Madrid

Oh Madrid. I really loved how beautiful Madrid is and how beautiful the architecture is. I think I slightly preferred Madrid over Barcelona because it is so pretty but we enjoyed the things we did more in Barcelona so I guess it's a toss up. Either way they were both beautiful cities and provided great entertainment. 

 Plaza Mayor. A fun plaza right by our hotel. There were many restaurants and street performers. One of them was a guy who pretended to be missing his head. Calder thought it was rather funny.

 These are just random streets that we loved.

 Retiro Park. This was a beautiful park with well groomed gardens and a fun little lake. You could rent a boat and float around the lake but it was quite small and we weren't really sure what we would do with our stroller. It was okay though. We ran around and then as we were leaving we found the playground.

 The lake at Retiro Park.

 A beautiful church by the Prado Museum.

 The Royal Palace. This is the most beautiful building inside and out. I loved our tour of the inside and all the amazing rooms. I can see why the royal family doesn't live here anymore. I mean, you can't mess with George III's bedroom or study. And it is really close to the city center. I wish we could have taken interior pictures.

 We watched the changing of the guards in front and it was quite the production. There were over 100 horses and 400 soldiers. It was also quite long. Calder got a bit bored.

 This is the Temple De Debod. It is an ancient Egyptian temple. The hieroglyphics were really cool and it's hard to believe it is they started constructing it in the early 2nd century BC.

 The garden at the Royal Palace.

 Us in front of Almudina Cathedra. We didn't tour this one because honestly, it was way too expensive and neither of us were all that interested.

 The park behind the Royal Palace.

 Our hotel. It was really a sweet place to stay and so close to everything. Jason did an awesome job with our accommodations.

 We saw two protests while we were there. One was about public schools and the other was this one. I think it was about labor laws. They were nothing but efficient though. There were tons and tons of people but they were very well controlled by the police and there were street sweepers following along behind to clean up the mess. It was really great. You can tell how long the line of protesters were because in the first picture it was light and it was getting rather dark by the time they finished walking by. We were eating dinner at a restaurant at this point, so we just popped out to take a picture or two and then went back to our meal.

This is the cutest candy shop I've ever seen. The decor is all gold and the little boxes you fill with candy are also gold. It was very fancy. Calder and I had a taste of a raspberry candy and it was amazing.

Barcelona

The next few posts will be about our trip to Spain and have tons of pictures. First, let me explain why we went to Spain. Jason has worked very hard for the last few years and finally had some time off. We wanted to take a family trip to see more of our beautiful world and expose Calder to some new ideas, cultures and places. When looking at all the places we wanted to go, Spain was the cheapest at that given time and fairly high on our list of places to go, so we chose Spain. 

We flew from Baltimore to New York and then to Barcelona. We had a delay in Baltimore which left us with 30 minutes to make our connecting flight. We made it after running through the airport me pushing the stroller, Jason carrying the backpack and Calder yelling "faster, faster". Thankfully they don't let you fly internationally without your bags on the plane, so they made it too.

 This is the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia. It is a very dark, but impressive cathedral.

 Almost every day we were in Spain we found a fun local bark. This is Citadel Park. It was an awesome shaded park with a zoo, a lake you can rent boats in and a greenhouse.

 Aaaahhh, the beach. We LOVED the beach. The weather was 80 degrees and sunny every day we were there. Perfect beach weather for sure.

 Barcelona has this really cool waves bridge that turns when a boat comes through. It leads over to a floating shopping mall.

 This is the Port of Barcelona building. Honestly, we didn't go inside, Jason just loved the exterior. It is a rather pretty building.

 We took Calder to a fun European toy store and told him he could choose anything that would fit in our suitcase. He chose this adorable wooden helicopter with a little driver. It was a great companion throughout our trip.

 All right, this is probably our favorite stop. La Sagrada Familia or the Holy Family Church. This is the most impressive building I've every been in. The exterior looks like a gray cake in the rain. It is droopy and rather sad looking but the interior is light, bright and colorful. The church has been under construction for ever because it is totally funded by admission fees.

 I'm sure we looked like this a lot while on our trip. Calder, chummy in the stroller and one of us pouring over the guide book.

 Okay, back to Sagrada Familia. This is the interior. The symbolism in this building is amazing.

 See, gray cake in the rain.

 Calder and Cami at Park Guell. A great hike but it didn't have a playground.

 It also had a great view of Barcelona.

 This is really funny. At Park Guell they had little spaces carved out of the rock wall that people were posing for pictures. Calder loved being in the hole. I wish I would have taken pictures of the large group of Asian tourists also taking his pictures.

 Calder was a true tourist. He loved looking at all the signs and figuring out what we were looking at.

 This is a fancy light and music show by the Olympic village. It happens every night in the summer and is incredibly beautiful.

La Boqueria. The most beautiful outdoor farmers market. There were so many people that it was hard to stop for pictures inside but we got an amazing fruit smoothie here.

Calder at the maritime museum. 

Calder made a friend at the park. They rode the rocking duck together. It was sweet to see their non-verbal communication. Then they played with the gate for a while. It was sweet. 

 The Museum of Contemporary Art. Oh my goodness, we didn't understand any of this art. I guess we're just not into contemporary art.

 Zoom in here, that little spot at the top of the stairs is Calder. I can't believe how small he looks.

 This was the crazy line to get into the Picasso Museum on Free Sunday. Nope, we didn't go.

Every Sunday locals get together to dance the Sardana Dances. It was fun to see them doing a very traditional dance with strangers.

 We wandered back to the beach and happen to catch the Barcelona air show. It was very impressive.

 Calder and I did go stand in the water for a while but we didn't go swimming. It was just fun to play on the beach and the waves.

 A real big fish.

 While we were in Barcelona we went to General Conference. Every six months our church hears from the prophet and our leaders. It was fun to find a church and be with people who are so different than we are but believe the same things.

Barcelona is a beautiful and amazing city. We loved every minute of our visit and would love to go back some day.

First (real) Baseball Game

 While I was in Chicago the boys went to a Washington Nationals game. It was Calder's first real game. We tried to take him to a White Sox game when we lived in Chicago but it got rained out. I'm so glad Jason and Calder could enjoy some bonding time over baseball.

 That same weekend there was a block party on our street, so they went and had a great time. I think it was very sweet for them to spend all day together and I think it helped Calder to realize that Jason can do everything he needs. It's nice that Calder lets Jason help him go to the bathroom occasionally now too.

Chicago

Last month I had the most amazing opportunity to meet up with some of my Chicago friends in Chicago for a girl weekend. It was so fun! I was quite nervous about leaving Calder for the first time but it really helped that Jason would be with him the whole time and that they had some fun things planned.

I stole all these pictures from my friend Danielle. (Thanks Danielle) There were 5 of us that came from out of town. Three from DC, one from San Diego and one from Little Rock. Here's Kate, LuAnn, me and Danielle. 

We planned the whole weekend around food we wanted to eat and people we wanted to see. LuAnn and I got haircuts on Friday and then I went to work to visit my old coworkers. It was great to see them and chat. I miss them.

We got pedicures and ate a ton of good food. My favorite eats of the weekend were cupcakes at Sweet Mandy B's, breakfast at Bongo Room and sushi at Sushi Wabi. Pure bliss. I wish there were a Sweet Mandy B's here, or even an equivalent. Those are the best cupcakes I've ever had. Ever.

On Saturday night we got together with a bunch of friends from Chicago. It was so awesome to see so many old friends and have the time to reconnect.

Oh and on Sunday we stopped by Hyde Park Produce on the way to church. I didn't spend a ton of time shopping here when we lived here, but it was a pretty great store for last minute stuff here and there.

I had a fabulous time and can't wait to have another girls weekend with these ladies!

29

I am so behind on my blogging, so I may be a bit short here. I turned 29 last month and I'm totally loving it. I feel like I'm at a great age. I know who I am and am comfortable with it. I am confident to stand up for what I believe and what I want. I am happy with my life. It is so fun that I get to hang out with two amazing guys every day. My birthday was perfect and I am spoiled in every way.