May 2014
Our beautiful baby Zetta made her appearance:
June 2014
We welcomed family
Got tatooed
Said goodbye
July 2014
Spent time with dear friends, checked out the New Orleans aquarium, and went to a new-to-us beach
August 2014
Visit from Grandma and Pop and a trip to the Children's Museum
September 2014
October 2014
This was a huge month for us! It probably deserves a post all it's own, but since I'm on a roll today, I'm just going to include snippets from our Spanish adventure.
It started with a trip to the east coast. We stopped and stayed with friends along the way, and it was so great catching up with everyone! We arrived in Virginia and had a birthday party with friends for Adelyn's birthday. Matt made an amazing power ranger cake and all of our family sent presents to their house so she would have lots of fun stuff to open on her big day :)
Then the kids and I loaded up our stuff, and drove to see if we could catch a military flight to Rota, Spain to visit Steve. I was so nervous we wouldn't get on. Roll call was around 5pm, which we were right on time. We didn't eat dinner because I honestly just didn't have time and I figured there would be something on the flight...I was wrong, they announced there was no food. They finally called our names at 9pm, just as I was stuffing my dollar bills into the snack machine. Turns out, there were box lunches...go figure. So our crappy $2 cold sandwiches mostly went to waste.
When we arrived in Spain I was completely exhausted. The kids slept for the entire flight, so they were ok. I slept a few minutes here and there and I was far from ok. We landed and I contacted Steve, only to find out he was still at work and couldn't leave. We went into a nursery they have at the airport and I rested while the big kids played and the baby slept. We were probably there for 2 hours or so before he was able to come see us. I was so happy to see his face....he had been gone for 4 months at this point. My joy was short-lived though...he told me he had a van, but he couldn't take us in it (gov't rules), the bus I was expecting to use was out of service because of construction around the airport, and so we would have to walk to the exchange to find food. He took our bags and the kids and I walked to the NEX. I was cranky, tired, and hungry. Subway wasn't quite the first meal I was hoping to have in Spain, but it was enough to get us through. Steve bought and set up a phone for me...only catch is it didn't have a working language option, so it had to stay in Spanish. (Le sigh) This was only the beginning of challenges for the day. Steve handed me a folder with a map, a handful of euros, and reminded me of a few basic Spanish words to get me to the apartment we were renting for the week. I was not planning to go alone, and you can imagine my frustration as I hopped into a cab with a man I couldn't communicate with to a place I didn't know the location of, and I was supposed to meet two people I didn't know, but Steve programmed their number into my Spanish phone.....oh boy. Luckily, all went well. I met the people in front of the correct apartment complex, they showed me around, gave me the keys, and then I took a nap. I could have slept for a day, but Steve showed up to make sure I was awake and ready to go to dinner. The next day was much better, I enjoyed my sleep, and was feeling much more excited to explore.
Here is a picture of our favorite cafe. We went in the mornings for a breakfast sandwich, cafe con leche, and pastries.
Here is a picture of the kitchen in the apartment. Thousands of miles from home, and still stuck doing dishes....at least the view was nice ;)
On a walk we found a fun playground with it's own zipline, and a crazy tall climbing rope thing. The kids loved it. All the Spanish playgrounds seemed to make Steve nervous....which is funny since he is the adventurous spirit in our family.
Picture of the beach from downtown Rota. Steve and I enjoyed some time with Zetta and our pitcher of sangria while the big kids played in the sand.
Even in October there was some warm sun and beach time....and very cold water.
We took a double decker bus tour of Cadiz. The kids had a blast. The parents were mainly concerned with not having enough time to see the sights and get back before the last ferry left for Rota.
Castle in downtown Rota
Indian food in Rota. It was delicious!!
We took a bus to Sevilla for one of the days. I only regret not staying there multiple days. There was so much to see, one day was just not enough.
Tapas!!! Sardines for Steven, calamari, and I can't remember what else we ordered....and sangria of course :)
So much architecture to take in. It was so breathtaking. Every single building was a work of art.
Castles, cathedrals, courtyards, oh my!
More tapas, and this time Zetta gets a snack too.
Back in Rota for dinner at Steve's favorite restaurant.
Next adventure was a drive to Gibraltar. We took a scenic route, following the coastline. It was amazingly beautiful. We made one random stop in a surf town. It seemed like every street had a surf shop. We went in for a snack and restroom break, had some coffee and watch three old me eat sardines and drink beer at 10 am....I feel like this is my kind of place ;)
Gibraltar was really cool. It's a British colony with tons of cute shops, they used the pound, we ate fish and chips, and bought the kids some cute clothes. This was another place that we could have used more time. We did have one very unfortunate accident while there. Zetta pooped as much as a grown man, and of course I was not prepared with extra clothes,...or an extra stroller, or a costco size box of wipes. I didn't have anywhere to change her, and there are not changing stations anywhere. As a matter of fact, one lady who had just cleaned the restroom I was going to use told me to go somewhere else...she had just cleaned it. Hahaha good times! So we went to a cafe and bought drinks so we could use their restroom, and I did my best to get everything cleaned up. Next stop was new clothes for the baby.
There are so many pictures....it takes so long to upload them, so this is all you get. I'll continue with the rest of the year tomorrow maybe.
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