Stupid Internet and Old Batteries!!

To expand on the Ditto post, ( I was going to say tambien, and show off my Spanish).

I had written a long post about our weekend, and about some of the reasons  (excuses) why I am only blogging every couple weeks.  It was funny and timely, (at least I think it was), and gave a full accounting of our trip to Tarifa and surrounding area.  I was excited to tell the story of our 10 for 10 trip celebrating Brae's birthday (10th for those who didn't know).  We had packed in an incredible amount of fun in those four days.  I thought I could get it posted before anyone else, thus making them try and fill in the gaps (which is way harder and makes you think a lot more).  Unfortunately, I have an old computer, and it was having issues.  I couldn't get connected to the Internet here at Casa Yolo, so I couldn't post a couple days ago.  No problems I thought, I will just go into town and log in at one of the many hot spots around, and post from there.  I even had a couple hours waiting for the kids to finish their homework group, so I thought it would be perfect.  Again, unfortunately, the pub I stopped at was having issues with their WIFI adapter at the time, so I couldn't get it posted then. Still, I had an alternative backup plan.  I would take my computer into town today, and log in from the library and do all my internet work there.  Again, plans didn't work out, as we had to head into the big city of Almunecar to try and get a new phone plan for Kristin. Fast forward to later, and we have no time to blog before our weekly Spanish class.  Still not a big deal, as we have an hour after the class before we pick up the kids from school, and all I have to do is cut and paste from a word document all that I had written yesterday in the pub and viola, I am blogged.  I was feeling especially smug, as Kristin was also trying to write her post at the same time, but mine would have still been posted first! That was until the old battery kicked in.  Cut, Paste, Post....post....post...not responding, computer shuts down, and nothing except the sound of Kristin reading her own blog online!!!

Needless to say, I think it's time for a new battery for my 12 year old laptop.

But now that Brae's birthday is done with, we can focus on Christmas.  As some of you may know, we never mention or acknowledge xmas until after Braes birthday.  It's a little rule we have so that Brae always feels special on his B-day.  At least we try not to mention it, but each year we usually decorate gingerbread houses early, and that puts a little xmas cheer into the air.  This year was no exception.  This is also the second year we have been away from Canada for xmas.  A few years ago, we were lucky enough to spend the holiday season in Costa Rica, and it really brings a new perspective to the holiday.  This year should be the same.  We hope to focus on family time, and forgo a lot of the commercialism of the season.  Because we have very limit room for stuff to return with, we won't be buying a lot of junk just to have gifts under the tree.  In fact, we aren't having a tree this year.  I think we might have log, which in a way was a tree, but we will also burn it that morning because we will need to heat the house!! Just my little Grinch moment!!

I hope that all is well with all our friends, and maybe I will post again before the 25th.  If not have a Merry Christmas everyone.

Shane

OH yeah, this years he said she said letter will be digital, posted here and on facebook (we hope), and I will right my version first!!!!!!

CIAO

Ditto......what she said..

Shane!!!!

Brae's 10th Birthday Adrenaline Adventure

We were fortunate enough to have a 4 day weekend for Brae's tenth birthday, so we decided to go adventuring. As we tend to do...we headed out the door with a pile of ideas, and no structured plan. While the kids were at school on Wednesday, we played the amazing game of tetris packing up the car for the weekend. Unfortunately, our rental car this month happened to be a Hyundai I10...which is quite tiny (by Canadian standards). We did however manage to fit 4 people with clothes for 4 days, plus camping gear, wetsuits...oh yes, and birthday presents (hidden of course). We headed to Tarifa, the most southern (and windiest) point of Spain. There, we walked down the dividing line of the Mediteranian and Atlantic oceans and got soaked by the waves crashing over the road. The wind was so strong, we struggled to stand up straight. We also got to watch some incredible kite surfers in action. I would love to try the sport, but these were definitely not beginner winds.

We didn't attempt kite surfing, but we did go landsailing which was a blast! For those who haven't heard of it, you sit in a three wheeled gokart with a sail attached to it, and it is very much like sailing except the ground is a little harder than water when you flip it. I was thrilled and shocked when we showed up and they gave us all our own landsailers, as I figured they would put an adult and a kid together. It was really great, because we each got to control how fast we went, and how extreme we took our turns. Shane and I pushed the limits, got them up on two wheels a few times, and eventually managed to each flip them, and then reined it in to keep our wheels mostly down. Jaedyn liked her wheels firmly on the ground and was the only one to maintain total control. Brae on the other hand, spent more time upside down than right side up! He pushed the limit, flipped, got back in and pushed a little harder. I think he flipped it at least five times.

We went to Bolonia and hiked past some cool Roman ruins and to the top of a massive sand dune. We had a blast leaping off the tops of the windswept ridges and landing on the steep banks of soft sand. The wind was blowing the sand so hard, that we were wishing we had goggles to keep it out of our eyes. We were all happy to have a long hot shower that night, as there was sand everywhere!

The next day we thought it would be fun to climb the rock of Gibraltor. Since the UK has not left the EU yet, we were shocked when we got turned away at the border for not having our passports on us. Oh well, live and learn. After getting kicked out of the country however, we did find a crazy fun playground with ziplines and rope bridges and super fun obstacles...so, we played at the park with the beautiful view of the rock of Gibraltor looming over us.

Determined not to let this minor set back ruin our weekend, we went for lunch and made a new secret plan while the kids were off playing. First we headed to Cadiz and explored the old town and seawall, then we headed north to Jerez where we took the kids gokarting, and since it was getting dark with a chance of rain, we booked a hotel with a pool for the next two nights instead of camping. We told the kids that because we stopped to go gokarting we were going to have to set up camp in the dark, but we would go out for dinner first at a nice restaurant in a hotel nearby. Jaedyn started to clue in on the plan, but we kept Brae confused right up to walking through the hotel room door.

We brought camping gear with us to save money on our weekend excursions, but so far we have not been thrilled with the campsites in Spain. They charge you per site + per person + per tent (we have 2 small tents) + per vehicle. This adds up quite quickly per night. The plots tend to be close together, on skarse grass/dirt with no picnic tables or cooking areas, and in off season the pools are shut down. The hotel room we got was a 2 bedroom suite with a full kitchen and indoor pool and spa. The amount we saved by cooking a few meals in our room actually made it cheaper than camping. Hmmm.

The next day we drove to Sanlucar de Guadiana, Spain where we took a zipline across a river to Alcoutim, Portugal (no passport required). The Zipline was 720m, crossed an international border, and went back an hour in time. Definitely a bucket list activity. While walking back to the car, we came across an archery booth, so naturally we had to have a friendly family competition. I will let one of the boys brag about who won....

The best part about visiting Portugal however was finding “Chickets Canela” or cinnamon gum for Shane. This is something you cannot get in Spain, so currently our only source is people coming to visit us, and trips to Portugal.

The next day, the boys booked me a massage which was lovely, but made me miss Crystal (my very fabulous and strong massage therapist) terribly. Then we headed to Huelva to see the replica ships of Cristobal Colon AKA Christopher Columbus. Unfortunately the site where the ships are located was under construction and fenced off, so we had to view them from a distance. Perhaps we will make it back with guests at a later date.

Although we ran into a few obstacles along the way, we had an action packed, fun filled adventure weekend.

  

The catch up

Look I know that i haven't blogged in a while and i'm sorry but I keep forgetting. A lot's happened since the last time I blogged.

Firstly I had my first babysitting job for the kids of one of our friends. It was really fun and they were so nice. Last night me and Brae both went over there and watched the boys. Well actually Brae fell asleep in the guest bedroom, but I guess it counts.

There was also this cool Track and Field meet in Almuñecar. There were tons of activities there like High jump, Discus, Shot put, Track, Resistance running and more. It was so much fun but it was also very difficult and i'm still sore.

On Saturday we had a guitar concert. Everyone in our class was so prepared at the last practice, but the day of the actual concert only me and Brae showed up. Brae and I still ended up rocking the stage even without the other 2 or 3 kids.

The last thing and probably the biggest thing we have done in the last 2 weeks has been our annual gingerbread house making. Anyone who doesn't know what that is, it is something our family does every year were we make a bunch of gingerbread houses and then we invite our friends over to come and decorate them, then they take them home to enjoy them over Christmas.

Well I guess that's every thing. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanuka and have a happy New Year!!!

Yours truly,

Jaedyn.