Mo summer

Things at which I am terrible:

blogging
being awake before 9am
being awake before 9:30am
getting out of bed at any time of day
cooking
cleaning
making phone calls in Spanish
making phone calls in English
not procrastinating


Things at which I am not terrible:

choosing a husband who puts up with the list above


Now that we have that established, I will make no excuses for my half-month lapse in blogging. It's just...summer.
Everyone's posting their first-day-of-school pictures on Facebook but we still have another week to sleep in, do nothing, and stay up late. I shall enjoy every last morning in which it is technically afternoon by the time I finish my second cup of coffee.

Josh's course has begun, so our time of taking leave and exploring Spain is over for now. That's okay, because we made sure to leave lots of the nearby towns undiscovered. We'll try for weekend outings, provided Josh's workload allows for it.

Some things we've been up to since returning from our trip to Andalucia...

For Alex's birthday, way back in May, we went to the Parque de Atracciones (the amusement park). This is in keeping with my never-throw-a-birthday-party preference. She got to choose what we would do, and to make it more special we had agreed that she could do one of the "extra" activities there-- the trampoline jumper-thing-a-ma-jig.
But it was rainy that day and the trapoline jumper-thing-a-ma-jig was not open. So we promised, next time for sure.
But then Josh fell off a cliff and "next time" got pushed back. It was awhile before the four of us made it back to the park, but it finally happened.

Jumping fun ensued.

We also went back to the zoo.
The bears here are the best. In accordance with the Spanish laid-back attitude, there is no "Don't feed the animals" rule. The bears sit and beg for peanuts all day.

Also, the distance between that ledge and where we stand does not seem far enough if, perchance, the bear decided he wanted something more filling.

We have also done a lot a lot of "school" this summer. We really needed to take advantage of the time off to review the concepts that were thrown at them so quickly when they started a new school mid-year in a new language. 

Derek practicing reading in Spanish in the park. Don't ask me what the kid in the picture is doing.
I mean, I could tell you, but it's not as interesting as what you might contrive on your own.

What else?
Oh yes, we went to a water park one day. I have no pictures because I was in the water. And a bathing suit, of which we do not take photos.

We made two trips here:

About 40 minutes drive and we can be totally out of the city, surrounded by mountains and this river that is so clear you can see the fish on the bottom.
We had a picnic and enjoyed the coolness of the river as a break from the August heat.

Also, Alex does not own a black bathing suit, it was photoshopped in because that day we didn't bring suits and she was swimming in her underoos.
The little Spanish girls don't wear bathing suit tops generally, just the bottoms, so she blended in. 

So there's a bit of a review of the last couple of weeks. Parks, playgrounds, libraries, church, popsicles, summer. 

Also no shortage of:

Stop copying me!
Your feet are touching mine!
It was him!
It was her!
Mooooooooom!
I'm hungry!
I'm thirsty!
I'm hot!
I'm not hot!
I'm loud!

Wait. That last one might never have actually been said. But if it had, it would have been true.

I've enjoyed this summer. And I'm not ready for them to be gone for such long days again. But I can't deny that I'm looking forward to hearing myself think.