Day 3! Day Trip to SEGOVIA & the Madrid Temple

In Europe, kids can climb on everything.

This morning, Benson and I woke up and had to get some Euros to pay for the apartment we were staying in. The kids were all still asleep, so we woke Talie up just to tell her we were leaving to get money. "Today I slept for like a whole 12 hours. Talie hit me awake, because she didn't know how to open the door when the rent lady came, but I just ignored her and fell back asleep. That is not like me I can't sleep past 8:00. I woke up around 12:00pm. It was awesome!" (Dallin). Finally, after some phone calls to our bank, we got our credit cards to work and just got cash from the ATM. They are everywhere and they are great! We stopped at a McCafe - which are also everywhere in Europe and got some doughnuts and muffins for the kids for breakfast. We decided that it was time to get them up and do some sight seeing! We took our first day trip to Segovia, about 1 hour north west of Madrid. It is a small town on top of a hill with an alcazar (castle) and a catedral (cathedral) - which is very typical of Spain, every town has a castle, and throughout all of Europe, every town has a big, old, beautiful church. This town has two claims to fame. An ancient aqueduct, built by the hands of the townspeople, that brought water to this town. The aqueduct is amazing! It was built in the 1st century AD, containing over 25,000 cement blocks (with no mortar), which ran 1/2 mile, containing  over 170 arches. The second claim to fame is that it is in this castle that Columbus was commissioned by the Queen of Spain to find the fast route to the Orient.
 

 We walked  around the top of the aqueduct and lost Kennedi for about 2 minutes - I hope we can make it home with everybody! Luckily, she was just sitting on a stone, waiting for us to come back and find her. Then as we walked down the narrow streets to the cathedrals and churches, we walked in and out of shops. We stopped at a park where we met a family with four children from New Zealand that were holidaying for 6 months in Europe.

 The church of Segovia

 The streets are so narrow, you feel like you have to suck in to avoid being hit by a car.

 This is how Tanner traveled. Needless to say, he didn't complain. "It was my turn to have the Tanner back pack. It was fine, for the first 30 seconds, then it felt like there were 30 huge rocks in it," Dallin.

 

He's not as friendly as he looks. They charge you for every photo op. in Europe.

 The Castle of Segovia. Look at that, "it's like 2,000 years old" (Dad, about everything we saw;).

 Complete with a mote.

On the way back, we stopped at a sandwich shop where everyone guessed at what sandwich they would like, and where we started our daily tradition of ice cream to get us through our walks.

 We stopped at lots of parks, and the kids found these fitness parks in Spain that resembled the circuit training you find in gyms in the states (minus the weights).

A cool statue, that you wouldn't see in the states.

We drove back to Madrid to find the temple. It was in the middle of a residential area, full of tall apartment buildings, so we didn't see it until we were right on it. Although the grounds were very small, it was landscaped beautifully with topiary type plants in beautiful white urns every three feet. Also on the temple grounds were the MTC and apartments for missionary couples, and people coming from long distances to attend the temple.

 Tanner was excited to be able to just get down and crawl around after 2 full days in an airplane and a car. When it was time for us to leave, he could have cared less if we left him. He turned around and crawled straight for the temple. "Tanner was being the most adorible." Ashlynn.

Day 2! MADRID!! Getting our Car & 1st Apartment.

We awoke to a breakfast of yogurt and bread on the airplane, and landed in Madrid at 9:55am. Our trip had officially begun! Even though we were exhausted, we were excited! We got off the airplane, got our first stamp in our passports, and gathered ALL our luggage (6 rolling suitcases, three car seats, a stroller, everyone's travel pillow and little day pack to keep them entertained for the next 80 days;).  Then we found a pay phone, and I got to try my high school Spanish out - hmm, not as good as I had hoped, but luckily the car rental guy spoke better English than my Spanish and he came and picked us up and drove us to our brand new, silver, 9 passenger Peugeot van. To which Dallin described as "very roomy". I'm curious if he still thought so by the end of the trip.

We found a Burger King for lunch - ok., I know, but we'll have plenty of time to experience culture later- and then drove around Madrid looking for a place to exchange some cash and discovered that banks don't exchange money, and we had problems with the ATMs on the first day. We also decided to go without a phone for the summer, so we had to try to figure out how to get ahold of the landlord of our first apartment. Thanks to the car rental place and a kind lady on the street with a payphone, we were able to call the land lord. Everyone slept off and on all day in the back of the car, I tried to stay awake in the front, and Benson drove all day. We did end up getting into our apartment, and then drove around Madrid, but in the center of the tourist cites was some sort of a riot going on, so we decided to drive back to our apartment for the night.

 Our apartment had a spiral stair case 

(notice the blue blanket? You'll be seeing it lots this summer!)

 and a balcony,

which the girls slept on the first night. 

Day 1! 11 1/2 Hour Flight from Denver to Madrid, Spain

          Phew!! We survived the LONG flight to Spain better than I could have even dreamed! The morning began early and very chaotic as we finished the final touches to get the house ready to sell. (You would think that just leaving planning an international trip for 6 kids for 80 days would be enough, but NOPE, we've got to put the house up for sale as well;)  Uncle Jeff picked us up and Aunt Kim made us a yummy breakfast! - thanks guys!!!

Us, at a layover in Dallas, Tx.

    Then off to the airport!! Our flight took off at 1:10 pm and landed in Dallas at 4:05pm. Leaving Dallas at 5:20pm and continuing on to Madrid, arriving at 9:55am. Benson and I were very concerned about the flight. Not only because it was an 11 hour flight with 6 children, but because when we purchased the tickets, no one had seats together. We had 23 E, 24 E, 25 E, etc., get the picture? Luckily when we arrived, the lady at the check in desk was able to get us two sets of two seats together and three seats in the very last row together as well. Dallin and Ashy sat in the first set of two seats, and Kennedi and Talie sat together. The woman next to them thought that Talie was Kennedi´s mom. She also asked Kennedi, "Do you speak English or Spanish?" To which Kennedi quickly replied, "I speak normal." Boy would Kennedi learn a lot this summer!  Benson, Peyton, Tanner and I sat in the back. After a few games of musical chairs, the movie, "We Bought a Zoo", a pasta dinner - complete with a fudge brownie that was a HUGE hit, everyone was settled. Tanner fell asleep for the night in my arms.