If you haven't heard me mention it before, my kids come home for a 2 hour lunch break.  On occasion they stay at school for lunch, but it gets pricey to have them stay every day.  We are practically next door to the school, so it is easy to have them come home.  Although it breaks up the day for me in getting things done, but it's just a season.
The kids had the idea yesterday to get our lunch and eat in the park, right by our house.  The weather is so beautiful right now and not too hot!  It's perfect!  I wasn't mentally prepared for it, but I figured we could do it the next day, which was today.

It didn't take much time for me to have everything ready when they got out of school.  I grabbed our handy dandy picnic blanket, which I love!
I put together some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cucumber slices, Cheetos and some water and juice and we were set.  


There was no one there, except a teen couple having a make out session just a few feet away.   Luckily, the kids didn't seem to notice them.

I am sure they are going to being asking me every day now if we can go to the park for lunch!  I must say, it was a great idea!

Thursday I had a chance to meet up with an HP (Hannah's Prayer) friend!!  I've had the opportunity to meet a few while in Europe, like my friend  Sandi from Australia while she was vacationing in Europe.  I've gotten to meet many more when I've been in the States and it is always so fun!  And now Wendi! She is living in Turkey at the moment and was in Spain for a quick vacation before #3 comes along.  I was so glad I wrote her when I did or I would have missed seeing her!!

I thought she might be craving something from the US, so I suggested Dunkin Donuts (Remember, it's Dunkin Coffee here?).  I think she enjoyed it, just a bit!
It was so fun to talk about our love for ministering in the area of infertility, having kids so close in age as well as about life overseas!  I don't think we stopped talking once!  Ha!
 It was way too short, but I had a blast!  Thanks for taking a bit of your time to visit with me, Wendi!

I got myself ready for church, trying to be excited that for the first time I could celebrate this day as a mother.  I had a difficult time feeling excited.  I knew it was such a painful day for so many women who longed to be called "Mother" or "Mama" or "Mommy".

I knew today I would be seeing a friend of mine who was in the very depths of infertility.  I ached for her. I knew it would be difficult for me to rejoice while my friend was hurting........



I am happy to be writing at Held today!  Will you join me over there to read the rest?


Thank you!!

I am linking up with Kelly's Korner today and we are talking about vacation destinations!  This is a topic I L-OVE to talk about!

We have been so fortunate to take some really great vacations around Europe.  Most of these happened before the kids came along.



It's fun to see all our vacation spots laid out on a map!  Wow!

The first suggestion I have before visiting Europe is to pick up one of Rick Steves' book.  His books are filled with practical as well as the regular tourist information. They are the best books for travel I've ever seen!

Here are some bullet point suggestions on a few of the locations.

London
*We really enjoy visiting the Texas Embassy Cantina. Great food, fun atmosphere and fun souvenirs.
*The Highbury Centre is a neat place to stay.  It is run by Christians and they give discounts to missionaries and volunteers on mission trips.  It's still a good price at full price as a tourist.  It is basic, but has a neat atmosphere with souvenirs from missionaries all around the world and is easily accessible to downtown.  You can get rooms with or without a bathroom.
* Experience a British pub.  You can't visit without experiencing one.  Now, it might sound strange for a missionary to suggest a pub (ha!), but it's not about the drinks.  It's the atmosphere.  We ate at a Seafood pub for lunch (that was so long ago though that I don't remember the name).
*The Big Bus Tours is a great way to see the city.  You can hop on and hop off as you please within a 24 hour period.  It's a great way to see the city if you have a short amount of time.  So many of the tourist attractions can get SO expensive, this way you can at least see the outside.
*Portobello Market in Notting Hill.  An awesome outdoor market!  A must see!
*Harrods!  This place is amazing!  It's definitely a must see!  Especially the food section.  It is incredible and tucked away in the back is Krispy Kreme!!
*I could go on and on about London!  I LOVE it!
  
Ireland
*The west coast of Ireland is where the Cliffs of Moher are located (otherwise known as the Cliffs of Insanity in the movie, Princess Bride).  It is absolutely beautiful.  Not an easy area to get around by public transportation, but doable.  You can rent a car, but be prepared to drive on the other side.  Big "yikes!" for us!

France
*Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower are a must.
*If your interested in museums and want to see Mona Lisa, you must go to The Louvre
*Champs-Elysées and the Arc de Triomphe
*Château de Versailles has beautiful grounds.  We didn't go inside though.
*If we ever find ourselves in France again, I'd love to visit the house of Monet, in Giverny.

*Venice is such a sight!!  A gondola ride is a must, but be prepared to pay BIG money!  This was a dream of mine since I was a kid.  I was discouraged to find out how much these costs ride, although some bartering is accepted.  I almost walked away from a lifelong dream when my sweet hubby encouraged that we try.  We set a price in our minds and went for it.  The guy said no, but did suggest a ride for half as long for a certain price.  We took it and was so glad we did!
*Florence (Firenze)....I don't have much to say about it except that if you love museums this is the place for you.  I am not a big museum nut, so wasn't all that excited about it.  I went for my hubby.
*Pisa is very interesting.  Just know that the ONLY interesting thing to do there is see the leaning tower.
*Sorrento (south of Naples).....we LOVED this area and was by far a favorite!  Cliffs meet Mediterranean for spectacular views!  Gorgeous!
*Pompei, we only spent half a day there and it wasn't enough.  I'd love to go back!  Rick Steve's book gave us quite a tour with his book alone.  I was SO
*Rome, beautiful and full of history, but not a favorite for us.


Slovenia
It wasn't really for a vacation, but we enjoyed it just the same.  Bled, Slovenia is such a picturesque little town.  Castle on a cliff overlooking an age old church on an island in the middle of the lake.  All kinds of outdoor activities nearby.  A favorite place that we hope to explore again one day!

Gibraltar
Loved this place!  Nothing like monkeys on a mountain!  Ha!


Spain
The thing I love the most is the coast!  Be prepared to speak some Spanish!






And don't forget the Paella!


I didn't mention Austria and Germany and they do have some lovely places!  Vienna and Salzburg sure have their charm in Austria while Germany has such diversity with their castles and the history of places like Berlin, which we love!!

If you have any more questions about places we've visited, feel free to ask in the comments or send me an email!  I love talking vacation spots!

Thanks for stopping by!

I hate to say it! I just hate the word itself!!!

L-I-C-E!

Just typing that makes me want to gag!!!

I knew it could come to this when we started school! We've had 3 notes home this school year about L-I-C-E (I told you I hate the word ). Karis has been itchy and we finally realized what it was last night! Ugh! It wasn't until after her bath, before going to bed. Luckily I had kept one of the notes that came home with them in the past and it was thorough about what to do (albeit in Spanish, but that's what Google Translate is for!!).   My dh was able to find our local pharmacy still open and purchased the lotion/shampoo to rid the suckers!!

I am now educated on the disgusting little creatures (that I found still wiggling in the L-I-C-E comb when brushing through her hair). Gag, bleck!!

She was such a trooper though!!

As a kid, I use to think people that got L-I-C-E were the most filthy, disgusting people on the planet (ok, I was in jr high.  I don't think that anymore, I promise!).  Have you seen those things? They are NASTY!! Somehow I never got it (here's hoping and praying it's not been passed. So far the rest of us are good).

All the while Jerry has had the flu (he's a bit better now) and he was in the midst of packing for a trip. And me having all kinds of plans today, which part of them I had to change.

But hopefully all my combing and cleaning will pay off and prayerfully, we are infestation free!

Bleck!

Even if they are disgusting little creatures, I still love my girl!  Poor thing!!  My trooper!

I got to thinking about my kiddos' short lives and all they've experienced.  Then I realized that my kids have not been in one place longer than 18 months!!  Wow!

Well, except for Karis during the time before Brennan & Reegan came along.
This is what the past 5 years have looked like.

June 2006 to December 2007 - Prague, Czech Republic (during this time we lived in 2 different apartments)
December 2007 to April 2009 - Fort Worth, Texas
April 2009 to June 2010 - back in Prague
June 2010 to (roughly) July 2011 - Madrid, Spain
July 2011 to .......... - Vienna, Austria

We thought when we moved to Spain that it would be our forever (somewhat, anyway) home.  Little did we realize that another move was in the foreseeable future.  God has other plans.

What kind of affect is this going to have on our kids?

Good question.  I have no idea!

I'm not sure how much they are going to remember, although they do talk about things that happened in Texas and that was a long time ago (in kid years anyway).  Most likely, they will remember.

Hopefully they will remember it as an adventure.  The times they traveled from Prague to Texas back to Prague to Spain to Vienna.  Experiencing all kinds of things and meeting all kinds of people in between!

My prayer for our family in this time.....

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

Amen and Amen!

I am finally getting around to telling about my taxi experience coming home from Vienna a few weeks ago.
 
So, I get into the Madrid airport and head toward the taxis. A guy catches me at the door saying "taxi" and I said "Si" and he starts leading me in another direction.  I didn't think too much of it until we are almost to the car garage and I begin to panic.  See, right out the door I was passing through is where the taxis are!

I then asked how much this is going to be.  He tries to explain in broken English and some in Spanish. He showed me an official looking card that has what looks to be a taxi company.  Then tells me it is a holiday weekend and a Sunday and it will be 40 euros. I was aware of no holiday in Spain this particular Sunday!

In my Spanish I tell him "No, I can't do that!"  I grab my bag and head back to the taxi area. Then I got out my phone and called Jerry.

We knew from others to only use a certain company.  I have no idea if this guy was legit. Maybe so, but then Jerry tells me "Probably not!" He looked nice and even wore a suit!  SCARY!

I go down to the taxi area and they have quite a system lined up of getting people to taxis. I felt better. I then am sent to a guy, he puts my bag in the back of the car and in doing so I point out the address that is on my bag.

He isn't sure where it is and begins to punch it into his GPS WHILE driving. In doing so, he missed our exit and we start heading into Madrid.  I live north of Madrid!  I begin to get FURIOUS and he tells me we will be there in 10 minutes and in the mean time I see the counter ticking higher and higher!

Little did he know I live here and know Madrid enough to know what's going on.  He then points out Alcobendas (our little burb) as we get closer.

As we approach our apartment I tell him I live here. I think he begins to get a little panicked because he has taken advantage of me!

In the end, it STILL cost me 40 euros when it should have only been less than 30!! He got my bag out so fast and sped away before I could even get on the sidewalk with my bag!

I would have liked to contact the taxi company with what happened, but well, that takes effort........and Spanish.......and supposedly I should I have gotten a complaint form from the driver.

Of course Jerry tells me I should have refused to pay, but all I had was 40 euros and how am I going to do that when I have little Spanish under my belt!  This is when I hate being a foreigner!

I WAS MAD! GRR!!!

I told Jerry that Spain just went down a notch in my book!  Ha!  Not too much though, I still love it here!

Otherwise I made it home safely!

So there ya have it! My taxi story!

So this is what it's like trying to get two 4 year olds and a 6 year old to pose for the camera.


See the chocolate and dirt on Reegan's dress?  That's what happens when you don't get up early to take pictures before they eat and play at church!!










Hope you had a wonderful Easter!!

Did you know that in Spanish (Spain Spanish anyway) that Valencia isn't pronounced Va-LEN-see-ya?  It is pronounced Va-LEN-thia.  When we got here, I had to get use to the use of the "th" sound in some instances of using the "c" or a "z," which sounds similar to a lisp.  Ha!

Anyway, Thursday was rainy!  Bleck!  We knew we could get some rain on our trip and my thought was to visit the Oceanografico, which is an aquarium, the largest one in Europe and keep out of the rain. 
We drove into Valencia and had quite a trek from the parking garage to get to it.  Grr!  And then we learned that a good portion of walking around the aquarium was outside.  Take a look at this lovely, frizzy hair I was sporting for the day!  Yuck!  Ha!
The aquarium was nice, but I was expecting more.  So I was a tad disappointed.  The weather didn't help though!

This penguin would follow every move that Reegan made.  The whole room was cracking up.  It was so funny and too cute!

 This tunnel was really cool for the kids.  It showed what it was like for sea life that live in the "splash zone" and simulated crashing waves.
It was a bit of a crazy day.  Things don't always go as planned, but we made the most of it.