Baby's First Passport Stamp

This spring was full of adventures!  In March, Rob and I took Tess to visit Mom and Dad in Barcelona.  Joseph and Jenni gave up their last spring break of law school and drove 11 hours from Kansas to Cincinnati to take care of Ellie and Matt for a week.  Then a few dear friends took in our kiddos for a weekend until Rob and I got back.  We have amazing people to take care of us and let us have this opportunity!

I love that all my kids have passports and Spain stamps in them!  Next to potty-training Ellie, I consider taking our children abroad at a young age perhaps our greatest parenting accomplishment to date.  Here is a representative smattering of our week in Barcelona.

My absolute favorite  moment of the trip was walking out of baggage claim and seeing Mom and Dad waiting for us, and then crying as they held Tess for the first time.  Even after an overnight flight, Tess was delightful and obliged her Grammie and Pops with smiles and kisses.

Medieval knights and Barcelona/Catalan history museum.  What could be better?  Tess in the peanut shell sling was my constant accessory during the trip.  She took all her naps resting in the sling, and then sat up in the sling to observe the sights and sounds of the city.  We only took the stroller with us one day, and it was a mistake.  Tess did much better in the sling, and we didn't have to navigate the stroller through the metro, up and down stairs, and in and out of little cafes and stores.

The waterfront.  One of our favorite places.  It was so fun to see the city for the second time.  We felt almost like residents, knowing our way around.  Oh, except the little detail that neither of us speaks Spanish.

We traveled by train to Valencia with Mom and Dad and the Assistants for zone conference.  We stayed in a lovely little hotel right in the center of town.  After a delicious Valencian breakfast, we took off to explore the city while Mom and Dad went to zone conference.  We ducked out of the rain into the cathedral, and it was so lovely that we decided to take the super tour (including headphones in English).  It was one of the best things we saw on the trip.  Here I am in front of the patron saint of pregnant women.  Who knew mothers with child had their own saint?  Next time around, I'll remember that there's a statue in Valencia rooting for me!

Rob came face to face with a medieval reliquary and its, well, goods for the first time in his life; let's just say the shock on his face as he gazed at the reliquary's contents was not the same as my awestruck silence.  I'm not sure he realized what exactly went into a reliquary!  The most amazing part of the Valencia Cathedral is the Holy Chalice Chapel, dating to the late medieval period.  It now houses what purports to be Holy Grail.  I had no idea - wish I had brought some good Grail literature to sit and contemplate in that medieval setting!  Rob was grateful we didn't, because sitting down in the Holy Chalice Chapel reading medieval Anglo-Norman poetry isn't exactly his dream vacation.

The Columbus statue at the end of La Rambla.  A necessary stop on the Barcelona tour.

The steps of the Royal Palace.  Tradition holds that Columbus came up this path to give his report of his New World discovery to Ferdinand and Isabella.  Facts don't exactly bear out this tradition, but, as Winston Churchill said of King Arthur, "It's all true, or it should be."

Our favorite tapas place.  Thanks for treating us, Mom and Dad!  So delicious.  There's a restaurant in Cincinnati that claims to serve tapas.  Their claim is highly inaccurate.  Am I a tapas snob after two visits to Barcelona?  Yes, yes I am.

Have baby, will travel.  This little girl loves far away adventures.  She wore this smile pretty much the whole trip.  We decided we can take her anywhere (and subsequently did, as I may get around to recording in future posts).

Here's another exuberant Tessa with lovely Grammie, enjoying hot chocolate and churros.  We spent a considerable portion of every day eating.  Here's a brief afternoon stop at a hot chocolate place that was so good we went back just a day later!

In the background is Aunt Kathy and Richard.  They came down from the Preston England missionary training center for a weekend.  The MTC was having some remodeling between groups of missionaries, and they were instructed to leave for 2 weeks.  Hey, you've got to love a mission that includes a two week vacation!  They explored England, went to visit Paris, and came to Barcelona.  Their trip means that almost all my Dad's have visited Mom and Dad in Barcelona.  How fun is that?  We loved observing the missionary conversation between the four of them, and watching them talk about the gospel with those around them.  They talked about the amazing missionaries they'd had the opportunity to train, and how best to help missionaries successfully make the jump from the MTC to their mission assignments.  They traded stories about the miracles they'd observed in the lives of missionaries and those they teach.  So inspiring.  Maybe someday we'll get to have similar experiences with my siblings!  I hope so!

Here's Tessa and Pops at the gorgeous old train station in Valencia at night.  Tess is tucked away in her swaddle, ready for bed.  Like I said, dream travel baby.

Rob was especially enthralled with this tree in Valencia.  I knew the depth of his fascination when he actually asked me to take a picture of it - yes, the man who insists he has a very limited annual picture quota.

Lunchtime in Valencia.  It was a cold, rainy day, and we hadn't brought appropriate clothing for Tess.  She was freezing!  Luckily, we've been to Spain before, and we know that all you have to do is find El Corte Ingles, and all your needs will be met.  Further fortunately, our map of the city was published by El Corte Ingles, so all store locations were marked.  We had a grand time looking at all the amazing baby clothes, and finally decided on this little sweater.  Tess was much happier.

Where did we eat lunch in beautiful Spanish Valencia?  Burger King.  We passed by all the lovely little tapas places, offering what looked like delightful meals.  But Rob said we were going to get lots of Spanish food during the week, and begged me for a Burger King cheeseburger and diet Coke (Coca light, as I eventually remembered it's called in Europe).  So here we are, enjoying very, very American fare in a very, very Spanish city.  Hey, I'll eat anything as long as I get to be in Spain with my baby and husband!

So there's a smattering.  It was a grand, grand time, and I tried very hard to limit the good-bye tears.  Rather unsuccessfully.  But we're just grateful that we had the opportunity to spend such wonderful time with Mom and Dad!  Oh, and get baby her first passport stamp.