The kids have also had a great time in Barcelona, so much so that they didn't want to leave at all. They have made friends with all the people along the pontoon but especially Toni from the boat Elyzian next door, they just loved her and her husband Mike and their two boys. Every time any of them dared to come in or out of their boat two little heads would pop up and talk away at them for ages.
This is a picture of Toni and Mike's 'Calcotada' they invited us over just before they went home at the beginning of March in case we were gone by the time they came back. Calcots are young leeks and this is the traditional Catalan way of eating them (bibs and all!) Toni barbecued them and then you strip the outer skin off, dip them in sauce and eat them like this - hence the need for the plastic bibs! If you noticed it was lunch on deck at the end of Feb, little did we know it would be snowing only a week later....
The girls even managed to persuade the boys (21 and 26year old) to take them rollerblading! It was funny to watch them as the were far more enthusiastic when Andrew was teaching them and they didn't cry if they fell over but when it was just us.......
The girls showing off to Andrew.
Kaylee after a hard afternoon rollerblading!
This was our last night in Port Forum, we had Mike Toni and Fergus around for a chilli and the girls decided to eat the sugar mice Toni had taken them back from England Calcotada style!
Firstly there was the Barcelona boat show which just happened to be on the weekend we got to Barcelona - I suppose that was the real reason for all the rush! The girls were a little bored walking around all the stalls waiting for Ali to interrogate the salesmen about products he was never going to buy but then we got to the boat hall and they had a big pool set up for kids to go sailing on! It was great they had a man in the water who helped them if they got stuck and also stopped them from capsizing which was very lucky as we had no spare clothes with us and it would have been a pitiful journey the whole way back across the city with soggy kids! The girls really liked it whether they gained any sailing knowledge or not.......
Sunday mornings were generally pancake morning and if we were lucky enough with the weather we would eat them out on deck! The girls love to make pancakes and really love to eat them it reminds them of being home when we would casually drop by Colin and Susan's on a Sunday morning in the hope Colin was making pancakes!
The lasses have become such good friends on this trip sometimes we can't believe it, their imaginations have developed to almost worrying heights, probably because they spend so much time with only each other and no TV etc. We sometimes sit and listen to them with out them knowing and it is hilarious what they come up with! I caught them deep in discussion on the companionway one morning I can't remember what they were talking about but it must have been interesting judging by their expressions......
The barbies went through a big phase of different activities as you can see below!
This is a barbie camping trip, with Alisha and Kaylee's sailing socks for sleeping bags on this occasion they had camped in the big woods of Canada hoping to spy a few grizzly bears....
Here are the barbies getting a swimming lesson with Prince Phillip for the life guard, Alisha spent an hour or so cajoling Ariel into getting her face in the water saying it would be OK when you know how to swim! Rich coming from a girl who flatly refuses to get into the sea.
This is Kaylee doing the monthly barbies clothes wash and dry, as you can imagine the trail of suds gets spread through out the boat and sets Ali entirely high!
This next example deserves two pictures as it gave us such a laugh, we had been trying to fix something in the fore cabin and when we came out we were faced with this.....
'Plain driever gurl' and her passengers!
Alisha had made tickets with the above spelling and given them to Kaylee and all the toys for a trip on her plane, unfortunately it was hit by lightning and they crashed into the sea and most of them died....... OK just a tad worrying! Most of Alisha ad Kaylee's scenarios involve boats sinking and planes crashing etc a bit drastic but very imaginative!
This is the girls trying their hardest to get music out of the toys after a big down pour which flooded the play park.
Alisha making her Valentines card for Ali, needless to say someone else completely forgot about that day.........
This was the big play area in the Diagonal Mar shopping centre I don't actually think you were supposed to climb up the outside of it but it made it more of a challenge for the girls.
The girls spent three months at a nursery which they thoroughly enjoyed as all they did was play all day, it was good as we got a bit of free time too and it is amazing how many miles you can cover when you aren't dragging grumpy girls around with you! Some of the the things they did was a 'Christmas Breakfast' pictured below which we all had to bake for - eek! I hadn't actually tried to bake anything more adventurous than a ready made pizza on the boat so I decided on mince pies as they were very 'British.' The girls ate most of them thankfully as I think they were a little overdone! We must say thanks for Marvin at this point as he took us to the 'Taste of Home' shop near his to get the mince meat etc, it is amazing how much you will pay over the odds when you need something you cant get at here!
The nursery Christmas Breakfast
Then in February there was the nursery Carnival parade, we had to get the girls animal suits so we found a bumble bee and lady bird outfit each and turned up at 6pm on the night. We weren't really sure what it all entailed but found out the whole nursery and parents had to basically go for a walk around the block banging on the noisy 'instruments' we had all made. It was a fine night and as with the breakfast it gave us a chance to talk to some of the other parents.
This is the kids all getting ready for the parade.
And here is a clip of the parade.
We bought this shopping trolley shortly after arriving in Barcelona as the walk to the nearest shops wasn't much fun with a fully loaded rucksack. The girls however decided it was a great mode of transport for them! This is Alisha having her shot in the trolley.
This is a picture of Kaylee helping Gemma on the day Gemma and Marvin came down for a bannock baking lesson. It went OK the first lot of the griddle 'Whalsay' style were good, the second batch would have been great if we hadn't started drinking wine and forgot they were in the oven......
This was a mobile dog grooming parlour that the lasses just loved!
This is a picture of the girls 'Skyping' Ellie our next door neighbour at home. They can't wait to see her and Robbie in a weeks time and they love to skype their peerie pals although they usually get a little shy and can't think of what to say especially when Alisha has 'skyped' Nia her best friend. It is such a shame as she misses her so much but when they actually can talk she is so shy she can hardly speak.
One day Marvin invited us up to Gracia where he and Gemma live to come and see the Parade of St Medir at the beginning of March we decided to make a day of it and went up for a late lunch with Marvin at the same restaurant him and Ali had had a 'great' lunch two weeks previously. well it must have been great judging by the state Ali rolled home in at about 9pm.....
The lunch was lovely in a small restaurant just up the road from Marvin's and it was very good value too which always improves the flavour I think! After lunch we went back to Marvin's to see Anouk their Alaskan Malamut 'puppy' pretty blooming big for a puppy as you can see below!
We decided to all go for a walk up to Park Guell even though it was a little dreech as the girls love to try and walk Anouk but it is definitely more a case of Anouk walking them!
Park Guell is a great place to go for a walk as you are surrounded by original Gaudi architecture but it has loads of nooks and crannies for the girls (and the dog) to explore so they don't get bored.
Here are some pictures
.
We went back to Marvin's to meet Gemma who was home from work and to go to the parade which startd just around the block from their flat. They tried to take Anouk too but had to put her home after her first encounter with all the horses! The parade is the Parade of St Medir and is held to mark the anniversary of a yearly walk done by a man who prayed to Saint Medir to be healed promising to do the route and spread the 'word' every year. Nowadays however it just seems to be another Spanish exercise in sweetie throwing and if we thought the Three Kings Parade had a lot of sweets we hadn't seen anything like this! You can see two video clips below and a few pictures. Once again the up turned umbrellas were out although you really didn't need them, I had sweets down my collar without even trying!
This is Alisha who was an expert sweetie grabber, she ended up with a shopping bag full to the point it was actually heavy to carry home (we have since either given or thrown most of them away as it was just too much!)
Kaylee wasn't so brave and preferred to stay up high out of the scrum.
This is someone even managing to get sweets from their first floor window! It really was a little crazy.
The aftermath, it was like walking on a sticky pebbly beach!
There are likely a few more pics of the lasses ad Barcelona but that'll do! We are currently in St Feliu de Guixols waiting for a southerly breeze to carry us up the coast to France where we are meeting Colin and Susan. It has been very calm the last two days which I though was pretty good sailing weather really but guess we better do what skipper says and wait for wind!
This is a picture of Toni and Mike's 'Calcotada' they invited us over just before they went home at the beginning of March in case we were gone by the time they came back. Calcots are young leeks and this is the traditional Catalan way of eating them (bibs and all!) Toni barbecued them and then you strip the outer skin off, dip them in sauce and eat them like this - hence the need for the plastic bibs! If you noticed it was lunch on deck at the end of Feb, little did we know it would be snowing only a week later....
The girls even managed to persuade the boys (21 and 26year old) to take them rollerblading! It was funny to watch them as the were far more enthusiastic when Andrew was teaching them and they didn't cry if they fell over but when it was just us.......
The girls showing off to Andrew.
Kaylee after a hard afternoon rollerblading!
This was our last night in Port Forum, we had Mike Toni and Fergus around for a chilli and the girls decided to eat the sugar mice Toni had taken them back from England Calcotada style!
Firstly there was the Barcelona boat show which just happened to be on the weekend we got to Barcelona - I suppose that was the real reason for all the rush! The girls were a little bored walking around all the stalls waiting for Ali to interrogate the salesmen about products he was never going to buy but then we got to the boat hall and they had a big pool set up for kids to go sailing on! It was great they had a man in the water who helped them if they got stuck and also stopped them from capsizing which was very lucky as we had no spare clothes with us and it would have been a pitiful journey the whole way back across the city with soggy kids! The girls really liked it whether they gained any sailing knowledge or not.......
Sunday mornings were generally pancake morning and if we were lucky enough with the weather we would eat them out on deck! The girls love to make pancakes and really love to eat them it reminds them of being home when we would casually drop by Colin and Susan's on a Sunday morning in the hope Colin was making pancakes!
The lasses have become such good friends on this trip sometimes we can't believe it, their imaginations have developed to almost worrying heights, probably because they spend so much time with only each other and no TV etc. We sometimes sit and listen to them with out them knowing and it is hilarious what they come up with! I caught them deep in discussion on the companionway one morning I can't remember what they were talking about but it must have been interesting judging by their expressions......
The barbies went through a big phase of different activities as you can see below!
This is a barbie camping trip, with Alisha and Kaylee's sailing socks for sleeping bags on this occasion they had camped in the big woods of Canada hoping to spy a few grizzly bears....
Here are the barbies getting a swimming lesson with Prince Phillip for the life guard, Alisha spent an hour or so cajoling Ariel into getting her face in the water saying it would be OK when you know how to swim! Rich coming from a girl who flatly refuses to get into the sea.
This is Kaylee doing the monthly barbies clothes wash and dry, as you can imagine the trail of suds gets spread through out the boat and sets Ali entirely high!
This next example deserves two pictures as it gave us such a laugh, we had been trying to fix something in the fore cabin and when we came out we were faced with this.....
'Plain driever gurl' and her passengers!
Alisha had made tickets with the above spelling and given them to Kaylee and all the toys for a trip on her plane, unfortunately it was hit by lightning and they crashed into the sea and most of them died....... OK just a tad worrying! Most of Alisha ad Kaylee's scenarios involve boats sinking and planes crashing etc a bit drastic but very imaginative!
This is the girls trying their hardest to get music out of the toys after a big down pour which flooded the play park.
Alisha making her Valentines card for Ali, needless to say someone else completely forgot about that day.........
This was the big play area in the Diagonal Mar shopping centre I don't actually think you were supposed to climb up the outside of it but it made it more of a challenge for the girls.
The girls spent three months at a nursery which they thoroughly enjoyed as all they did was play all day, it was good as we got a bit of free time too and it is amazing how many miles you can cover when you aren't dragging grumpy girls around with you! Some of the the things they did was a 'Christmas Breakfast' pictured below which we all had to bake for - eek! I hadn't actually tried to bake anything more adventurous than a ready made pizza on the boat so I decided on mince pies as they were very 'British.' The girls ate most of them thankfully as I think they were a little overdone! We must say thanks for Marvin at this point as he took us to the 'Taste of Home' shop near his to get the mince meat etc, it is amazing how much you will pay over the odds when you need something you cant get at here!
The nursery Christmas Breakfast
Then in February there was the nursery Carnival parade, we had to get the girls animal suits so we found a bumble bee and lady bird outfit each and turned up at 6pm on the night. We weren't really sure what it all entailed but found out the whole nursery and parents had to basically go for a walk around the block banging on the noisy 'instruments' we had all made. It was a fine night and as with the breakfast it gave us a chance to talk to some of the other parents.
This is the kids all getting ready for the parade.
And here is a clip of the parade.
We bought this shopping trolley shortly after arriving in Barcelona as the walk to the nearest shops wasn't much fun with a fully loaded rucksack. The girls however decided it was a great mode of transport for them! This is Alisha having her shot in the trolley.
This is a picture of Kaylee helping Gemma on the day Gemma and Marvin came down for a bannock baking lesson. It went OK the first lot of the griddle 'Whalsay' style were good, the second batch would have been great if we hadn't started drinking wine and forgot they were in the oven......
This was a mobile dog grooming parlour that the lasses just loved!
This is a picture of the girls 'Skyping' Ellie our next door neighbour at home. They can't wait to see her and Robbie in a weeks time and they love to skype their peerie pals although they usually get a little shy and can't think of what to say especially when Alisha has 'skyped' Nia her best friend. It is such a shame as she misses her so much but when they actually can talk she is so shy she can hardly speak.
One day Marvin invited us up to Gracia where he and Gemma live to come and see the Parade of St Medir at the beginning of March we decided to make a day of it and went up for a late lunch with Marvin at the same restaurant him and Ali had had a 'great' lunch two weeks previously. well it must have been great judging by the state Ali rolled home in at about 9pm.....
The lunch was lovely in a small restaurant just up the road from Marvin's and it was very good value too which always improves the flavour I think! After lunch we went back to Marvin's to see Anouk their Alaskan Malamut 'puppy' pretty blooming big for a puppy as you can see below!
We decided to all go for a walk up to Park Guell even though it was a little dreech as the girls love to try and walk Anouk but it is definitely more a case of Anouk walking them!
Park Guell is a great place to go for a walk as you are surrounded by original Gaudi architecture but it has loads of nooks and crannies for the girls (and the dog) to explore so they don't get bored.
Here are some pictures
.
We went back to Marvin's to meet Gemma who was home from work and to go to the parade which startd just around the block from their flat. They tried to take Anouk too but had to put her home after her first encounter with all the horses! The parade is the Parade of St Medir and is held to mark the anniversary of a yearly walk done by a man who prayed to Saint Medir to be healed promising to do the route and spread the 'word' every year. Nowadays however it just seems to be another Spanish exercise in sweetie throwing and if we thought the Three Kings Parade had a lot of sweets we hadn't seen anything like this! You can see two video clips below and a few pictures. Once again the up turned umbrellas were out although you really didn't need them, I had sweets down my collar without even trying!
This is Alisha who was an expert sweetie grabber, she ended up with a shopping bag full to the point it was actually heavy to carry home (we have since either given or thrown most of them away as it was just too much!)
Kaylee wasn't so brave and preferred to stay up high out of the scrum.
This is someone even managing to get sweets from their first floor window! It really was a little crazy.
The aftermath, it was like walking on a sticky pebbly beach!
There are likely a few more pics of the lasses ad Barcelona but that'll do! We are currently in St Feliu de Guixols waiting for a southerly breeze to carry us up the coast to France where we are meeting Colin and Susan. It has been very calm the last two days which I though was pretty good sailing weather really but guess we better do what skipper says and wait for wind!
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