L'Oceanografic

We had to skip the aquarium portion of the science complex yesterday, because we just ran out of time. But, we made it over there today and had a blast! 

Marlin and Nemo

Under the sea 

We named this fish the "referee fish."
He was one of our favorites.

Playful sea lions

The dolphin show was the highlight of the day!

Valencia Science Museum

We had a wonderful outing to the Valencia Science Museum today!

Playing with square wheels

We spent a tremendous amount of time mesmerized at the sand art table.

Capturing Shadows

Mind Games:
The goal was to move a ball across the table with just your mind.
A more relaxed mind was supposed to have better results.

Clay loved getting to be a joey!

Max's favorite thing was the construction zone

After our picnic lunch, we treated ourselves to a sampling of desserts and coffees
from this cute food truck outside the museum.

Lilliputian Life

Today's outing to Turia Gardens in Valencia helped us channel our inner Lilliputians, as we played on the larger-than-life Gulliver playscape. It was definitely the most unique playground we've ever been to, and the boys really loved it! Though the rest of us mostly watched, we did enjoy the beautiful day and a nice little picnic. Some of us also took a very pleasant stroll around the lovely gardens. We all had a great time!

This is the life-size model of the Gulliver playscape,
housed inside his larger-than-life hat.

Gulliver, from the waist up

Max standing on Gulliver's hand

Clay was smaller than Gulliver's little finger

Clay sitting on Gulliver's ear

A peek at Max and Weston under Gulliver's knee

Help a brother out!

The mother of all slides and the main attraction for the boys.
They would try to throw themselves up as far up on the sides as possible
and then twist and turn all the way down. 

Picnic time

Valencia Oranges

Spanish Olive Trees

The rose garden was waning but still beautiful!

A Day at the Beach in December

FULL DISCLOSURE: While my children were frolicking in the Mediterranean Sea, Jeff, my father-in-law, and I were huddled up in our coats on the beach. It was a beautiful day, but the pictures may lead you to believe it was actually warmer than it was. 

Water races

Not a bad way to spend a December day!

These kids had so much fun today
(even the ones that occasionally tell me they don't like the beach!)

Shell hunting

Mimi and the kids worked hard to create this beautiful shell heart

45 Years and a New House

Today is my in-laws' 45th wedding anniversary, and we are so thrilled that we got to celebrate with them! We took them out for traditional Spanish paella, and it may have been one of the best meals we've had on our entire RTW trip. Plus, the paella pan had about a two-foot diameter, which was really awesome!

It was also moving day. We are now south of Valencia and will spend the rest of the year living on the beach, which is my happy place, in case you are only visiting my blog for the first time and didn't already know that. The weather is gorgeous, and we have already been making the most of our "backyard."

Celebrating 45 years

Lobster Paella for eight

Our home for the rest of the year

The view from our balcony

We have the beach all to ourselves

The boys were building the Hogwart's castle and lake
(from Harry Potter)

It's a beautiful life!

The Christmas Saran Ball

Let the fun begin!

Having a ball with the Saran ball

In case you aren't familiar with the Saran Ball:
Prizes are wrapped up in layers of Saran Wrap, and one person tries to unwrap
it as quickly as they can, collecting prizes, while the person next to them tries to
roll doubles with dice. When doubles are rolled, it becomes that person's turn to unwrap.
The Saran Wrap is, of course, a challenge to get through, but the game is fun and pretty hilarious.

The part where I fell out of my chair during my turn.
Because I'm awesome like that. 

There were so many fun prizes!

We had our very own Spanish Santa on site, for extra festivity

Barcelona

We spent some time exploring in Barcelona today. We started out at La Boqueria, which is a huge indoor market, with what seems like thousands of gorgeously arranged stalls and cafes, which sell every kind of fresh food you can imagine. We saw everything from the beautiful to the bizarre, including incredibly fresh fruits and veggies, fresh mushrooms, nuts, wine, breads, sweets, juices, and a disturbing array of apparently edible animal parts (and whole animals) that I have NEVER seen for sale before. It was a foodie's paradise and so much fun! I wanted to buy something at every stall, but we restricted ourselves to one cup of exoctic fruit juice each, which we consumed on site, and a couple of bunches of asparagus and a head of Romanesco to add to our Christmas dinner. 

From there, we made our way over to the famous (or infamous, depending on who you talk to) Sagrada Familia. Construction on this cathedral (now a minor basilica) began in 1882 and continues to this day. At present, it is about 70% complete. It was certainly something to behold. 

This was far from the craziest thing we saw at La Boqueria,
but this picture came out better than many of the others.

Wild Mushrooms

One of the amazing juice stalls

A feast for the eyes, as well as the stomach

Chocolate dipped everything!

Thanks to its fun Christmas tree vibe,
this lovely Romanesco got to come home with us for Christmas dinner.

Sagrada Familia