Creative Weekend!!

Happy Monday to all!

So today is our last Monday in Spain @_@
Just as yesterday was our last Sunday.
And every day from now on will be our last "___day" until Saturday evening. ;_;
I can't help but count down~!

And going hand-in-hand with that is a desperate effort to fit in all the things we wanted to do but procrastinated on all summer.

Firstly, on Saturday, Andrea took the kids off my hands for most of the day so that I could finish off my latest script while they...baked cupcakes!!

Andrea really has the whole kit-n-caboodle you need to make the fanciest, daintiest, most delicious cupcakes. She let the kids have a hand in the mixing and the decorating and, of course, the sampling ;)

Here are some shots from their awesome efforts:

Pink for Ella, orange for William

Ella's always dreamed of having one of these tiered displays

I'm proud to say I didn't gourge too much on them, though it was tempting! A good cupcake is one that you are satisfied having all on its own, since it is just so rich. Mm-mm!
 
Saturday evening, Andrea and I went into the city for our Shadow of the Wind Book Tour!!
It was a lovely, educational, comfortable walk through parts of Barcelona I haven't been through, or at least not since I was a teenager. It was also bilingual, which I totally dug, and reading excerpts through the books before particular landmarks was a nice trip down memory lane for me from early summer. Andrea and I were surprised to see that we were a group of about ten people, some from right here in Barca! I was the only American ☆

I didn't take any photos (sorry!) but I must say it was a super blend of both book location sleuthing work, and general Barcelona history and culture. A must for any fan of the book!!

After the tour, Andrea brought me to a falafel joint for supper and then this super awesome restaurant/bar called El Bosc de Les Fades for drinks (I had Cacaolat).
This place reminded me a lot of my friend Joyelle, and most any friend from Waldorf :D
As its named suggests, it's themed after a magical fairy forest. The attention to detail is awesome and it is really feels like you're in a forest, when in fact you are right by La Rambla.
No photos from here either, because my phone does not function that well in low-light areas, so I just recommend you google the term "el bosc de les fades" in google images. You won't be disappointed!!

On Sunday, after tackling the Water Temple in Ocarina of Time (have I told you we've been playing that with the kids this summer??) I took the kids into the city to pretty much relive the awesome time I had on Saturday.

We lunched at El Bosc, retraced most of our tour, and finally got to patronize the living statues on La Rambla!
Have I told you about these statues?
Pretty much, these elaborately dressed and stock-still people stand set themselves up as statues at the very end of La Rambla, where the Museu de Cera is.
They stay perfectly still, until you drop some coins into their jar, and then they'll reconfigure themselves to take a photo with you.

This was Ella's favorite:

Even let Ella hold her abanico!

 When we got back home, we decided to have a really chill in-house rest of the day, watching movies and all hanging out together in the living room.
Best part of all...I finally got to teach my cousin how to knit!
This was in exchange for her teaching me how to juggle ;)

But within minutes, Ella wanted to join right in, so I taught her how to knit too!!!!!!

Knitting...it's a beautiful thing

The style I taught them is the English style (yarn in the right hand) because that's what I was taught.
And to help Ella Rose understand, I taught her using this little rhyme:

In through the front door

Dance around the back

Peek through the window

And off jumps jack.

It is the four steps of the knit stitch, and creates pleasant imagery in her mind that helps her remember the process.

Anyway, as you can imagine I am proud as pudding over this latest development, as I've tried teaching her in the past, but to no avail. 

First thing she told me this morning upon waking up, was that she wanted to get knitting!!!

So I am off to the yarn store to pick out some better yarn for her -- I taught her using cotton yarn, even though it's super unforgiving in its lack of elasticity. 

And with that, it was a big, beautiful weekend full of culture, creation, and creature comforts. Heh. :)

Until next time, take care and Happy Creative Weekend!!