Road Trip!

Friday morning Reed was a free man, so we hit the road and headed North. After many debates, we decided to stay close to the coast(for the weather), within 3hrs(for our sanity) and be back in time for the Barcelona game on Sunday (for our boys). 

While waiting for Reed to get our rental car, we found this awesome dragon sculpture/slide. 

It was a little wet and ended in the middle of a pond, but it sure was fun. 

Thanks for a complete lack of fast food, we were FORCED to go into town for lunch. We had heard great things bout Girona so we decided to make an adventure out of it. 

Little C discovered his love of croquettes. We discovered our love of Yelp
. FYI-Yelp-GOOD. TripAdvisor-NT GOOD

Since we were in town already, we walked to the cathedral. 

It was good to stretch our legs. 

The view wasn't too shabby either. 

It's a good thing we stopped because the natives were restless. 

They were suitably punished. (except the one who was actually really, really grumpy and wouldn't join in)

But, then they escaped. 

And found a high, slightly illegal place to hang out. 

Unfortunately, getting down was a little sketchy. 

Castles, slides and pigeons.

We finally made it to the Boqueria! Christian LOVEd the seafood section. 

The rest of us LOVED the gummies. So, we loaded up for our day on the tour bus.

In addition to keeping the maniacs well socked with  food, water, and goodis. I've found tha giving them a chance to flex thier photographic skills can keep everyone happy for HOURS. 

Our destination-Montjuic. 

C was the only one excited about the furnicular. 

He gave it thumbs up. 

Matts was convinced we were going to die and G liked to reinforce that idea. 

Amazingly-we made it to the top in one piece. 

The view was totally worth it. 

They were happy to have me pose for shots. 

Any shots I suggested were "lame"

Pigeons are the opposite of lame. 

Photographing the photographer can be fun too. 

My sweet, cheeky Monkey. He was quite confused by the lack of cars and the amount of walking we had to do on this trip. 

Matts finally decided the Castle was pretty cool. 

C being "cool"

Happy boys on their way to the prize...

an incredibly fast, slick, stepp, slightly hazardous slide. 

We had some epic races. 

And Gelsto 

And called  our day of galivanting around Barcelona a success. 

Living the Night Life

I knew that we would have limited attention spans for all the fantastic architecture and art in Barcelona, so I was thrilled to find that La Pedrera does night tours, complete with a laser show on it's infamous roof.

On the roof at La Pedrera.

Our group was super small~20 people and the guide was passionate enough about Guadi that she kept Little C enthralled.

Between her narrative and the lighting, the boys were enchanted.

Love these boys.

With Barcelona's night light, we basically ignored the time change and allowed the boys to stay up late and sleep in (miraculous!). This let us explore the city when it came alive and allowed for some excellent games of Manhunt at the Labyrinth in Parc Citadel.

Strolling the (vampire) streets in the Gothic Quarter was a hit-as long as crepes, gelato, or gummies were involved. 

Sangrada Familia

We started off the day a little rough trying to find a place to print our ticket to the tour bus. That will teach me to be plan ahead! But, we stopped to get some goodies and C scored a GINORMOUS balloon from MWC vendor and we were back on track.

Obviously, they were very impressed by the historical significance of Sangrada Familia. I've learned my lesson and we stopped for an excellent picnic with fresh juices before we tackled the cathedral.

I think I was the most excited one there. But, once we got the audioguides going, which had excellent "I spy" and "hide and seek" games, they were intrigued and impressed

We made it up the tower.

G especially got on a role and examined each and every corner and feature in order.

C was just happy to be along for the ride.

Matts was just happy to get off the tower. 

G rubbed in the heights with his detail of the spiral staircase. 

Photog in training. 

Love to see what features are photo-worthy in their little eyes. 

Smiles all around. 

By the time we made it to Parc Guell they were draaaaaging. I always forget that it's at the top of that darn, neverending hill.

Once again, we regrouped with a little pigeon charming. 

And, Nutella pizza. 

Yes, Nutella makes everything better.