Is this the same kid???

Look at all that jet black hair, now I have a blondie! When Luca was born he looked just like Jeff, it is crazy how much he has changed!!

Birthday Party and the Park

Saturday we went to a Birthday Party at Retiro Park to celebrate one of Jeff 's co-workers Daughters 2nd Birthday. This is the largest park in Madrid and is absolutely beautiful! We enjoyed some wonderful Indian food and wonderful weather.

The Birthday Girl


And here is just some more pictures from the weekend. Luca LOVES the park now that he can run and climb on everything. We can not get him to leave, but at least he takes a great nap afterwards.

Deep Spain

A couple of weekends ago we went to the country of Spain, and it is WAY different than what we have seen so far. We went with several of Jeff's friends from work to the town of Higuera, population about 90 people! One of his coworkers wives is from this town. First they showed us around Trujillo, this was the largest town near Higuera. We saw a really neat castle and plaza major.

Then it was on to Higuera, we stopped at the only bar in town where everyone knew everyone, kind of like LaSalle-Peru. From there we went to the family home. We ate in this cool building and cooked meat over a fireplace. It was sort of like having a "shop" party. We walked around and saw the town and kept laughing because it seemed they owned all of the town. Everything Jose Luis pointed out they owned!! We were then taken on a off roading excursion, up gravel mountain paths. Our Safira minivan didn't do so well, but it was beautiful. There were several trees with the bark peeled off to make the corks of wine bottles. There was open land, wild animals, so different then being on top of each other in the city. It was actually a little taste of home! But my favorite part, was the donkey walking the streets. Another great weekend in Spain with great friends!

Jeff's New Ride!

We bought a second car in Spain. I am sure those of you reading this in the U.S. are laughing at it, but it a very typical car in Spain. I really didn't care what we bought I just know this means FREEDOM for me!!! It is a 2001 Seat Ibiza with a 1.4 liter engine that gets 60 horsepower, or as Dale calls it, a lawn mower with a hood!

Does he fit in it??

Yep, he's in there!

Salamanca

Salamanca was this weekends day trip.

We drove about 2 hours toward Portugal to this campus town. Salamanca is known for its monumental sights and the University of Salamanca, which was founded in 1218 and is the oldest university in Spain. This is were college students go to learn the Spanish language. It was a very cute town. It had lots of neat old buildings and shops. Everywhere were little stands were you could enjoy and beer and music. They also had a beautiful Plaza Mayor. I think the night life here would have been a lot of fun.


Carved in the stone you can see an astronaut, this was carved way before there were ever astronauts, so it's kind of neat thats its there.

Walking

Luca is Walking!!!

While we were home in the U.S. he started talking a few steps, but now he is really moving!! Here are a few video clips I have caught on camera. Don't mind my very annoying voice and that he has on a stethoscope in about every video. He is very attached to it, maybe he wants to be a doctor someday:)

Enjoy!

Ciudad Encantada and Cuenca

Saturday we went on another day trip. We drove to Ciudad Encantada, the Enchanted City which is rocks formed from erosive weather and the waters of the Júcar river. The rocks are suppose to resemble different objects, such as a mushroom, bear, face, etc. It was a beautiful day and took about 2 hour to hike through. After that we went to the nearby town of Cuenca and saw the Las Casas Colgadas (hanging Houses).

We have really been enjoying our day trips and getting to see a lot of Spain. Now it is time to visit another country. Jeff has a four day weekend coming up in October and we are debating where to go. The possibilities include the French Rivieria, Paris, England,Germany or Switzerland! Where do you think we should go???