Dinner

After enjoying some local wine and olives from the market we had pizza in Santa Maria.

Cales de Mallorca

We went looking for an exotic bird sanctuary, only to find out that it closed eight years ago. Ulli made a note to talk to her travel agent and we found a beach in a hidden bay next to a hotel.

At night we enjoyed outdoor candlelight conversation, and then stood under a meteor shower until our necks hurt, only slightly on guard from seeing a bat and a rat.

Lazy morning

We stayed up a little late last night, so we are moving slowly this morning. Kenzie is on book #2 of the trip and Mason is on course to smash an entire tree's worth of fresh almonds.

El Mundo Bonito

I think it's a great experience for the kids to see that the world is a bigger, more complicated place than they've been living. Masons standard line "can I pet your dog?" doesn't give him the same reaction as it gets at home. At the market yesterday they both had things they wanted to say to people but they didn't know the words. Yesterday the homeowner stopped by to check on us. Harald wanted to ask him about local wineries, so, in German, he asked Felix. Felix asked me in English, and I asked the homeowner in Spanish. He replied to me in Spanish. I translated to Felix in English, who translated to his dad in German. Then, Kenzie said last night, "Mom, I want to study Spanish in school," and Mason was weighing which languages he was going to learn too. That's exactly what we wanted to happen by hosting exchange students...our kids become a little bit more aware of the differences and richness of a big world, and a spirit of embracing it.

First day at the beach

 

The day started slowly, then we went to the Santa Maria open air market, which was a lot bigger than I expected. We got some olives, peaches, cucumber and garlic. We can pick peppers, onions, tomatoes, lemons and limes in our yard...although pretty much the pool is the only thing anyone cares about.

We had fun floating in the Mediterranean at a beach called Es Trenc by the salt mines. Basti and Felix each had a kid on their shoulders for half of it while we layered on another day's tan.

We forgot to warn the kids about the clothing-optional nature of European beaches. As we were walking toward the beach a topless woman was walking toward us. Mason turned to us and said "oh man!" That has become our new catch phrase of the trip I'm sure.

Felix, Basti and Mason

salt water faces

Algaida

Our first night on Mallorca was in a little town called Algaida, at a little boutique hotel called La Petit Hotel Algaida. We basically just fell asleep, woke up and the Urbans arrived! Within a short period we adjusted to the three languages that are pretty much constant. All of us speak English, they speak German and a good amount of English...but let's not forget that we went to an island that speaks neither of these! I'm the defacto Spanish speaker around here, which normally wouldn't amount to much, but given that nobody else has any Spanish, it's all we've got! Directions are the hardest because the answer usually involves landmarks and street names, both of which add words that just confuse me! But we are getting by just fine. Yesterday we got directions to the grocery store and a little shop to buy Kenzie a bathing suit. (Oh yes, I have officially unearned the right to pack the kids for any future vacation.)

We drove to the house that the Urbans rented for us in the middle of the island. There's no address to this place, but it's lovely and perfectly sized for our party of eight.

The kids went in the pool as soon as we got here and pretty much didn't get out until midnight. We all got in and played with them, and tried to get the first shade of our Mediterranean tan going.

Felix's family is wonderful. It's pretty amazing to be able to vacation with them. Communication goes slow so that we can all understand each other, but that doesn't matter. Harald spent the afternoon in the pool getting bossed around by Kenzie and Mason as they made up one game after another. I'm pretty sure he didn't understand much of what they said, but they didn't even notice. Somehow it is all working and we are having a great time!

No wifi though, so pictures will come later. Ok, maybe one.

We made it!

We are in Mallorca, enjoying and outdoor meal. We are in rural Spain, so the only English is ours. I taught Kenzie "¿donde está el baño?" and somehow she found it, but felt rather unprepared when the woman in el baño started speaking to them.

We found our hotel after an hour of meandering through the unmarked and twisty streets of Aguilar.

Adjusting

We slept most of the night and felt rather refreshed as we headed for a walk. A little bit of time in the car let us know that we might not yet be fully adjusted to local time. We are off to Mallorca!

London

Our vacation has begun! We left Seattle Wednesday at 11AM, had a super quick layover in Dallas, and landed in London at 8:30 yesterday morning. The flight was rather uneventful...but we did not sleep. We went straight to our friends Lanny and Lee's house in Belsize Park in central London. They are veteran travelers and knew to keep us moving. We set our stuff down, then hopped on the tube (the subway).

Coincidentally, the Olympics start tonight, so traffic is crazy and the city is buzzing.

We walked for 5 hours through London! Weather was amazing, in the 80s. We hit all the highlights in a jam-packed afternoon. We took the tube to the west end, walked down Oxford street to Regent street, Carnaby street, Picadilly Circus, Chinatown, Soho, Leicester Square, Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben/Parliament, and London Eye on the River Thames!

Goodbye Felix

We said goodbye (for three days) until we meet in Spain to Felix. It's been an amazing year and we are looking forward to our travels...off to pack!

Bicycle built for one

Camp

Kenzie is home from camp! She had a blast. This is Maya, her 17 year old counselor who just returned from a year in Spain.

Unicorn

The possibilities

We have cleared out most of our dead trees and are reseeding the lawn to prepare for Marissa and Shane's wedding. As I was staring out at the possibilities of the wide open space, I was thinking "English or French gardens? Can I do a combination? I like a loose structure but the natural look of a variety of plants."

I asked Cindy what she thought we should do with the land after the wedding. She pointed and said "soccer over there and batting cage over there." I think this fundamental disconnect explains why our plants keep getting run over by balls.

Toe readying

Kenzie's first full pedicure, just in time for our trip!

Not camping

This is the first year that Mason is old enough to go to camp, but again he had to just drop his sister off. His camp would be during our vacation. Next year, Buddy!

Chelsea v Sounders

Felix's favorite soccer team, Chelsea London, came to Seattle. We scored some last minute tickets...and they ended up being great seats, just five rows back. I just wish I liked soccer. :)

Gonna miss this guy

One week until Felix leaves. We are all sad, but nobody moreso than Mason who will say goodbye to the only big brother he's ever known. I'm glad that just a few days later we will all meet for a vacation. I hope this will help the transition. We knew this part would be hard, but we have no regrets.

More soccer

...camp this time. Age group is 7 to 14. The coach said Mason is one of the tougher competitors. :)

Camper

We just dropped Kenzie off at camp! This year she gets to go for the full week. She passed the swim test, found Emilie, and ran off!

Masons art

Mason asked if he could borrow my camera to take a picture. He said he found something really pretty in the garden. This was what he came back with.

Buzz and chat

Mason and I went to dinner by ourselves tonight. We had a long conversation about all sorts of things. He is sad that Felix is leaving and had lots of questions about things that are ending, such as "where would we go if something were to happen to both of you guys." And, after a long pause and a dramatic "Mom," he asked what was really on his mind, "after you die, what happens to your...(pause)...car?"

Then we went to get him sheered. The guy was bald and Mason told him he wanted his same haircut. Luckily the guy checked with me and we made a compromise at fauxhawk.

I sat in the lobby and heard Mason talking the whole time. The manager told me that the Allstar baseball game was on and somebody made a comment about the pitcher "Felix" (Hernandez). Mason interrupted their conversation saying, "I have a brother named Felix but I know you're not talking about him because he doesn't pitch." He was in there for 20 minutes and never stopped talking. The boy had a gift of gab.

Summer storm

We took Felix to a Storm game. It wasn't until the team came onto the court that he realized it was women's basketball. Needless to say, only one of us really cared much about the game, but it was a good night to have a picnic at the Seattle Center and take an obligatory picture in front of the fountain.

Summer's here

San Fran for Kenz!

Kenzie arrived back home after a great week with Janel and Ryan! Her captions describing the pictures are beneath each one.

My tooth got wiggly, and it was too tempting for Ryan.

Success! It finally came out. He calls this the "grip and rip" technique.

 

Ghirardelli Square!

Janel and I split a hot caramel sundae, while Ryan was on his own with a banana fudge sundae.

Walking across the Golden Gate Bridge!

Penny cuddles!

Inside a cable car!

4th of July!