The Adventures of the Matlocks: February 2010

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Making Valentines

Here is a clip of Kayden attempting to paint with Jello. Notice she tries to brush her teeth with the brush instead :)

Chasing ducks...

We strapped on Kayden's back pack and let her run after the "gucks". Who knew nasty pigeons could be so much fun!

Kayden figured out how to master the bouncy thing at one of the Madrid parks.

Kayden had fun mastering the slide in Madrid

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Thoughts from Madrid...

Some pictures from Madrid...

Unidentifiable fish tapas platter

Kayden has officially mastered the slide

Beautiful view near the castle

Old post office/ new town hall

Spanish love

Super yummy churros and chocolate

Fantastic castle courtyard (we couldn't take pix inside)

One of the many beautiful fountains in the old royal park

Kayden LOVED being on her leash. The Italians tourists loved her in return, yelling "Bella, bella"

Gorgeous park

We had an awesome time exploring the city of Madrid. The buildings were immaculately clean and beautiful while fountains frequently dotted the roadside. Here are some musings from our journey....

-When going on a trip, it is important to NOT leave the camera memory card in the computer back at home...
-Traveling with a 1 year old is challenging. Taking her to a art museum, not a great idea.

-The older Spanish ladies with money all seem to look the same- lots of hairspray, makeup and puffy fur coats

-FEW people speak English in Madrid

-When ordering an unknown tapas platter, be prepared to have a plethera of fish and octopus tentacles

-Asian and Italian tourists loved Kayden and followed her with cameras. Quite entertaining.

-Elevator ettiquette is lacking in Spain big time. Belgium too. Make that all of Europe.

-The baristas in Spain make excellent caramel macchiotos at Starbucks

-With a giant language barrior, be prepared to get milk when asking for tea (leche vs te?) and not receive what was thought ordered

-Churros and hot chocolate are amazing. The chocolate was almost as thick as Hershey's syrup, making for a perfect dipping sauce.

-Playing in the park with a one year old can be the high light of a trip when you see the joy shines on their face when let out of the stroller!

-Castles are incredible, but people used to have way to much money to waste.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

The holidays have come and gone and no blog updates have been posted. Ops! Life has been a bit on the busy side. December kicked off with a 2 week trip to Garmish, a small town in the German Alps. Shane had training here for 2 weeks, so I tagged along to eat the food and climb the mountains. We were able to take day trips to Munich and Innsbruck, Austria and conquered 6 different Christmas markets along the way.

For Christmas, we headed to the States for a month. Shane and I were able to get away for a night and headed to NYC to enjoy the magic of Christmas in the city. Christmas Eve was spent with my family and then rest of the break up in the mountains of NY. We were even able to squeeze in a trip for New Years Eve to old friends in Watertown, NY.

Shane had to head back to France for work, so I took off by myself to California for a fantastic mini girls reunion/ birthday celebration. It was incredible traveling without a baby!!

It is good to be back in France together as a family and I think we have all recovered from the busyness of the holiday season.

Here are pix from the last few months to tell our story!