Festes Gracia 2011

Where's the party at? Well, this is was in August, and it was clearly at the annual Festes de Gracia! As each neighborhood in Barcelona has week-long festivals throughout the year, I think this is the most popular one in the city.

Essentially, it's a party where 19 streets and plazas are highly decorated with a theme, and compete for "best decorated street" prize. Party-goers can partake in concerts, bouncy castles, kids' activities, traditional Catalan dances, and lots of eating and drinking of course! I think tourists (especially with kids) are very lucky if catch this exciting tradition of Catalan culture.

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It's common to see movie themes, like "The Jungle Book".

I'm not sure if there's a requirement for the decorations to be eco-friendly, but everything seems to be made with paper, plastic, or wood. These hanging flowers are plastic water bottles.

A banana tree.

From afar, we noticed some smoke and loud beating noises and realized we were running into a correfoc, or fire-run. Here they come...

This is common in Catalan festivals where revelers dress in devil costumes, light fireworks, and dance in a circle. This would be sooo illegal in the States!

Even kids participate in throwing sparks on spectators. It's impressionable and so much fun to watch as you try to avoid getting set on fire.

Ah, a huge stovetop espresso maker. I'm craving my caffeine buzz now.

Found my cup!

A Nespresso coffee pod curtain.

Beads are going out of fashion anyway. I see people make earrings and necklaces out of these things.

Why stop there with the coffee...an upside down coffee cup to light the streets.

I think this theme was colorful nature. Painted plastic bottles cut into spirals and flowers.

Color and geometrics.

I think my happiness level would increase if I ran into this everyday.

A nautical theme.

I suppose this is like being underwater.

A fishy!

Hey, mermaids! Exposed boobies too. Nice.

Licensed characters are always a theme. Bob Esponja Pantalones Cuadrados! This is when you realize English is a more economical language.

I never posted the pictures of the Gracia festival from last year, which I might do one of these rainy days. Thanks for dropping by!

Playtime

It's September, and it's back to school for lots of kids. But for Paloma, it's playgroup!

On the 1st of September, Paloma started attending playgroup twice a week, for three hours each day. 

This means that she plays with 11 other toddlers, and four teachers oversee a mix of child-centered activities. 

Initially, when looking for enriching place where Paloma can learn and play, we found this friendly, multi-cultural, multi-lingual playgroup that instinctively felt like the perfect environment that matches our parenting philosophy. And two weeks into it, it's clearly the right decision for our family. She comes out of there jumping!

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To prepare her, I put up the calendar a week beforehand counting down the days to the most awesome time to be had at playgroup.

Paloma said she wanted to be a serious student, so she wanted to dress the part. You never get a second chance to make a first impression, right?

Okay, that was just a fun photoshoot of mommy's doing. Here she's in the stroller and ready to go for the real first day. Blurry with excitement!

For the adaptation period, I stayed the whole session the first day and slowly tapered off my stay. The teachers are phenomenal, and Paloma was happy and stimulated. Here she concentrates on a puzzle with one of the teachers.

First day success! This is an expression of exhaustion, not disappointment, I swear! More fun times to come for  Paloma and mommy (now that she has more time to herself)!

Happy happy 27 months!

With so many changes in the past month, it feels like two months have passed.

Paloma's drive for independence has been unquestionable. I also know that this is a normal phase as she lives out her glorious two's. Dressing her up has been more difficult with so many preferences on what she wants. The key is giving her a few choices, and leaving it to that. Power to the toddler! Or you face a possible meltdown!


She’s also starting to memorize some songs and sing along to them.  We often sing “Tomorrow” from the film Annie, even though she'd never seen it. She also has the last part of the ABC song. She can semi-count to 10 in her two languages, which normally goes “six, seven, eight, nine, six” or “tres, cuatro, seis, siete”. The wheels are a-turnin´!

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She likes to say "cheeeeeese" but sometimes doesn't look at the camera. We got lucky with this one.

Everything to her that is just small is “tiny”, like this kid's sized ice cream for 1 euro. So cute. When talking about size, everything is either “tiny” or “huge”. Could it be that I constantly speak in superlatives? That’s a super crazy idea.

Dressing up a la tourist to fit in with the city-goers.

This scooter drives me crazy. She wants to play with the "'cooter", but she gets so frustrated when she doesn't quite understand how to turn it. It's a love-hate relationship. For now, out of sight (under a bed), out of mind.

I like to test her out with "older" toys to prove we've got a genius on our hands ;-) Here she recognizes shapes and spatial relationships. Seriously, I wonder how two-year-olds are pressured in Japan.

Did I mention she can be way into accessorizing? We have a girl on our hands.

We go to the zoo pretty often. "Mida!" is a favorite word also ("Mira!" or "Look!")

 

Jumping is the funnest, simplest activity for now.

I found a little cardboard cutout of a camera, which she's adopted as her own camera and carries it in her purse.

We've really taken advantage of the summer since Fernando doesn't work in the afternoons in August and September. Here, Paloma admires the sculpture "Barcelona Head" by Roy Lichtenstein, which was inaugurated for the 1992 Olympics.

She disagrees to disagree sometimes. Columbus and I say "this way" to the new land, and she says "that way". Ay-yay-yay!

Happy happy 26 months!

Better late than never! Paloma is 26 months and more and more a little person. Linguistically, she can tell a short story, like if you ask her what she did today and hold short conversations. 

The big news is that Paloma is 95% potty trained. What! I honestly thought that our vacation would completely interrupt the process, but for the most part, she stayed dry. We have occasional accidents still, but they're becoming few and far between. I can distinctly remember the 95% misses in the beginning. That sucked! But it was worth it!

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Cousin Pau and her have fun on the slide. She'll always remember this because she always retells how they bumped heads and she cried.

Riding the horsey together.

I don't think I get overly dressed up, but she definitely has picked up what I do, like adding accesories to her outfits.

I love the pigtails.

Fruit is always a popular food, especially the summer fruits.

Enjoying the beach with Ana Celia in Punta Umbria.

 She's your BFF if you share your ice cream with her. Never fails!

Often she doesn't realize when another kid doesn't want to share, like here with this little Portuguese girl.

 It's all bliss for now!

See you soon!

Vila Real de San Antonio

Last stop in Portugal! Fernando's parents picked us up from our hotel in Vilamoura, Portugal, and introduced us to Vila Real de Santo António, the last village in Portugal before you cross the Spanish-Portuguese border.

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The town square of Vila Real bears an obelisk in the middle, a monument to King Jose I, unveiled in 1775. Behind is the church "Nossa Senhora de Encarnaçao" or Our Lady of Incarnation, which was built in the 18th century.

In the square, we came across an antique market, showcasing some nostalgic knickknacks, like this old phonograph.

I love these little Portuguese dolls in traditional dress.

Paloma got to try an old-fashioned tricycle that probably needed some oiling.

We took a stroll around the city center to admire its whitewashed buildings and relaxed atmosphere.

The decorative tiling adds a nice touch to the streets.

We made like the Portuguese and enjoy our pingados, or espressos with a shot of milk.

Paloma roamed around the city streets and waited to greet a Portuguese mouse.

This seems to be the town to buy quality-made linens and towels made by locals. Fernando's parents got us a beautiful beach towel and a bath mat, which are so soft and plush.

Paloma posed with a bull, who dons its proud heritage from Portugal.

This Portuguese mom and kid were so kind as to lend Paloma their toy car, much easier to control than the tricycle back there.

Back in the car and crossing the border back to Spain. It's always fun to see the other part of the Iberian peninsula. Adeus, Portugal!