Friday, July 17

Pajama Day!!!!

We're at less than a month before returning to Denver, and we're counting down the weeks.  While we've loved this amazing life experience, we dearly miss our family and friends.  We also miss some conveniences that we have in Colorado.

For instance, this is the toaster that we have here.

You plug it in, stay by it, flip the toast, and then make sure to unplug it.  It heats up quickly.  We miss our toaster ovens, even if we do need to upgrade them.

Other conveniences we miss:

• oven - The list of items the family wants to cook and bake keeps on growing.  We plan to do some baking when we visit Suzi and family this week in Ireland.  Yay!
• crock pot - Serena, this one's for you.
• coffee maker, and loads of coffee bean options.  Okay, I'll admit it, I've been drinking Nescafe at home.  There aren't too many choices here.  It's a different bean that's used at all of the cafes and restaurants.  Still, I miss going to a restaurant and having loads of coffee options.  
• beer - this one's for Scott.  He likes the local beer, Cruzcampo.  But, he misses the loads of on tap options we're so used to in CO.
• AC - We miss having the option to turn it on and off at our desire, vs. the HOA desire.
• our minivan - Sam, this one's for you.  While we're not minivan lovers, we do love the convenience of it.  To ride in the cars here, it's a tough squeezing arm act to get all of the kids buckled in.  We miss them buckling themselves in.  And we miss them having their own space in the car so that they're not fighting over whose arm/leg/etc. is in the other's space.
• dryer - It's fun and all European to have our clothes out on the line, but it sure is time consuming and HOT.  The timing has to be so careful.  Now that we're in the heat of the summer (yesterday it topped 110 degrees), it's best to hang clothes out at night so that they don't bleach in the sun and bring them in by 10am.  Jim said he thought he'd strike up the national anthem when they returned from Europe and started using a dryer again.  
• Grocery stores open on Sundays - You'd think we'd be better planners for Sunday dinners by now, but we're not.  It seems that almost every Sunday night creeps up and we realize that we're low on groceries.  And many grocery stores aren't open on Sundays.  So, we scavenge through our supplies and pull something together.  
• Restaurant kitchens open throughout the day - Now that it's summertime, it's not as big a deal.  But, we do miss being able to go to restaurants whenever we're hungry and want to eat out.  Instead, we have to time it with when kitchens are open (typically approximately 1-4:30pm and 8pm-midnight).  
• Grass - We live in the city center.  Plus it's a desert-like climate here.  That means there are very few grassy spots.  We look forward to seeing grass regularly.
• Grill - Scott loves to grill.  I love that he loves to grill.  It's a very rare thing to have grills here.  And since we don't have any of our own outdoor space, we didn't buy a grill.  

All of these being said, there are so so many things that we'll miss from living here.  The top of the list will be the warm and welcoming friends and community and school, how children are welcomed and adored everywhere, the architecture, culture, walkability, the language, all of the internationalness, super fresh fruit and vegetables and seafood, the river, affordability, exposure to new things on a daily basis (words, sights, people, etc.), the security of apartment living, and renting a home which means we don't have to fix anything if/when it breaks.

We spent the day in pjs.  Here are Rosa and Cody on the couch watching a cartoon in Spanish.

And Devon. 

Rosa chose a hairstyle to try and here's the front view.  

Side view

Other side

Scott came home a little bit early, since it was Friday.  It gave me the opportunity to go to my gym and take a pilates redcord class.  After, we all finally got dressed and headed out for week #2 of meeting Maria and her mom for dinner at Alameda de Hercules.

We left a little early which meant that there was plenty of time to play with the big bubles that a person was wasving around.  

Loads of fun!

Pop!

We had returned to Amanacer and started with water and then the electricity in that block went out.  So, we headed down the Alameda to Arte & Sabor, one of our favorites, for dinner.  Here's Cody and Maria holding hands as they stroll to dinner.