Park Discovery

A few weeks ago, in trying to put a wide-eyed, sleep-deprived, about-to-snap toddler down for a nap, Fernando and I decided to take a stroll. The destination wasn't important, but the thought was "Just go!" So in taking her outside, we just kept walking...and walking...until we came to this park, Parc Clot.

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The ten acres cover a rectangle lined partially with the old brick arches left from the industrial buildings and turned into aqueducts.

A view of the Torre Agbar.A bronze sculpture sits inside a structure of the old factories.
Arches.
More arches.

A lovely piece of green to frolic on.
The park has a few playgrounds.
Older kids can have a ball jumping on these multi-level stones.

Wheeeeee.....

Our "please nap" plan worked, but someone was missing out.

These metal frames form a corridor...

...which also goes over a bridge...

...that has a view of the sunken basketball courts and open play area.Or you can just hang out on the steps and look cool and Euro.

This ended our weekend nicely.

I love running into a pleasant surprise :-)

The Aquarium Run Around

This week, Paloma and I met up with my friend Sophie and her son, Leone, at the L'aquarium of Barcelona. With a discount, it was 15 euros to enter and surprisingly it was quite busy on a Wednesday. This means that chasing a dodging toddler around while trying to take pictures in dimly lit lobbies was no easy feat. Anyway, on to the fish!

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Paloma observes the underside of a stingray.
Leone and Paloma stick their hands in these dark holes to guess what they were touching.She checks one more time to make sure she felt a bonnethead shark egg and not a crested bullhead shark egg.
My cautious girl. Petting the turtle with care.Running along an open aquarium.
There were all kinds of interesting new animals to point at.
Checking out the view of the port.

Taking a break.

On to more running along the submarine toward the cafeteria. Ahhh!

The animal sounds that Paloma makes are all in Spanish thanks to this thick book o' sounds that she wants read to her 23 times a day. "Croac-croac!"

Leone and Paloma step into a shark's mouth for a breather.

She had enough of this shark breath.

The seahorse was off limits. Oh well!

Playmobil Nerdiness

Last weekend, we attended the 9th Annual Playmobil Collector's Fair here in Barcelona with Pau and company. If it's a noun, Playmobil makes it. It's a whole other world out there..

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This is one of my favorite things to do here in Spain. Having a meal in the open air.

My love for open-air meals in a campsite. I can smell the sequoias.

Uh-oh. We've come across a hostile environment. An Indian vs. Cowboys battle about to take place.

The Indian tribe bands together for the grand attack.
I think this was a hospital.

Identifying cadavers. Hope this is the missing gal they're looking for.

They also had Playmobil diorama contests for attendees. Notice the one adult contestant on the right? No fair!

It's a mini Playmobil Fair!

Playmobils setting up their own dioramas.

A Playmobil admiring the mini Star Wars diorama.

This is what we looked like.

It's hard to get work done when you've got an audience staring at you.

This little canal scene of Amsterdam brought back memories from my trip there a few years ago.

Inside the building, pipe smokers enjoy some nice...whatever.

That's Van Gogh on the top floor. The lower floor makes me think it's the infamous red light district.

Recognize this famous movie scene?

Oompa loompa doompadee doo...

Willy Wonka and company watch Veruca Salt get dragged down a tube by the squirrels. Adiós, Veruca!

Their imagination is inspiring. Now on to make something crafty!

Happy 20 months!

I'm thinking there's a direct connection between weather and picture taking as it seems to be at at an all-time low recently. Gloomy days = less pictures, sunny days = tons of pictures. Or maybe it has to do with a sticky-fingered toddler attacking the lens every time I break out the camera. Nevertheless, things are happening. A huge thing is Paloma's language is advancing at a fast rate in a way that she'll repeat what you say on command as long as it's not too complicated. It's true that she does speak more English than Spanish, but also can switch between some words "chair" and "silla". Things are getting interesting.

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Chillin' on the Passeig de Gracia.

Check out this sleeping booty.

Having fun with the iPod Touch. I banned her from using it in the beginning, but I realized the apps can be educational too.
Even though it's so funny, this drives me crazy. Paloma always puts her hands in her jacket pockets. She can't break her falls in time!
Don't call it a milestone anymore - walking with a purpose.

We're still continuing with our Kindermusik classes with a new theme this term: animals. "Moo" is replacing "wow wow" as the favorite animal sound. This montage is actually from Christmastime, but the teacher recently gave it to me. The class is enriching and so much fun: storytelling, music, movement, instruments, interaction with peers and adults, rhythm. We love it!

Making new friends with Cousin Pau at the playground.

Rapping after a busy day.

Acting skills are getting better too. Her conversations now include intermittent fits of giggles.
Taking the Scuttlebug for a spin at the park.

See you soon!