Out and About

This morning we explored Arenys de Mar, the next little town over from ours. We walked up and down in the main business district and especially enjoyed a stop at the indoor market and a little sidewalk cafe. This afternoon, Mimi and Grandpa sent the older kids and Jeff and I to Barcelona to see Star Wars, at a theater running movies in English. While we were gone, Clay and they spent some time exploring around the beach. This evening we all reconvened for a hamburger cookout. It was a lovely day.

Arenys de Mar Market

Coffee Break

The Force is strong with these

Popsicle

Muscles

Big Day

Mimi and Grandpa arrived just before noon, bearing gifts to make grandkids smile: powdered doughnuts, venison summer sausage, books, and string for making bows. It's a happy, happy day!

Long overdue snuggles with Mimi

A bow is a smile turned on it's side

Today was also the day that Ruth got the results for her SAT test. She scored 1970 (out of 2400), a score that more than qualified her for a special summer camp sponsored by Johns Hopkins at one of several locations, along with a few other perks. She hasn't decided which camp she wants to attend yet, but she is so excited about this opportunity. And, we are so very proud of her! She worked hard for this, and her hard work paid off.  

10 Things You May or May Not Be Interested In

1. Our internet has been very sketchy, which is why we've been keeping a low cyber profile. (Though, obviously, we are popping online from time to time.)
2. Our hot water in the shower has also been very sketchy. Fortunately, my brilliant husband figured out that if we run the cold water in the sink on full blast, we will create a fountain in the sink that splashes out on the floor, but we will also occasionally have hot water in the shower. Hot water is pretty much my only requirement in life, so I was overjoyed at this discovery and don't even mind mopping up the floor after each shower.
3. We throw a breaker in our apartment if we turn on any two kitchen appliances at the same time. This is just as convenient as it sounds.
4. We had several loads of ski laundry to do when we arrived, including all the coats proudly displaying our family “W” in duct tape, which was much stickier than we originally thought. After many attempts to get the sticky off, I came across a homemade version of Goo Gone, which, along with a good bit of elbow grease, helped more than anything. Here is the recipe, in case you ever find yourself in a similar sticky situation. (I used olive oil, because that's what I had and also added a couple of drops of lemon essential oil, for good measure.)
5. Speaking of recipes, I made these cookies (substituting almond butter for peanut butter), which my family went crazy for. They are a variation on the old stand-by, no-bake cookie I've loved since I was a kid. They are super easy to make, if you need to throw something together for an upcoming Christmas party.
6. It's been sunny and 65 here every day, which is a pretty good way to do December, if you ask me. We've spent time playing at the onsite playground and one of the beach playgrounds, sitting outside, going down to the beach, and barbecuing. 

   

   Playground Fun

   
   

   

   Caldes d'Estrac Beach

7. All of my children seem to be going through growth spurts at the moment, and they have insatiable appetites. Our main chef, Jeff, has spent hours in the kitchen and at the grill, preparing restaurant quantities of delicious food. I did mention to him if he would stop making the food taste so good, it might slow the ravenous crowd down a bit, but he continues to produce one mouth watering dish after another, which continue to be devoured in no time flat. 

   

   Trying to stay ahead of the demand

8. I have already sold 18 journals in the month of December. It's so exciting to think about all the kiddos who will soon be recording their travel memories in a book I put together!
9. We are having so much fun gathering supplies for our Christmas Saran Ball. It's going to be epic.
10. We are eagerly awaiting the arrival of Mimi and Grandpa, who will be here within the week!

From Mountains to Beach

We left Andorra this morning and relocated to Caldes d' Estrac, Spain, which is just outside of Barcelona. This move took us from the cold mountains to the more temperate beach. We can't see the beach from our apartment, but it isn't far away, which is a comfort to me. We did drive by, and it looks lovely. Our apartment complex is also very nice, with a pool, tennis courts, a playground, and a fun BBQ area. We are looking forward to our time here over the next couple of weeks.

Our lovely apartment complex

Last Ski Day in Andorra

Our last ski day was fantastic, though definitely colder than the previous days, especially first thing in the morning. There were moments when I couldn't feel my fingers and toes, despite two layers of gloves, two pairs of socks, and hand warmers. I was secretly thrilled when some of the kids asked to take a break, and I quickly volunteered to be the parent to go with those kids to the lodge. Weston and Jeff decided to brave the cold and work in a few more runs. When the other kids reported getting a snack, Weston wasn't even jealous, because he said skiing was even more important to him than eating. Now, that's true love. (If you're curious, skiing is tied with football at Number One, on Weston's sport love scale.) And, even though things got a bit chilly this morning, I want to report that aside from sunglasses and gloves for three of us, we didn't buy any special winter wear for our ski trip. We had planned for these kind of outings with our packing and our gear performed beautifully. As someone who is ALWAYS cold, I had my doubts about being able to stay warm on the slopes, despite all the layering. But aside from my fingers and toes in the early morning and late afternoon (when the sun wasn't shining), I was really quite comfortable. It is so amazing to me to have everything I need for both a ski vacation and a tropical beach vacation in just one little carry-on sized bag that I can carry on my back. 

Team W, on our last Andorran ski day

Today was by far the coldest day on the mountain, especially this morning,
before the sun was peeking over the mountains and
while the snow machines were still blowing a blizzard of powder around.
By mid-morning, some of us needed to take a hot chocolate break.
(This picture will also serve as evidence of my presence on this ski trip.)

Ice "C"

"M" for Max

Because I know you need more cuteness in your life, I am going to leave you with a video of our little speed racer. This kid is a natural on skis, as you will see when he almost leaves his dad/videographer in the dust.

Another day on the slopes

Team W took on another skier today. I'm not going to lie, he was the cutest skier on the mountain! And, he did great! He even got to ride the big lift a few times and go down one of the same runs as everyone else, which made him feel very big indeed. We had so much fun, despite a few spectacular, but non-injurious crashes and embarrassing mishaps at the lift. (I'm not naming names, but someone entered the chair area too soon, got hit by a lift chair, lost a ski in the process, and had to ride up and dismount on one ski, before having the other ski delivered by the instructors in the next chair. Someone else managed to get one leg through the turnstile but not the other, became stuck, and had to be rescued by the staff.) My favorite part of the day was watching the kids bonding, as they alternately raced and waited on one another, and as they helped each other out and cheered each other on. Up on the mountain, they weren't just siblings, they were friends. It was awesome!

The gang's all here!

Ski buddies

Downhill racers

These two guys needed a little ski break
and some time to just play in the snow.

Snow pillow

The cutest thing on two skis!

Second Ski Day

It was another beautiful day on the slopes, though a bit colder than yesterday--cold enough that several of us decided to visit the ski shop to find some more appropriate hand wear. It was also even less crowded than yesterday, as yesterday was a local holiday. For the first part of the day, Clay was the only kid in his ski school, which meant he got one-on-one instruction and that he was easy to pick out in the class, so I was able to get some pictures of our smallest skier. We had such a great day and are looking forward to more fun tomorrow.

Team W takes to the slopes

Magic Carpet Ride

Ski School Cutie

A lovely view from the top of one of the runs

Max's giant snowball

When we stopped at the grocery store with the unique nativity scene yesterday, only Jeff went inside.
But, he insisted that we all visit today because it is truly spectacular.
This is just one very small section of the three-story store,
which offers so much more than groceries and plenty of free samples.
I don't believe I've ever seen or tasted so many varieties of salami in my life!
(And, this is just about half of the counter!)

First Andorra Ski Day

It was a gorgeous day on the mountain! We got there when they opened the lifts and didn't leave until they were shutting them down. And, the crowds were very slim, so we were able to ski our little hearts out. (Honestly, we're kind of paying for that now, as we're all a little sore and very tired. But, it's a good kind of tired, so we aren't complaining.) Clay went to ski school/daycare all day, so that's why he doesn't show up in any of the pictures. According to his reports, though, he had a fantastic day. We're looking forward more fun tomorrow!

First time on the standing lift

This girl rocks the mountain!

Mr. Cool

Practicing "pizza"

At the end of the day, we stopped at the grocery store,
where we saw a VERY unique nativity scene.

Andorra

We left our home near Bordeaux and the Garonne River this morning and headed southeast to Andorra, which, according to Wikipedia is the sixth smallest nation in Europe. It is an independent principality, situated in the Pyrenees Mountains between France and Spain, and it is well known as a ski area. And, skiing is just what we intend to do while we are here. The weather is gorgeous and promises to stay that way most of the week. We rented our equipment this afternoon, so we'll be ready to hit the slopes first thing in the morning. It's a beautiful ski area and looks very family friendly, so I think we are in for lots of fun.

Off to get our ski gear

Someone is super excited about his first ski trip!

We enjoyed seeing several dog sled teams getting ready for an outing.

The view from our apartment in Canillo

Business and Pleasure

For two months, Ruth has been working hard, preparing for the SAT test. And, today she finally had the opportunity to show her stuff. This is *THE* SAT test, not the grade level test she always takes at the end of the school year; the same SAT test that high school juniors and seniors are taking in order to apply to colleges and universities. We aren't planning to ship our girl off to college just yet, but she is hoping to qualify for a special program for 8th graders through Johns Hopkins. We are so proud of her for her hard work and for taking on this challenge.

While she was taking the test, Jeff and I were working on our school schedule for next year. Seeing the schedule in writing is one of the things that always helps me feel like we can do this homeschooling thing for another year. And, it's always exciting to start thinking about all the things we are all going to learn.

When all our business was taken care of, we took the boys to a playground near the testing site to play while we waited for Ruth to finish up. After her test, we walked over to a nearby shopping mall for lunch and a puppet show. The day was a nice mix of business and pleasure.

Duck burger, anyone?
(To be honest, I was a little disappointed we didn't have lunch here.)

The race is on!

Sliding down the fireman's pole 

Teeter-Totter

Puppet Show

These Texas boys were excited to find
 toys that looked like prickly pears in the mall. 

Necessities

When you only own a week's worth of clothes and a couple of pairs of shoes, you REALLY notice when things start to wear out, and since you are wearing and washing everything much more often than you would if you had a larger wardrobe, some of the things wear out faster. I had two shirts with fairly significant holes in them; most of the family had one or more pairs of holey socks; Clay's shoes seemed to be within moments of disintegration. It was getting pretty sad. So, this afternoon, we made the short drive over to the mall to stock up on necessities--new socks for Ruth, Weston, Clay and Jeff, new shoes for Clay, a couple of new shirts for me, and sunglasses for the whole crew for our ski trip next week. When you live in a minimalistic world, you learn to appreciate the few things you have, and something new (even a pair of socks!) seems like a really big deal. Clay, for instance, was so proud of his new socks and shoes that he popped them on his feet as soon as he got out of the shower and certainly would have worn them to bed if we had let him. We are learning to be thankful even for small things, things we might not have even taken note of before. What small things are you thankful for today?

Fun in France

The place we stayed last night was a horse farm, which raises Icelandic horses. So we started our day today out in the barn, loving on the horses and dogs. With all our traveling yesterday, we didn't get to properly celebrate Ruth's half-birthday, so that was on the agenda today, and a horse barn definitely seemed like a good place to begin. We then had lunch in Bordeaux, at a wonderful sidewalk cafe Ruth picked out. The food was delicious, and the weather was gorgeous, so we enjoyed sitting outside. After lunch, we went out to a winery, because we didn't feel like we could pass through Bordeaux without doing so. It was a beautiful estate, with a lovely castle, an iPad tour with an accompanying questionnaire, a juice tasting for kids, and a wine tasting for grown-ups. Jeff and weren't crazy about the wine, but we all enjoyed the experience. After that we stopped to pick up groceries for the week at the largest Walmart-type superstore (Auchan) I have ever been in. I went in alone and quickly became overwhelmed by the size of the store and the French language everywhere. I have been too long in English speaking countries, I guess, and didn't properly prepare myself for the experience. We finally made it to our home for the week, just outside of Bordeaux. It is a quirky old house that is in the process of being renovated. There seems to be a lake across the street, which we will have to check out tomorrow, since we arrived after dark.

The boys exploring the garden at our previous house

Ruth and her new Icelandic horse friend

Clay also made a friend at the barn.

The half-birthday girl, with her decadent chocolate mousse

This medieval castle and its moat sit at the heart of Chateau d'Agassac.

Fully engaged in the iPad tour

Roses are frequently planted with grapevines
as an early warning system for diseases.
Though the vines at Chateau d'Agassac were already bare,
the roses still had some showing off to do. 

Our tasting set-up

Clay was very careful with his fancy glass.

Max approved!