Easter

Happy Easter!

Easter Procession

Thursday April 2 we went for a walk in the late afternoon.  We found a different park and enjoyed playing there.  We then used up Paul's meal tickets he gets from work to get dinner at a doner kebab place.  On our way home we happened upon an Easter procession taking place on the street that intersects the one our hotel is on!  We were there at a perfect time to see it all.

Parque Juan Carlos I

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.

Rome Again

For our trip to Florence, we decided to tag on a day at the beginning and at the end to see some things in Rome.  Our first day there, the weather was really beautiful and we enjoyed a walk around the city.  The next time we came to Rome, it rained--all day.  It was rainy and windy and chilly.  I guess we couldn't expect perfection two days! :D

We hadn't planned our time very well--just thinking that we would do the tourist hop-on hop-off buses, get off at the Vatican and tour there.  Then depending on how much time we had left, we could see other things more in depth.

Well that didn't really work so well.  It took us awhile to even find a place to buy tickets for the tourist bus, and then when we did, we waited and waited for the bus to come.  I take that back.  There was one bus filling up with people, but it didn't have any cover for the top, so people were only sitting down below.  We sat down, but then when we looked out the window we  realized that we couldn't see out!  They had advertisements all over this bus, preventing the windows to be of much use to tourists wanting to see the city.  So we got off and waited for the next bus.  Supposedly they come every 15-20 minutes.  Um, not that day.  We waited and waited.  Then when a new bus did come, a large school group of kids got to go on.  Then when they realized that it was too full with them, they got to take over the next bus as well.  But we were able to squeeze on that one--getting seats on the top.  This bus at least at a tarp over it, but the seats were all wet and it was cold.  Oh well, we had paid for it already and so we got on.

Florence Day 5

Our last day in Florence, we went to more museums.

We started out by seeing the Medici Chapel Museum.

Pisa

Monday, March 23 we took a train out to Pisa for the day.

Florence Day 4

If you can believe it, we spent our fourth day in Florence going to museums again.

We started out Sunday morning at the Museo Nazionale del Bargello.  Bargello comes from a Latin word that means castle or fortified tower.  This building, now housing the museum, used to be a palace for the first Captain of the tower.  It later housed the highest magistrate in the Florence City Council.  It is the oldest public building in Florence, being constructed beginning in 1255.  It also was a former barracks and prison.

Florence Day 3

Our third day in Florence, Saturday March 21, we spent at the Palazzo Pitti.

It is named for Luca Pitti who was the original owner and banker in Florence.  Later the powerful Medici family bought the palace and it became a great house full of art and treasures.

Florence Day 2

Our second day in Florence we visited more museums.

We started at the Uffizi Gallery Museum.

Florence Day 1--Thursday March 19

Thursday March 19th, we started our day walking across the river Arno from our rented apartment to the downtown area.  

We had a beautiful view of Ponte Vecchio--the old bridge.

On to Florence

After a few hours in Rome, we caught a train to Florence.  We were excited to see the countryside.  Because of where our seats were, it was difficult to take pictures to show it off.  We did see quaint little towns and vineyards and castles on the hill.

Rome, Italy

Wednesday morning, March 18th, we were up really early to catch a flight to Rome, Italy.

Paul had scheduled a airport shuttle to pick us up around 3:45am.  When we went downstairs to wait, we found out that it had come and gone without us.  Apparently we were a couple minutes too late.  Paul had been looking out the window periodically, but never saw it.

So there we were on the streets of Madrid at 4am with no way of getting to the airport.  We walked to the next block, in hopes of finding an early taxi.  Thankfully one came after only a few minutes.  Even though we were bummed about missing the shuttle and being awake that early to catch it, taking the taxi that early in the morning was just as good.  We got there soon and without problems.

We had a couple hour wait at the airport and noticed they do things a bit differently than in the States.  I don't know if I could even describe it necessarily, but it is different. :D

Soon enough we were off!  We were on our way to Italy!!

Retiro Parque--Just Glenn and I

Tuesday March 17th, Glenn and I went to Retiro Parque on our own.  It really is an easy walk for us--just 7 blocks south of where we live.  Glenn was really happy to have his scooter and it helped us get there a lot faster.

Hanging Out with the Hubers

Saturday we called our friends, the Hubers.  We had met them two years ago when we were here last, and they were really good to take care of Paul when he came on his own.  They were really excited that we were here again in Spain and wanted to hang out.

We went over in the afternoon, after they had soccer games and flute recitals.  We rode the metro to the bus station, and rode the 193 bus out to San Agustín del Guadalix where the Hubers live.

When we first arrived, we stopped at a doner kebab place for a late lunch-yum!

"Guys, we are IN Spain!"

Tuesday March 10th, we awoke around 7:30am, ate breakfast, washed the dishes, got dressed and made sure we had everything that we needed for the next 2.5 months.  We had arranged an airport shuttle at 9:00am and off we went.  We checked our bags and went through security easily.  We got tickets for our first two flights, but not for the last.  We figured we would get it from the desk just before boarding.  On our flight from Austin to Dallas, Paul's seat wasn't with mine and Glenn's.  Not sure why, but he wasn't far--just diagonally behind us.  We got off that plane, walked to the next gate and immediately boarded the next plane to Miami.  That flight we were all together.  Then when we got off in Miami, we had enough time to exit the plane and get right to our next gate.  They had had some issue with the plane, but they were about to board.  Paul went to the desk to get our tickets printed.  It seemed to take him a long time, so Glenn and I went over to see if everything was okay.  No, it wasn't.  Paul had asked for our tickets and we were all in seats all around the plane--not close to one another.  Um, that's not going to work with a 5-year old!  So he asked if they could find seats that were together.  She said she'd work on it, but in the meantime she had helped about 30 other people--who were after Paul--get their seats together.  I guess they were originally going to be on a plane with a different seat configuration a 3-4-3 I think, but this new plane was a 2-5-2.  So I'm not sure why all the seats got messed up, but apparently they did for a lot of people.  

She finally gave new tickets to Paul, but they were still not all together, and even the seats for Glenn and I weren't right next to one other.  We were in the same row, but across the aisle from each other.  Still not going to work.  Oh, and the ticket that was for Paul didn't have his name on it--it was another person's name!  So he had to ask her to fix that.  Eventually we boarded the plane--one of the last ones, but we still didn't have seats together.  When we got on the plane I asked the stewardess about seeing if we could ask the person next to Glenn to switch with me so I could sit with my son.  She said that she wasn't allowed to make any changes.  Grr.  But thankfully the lady who had been at the ticket counter was on the plane and she took control.  She went to our seats and asked the girl who was sitting there to move over.  In the end that was the best because she had been split from her mom.  So now Glenn and I were together and she and her mom were together.  And Paul was about 20 rows behind us, at least on the same side.  We were bummed about that, but in the end there was nothing we could do about it.

Before Spain

I can't believe how quickly our week and a half left in Texas went!  We had a lot to do to get ready but we still packed in some fun.  March 1st in church, Glenn was chosen to be a helper during Primary.  He got to wear this big, thick white beard and wig--I think the entire Primary was giggling!  We sure were!  Paul took a picture with his phone and another friend snapped one on her phone.  Any guesses on which prophet he was?

Baptisms for the Dead

Saturday March 7th Paul and I took Nicole and Amy to the San Antonio Temple to do baptisms for the dead.  This was Nicole's first time and Amy's second time--but her first time bringing family names!  We were so excited to be a part of this special day.

Jell-O Party

March 1st was a special day for us, or rather it was a special day for our sister Nicole.  March 1st marked her one-year anniversary of being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  She had given a talk in church a couple weeks before that and mentioned that.  When she said that, the idea came to my mind that we needed to go something to celebrate.  I talked with Paul about it and we came to the conclusion that we would host a JELL-O party in honor of her.  We happen to know that she love JELL-O--and did, long before becoming a Mormon!  :D  So we thought it would be fun to have a JELL-O dessert potluck.  We invited a few friends who have helped her in this journey and told them to keep it a secret-we wanted to surprise her.  We had invited her to our home Sunday evening for some JELL-O, and so that's what she thought it was--just us and some dessert.  Little did she know that we had 20+ people waiting there to congratulate her!

When she finally arrived--we had told her a later time than everyone else to make sure everyone was there before her--she was completely surprised!

President's Day

Mark and Bonnye came up from San Antonio to spend President's Day weekend with us.  We were happy to host them--and Frodo!  Sunday night we finished off the oil and cheese fondues, but again were so full that we didn't eat the chocolate.  The next morning we decided that it was time:  so we ate chocolate fondue for breakfast!

It was really yummy--and yes, Bonnye is hiding under her sweater.  She said no pictures can be taken of her in the morning... :D

Valentine's Day Part 2

Playing mini golf took most of the morning and early afternoon.  When we got home, we relaxed a bit--we weren't used to being in the sun that long since it's been cold.  I even got slightly sunburned.  (But that isn't too hard for me.) :D

Paul went grocery shopping in preparation for his part of the day.  While we waited for that to be ready, our neighbor Judy stopped by.  She had a little something for us and asked Glenn if he would be her Valentine!  So sweet!