Prades

Amidst a lot of the recent chaos (see the Year End Catch-Up post below), we've also managed to have a lot of fun.  At the beginning of the month we spent a four-day-weekend in a nearby village called Prades.  We went to a "camping," as they call it here.  It was cold and wonderful and it's highly likely that we'll return in the springtime someday.

 All of these little villages always have AMAZING squares.

Antics outside of the restaurant where we had a fantastic, Catalan countryside style meal.  And by fantastic I mean unrivaled goodness.  We might have to come back soon just for lunch.  As the saying goes and as James put it, "te pones las botas aqui."

 It's cold but we know how to have fun, plus we need to walk off some of the extra calories consumed.

Again, the same great square but now it's night time and everything is all lit up.  Christmas time here is so lovely.

All of these little rural places always seem to be equipped with fab parks, our "camping" had two plus a miniature petting zoo.

4-year-old tested and approved!

After playing at the park for a while we headed off for a hike.  The girls are pretty tough these days.  This hike was about 7k and we had no complaints!

We kept checking out the rocks that made up the whole valley.  They are all like little, polished circles because the whole valley used to be under water.  It's a pretty neat geological history the region has.  Later on in this same trip we toured one of the largest caves in the world but we weren't aloud to take any pictures.  I'd highly recommend it if you ever make it our our way.

 Anyway, back to our hike (again, notice the cool geologic features in the distance -- some of the best rock climbing in the world)...

 ...like I said, the rock was just fascinating.  In this pic you can see all the holes where each little, circular rock has fallen out.

 Quick break...

 ...in a cool mini-cave.

 Big-Sis helping Little-Sis just a bit.

 I told you it was cold!  Ice dancing and slip-sliding is always fun.

More Catalan style dinner and play in our mini-cabin.  Prades is in a great wine region so Mommy and Daddy enjoyed a little wine tourism, too.  Yummy!

 This was the view from our little front porch.

 Our "camping." It just seems so funny to me to call it that but, hey, "When in Rome..."

Last little bit of ballet practice on the front porch before heading back to BCN.  Aoife has been taking dance at a fantastic little school here that she loves and Aine will start at the same school, but a different class, in January.  Music and movement are coming very naturally to both of them and you can just see how happy their little hearts are when they dance and sing!  Also, if you look very closely at this shot you will notice that Aoife has lost her first little tooth!  Oh, my!

Stay tuned.  There'll be some Christmas travels and a visit with Grandma and Grandpa Stuhan coming soon!

Happy Holidays to one and all!  We love you!

J & M & A & A

2013 - Year End Catch-Up

"Busy" is the word of the year!  As you can see, full-time teaching and mommy-ing don't make for good blogging practices.  So, here's just a snapshot of the last couple of months:

Teaching at ASB is SO different than what I've done before in a variety of ways but it's great to be back in the regular education classroom and there are lots of cool professional development and service opportunities on the horizon.  I'll keep you posted as they get closer.

The girls are still absolutely flourishing at their little school.  Someday they'll come to school with me everyday but not in the foreseeable future.  Their language skills are developing amazingly along with all the other academic and artistic odds and ends and they are just really, really happy!

James has more teaching hours this year.  He is also formally studying Catlan and is looking at Master's programs for next year.

Health wise, we've had our ups and downs.  The girls have had A LOT fewer viruses this year but in exchange we have had lice a couple of times and Aine got pin worms!  Yeee-uck!  I've been struggling with a severe kidney infection.  I was in the hospital on IV antibiotics, missed a week of work and will be following up with a urologist.  I'll keep you posted in that regard, too.

In the midst of all of that we've kept up with some pretty cool stuff and, like I always say, have continued to get more and more settled.  The pictures I'm including below, I think, reflect a lot of the peace and happiness we're finding here these days.

XOXO

And there you have it.  XOXO

Aine is 4!!!

Somehow this birthday felt like a "bigger" birthday around here.  It's not that we don't still have our ups and downs but Aine has really grown up and matured a lot in the last 6 months.  She is mostly just absolute, sheer, unfettered JOY, all of the time.  She is amazing!  I am also happy to report that we are now (generally) a household who sleeps through the entire night, every night!  That's been a long time coming ; )!

We did our usual party in the park with other families and then a small party at home.

 Birthday girl reporting for FUN!

 Both girls are swinging on their own these days -- they do still, of course, like the occasional push.

 Aoife painted Aine's face.  I think she did a pretty amazing job!  So did Aine.

 There's always a piñata!

 Train of cakes!  Do you think there'll be enough?

Happy 4!

Happy "4" to our sweet, spunky, super smart girl!  You meet life so openly and freely -- you are such a good teacher!

We love you, Gorgeous!  - Mommy, Daddy, & Aoife XOXOXO

Crazy.Fun.Wonderful.Summer.

Where to begin?  We have had a wonderful summer here in BCN!  James and I both taught on summer intensive courses, luckily Grandma and Grandpa were here to help with the girls.  I finished my master's -- whoop-whoop!   I got a new teaching position at the American School of Barcelona teaching 4th grade -- yahoo! And then the adventures started, so on to that ...

We have some AMAZING friends here!  There are a few families who have essentially adopted us and it's been kinda like striking gold.  They've provided us with endless support and love.  We went away for the weekend with a couple of these lovely families (Grandma and Grandpa were invited too) to one of their homes at the foot of the Pyrenees.  Fantasticness ensued.  We have been invited back to hunt for mushrooms in the fall -- needless to say we're all excited.

See just some of the highlights below.

The kids all search for goodies left my Señor Fofiafo (fo-fI-fo).  The kids drew pictures and left them out, he collected them and left a basket full of goodies in exchange.  He's been doing this at the house for well over 50 years ... hopefully he'll be able to practice for at least 50 more ; ).

 Almost there.

 Jackpot!

Part of the reason we all headed up together is that it was the weekend of Sant Joan which is one of the biggest celebrations of the year.  As we've mentioned before the people here are always up for a good party and this is certainly one of those.

 Sant Joan means fire and fireworks, we had our fun with the kiddie versions.

The macia (old county mansion) we stayed in was quite literally "out in the sticks" so this was the way the kids traveled to and from when we were on the totally un-populated, dirt roads.

 Our girls having their turn, happy as can be.

Friends for life!  And the mountain, Pedra Forca (Fork Rock) behind.

This is just a glimpse at the fun.  Every meal was a full family affair and delicous -- 3 times a day.  We hiked. Played.  The girls all slept in the same room (there are 7 bunks in the "kids room" just for that purpose) after staying up until 11 every night.  We played games, sang songs, ate some more.  Stayed tuned for the next episode later this fall, hopefully along with a post about some awesome mushroom risotto.

A I mentioned, Grandma and Grandpa were with us for the fun.  It was nice to have them hear to lend a hand and have a visit.

 I love this picture.  My mom looks so happy.

 The crew.

 Maybe the shot that Grandma prefers?

In other news we had a fantastic garden this year.  Mostly green beans, tomatoes, and herbs.  We've still got some Turkish peppers getting ready to bud that were gifted to us from some friends.  They just take a little longer to get started but then they should be super hearty.

Gardening and dancing should always go hand in hand.  They do around here, at least.

There's more to tell about our summer and I intend to do it.  Things are just a bit hectic right now.  James is in Portland doing the fair and I just started my new job.  He'll be back at the beginning of September and he'll bring his computer back with him.  He's got all the pictures from some of our other summer adventures with him at the moment.  So, updates from our family trip actually up into the Pyrenees and other bits will have to wait.  For now, know that we love you, we haven't disappeared, and we'll be back soon.

Happy thoughts for all of you!  Wherever you are!

XO