Wednesday, August 12

Happy birthday Suzi and Yvette!

The morning started with the kids hanging out at the Pilates studio while I took my last class here.  The kids enjoyed playing on the tablet.  Cody also brought maps to peruse - a favorite pasttime of his.

After, we went to tour the Palacio de Lebrija in the pedestrian only section.  I'd been there once before with the American friends, but the kids had never visited.  It's beautiful!  I took a few more pictures.

The uneven ground by the stairway leading to the 2nd floor.

The kid swaiting for the tour to begin.

Rosa

The staircase

A ceiling

Views from the top of the stairs

At the top of the stairs you enter through doors, on a tour, to the 2nd floor.  Once there, no pictures were allowed.  The tour was great.  And we learned that the 3rd floor housed the bedrooms, which is what Rosa had wanted to see.  Unfortunately the 3rd floor wasn't on the tour.

This is the closest I got to all 3 kids posing for a picture in the palace.  We were in one of many courtyards.  Cody's favorite part of the palace were the plants in the courtyards.

After the palace it was time for an ice cream treat.  Cody had kit kat flavor, Rosa had vanilla, and Devon had a lemon Fanta.

I have this series of pictures to remind me what fun they had enjoying their treats.

Here Rosa and Devon shared their desserts with each other.  So sweet!

We still had 45 minutes to wait until the Japanese restaurant would open for lunch.  First the kids played on top of the mushroom.  Then, we tried to get into the restaurant early, but without luck.

So we hung out in the restaurant plaza under the shade of a tree.

At last it was time for lunch at Yamazaki.

The kids had a blast!  We orderd 4 plates of gyoza and Rosa and Cody ate every last one of them.  Devon enjoyed grilled chicken and rice.  

I enjoyed sushi and rolls, including these scallops.  

We had a short siesta that was filled with packing.  We have 4 of our 8 suitcases packed and weighed.  There's a 23kg weight limit and after loading suitcases and weighing them, we then rearrange them to keep them under the weight limit.  We'd rather do this at the apartment than at the airport Saturday morning.

When Scott got home from work, Rosa and I took off on a babycakes date, to get our fingernails done.

Rosa chose 5 different colors so that each nail on each hand would be a different color.  All colors chosen were flower colors.

Rosa hid from the camera.

Once back home, Cody and I took off on his date and Scott took the brownies to Tapaole for dinner.  I was so tired of that restaurant that I no longer wanted to go, but Scott hadn't been eating there weekly during the school year and thus was ready to take them.

Cody and I first headed to Plaza de Armas (he led the way) to the Cerveceria La Surena, an inexpensive chain. 

We sat at a bar height table and waited for our food.  Cody wanted their jamon iberico and I had a pizza-like item of toast with tomato sauce, cheese, tomatoes, and pesto.  

Some selfies.

After dinner, I treated Cody to one ride in the mall.

He chose this one.

He loved playing it.

After, we roamed around the streets.  Our first stop was to a tabacco shop to load up the bus card.  Next, we walked by 2 of our favorite restaurants (La Brunilda and La Mechela) to see if they're open this week for another meal.  Both are closed for August holidays.

We saw this pretty architecture and took a picture.

Then it was onto Dos de Mayo at Plaza de la Gavidia.  We'd eaten here once during our first week or so in Spain.  And we walked by here daily to and from school.  

Cody remembered the fish sticks that he and Devon had ordered that first week and how he'd enjoyed them.  We should have paid more attention at the time, because these are the fried anchovies that we discovered Cody loved when he and Grandpa Fred ate them months later at Eslava.

Even that very first time that Cody at them, he had no problem devouring the entire fish (head, tail, eye balls, spine, etc.).  When he offered Scott to try one, Scott took off those parts.  I don't think I ever had the stomach to give it a go.

We ordered at the packed bar and Cody started eating there, but we were able to snag a table.  Cody didn't finish the whole plate (he was full after eating a whole plate of jamon and then half a plate of fried anchovies).

As we left, we saw Scott returning from dinner with the brownies.  And so all 3 played in Plaza de la Gavidia for a bit with Clara.

Eventually Scott took Rosa home and I sat down with Clara's mom and some of her friends and relatives.  It was nice following the Spanish conversations and realizing that I can follow them so much more easily now.  Though, I'm still missing a lot of vocabulary.

The boys and I left once I realized that they were playing "smoke".  The game consisted of sitting in the dirt and throwing it into the air.  Both boys looked like chimney sweeps.  First stop once home was a shower.

And Rosa had enjoyed some reading time with Scott.