Hi...I know, I know, I have been a horrible blog writer. In my defense, I had a bit of time there where I hadn't taken any new pics, and I figured none of you care to just read a bunch of words...you want pictures, right?! So then I decided I would take my camera around with me and get photos of all the normal stuff in my day...my room, the apartment, the kids school, etc...so you can see how I'm living on a day to day basis. So that will be part one of the blog. (Part one will also include a little outing I had with a couple of friends and a kids concert). My next excuse for not writing is that I have a friend in town! Very exciting...my first familiar face in 2 months. So Part 2 of this blog (which is actually a separate entry) will be about Brady's visit (although won't be totally complete, because he leaves Friday morning...don't worry, he is out on a sunny beach, not sitting next to me while I write a blog).
Part 1: Eryn's normal Barcelona life: Picture 1 is the entrance to my bedroom- the kids (and dads) made a sign for me when I first arrived. Pic 2 is my bedroom. Any of you that know me (I'm hoping most people reading my blog) might be surprised that my room is a tad messy. That is sarcasm folks. Actually, my room gets cleaned on a very regular basis- we have a housecleaner that comes every Friday, so I always pick up my stuff before she comes 
(I never understood why my grandma used to clean before the housecleaner arrived, but I get it now). Picture 3 is our living room...lovely white couches for the kiddos to get everything on (we actually got some covers to put on top) The big window on the side is actually a door that opens up to our balcony- there is another one on the other side of the TV...the kids are only allowed on the balconies if one of the grown ups is with them...the kids and 
I like to sit out there and read sometimes...and look at all the people walking on the street below (we are on the 6th floor...pretty high up). Picture 4 is our kitchen...all the cabinets look completely identical (white again) so it took us a while to remember where everything was kept. The fridge just looks like a random cabinet- we do hang our art projects on it though. And the washing machine/dryer- have I told you about this? It is one machine 
(apparently they are common in small apartments to save room)- it does save room, which is nice...but you can only do one load at a time...and let me tell you, between 5 people (2 of which are rolling in dirt at playgrounds on a daily basis) there is a lot of laundry...the machine is pretty much always going. The dryer function doesn't work like a regular dryer- there is no vent, so it is actually just throwing the clothes around in heat...basically bakes 
our clothes...which is why we can only partially dry them and then hang the clothes up all over the house to finish drying.
Picture 5 is my gym...well, just the entrance to. DIR- that is the name of the chain of gyms. It isn't anything special, but convenient and has a variety of classes. There is a really nice walk to the gym, a pretty church right outside the entrance..I have pictures of all these things, but really...you don't care. Picture 6 is the cute Tapas
place right across the street from our apartment. There are tapas places EVERYWHERE....it really is about 80% of the places you see on the streets. I haven't actually eaten at the place across the street- the guys said they weren't thrilled with it, but I pass it all the time, and when I first moved here and didn't realize these kinds of places are everywhere, I thought it was very charming.
Picture 7 is the kids' school. Each day at about 2pm, we wake up
from naps and head out to the train station and take the
train 8 stops (yeah, 8...could be a nightmare, but the kids are pretty good on the train) to their school. It is down this cute little alley with with a few other schools. From 2:30 or 3 until 5, I hang out in a nearby coffee shop (they know my drink...they don't speak any english, but are so nice...they try to explain the different pastries to me...they are great) and read. I have been reading fiction, but ran out of books, so Brady brought me a few of his marketing books...which will get me motivated to work on my projects...probably a good thing.
Next pictures are from the little kid concert I went to. One of the friends I have
made volunteers at a music school for kids. She invited me to their end of the year concert. The show was supposed to go from 5-7pm. We got there about 4:50...to do some set up...I helped her fold the construction paper flower crowns (oh I miss playing with construction paper!) About 5:30, I realized none of the kids had even arrived yet...welcome to Spanish time...where there is no plan. The show actually started about 6 and was very cute. My friend and one of her other friends and I went out to dinner after...they have both lived
here for a while, so they have their regular spots...we went to a mexican restaurant that was great...had a burrito and guacamole...mmmm. And a mojito. Then we went to her apartment and ate popcicles and watched a movie...she lives right across from the cathedral that Gaudi was arrested at (picture in previous blog)...her little balcony looks right into a stained glass window on the side...very cool!! It was awesome hanging out with friends...like just hanging out and chatting...not some big meetup group. Her friend is a nanny here also, so we could laugh and compare stories, which is always nice.
So, those are the basics...please continue on to Part 2 of this much delayed, much too long blog entry...a visit from Brady...which includes a concert, and a trip out of town....
Part 1: Eryn's normal Barcelona life: Picture 1 is the entrance to my bedroom- the kids (and dads) made a sign for me when I first arrived. Pic 2 is my bedroom. Any of you that know me (I'm hoping most people reading my blog) might be surprised that my room is a tad messy. That is sarcasm folks. Actually, my room gets cleaned on a very regular basis- we have a housecleaner that comes every Friday, so I always pick up my stuff before she comes 
(I never understood why my grandma used to clean before the housecleaner arrived, but I get it now). Picture 3 is our living room...lovely white couches for the kiddos to get everything on (we actually got some covers to put on top) The big window on the side is actually a door that opens up to our balcony- there is another one on the other side of the TV...the kids are only allowed on the balconies if one of the grown ups is with them...the kids and 
I like to sit out there and read sometimes...and look at all the people walking on the street below (we are on the 6th floor...pretty high up). Picture 4 is our kitchen...all the cabinets look completely identical (white again) so it took us a while to remember where everything was kept. The fridge just looks like a random cabinet- we do hang our art projects on it though. And the washing machine/dryer- have I told you about this? It is one machine 
(apparently they are common in small apartments to save room)- it does save room, which is nice...but you can only do one load at a time...and let me tell you, between 5 people (2 of which are rolling in dirt at playgrounds on a daily basis) there is a lot of laundry...the machine is pretty much always going. The dryer function doesn't work like a regular dryer- there is no vent, so it is actually just throwing the clothes around in heat...basically bakes 
our clothes...which is why we can only partially dry them and then hang the clothes up all over the house to finish drying.Picture 5 is my gym...well, just the entrance to. DIR- that is the name of the chain of gyms. It isn't anything special, but convenient and has a variety of classes. There is a really nice walk to the gym, a pretty church right outside the entrance..I have pictures of all these things, but really...you don't care. Picture 6 is the cute Tapas
place right across the street from our apartment. There are tapas places EVERYWHERE....it really is about 80% of the places you see on the streets. I haven't actually eaten at the place across the street- the guys said they weren't thrilled with it, but I pass it all the time, and when I first moved here and didn't realize these kinds of places are everywhere, I thought it was very charming.Picture 7 is the kids' school. Each day at about 2pm, we wake up
from naps and head out to the train station and take thetrain 8 stops (yeah, 8...could be a nightmare, but the kids are pretty good on the train) to their school. It is down this cute little alley with with a few other schools. From 2:30 or 3 until 5, I hang out in a nearby coffee shop (they know my drink...they don't speak any english, but are so nice...they try to explain the different pastries to me...they are great) and read. I have been reading fiction, but ran out of books, so Brady brought me a few of his marketing books...which will get me motivated to work on my projects...probably a good thing.
Next pictures are from the little kid concert I went to. One of the friends I have
made volunteers at a music school for kids. She invited me to their end of the year concert. The show was supposed to go from 5-7pm. We got there about 4:50...to do some set up...I helped her fold the construction paper flower crowns (oh I miss playing with construction paper!) About 5:30, I realized none of the kids had even arrived yet...welcome to Spanish time...where there is no plan. The show actually started about 6 and was very cute. My friend and one of her other friends and I went out to dinner after...they have both lived
here for a while, so they have their regular spots...we went to a mexican restaurant that was great...had a burrito and guacamole...mmmm. And a mojito. Then we went to her apartment and ate popcicles and watched a movie...she lives right across from the cathedral that Gaudi was arrested at (picture in previous blog)...her little balcony looks right into a stained glass window on the side...very cool!! It was awesome hanging out with friends...like just hanging out and chatting...not some big meetup group. Her friend is a nanny here also, so we could laugh and compare stories, which is always nice.So, those are the basics...please continue on to Part 2 of this much delayed, much too long blog entry...a visit from Brady...which includes a concert, and a trip out of town....
