Day 10: Go Carts & Dinner with the Missionaries

    "Today we woke up and got in our swim suits and got in the pool. No one physically jumped in, but we all pushed each other in. I pushed Dallin in like 3 times! I got in trouble later for beating him up and had to sit in time out. Outside, when Dad wasn't paying attention and was standing right next to the pool and I pushed him in he was definitely not expecting it. Later we drove around looking for fun things to do and we found go cart racing." Talie.

Peyton showing the new hole in his mouth.

Nope, this is not a cooking class. They are suiting up for go carts! And Peyton is proudly showing off the first tooth he lost in Spain!

 

Now they're ready!

Ashy the speedy.

Mom, stuck in the car with crazy driver Peyton.

We are the champions!!

While we rode go carts, Kennedi jumped on the trampoline, and the kids joined her afterwards. Kennedi loved it so much that just the other day when we were talking about her upcoming birthday party she said, "For my birthday, I want to go to Spain to that go cart place;).

     Everywhere you go in Spain, you find brightly colored public parks. Kennedi says, "Dad's so nice, 'cuz he always takes me to parks." 

    "Then we went to Mojacar. I bought a cool souvenir. It was a symbol (Indalo)." Ashlynn.
     We don't have internet in this house, so we go back to the plaza, where we found free WIFI, to check emails and upload pictures. Unfortunately, I still can't upload pictures and blog every day like I had planned.
      "I had been wearing flip flops like the whole week and I had a flip flop sun burn. it hurt so bad! After WIFI, we met the missionaries at the church and they walked/showed us a restaurant that they heard was good." Talie.
     To end the day, we meet up with elder Fagersten - who is going home the next week - and elder Jones at the church. We take them out to eat. It is fun talking to them about the missionary work in the area and in all of Spain.
       "I ordered a yummy steak, the missionaries ordered fish and sword fish."Talie.
      "I got chicken a breast. It was delicious. My dad got the same thing as me. Dallin got a sandwich that he did not like. Talie got steak. Mom got steak too. Peyton got a hamburger, and Kennedi got a sandwich. Then we said bye to the missionaries and left." Ashlynn.
     On the way back to the car, we get to watch the elders actively proselyte. Then we stop at a shoe store and let Kennedi pick out some sandals - she picks a completely Spanish style, pink with sparkly rhinestone like decor on them.  - totally Kennedi.

     As we are loading into the car, we hear some strange animal noises coming from a very tree filled area in the middle of the town. That is one of the things I love most about this trip, we are hardly ever have to be somewhere at a specific time, so we take time to just adventure. This time, we take a detour from climbing into our car and go check out those noises. As we enter in the gates, "there was a park with goats, a pig, chickens and peacocks walking around. We saw an ostrich. It was so cool. I don't think I've seen one before." Talie. To end the night perfectly, one peacock lifts up his tail feathers into a beautiful fan to show us.  "It was totally showing off! It even turned around."Talie. As we walk out of the park, a guard locks the gates behind us.

Talie strutting with her new friend the ostrich.

Another cool Spain park.

The grand finale.

  

Day 9: Cabo de Gata, pool, plaza & pizza!

 "Today, we slept in. We went in our pool. I was the first one in all the way. It was COLD."Ashlynn.

Ashy, always the first one in the pool and last one out. Peyton, never far behind.

Tanner in the house in Bedar.

"Today was sort of a relax day. We got in the pool. When my dad was at the edge of the pool, and he wasn't used to the cold water, I was about to push him in, but he had a camera (I didn't know it was water proof). When he got his swim suit on, I rammed into him with all of my force and he fell in. Then Mom & I wrestled each other in, I won. Dad taught her the chicken wing, so she just grabbed my arm and bent with all of her force. She pushed me in." Dallin.

To get Dad in is the biggest challenge and reward all at once! Everyone gets in on the action.

"Then we went to Cabo de Gata. It was cold. There was dead fish all along the sea shore. Talie tanned." Ashlynn.
    After sleeping in and hanging out at the pool, we drive 1 hr. and 10 minutes southeast to the nature reserve, Cabo de Gata. It is beautiful, and there are fisherman and fishing boats. The beaches are pebbly, so not ideal. We are still waiting for the hot summer beaches.   

     "We went to the plaza a couple times and played volleyball and frisbee. Some of the local neighbor kids came again. Dad sat in the car with his Ipad and used WIFI right there. Then we went out for dinner and the waitresses were kinda confusing. so we just ordered 2 pizzas they were not as good as the us." Talie.
   On the way home, we stop at a farmacist (which we can always identify with the green cross on the outside), to get Ashy some swimmers ear medicine. We have success with my broken Spanish and jump back in the car towards home.  
    We get back to Los Gallardos, the town right outside of Bedar, where the plaza is. It is late, so we find a restaurant right away. No one in the restaurant speaks English, and I don't recognize many words. I start to get nervous when the only words I can make out are swordfish, squid and other unidentifiable sea creatures. Benson goes with the safe huevos (eggs) and after they see our uneasiness, they scrounge up a pizza menu where we spot much more familiar items on this menu. We share a couple of pizzas and go home to bed.
  

Day 8: Happy 6th Birthday Peyton in Alhambra, Spain!

"Today is Peyton's Birthday! We had oranges and Nutella with bread. Then we drove to Granada to see the Alhambra. We got up kind of late though. We couldn't find any tours, so we just explored the city ourselves." Dallin.  Life has become pretty simple here, breakfast usually consists of oranges and bread with Nutella (a new and wonderful discovery for the kids). One morning I made fried eggs, without salt, pepper, or even butter or cooking spray for the pan, and the kid's thought it was the best thing I had made in years. I'm liking this simple lifestyle.
    It is Peyton's 6th birthday, and we decide to take a day trip to the Alhambra in Granada, Spain. It takes us about 2 1/2 hours of driving straight east to get there. As Dallin said, the tours are sold out, but you can explore the grounds and go through some buildings on your own. This is probably the best solution for our little group, because I'm not sure how long we can last on a tour. The Alhambra was built by the Moors (from Northern Africa) in the 900s  and is known as the Red Fortress. The many tiles, courtyards,  and many reflection pools are very Moorish, and their influence can be seen throughout all of southern Spain. It is built on the hill and is beautiful.

 

 

Everyone's photo op. at Alhambra

 

 

   After exploring the fortress in the heat, we are ready to find an air conditioned mall in the modern part of the city Granada to celebrate Peyton's birthday. We eat hot dogs, hamburgers and Gyros. Peyton picks out whatever he wants: a $4 Spiderman boogie board to try out in the pool and  "Then Peyton got a BIG bag of candy. On the way home, we all sat by Peyton and ate all of the yummy candy." Ashlynn.

Tanner, napping in the stroller. This little man is an angel! As long as he has his blanket, a binki (which he likes to chuck when he is finished with it, so we keep losing them) and a bottle, he is a happy traveler.

On the way home, we see another castle on the top of a hill above a village,

we drive up to it - of course - and find that it is a castle turned into a private residence. How cool to be able to say, "Oh, yeah, I live in that castle on the hill."

Right below the castle is the other standard, a big church that is always nestled in the middle of every village.

On the way out of the village, we stop for a herd of sheep crossing the street; something you just don't see in Highlands Ranch!

Another castle we brake for. We stop to get gas and ask if we can get into the castle. Apparently it is only open on Thursdays, it is Tuesday. Someday before we leave, we will get to explore a Spanish castle!