Off we go...

Now that Josh is about 75% recovered from our last vacation, we're leaving tomorrow for another one.
;)

Well it's a kind-of vacation.
Josh has his annual flight physical at the naval base in southern Spain (the same place we went to pick up our car) and so we're all going to tag along.
We'll spend several days there at Rota and then move on to see two more towns in the south-eastern part of Spain that we've been wanting to visit, Ronda and Granada.

I have to admit I'm looking forward to a few days in "little America" at the U.S. base. We'll be able to stock up on items at the commissary and exchange store that we can't find here in Madrid, take the kids to the movies, and eat American pizza.

Southern Spain also has great beaches, so there's that too, of course. ;)

Derek is forever talking about how Daddy needs to be careful on the rocks near beaches, and I mean all the time, so the other day this conversation occurred:

Josh: Hey, buddy. When we're at the beach next week, is there something Daddy should watch out for?

Derek: SHARKS!

Ach, that boy. Just when you think you've got him figured out.

Since we know vacations can be dangerous, I thought I'd update with what we've been up to lately, in case I fall off a cliff and am incapacitated:

-- I have done all the driving since the beach incident, as Josh's knee is still recovering.
I am getting better, but it is still nerve-wracking.
Lanes? What lanes? Purely optional.
Roundabouts? Yep, everywhere.
Crazy taxi drivers and motorcyclists? Give me heart attacks.
And this is all weekend, non-traffic-hour driving.

The good news is that Josh should be able to do some of the driving on our trip south tomorrow (it's a 6-hour drive)

-- Speaking of Josh's knee, he's started physical therapy for that, and his hand/wrist as well.
Turns out that the Spanish version of physical therapy is to have a good-looking young blonde give you massages.
Everything's better in Spain. ;)

-- The kids have been doing quite a bit of "school" this summer. Three times a week, their Spanish tutor comes, and I think they're doing great.
Derek is quite the chatter-box, and wastes no time in pulling Carmen into his room and shutting the door.

Ladies' man.

They play a lot of games together. 

Carmen and Alex do a bit more focused learning, but also a lot of arts & crafts and things to make it fun.
They both look forward to her visits.

In addition, we're still plugging away at our summer study charts. It's been good to have time to cement all of new things they had to learn so quickly when we arrived. 

--We went to a barbeque at the house of one of the guys Josh works with last weekend. Though they are Americans, they are native Spanish speakers, and the other guests there were all Spaniards. It was a boost to my language confidence, as I was able to follow almost all of the conversation and add to it as well.
We're getting there, ever so slowly...

-- We still have a very small social circle-- the two American families that we knew for the past 6 months have both left Spain this last week. I think my hermiting skills have prepared me well for this awesome, yet rather isolating, assignment.
We have met one new family, so we're starting to rebuild. Only one more to go ;)

(Now is the time to challenge me on Scramble with Friends. For I have no real ones.)

-- Our schedule is slowly changing to the later style of the Spanish. The other night we were in a restaurant at 10:30pm, although we were finishing up and paying when most people were still walking in.
Alex and I went to the amusement park together from 8pm-11pm one night, to get our roller-coaster fix. We got home from the "lunch" barbeque at 9:30pm.
We'll be madrileños in no time.


Off to finish the packing! Here's hoping this vacation isn't quite as memorable as the last one :)