Some stuff I may not have shown here yet from this spring

I'm probably doing some of these things twice. I forget what I post sometimes when doing catchup.

Oh!  Guess what?!  Leon got his hair cut!!

Totally his idea.  Just out of the blue, he said he'd like to have it cut.

OKEY DOKEY THEN!

Here is him and his dad a day or so before Ryan took him to a barber.

And then Easter happened!  EVERYONE hunted for the eggs except for Leon and myself.  He helped me hide them all.

Then with Maddy in the picture and me taking it.

I was hoping someone would photoshop the other in, and they tried with AI, but Maddy's face was either totally wrong or mine was or she was missing hair. So weird...  We'll just put both pictures beside each other. :)

Maddy and I went to see the Red Hot Chili Pipers!

Got great seats in the balcony and they sounded super!  Second time seeing them and I just know that Robb would have loved them.

Aggie was on a kick of building towers with the magnetic tiles for a LONG time!  She and I would build it as high as we could just for her to knock it down.

Isn't that just the way?!

These days she's into reading out of the Learning To Read books from World Book with Poldy the scarecrow.  Wouldn't that be cool if she was reading before kindergarten?  

I'm not pushing her but B-B-B-Bat!

I tried my hand at fixing one of my electric canners that toasted the motherboard.  I bought the right motherboard and installed it just to have it happen two batches into some pork that I was canning.

sigh.  I pitched it.  I still have one canner left.  I'll get another someday.

The week after I got back from the Mediterranean cruise, Aggie and Jen went with her folks to see an aunt in Arizona.  They had a greatl time and I got some wonderful pics of their adventures!

And I dog-sat once or twice for Maddy since then.  I love her little shrine for Dad.

I still have Maddy's old Barbie Jeep from 2001 in the garage and this past week, I started to resurrect it for Aggie.  I bought new batteries because it's been 8 years at least since it saw the light of day and was tucked in the garage freezing, thawing, freezing, thawing ever since.  Apparently the batteries were the least of it's worries.  There is corrosion on the little plunger under the foot pedal and after buying the wrong size off Amazon, I called the only Power Wheels dealer in Iowa and they have the parts in that I need! WOOHOO!

Headed there this weekend with the jeep in the back of my car!  I WILL get this working!

Then it will totally need a paint job.

More pics on this Monday.

OH!  and I am still working hard on Italian speaking but started looking around for a group of Italian speakers near me.  I thought I'd found one but then they hadn't posted anything for a few years so shoot.  But a few days ago, someone sent me a note and woohoo!  The Italian conversation group still exists!  and she updated the FB group!  I'm going tonight!  Can't wait!  Apparently there are all levels of Italian speaking there, beginners and experienced but I'm fairly confident that I'll sound super stupid but I really want to learn how to be fluent.  So here goes!

Oh!  and I want to get into making cheese!

Ok, I'm done now.

Day 11 - Mediterranean Cruise - Barcelona & home

Day 11 - Mediterranean Cruise - Barcelona & home

The ship docked in Barcelona super early on that Sunday morning!
 

A little more light out before we could actually disembark.  We could see where the airport was by following all the planes coming in for a landing. Yeah, I'm not walking to the airport!

We carried our luggage off so we could get off the ship quicker.  We found a taxi right away because our flight was early in the day.  I want to say around 11?

Last chance to see the Columbus statue as we drove around the round about.

The charge for the trip from ship to airport was a flat rate of 45 euro.  Only a couple miles, but totally worth it! AND the driver was nice!

Last glance of our ship! sigh.

Whoops!  No it's not!  That's the Balearia ferry! Darn, I missed the last pic of the ship!

Oh well.  We had been impressed by the ferry during this trip too.  We didn't RIDE on it, but admired and googled it from afar, not knowing what it was at first.

After waiting at the airport and getting a few snacks and some food for the flight, we waited on the tarmac for 30 minutes standing in the crowded bus while the bus driver flirted with the flight attendants. :\

Not sure what they were waiting for but we wanted ON!

Finally got on and into my lunch! mmmm

We were all pretty tired and it took a bit longer for us to actually take off.

We explored the screen info in front of us.  Yep - that's where we are!  Let's get going!

And THIS is where I lost all confidence in the air temp and altitude of the plane based on the flight info screen.  Not only was it NOT 104 degrees outside right then, we were NOT 18 feet underground.

The destination and arrival times looked ok though even though the estimated time of arrival kept changing.

And finally we were OFF!

Last chance to see Spain!

Mountains in France.

About this time I had gotten into the movie about the first episode of Saturday Night Live and was completely enthralled.  Wow did it bring back some good memories!

Because of the movie, I totally missed looking for Ireland this time! Oh well.

And then we landed in Iceland.

Since the flight out of Barcelona was delayed, we didn't have much time to race through the Iceland airport, grab another bite to eat and a fridge magnet to prove I was there.  These things are important!

We got on the next flight JUST in time!

And off we went!

I don't remember what I watched but I think the SNL movie made me nostalgic for the 70s and 80s, so I think it was an oldie.  I wish I could remember!

And then we were landed in Chicago!!

So Sunday night, Ruth Ann got on her bus home and I stayed over at Teresa and Ken's house again.

I spent Monday morning, checking over work adventures that I'd missed out on and then on repacking my suitcase and carry on for the Amtrak ride home.  I had left about 10-20 pounds of clothing at Teresa's from before the cruise so I had to work that in.

Thankfully Amtrak doesn't care ALL that much about weight as long as you make it look effortless!

sigh.  I'll try.

On the trip, Ruth Ann had shared a big bag of sugar free Werthers but it came with a stern warning. 

Don't eat more than five in a single day.

and don't feed them to me after midnight.

Teresa and I enjoyed lunch out and afterwards stopped for treats for the ride home.

I bought some sugar free Werthers.

I lost track of how many I'd eaten and paid for it a second time later. :\

On the way home, I noticed that my suitcase was clunk clunking a lot more than it did at the beginning of the trip.  I'm guessing it got tossed a little too much somewhere along the line and the wheel coverings are toast.  It still rolls but reluctantly.  This is the last trip for this suitcase.

Teresa took me to the train station and THERE is my train coming up the track behind me!

My seat on the Amtrak had been taken by some slumbering Amish people but when I showed them my ticket, they moved to their own seats.  I spent a lot of the trip attempting to translate that book I'd bought in Rome, gave up after a bit and got to writing up my memories of this trip before I forgot anything.  I only got about half way through the trip and by this time, almost 2 months later now, I know I've forgotten a lot of the funny and memorable things that happened.  

The pictures help jog some of the memories.

Kudos to Teresa and Ken for planning and implementing this grand adventure!

And Kudos to Ruth Ann for putting up with me!

And Kudos to my boss and co-workers for trying hard not to bother me on the trip.

AND Kudos to my family for taking on my responsibilities so great while I was gone.

Meri and Josh picked me up at the train station and I talked their ears off the whole way home.

As I walked in the door at the house, Leon walked past and said, "Oh, you were gone?!" LOL

The next morning, I was in the kitchen and I heard Aggie come up into the living room to play.  I started walking in and stopped.  She had heard my voice and started walking from the living room and stopped.

We stared at each other and walked slowly towards each other and I held out my arms. She let me pick her up and she snuggled her little face right into my neck hugging me, not saying a word.

Oh my goodness, it was like a slow motion scene from a movie! SO SWEET!

I found out from Maddy later that while I was gone, Aggie had been asking people "Where's Grandma?" and they all showed her on the Live360 app or the globe.  But when Maddy and Matthew came for lunch, she climbed up on Maddy's lap and whispered, "Where did Grandma go?!" Like everyone was lying to her but Maddy would tell her the truth!  :) What a sweetheart!  I'm so glad she missed me!

I gave the kids a full presentation of ALL my pictures, videos and stories a week or so later and made a video with only half the pictures.  You can watch it HERE.

or here.

Oh, you know how they would say "get your land legs"?  For about a week, every time, I went to bed and closed my eyes, it felt like the bed was either rocking back and forth or spinning.  I couldn't tell if I was sick or just missing the ship.  Teresa called it Dock Rock.  Ruth Ann suffered from it too for a while. UGG.  I missed the ship!

I had so much fun and am looking forward to a similar trip in about a year and half.

Teresa is already planning it! :)

Day 10 - Mediterranean Cruise - Valencia, Spain

Day 10 - Mediterranean Cruise - Valencia, Spain

Well, life got in the way this week. My MIL is in the hospital and it's all hands on deck!

ANYWAY!!  Day 10!

Our first view of Valencia.  And every single one of us were wondering if the Ark of the Covenant was hidden in one of these containers.  They were as far as the eye could see at this port! 

And here was the view on the bow of the ship!  See the shore over there?  We were hoping we'd have time to get there that day, but nope.  

That's ok!  We saw a LOT, as you will too in this post.

OH!  See the train towards the bottom loaded down with all the brand new cars?  Wowza!

Ken was in his element!  Trains and cars!  Personally I was intrigued by the yacht on the other side.

And then Valencia proper.

and again.

We disembarked and took a shuttle bus to the main road where we caught a taxi to take us to the Old City.  Not too far away but just enough we didn't want to walk it and worry about time.

And then we walked and explored.

Check out the pedestrian signs on the sidewalk!  You don't have to make eye contact with ANYONE!!!

Keep your eyes down!  Just kidding.  I just thought that was cool.

Lots of old style buildings on the outskirts of Old City.

And check out the tile mosaic around the Horchateria!  OOH!  and Hard Rock cafe right next to them!  It was too early in the day for them to be open, so we pressed on.

The ancient buildings were fascinating!

And try and read this!  No CLUE what year it says.  If I'd done better at Latin in highschool, maybe.

Beautiful little streets!

And we found another market!

So many things that we'd never see at a local farmers market or the grocery store, but here is common place.

I thought these were the best leeks I'd ever seen!  Search my blog for the Leeks in cream sauce recipe! MMMM!!!

All the fruit was so huge.  The strawberries!  Oh my.

Even the ceiling was intriguing!

and whatever these were.

Paella in all type of varieties.

and desserts everywhere in time for Valentine's day!

The brown mushroom shaped ones below were tiramisu.

I trailed after these guys and bought more souvenirs when I saw the opportunity.

Croissants!  huge!

and then the Fish Market area!  WOW.  So many crazy looking marine life available for purchase!

Squid.

Live eels!  You pick the one you want and the guy behind would smack it on the counter to stun it before chopping off it's head.  Then wrap it up in paper for you.

I didn't buy any.  But Ken got a video.

Lots of other legit seafood.  I took a lot of pictures for Leon as he was wanting to do seafood for a whole month if he could.

And I think THIS guy or maybe the one around the corner saw me taking pictures and came out from behind angry that I was taking pictures and to yell at me that it will cost 2 euro for a picture. whoops!

I think we came across as TOO touristy!

Then back in the sun!

Ken and I sat in the courtyard while Ruth Ann and Teresa finished their shopping in the market.

I found a yarn shop and snapped a pic for Maddy.  I didn't have enough space in my luggage to bring her back enough of anything for a project but looking back now, one skein would have been cool.  Oh well!  Reason for another trip there!

and we walked on.  Beautiful place to live and work!

In the Plaza La Reina, there were living statues.  People dressed up like a statue and they just stand there!  If you drop some coins in their bucket, they'll dance for you!  At least this one did.  I tried it out. :)

Later there was another living statue of a man all in an aluminum foil costume riding a bike. If you dropped money in, he'd talk or peddle. You can JUST see him in the center of the pic. 

Below in St. Catherine's church in the corner of the plaza 

and we didn't know what kind of festival was going on that day in the church, but these beautifully dressed people all walked in and later, walked out and posed for pictures.

The Ale Hop was a great franchise where you can get little needed and cheap things like a chapstick or sunglasses.  Nothing that said Valencia.  I just really liked the cow.

Another look at the plaza from a different angle.

There was a chocolate shop there, the 1885 shop with 12 generations of the family running it since 1885.  Yummy!  I picked up a sampler pack for the kids.  The guy working there was happy to pose for me but when I asked him where he was on the family tree admitted that he wasn't part of the family. 

oh.

We all had gotten from snacks from various places and we sat and ate while people watching.  Ruth Ann fed French fries to the birds and it got scary as more and more birds started coming down to us.

There was a big metal box of a restroom in the plaza that was free to use.  And because it was free, all toiletries had been stolen even the toilet seat and the door lock broken. yay.  So Ken guarded the door and let us use it quick.

And more of those beautiful costumes!

Then we started walking back to the ship.  Ruth Ann was our GPS on her phone and she guided us back.

What beautiful buildings!

The whole way back, I kept my eyes open for a fabric shop.  Wouldn't that be a great souvenir?

No such luck.  Actually I did see one but we were already a block past it and we didn't know if we'd make it back in time anyway.  So ONWARD!

And a Victory Arch!

We were walking near all this traffic and one of us noticed stairs going down right next to the street to a pedestrian walkway, going OUR way!  So YES PLEASE!

And what a gorgeous walkway it was!  The only real traffic were bicyclists and other walkers.

And we had some fun graffiti to look at.

Just up on the other side of that wall and up 10 feet is the street.  Our side of the wall was much prettier.

Don't you think?

I found these little birds in the grass and zoomed in on them.  Leon found that they're related to the parrot.

The walkway ended around this pooled area.  Someone had set up a birthday party in that roofed area and were waiting for the kids to arrive.  We did NOT crash the party.

There were stairs on the left of the pool so we headed back up to the main level 

and back in the streets.

It never occurred to me that Valencia oranges came from Valencia Spain!  All the streets were lined with orange trees!  

I sat outside a grocery store while a couple of us went inside. The shop had a counter outside loaded down with oranges.  I witnessed a man walking by, grab one and slip it into his pocket without breaking a stride.  I thought, "Um all these trees are here and you had to steal from a little shop?"

I'm sure there are stiffer laws for grabbing fruit off the trees.  Who knows?!

We were in need of restrooms and there were none for free!  Or that we could find.  So we ducked into this tiny restaurant and found that they had one! yay!  So we had some more food and it was delicious!  

Ruth Ann had something that required a white sauce in a bottle.  She turned it over to squirt some out and the lid came off flooding her plate.  The guy made her new food!  

 

If you weren't paying attention, the sidewalks would trip you up or out.

And then YAY!  We came to the shore finally!

We were still a ways away from the shuttle bus area so we kept walking.

I had faith we'd get there but wow was it a hike!

All in all, we did just over 7 miles that day walking.

And then the ship departed for Barcelona.

Our trip is almost over...