Park, Park, Park & Park

We all had a really, really good time in Germany. C and D were monkeys much of the time. And well behaved when it counted. Details of the wedding and travels in a future post.

We're on our way to Philipp's wedding.  Somewhere between Dusseldorf Airport and Munster.

Last week, my Mom was in town from Chicago. It was a godsend having her around- in general, it's always great for us and the kids, but last week really helped with all the hullabaloo around The Thumb . Here are a few good shots with D.

We had a small celebration last night after bath time. D, officially, made the cut for Sheringdale. Not a huge hurdle considering she was first on the waiting list, she has an older sibling there and we live just across the street. Never the less, worthy of a little drink and brownie before book reading.

Bella's dad came over last week.  He stops over fairly regularly, helping with bath time, reading to the kids, and then the adults have great bread and cheese he brings from the French deli . Here he is with the kids. And an extra good one of D.

The offending object is the faint green line The end of the second week of spring break has been a bit traumatic for the boy.  On Wednesday, he jabbed a wooden sliver under his thumb nail up on Wimbledon Common.  It went in the entire length- up to the cuticle.  Surprisingly, not too painful, or bloody, at the time.  We pulled part of it out and soaked the thumb in TCP. Bells then took him to a doctor on Thursday to check it out.  They referred them to the accident and emergency ward at St. Georges, the local hospital.  After several hours and little progress, the doctor there recommended coming back Friday morning to get it completely sorted. Post surgery, but still with the IV tube. Completely sorted meant going under a general anaesthetic and removing the entire thumb nail!  This means reducing the risk of infection and waiting 3-4 months for a new nail to grow back.  C's first experience with getting put under caused a fair ...

I met Grandma, Bella and the kids as they finished their dinner at Wags. The two women were off to a play and the wee ones hopped on the nearest trishaw for a ride to the tube.

UPDATE:  This was taken on Saturday afternoon, up on top of a ridge outside of Larrabetzu.   Sirimiri (spelled wrong in the original title) is the Basque term for a misty, rainy, cloudy weather condition up in the hills. We went up the ridge because from the town, you couldn't see the top.  But once we got there, we could see down into the valleys, and even the airplanes coming into land at Bilbao airport.  

Out for a paseo pub tour post dinner, which means about 9pm. UPDATE:  Not a brilliant picture, but we wanted to capture the fun we were having our last night in Laarabetzu.  We walked from bar to bar (as all of the locals do), bumping into people who recognized the English/American visitors from a few years back.  Everyone was really friendly.

Stopped in Burgos for lunch on the way back from Salamanca. UPDATE:  On our way back from Salamanca, we made a sort of snap decision to stop in Burgos for lunch.  It was a masterstoke. The town has a fantastically Spanish Catholic Cathedral, which we stopped in to do our Good Friday prayers.  And lunch in a simple tapas bar on the Plaza Mayor square was satisfying.  The old town around the cathedral itself was fun to wander around in, in the rain even. And then a cortado for the road and we were off.

On top of a ridge just outside Larrabetzu. We hiked up the hill and met friends at our favorite resturant.

Not 30 minutes after we landed in Bilbao (Sunday eve, 8:30pm), the kids and I joined Bella in the midst of the local fiesta in Larrabetzu.

A slightly cold and wet maundy thursday in plaza mayor. UPDATE:  The weather for our trip to Salamanca didn't go the way we planned. We did see Bella's friend Elsa Fuentes- the whole point for the trip.  But we ended up walking around in the rain for the most part. The most interesting side note: Completely unplanned, we stayed at a hotel right next door to the school where Bella taught English back in the early 1990's.  At that time, the school was on the outskirts of town, and nothing but the bus station across the street was around.

The first day back to the Basque region, we managed a trip to the beach. It was a little chilly but we still managed to run through the waves as they came in. UPDATE:  We all went for a dip- some of in suits, others of us completely nude.  We had the p[alce to ourselves, and then went into town for some great pintxos .  The place holds special memories for all of us.  Not just The Long Board , but   sand castles and a getaway .

Just buckled in and waiting to take off. Mummy is already at a fiesta in Lerrabetzu. We join in a few hours.