Montserrat

Yesterday we visited a popular tourist destination near Barcelona called Montserrat.  It is a monastery that is located on a mountain called Montserrat.  We drove a curvy road that took us close to the top of the mountain.  When we got close, we ended up waiting in a line of cars to get through the parking gate.  Apparently we weren't the only ones who wanted to go there and enjoy the beautiful spring day.  We joked that we hoped it was worth waiting 15-20 minutes to get to the parking gate.  After we finally found a parking spot, we ate our picnic lunch in the back of the car and then headed up to where the monastery and other shops & restaurants were located.  It was definitely worth the wait to get in.  It was beautiful.  We didn't go into the museum because we had the kids along and a 5 year old & 3 year old are not too interested in museums.  :)  We enjoyed walking around and we noticed lots of trails that wound around the mountain.  We decided that we need to return there to check out some of the trails and go through the museum.

Here are some pictures from our adventure:

View of Montserrat from the highway

 View from the top of the mountain

 Walking from the car up to the monastery

 Tram going down the mountain

 Robin, Josiah & Miriam

 Walking towards the little waterfall/statue area

 statue of someone (did not stop to read it)

 Miriam

Josiah

 Enjoying our picnic lunch in the back of the car.  The kids thought it was so fun to eat in the back of the car.  :)

 Walking up to the monastery from the car

 waterfall/statue area

 Josiah taking some pictures with the big camera

 Miriam breaking the rules of not touching the area behind the fence

 Miriam getting ready to take a picture of Josiah

 Our wild boy

 Mommy & Miriam

 Josiah & Mommy

 Josiah's photography

 Miriam's photography

 Monastery

 Josiah enjoying his ice cream cone

 Miriam enjoying her ice cream cone

 Mountain climbers 

 Mountain climbers

 Square in front of the monastery

 Josiah ran some energy off

 We want to figure out how to hike up to wear this cross was.  It was on a nearby peak across from where the monastery was.

 Tibidabo Mountain in Barcelona (we haven't gotten there yet, but we can see it well from where we live)

Barcelona in the distance

 After we got home, Neal & Josiah put together our new patio table & chairs

We had fun eating supper out on the balcony.  We lowered the shades & the kids thought it was like being in a tent.  :)

Easter Break 2015

Now that we have kids in school, we are experiencing what it is like to have school breaks.  This is our first long break since the kids started school in January.  They finished Term 2 right before Easter break.  They will begin Term 3 (the final term for this year) on April 7.  The kids have enjoyed getting to stay home and play all day.  Neal took a couple days off work this week and we had our first road trip since moving to Spain.  We drove to Costa Brava, Spain.  It is a beautiful beach town.  We didn't really have to drive a little over an hour to go to the beach, but we wanted to see more of Spain and Neal had read that the water in Costa Brava is more clear and great for snorkeling.  We did not do any snorkeling this trip, but we did love getting to see the beautiful beach and sea.  The sand at the beach was more like small rocks.  The rocks were smooth enough to walk on, but not the greatest for building sand castles.  This was Miriam's first trip to the sea/beach and Josiah's second trip (although it was more like Josiah's first trip too since he was only 1 when we went to the beach in Florida).  They both squealed whenever the waves came up onto the shore.  They had fun playing in the sand.  Miriam kept referring to the sea as the "pool".  She kept asking if she could get into the "pool".  :)  The temperatures were in the 60's, but that did not stop us from putting on our bathing suits and going to the beach.  Neal & Miriam were the only brave ones who actually got into the water.  Josiah & I stayed on the beach.  We also enjoyed walking through town and window shopping at all the shops.  Overall, it was a great trip!

Here are some pictures from the past week:

Josiah & Miriam started their Easter break by opening their Easter gifts from Grandma & Grandpa.  They were so excited to get mini M&M's and Goldfish.  (The Goldfish were all gone within a couple days.)  :)

One day the kids ate their supper out on the balcony.  (We really need to get a table & chairs out there.)

This is a view of the Pyrenees Mountains in the distance.  

(They are snow capped right now.)

Mountain view along our drive.

Miriam took this picture of Neal & I.  The kids are getting old enough to help take pictures.

 Miriam's first beach experience. 

Daddy & the kids enjoying the view of the Mediterranean Sea.

We woke up to clear blue skies on our second day. We spent most of the day at the beach.

In the afternoon we put on our swimsuits to do some sunbathing.

Our view at breakfast on our last morning.  Our hotel was literally on the beach.

Here are a couple videos of the kids at the beach.

Our Easter pictures for 2015