This is My Forties

We've officially gotten all the paperwork required to start processing out of Spain.  Josh excitedly showed it to me and read it out loud during lunch today.  We're trying to get out of here by mid-May.  It's so real now.  Wow... only a little over 2 months left. Time to go back to my country.  All I can think about are all the things I don't like about America.  I don't need to list them.  I don't want to.  I can't say I'm excited about it, because I'm not.  I am not ready to leave Spain yet.  I love and miss family and friends something fierce, but there is so much here to miss.  I love the USA, but I also love Spain.  I'm looking forward to taking it back with me and shaking things up, maybe changing a few people around me.  I'm proud of myself for experiencing Spain enough to feel this way about it, but it's like I'm moving away from a good friend (never fun). Eventually this will pass and I'll get excited abou...

Since Brennan and Tristan were so excited to hear all about myself and Noah's journey on Sunday, I felt it would be a good idea to take them on Monday.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day (even better than the day before).  I packed us a little lunch and some water and we were off.  I almost didn't bring the dogs, but I forgot something and when I went back to get it I just couldn't leave their excited waggy butts behind.  They were THRILLED! When we first got there I was wrestling with a car seat, camera, 2 excited kids, 2 overly excited dogs, and a full backpack so I didn't quite manage to get leashes on the pups.  Honestly I wasn't trying too hard.  I stay calm and assertive like Cesar Millan (The Dog Whisperer) says and everyone, even the kids, are really good.  The dogs momentarily took off down the street marking trees along the way.  I told the boys they'd catch up with us.  I was right.  My dogs always come back. I...

After several failed attempts to reach the castle in the distance by our house we finally started to do some real research.  We now know that it's the Castilla Villafranca and it's situated in Villanueva de la Cañada, which is a city right across from ours.  It is on the same property as the European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC) and its ginormous satellites, which is such a fun juxtaposition in my opinion.  To drive to the castle would take 30 minutes because there is no straight through connection from our neighborhood to the other.  Everything in between the two cities is owned and inhabited farm land with dirt trails all throughout.  Sheep and goats graze there freely.  The trails are populated by hikers, bicycles, people out for an evening stroll, mopeds, dirt bikes, and happy puppies... so we know the trails themselves are for the public.  You can see it all from google earth (which is how we plotted our next mission). We started off...

First off let me just say that while I am not generally a fan of massive photo editing, Salamanca is a highly photographed place.  In order to give the photos my own signature I created a look I liked, that I'd want to print out and hang on my wall and have my new DC friends say "oh wow, is that a painting? where is that? beautiful!".   I still might do a few more edits... anyway.  Away we go! Our friend Laura came over to watch the boys for us on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon.  We were headed out to Salamanca (a 2 hour drive) by 1pm, looking all snazzy, but still comfortable for the walking ahead. The first place we visited was the Plaza Mayor.  In this university town were hundreds of college kids basking in the sun.  We even saw a couple guys playing jenga... no tables, no chairs, just the stone streets of the square.  It was pretty stinkin' awesome.  Spanish lunch time is from 2-4 and it was already 3 so we needed to find someplace to...

Josh and I had already been to Alcalá de Henares, but Mama C and her brood had yet to, which seems unfair considering she was the one who told me about it.  It just seemed right that Alcalá was our first far trip to take with the boys. We saw a lot of amazing architecture, ate some fabulous food, and soaked in all the Spanishness around us.  As Mama C put it so eloquently, it was "soul enriching".  So much so that a few times I got a little sad when I got to thinking about how short we are on time left here.  Mostly I was just perfectly content. The boys found a secret hideout which was a photographic gem I am still uber excited about.  I LOVE these pictures.  Sunlight beams and dust and little boys in caves... :D I really enjoyed going back to the museum and being able to check out the 711 exposition since we'd missed it last time (it closed before we made it that far).  Actually laying eyes on objects that are nearly 2,000 years o...

The other day I couldn't help but take pictures of Brennan all day long.  Josh was home sick with a nasty cold, but had a major dose of antibiotics to get him back on his feet so he was with us (and not contagious) all day.  The novelty of having Daddy home on a weekday, which meant an equal parent to kid ratio, was enough to send this little Daddy's boy into a whirlwind of ridiculously adorable antics. He bobbed around all day, butting into our conversations with his own important news bulletins like "dinosaurs have bones" or "I farted" or "you're making lunch".  Each exciting revelation was accompanied by an over exaggerated facial expression and then a ginormous grin.  One day I have to write down all the stuff he says.  I always think I couldn't possibly forget it because it's just too damn cute, but then I do. He's been getting himself dressed recently, and this day Tristan assisted him so they were both cloud-9 p...