New home, new neighborhood

 This is our building and we're the top set of windows you can see.

 View down the street.

This is the lobby of our building.

Yes, there are three escalators there and they are not the only ones in the neighborhood.  The last time we lived in BCN we were on the beach, this time we live up on the mountain in the zona alta. The views are nice, and we have this just above us with lots of protected reserve areas around and behind to hike in:

 

And this is the view of the rest of the city from the park by our house that we posted previously:

Maggie put some photos up on Facebook of our flat before we moved in, and I'm afraid we don't have new ones yet--it's not really decorated yet anyway.  But, for those that haven't seen them yet here is our new place:

At three bedrooms and two bathrooms it is bigger than we thought were going to be able to get here.  We're settling in nicely and have access to everything we need: two different trains within walking distance, three grocery stores, multiple bakeries, a public gym right down the street, and we can walk to the girls' school (downhill in the mornings, we take the bus back up in the afternoon and it lets us off at the end of the street).

As always, more pictures to come.

Aine = 2 Years Old!

A few quick words of thanks to those who came to celebrate with us this year.  It was so nice to have people around us who we love and care about to share this special time.  Thank you for coming (Lindsey Wood and Francesc Aunion, Johnny and BarbaraAnn Lavery, and Jenny Jones, Dave and Wren)! 

This ranks as one of our very favorite pictures right now!  Happy Birthday, Sweet Girl, we all love you so much!

 My cake is YUMMY! 

 Big Sissy likes it too!

 Presents wrapped in homemade wrapping paper - fun!

Our sweet, best-friends-forever!

Happy Birthday Aine Maeve -- and "half-birthday"" Aoife Roisin -- we're so glad to have both of you and that you have each other.

Love, Mommy and Daddy

Parc Turo del Putget

There's a fantastic park just up the hill from our flat, and by up the hill, I mean it takes us only about 7 minutes to walk there but it's all up a steep hill.  There's a bunch of "green space," fantastic trees, playgrounds and lovely views.

Best. swing. ever.  ; ).

 See-saw ... see-saw ... bounce, bounce, bounce.

 Rock, rock, rock!

 The view (well, one of them).

The above was a a trip to the park when we were still trying to decide for sure where we were going to live.  The visit helped to seal the deal, as it were.  Below, is a recent visit (last weekend) to the same park for an impromptu picnic -- yum, fun!

 This is yummy and we're cute!

 She was feeling particularly playful and photogenic ; ).

 Oooh, what does Daddy have for us now?!?! -- panellets!

 We're thirsty! -- one of the many fantastic, public fountains that can be found in the city.

Feeling playful, loving the leaves and the open spaces!  Dancing, dancing, dancing : )!

To Barcelona ... via New York, New York!

Yes, we are back in Spain, with the girls and we've been here since September 20th.  We arrived via New York and have been plugging away on making a life of it since then, but more on that later.  For now, a few of the highlights from that brief "taster" of a trip to the "Big Apple."

 Mommy and Aine getting ready to head out on the town : ).

 Now, really is our time.

 Well, "Hello there, Lady Liberty.

 "Chin, chin." -- A favorite mealtime pastime ; ).

 Which one is more indicative of the "Real Aoife?!?"

 Bye, bye Big Apple.

Hello, BCN.  These are the things we carried.  The only thing not pictured here is the pack'n'play and that's because at the time this picture was taken Aine was already sleeping soundly in it.  Something about changing a bunch of time zones and and 8 hour flight makes you want to take a 4.5 hour nap ; ).

So, here's where are journey began ... kind of.  I'll be back and posting more soon, because certainly a lot has happened in the month or so since we arrived.

More on that soon! 

Besos,

James, Maggie, Aoife & Aine

Trips Up North (and our 100th post)

As any Arizonan knows, the landscape in this state has a lot to offer!  During the summer, if you live in the mid to southern part of the state, you're likely to take some requisite trips "up north" to escape the heat (it's still hot there though, like 90 degrees, but you'll take what you can get).

We've made a couple of those trips, with great reviews from the girls, as evidenced below!

They played on this bridge, running back and forth, for about 20 minutes while Daddy scoped out a place we could picnic.

Ironically, our picnic got rained out but we still had fun (and as you can see, we came prepared).

Cutties at Slide Rock (and Mommy has so very much to learn about the manual settings on the camera).

She always looks so darn cool.

Snacking together and enjoying the sun.

 Ceee-ute-ness (and gorgeous scenery, thank you Sedona).

 Playin' together.

 My little explorer.

 Get yourself some Daddy love ; )!

And, as the title indicates, this is our 100th post!  It's only taken us 6 years -- and what a 6 is has been!  I can only imagine the change and wonder that will come with the next 6 years.  I hope you'll be with us for all those adventures, too.

XOXO,

Los Stuhan