Hanging out with Armilyn and Alex

On Tuesday, we went to Armilyn's house for a tasty breakfast before we explored OC. It was so wonderful to see Alex and how much he has grown in all his rambunctiousness.

I also got to play with the new camera that my dad gave us. I can't wait to get a little more creative!

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These guys were ready to start our day.

My favorite 7-year-old ham of a nephew.

We headed to The Camp. Alex plants a wet one on his mom in the gazebo.

My very talented and creative cousin sells her Fashion Cards at a fabulous new store that sells handcrafted goods, Seed People's Market.

Unique handmade items, ample space, brilliant lighting, alluring display...and a mini movie theater inside. It's store love!

Oh sooo delish. Milk + Honey after. Shaved ice with toppings galore: mochi bits, cheesecake pieces, brownies, almonds, strawberries, etcetera!

Alex shows off his lovely ears.

We went to Central Park in Huntington Beach to visit the duckies.

Here, ducky, ducky...

At the dock of the man-made lake.

Armilyn had this extra baby seat at her house. We're working on our next milestone: sitting up. I was going to hand her a pencil to practice some simple math, but maybe that was too much. ;-)

Off to the USA!

Yes! We did it! We made it here to the US with no tears. None! The anticipation of being trapped for endless hours on a plane with our little one was unbearable for me, but we prepared for the worst and hoped for the best. I just wanted Paloma to be comfortable and I seriously prayed that we'd have a stress-free flight. I felt the grace! The reality is that we now have an international family, so we're expected to make these extensive trips for a long time...well, forever. They do say the experience gets worse as children get a little older and mobile. Yikes! But I won't worry about that now.

Here's a few pics of our 6-hour stopover in Munich.

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Huntington Beach in Germany? No, it's a logo for Hofbrauhaus, a famous local brewery. Okay, who bit off whose logo?

Fernando couldn't help but bite into the human-sized Toblerone.

Yay for blatant advertising on cigs. Smoking kills, people. It kills!

Fernando and Paloma stand in front of the sinners' box. Hehe...

We found a very quiet and peaceful area of the airport, where I slept for a good hour. Fernando's turn watching the baberoo and falling asleep, too.

We had a delicious German lunch, sauerkraut and all!

The best apfelstrudel (apple strudel) I've had in my life. Authentic, buttery, warm....perfection!

Our honey bunny anticipating the next flight, on which she slept 7 hours straight. Also, we were able to watch 2 movies back to back! It was easier entertaining ourselves on the plane than at home. Thanks, P!

Neighborhood Party in Sant Marti

Ahhh! I'm totally backlogged on my entries! Time to rewind the past few weeks. Let's cut to the chase...

What I love about Barcelona is the rich tradition in the neigborhoods. The "Festa Major de La Verneda" was celebrated on November 6-15 in Sant Marti.

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Neighbors dance La Sardana, a Catalan dance where people gather in a circle.

The Sardana band: a young group of musicians play live music for the dancers.

Check mate.

For the kiddies. Who wants to ride the express train? Choo, choo!

Face painting. My cousin Armilyn is going to teach me how to do this.

A very tall clown with good equilibrium joins the circle.

Tiny dancers. Ole!

I dig the colorful clothing of this band from Galicia (I think!) So folk-y!

Festive dancing.

The kids loved it!

Paseando with Dani B.

Dani Barroso's in town visiting from Madrid! One of the great things about living in Barcelona is that we often have guests visiting this fabulous city, so we never feel bored. The temperature here has dropped, but the sun is still out. We're soaking it up as much as possible before we go back to California for (hopefully!) more sunshine.

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We took a paseo on Friday. We passed by bubble makers trying to make it in this economy.

Stop the madness! Bulls rights activists trying to gain dignity for this much-loved animal.

Fer, Dani, and Miss P (feeling camera shy) in front of the Palau de la Generalitat.

Dani enjoying a drink with Paloma.

Mom in the mix.

On Saturday, we headed to the beach to eat at Catamaran. Delicious smoked salmon salad that I think I'll try to make at home.

Fresh, tasty mussels.

Our waiter divides the paella dish with care so we don't fight over the seafood.

Ready to be devoured by me!

Group picture! Dani, his cousin Alvaro, and the fam.

Paloma chilled on the leather couch for a bit and soaked up the sun. Ahhh, this is the life...

Engaged in some moving conversation about the current global economic affairs.

We took a stroll back to Dani's cousin's house and found Fernando's street.

Funny face. Thanks for the fun visit, Dani!

Randomness from the Weekend

We spent last weekend with Fernando's Aunt Blanca and her family, who just recently moved to Barcelona. (Sorry, again, no pictures of these fabulous people. I, Justine, vow to document our activities better.) They live close to the new shopping center in town called Magic, which is sponsored by the Spanish professional basketball team, Club Joventut Badalona.

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Inside there featured an exposition of the NBA. Paloma chills next to an original jersey of Pau Gasol, her all-time fave player.

I couldn't quite capture the gigantoidness of the sneakers of Roberto Duenas, a retired Barcelona player. I think they were a size 82, but I could be exaggerating.

The two crazy kids outside the iconic basketball structure.

Cousin Jorge went cart racing.

See this blur? Jorge won first place. Break out the champagne!

My two favorite blurs in the stands cheering on.

Paloma didn't pass the minimum height to race. Next time!

On our evening Sunday walk, we ran into a festival in our neighborhood.

Milestone alert! Paloma can roll over completely one way. Then practiced it 5 more times today. Now if she could only roll back...