here for 2 and a half weeks.  During that time we have done a lot dealing with getting things from the move worked out. Not by choice, we picked the coldest day here in Austin to unload our truck to put out stuff into storage.  Seriously, it was cold.  Not as bad as Utah--and we didn't have snow--but it was still cold.  Plus it took us 6 hours because it was just the two of us.  We started around 10am and finished around 4pm.  We rented a Home Depot truck so we could unload the trailer--which had been deposited some distance from our storage unit so as to not block other units.  So we would load the truck, then drive to our unit and unload it.  It took some figuring once we got the stuff there.  What did we want accessible and what needed to be on the bottom, etc.  We did pretty well at doing that--but we still think of things that we might need for Spain that is behind a lot of stuff.  Oh well, looks like we'll just have to rearrange things when that time comes.  

Isn't it amazing that our stuff fit into a 10x15 space?!

Our New "Home"

Paul, Glenn and I arrived in Austin, Texas on Saturday January 12th.

Historic Sites Day Three

Carthage Jail

The morning after we saw Nauvoo, we drove out to Carthage Jail.  They had a Visitor's Center there, and when we went in, immediately one of the sister missionaries said, "This must be Glenn!"

Glenn sure made an impression on those missionaries. ;)  Some of these missionaries had performed in the show the first night and some hadn't, so they hadn't met us yet, but they heard about us.  It really was a great time to visit Nauvoo and surrounding areas.  They get so busy in the summer months, so it was so nice to have a more personal experience.

Outside the VC and the actual--and original--jail building, there was a beautiful statue of Joseph Smith, Jr. and his brother Hyrum.  This pictue shows the VC on the right and the jail behind the statue.

Historic Sites Day Two

We took some pictures of our drive along the Mississippi River--pretty nice, eh?