Sunday, May 31 - that's what a bidet is for

Scott won the prize for last family member to get out of bed.  It's a new competition we have on weekend days to try and have the kids sleep in and catch up on some sleep that they miss during the school week.

We headed back across the way to the buffet for breakfast.  The pictures showed scrambled eggs and bacon and we thought that we'd have the opportunity to order eggs the way we wanted.  No luck.  But, we did get a large variety of food and we certainly filled our tummies.  Plus, the kids enjoyed serving themselves over and over again at the buffet.  It's good that we got there when we did because the place filled up quickly and there was a line about 40 people long waiting for tables when we left.

After breakfast we arranged for a later checkout, put on our swimsuits, and walked 20 minutes down the road to the beach.

Just before arriving at the beach, there's this view.  This is the Barcelo Hotel just next to the beach.

A view looking down to the Atlantic Ocean.

Another view of the ocean.  Quite scenic.

As we walked to the beach, the kids kept on complaining that they wanted to stay at the pool.  But, as we knew would happen, as soon as we arrived at the beach, they ran to the water's edge to start playing.

Scott and Devon spent most of the time playing in the sand and water.  Rosa and I spent most of the time walking the beach and collecting sea shells.  And Cody split his time between both activities.

After collecting a bucket full of shells, the whole family participated in rinsing them off.

The beach was wide and soft and had a bunch of cafes along it.  Plus, our access had showers and changing rooms.  All in all a very nice beach.  We'd be happy to go back.

While we'd walked, with more time we could have taken the hotel "train" that runs every hour.  It's free for kids and 1 euro/adult each way.  

Some sand dunes

Lots of people running and walking along the beach.

Small waves.

When we got back to the hotel, the kids took a quick dip in the pool.  They loved this pool because it's deep enough to have fun (.8m), but shallow enough to be able to walk around by themselves.  

Then it was time to shower, pack up, and leave.  Here's a view of our front door with a very happy family.  We really enjoyed this apartment/hotel stay.

Views of the pool and some of the apartments.

More views.

Our drive back was very easy.  It was about 1.5 hours long, with mostly flat and straight roads.  We compared it to the mountain driving we often do to our condo, and this drive was certainly much easier.

When we got home, the kids immediately ran to the bathroom with a bidet to start cleaning their shells some more.  

They had a blast doing it.  

Happy

Sunday evening we'd all been invited to a birthday party of one of Devon and Cody's classmates.  Rosa opted out to instead go on a date with Scott.  They chose a late lunch/early dinner at 4pm.  They went to a restaurant we've been talking about trying since we've arrived.  It's just a few blocks away and across the street from where my parents' stayed.  It's called La Chala.

Rosa loved her chicken burrito-like meal.

Scott enjoyed his meat and potatoes (and salad).

Meanwhile, the boys and I crossed the street, caught the bus, then transferred to the metro train and took it to Nervion for Andrea's birthday party.

 In preparation for the party, Cody had drawn his train ticket and written the names of some of his friends from school on it.  To go through the gates to get into the train station, Cody swiped his ticket along with the metro card.  It was really cute.

When we arrived at our destination, we rode up the elevator from -2 to -1 with someone and her bike.  As she tried to get back through the gates, her bike got stuck.  We searched the station for a worker without luck.  But then we found a help button and I got to practice my Spanish on a small mouthpiece in the station.  It all ended well when the person on the other end of the phone unlocked all of the gates so that the girl and her bike could get out of the station.

The party was just 1 block away.

The family lives in an apartment building that shares a very large courtyard with 3 other apartment buildings.  It's nice and shady there.

And the courtyard has a playground including a sandbox.

The boys had so much fun at the party that I had to drag them away after 2.5 hours (at 8pm) to get home and get to bed.  We were the 2nd set of friends to leave.

At the party, most of the girls from the boys' class wore princess costumes.  And Princess Belle came and entertained them.  Of course, my boys did their own thing.  But, it was wonderful.  They've really grown.  They had fun, they didn't cling, and they played with their new Spanish friends.

And I had a great time talking with other parents, especially a nice long and fun chat with Pilar and Laura in English.

Back at the apartment, Scott and Rosa spent a few minutes outdoors with Karen, her daughter Anna, and their cat Mona.  Rosa even pet the cat.

The kids got to bed late after a very fun and packed weekend.