AUGUST 2010: NEW YORK, NEW YORK

Although we didn´t make it to Oregon or Utah this year we did make it about half way and touch American soil. The first week of August, Leo and I made a trip to New York City; my second and Leo´s first. Ashlee decided to come out to meet us and we had an enjoyable 6 day visit packed with sightseeing and some good eats. It was hard to leave the kids behind in Spain but honestley I have to admit that it was nice to travel so light and not have to worry so much about potty breaks, nap time, and things to do bags etc. However, the kids were always present in our minds and we even found some candy bars named in their honer and an intersection in Brooklyn of Henry and Clark.

When we arrived at JFK airport we had arranged for a shuttle service to take us to our hotel. It was the longest and scariest shuttle ride ever. We were not too sure how our trip would turn out with such a rough start, but in the end we had a wonderful time. Leo has always said that he would like to live and work in NYC but I, on the otherhand, think it is a great city to visit, but not my cup of tea to live. I had my fingers crossed that Leo would enjoy the trip but not like the city too much. Well, I guess my fingers weren´t crossed enough becuase he LOVES the city and still wants to work there.

During our trip we visited all the main sightseeing places including: Time Square, Central Park(Watched the Rollerskater Dance Club), Grand Central Station (They were filming a movie with Justin Timberlake although he was not there), several street markets, Broadway St (we watched the musical Wicked and absolutely loved it), American Museum of Natural History, China Town, Little Italy(good food), Financial District, Wall Street, Statton Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty, Rockefeller Center, FAO Schwartz (played the big piano), Lincoln Center, the Manhattan Temple, Brooklyn Bridge, and some famous Pizza place near the bridge. (I can´t remember the name but I do remember how good the pizza was.) It was a jam-packed fun adventure that I would definitely do again.

JULY 2010: EXPLORE SPAIN PART II

Like I mentioned in the last post, instead of going to northern Spain, we decided to go back to Madrid and take the kids to the Warner Brothers Amusement Park. Although there were not very many people which made getting on rides easy, it was very hot so it was a good thing that there were so many rides that involved water. Even Grandma and Grandpa got wet to keep cool. We should have brought our swimming suits but we had tons of fun nonetheless. By the time we went back to the hotel we were exhausted.

The next day we headed back to Cartagena which is about 4 1/2 hours away. The trip went smoothly but it felt good to be back home. Through out our roadtrip Grandma had prepared some gifts for the kids to open which they loved and we were even more excited when we got home because she had even more treats to give out, including superhero underwear as you can see below. During our time in Cartagena we visited the port, went on the turist boat that goes around the bay, walked around downtown Cartagena, and visited the beach several times. G & G also helped with several projects around the house: fixing toliets, shower heads, door handles, hanging curtains, taking down a bed, putting up bunkbeds, just to name a few. I don´t know what we would do without G & G. Thank you so much!

I also have to thank G & G for something else. Before they got here, we kept on telling Charlie that Grandma doesn´t speak Spanish so he could only speak to her in English. Something must have clicked because since then he has been a bilingual machine. No more Spanglish for him, aleast not very much. He is really doing well with both languages.

The worst part of a visit of course is the good-bye. G& G took the train to Madrid to catch their flight the next day. Luckily we live very close to the train station so we could all walk there. Once at the train station, the tears started and it was hard to stop. It was a great visit and we can´t wait until next time, but hopefully the next time will not be a short visit but more of a visit of the permanate nature.