let me entertain you

Thanks to my mother and Family Fun, I came prepared with a couple tricks tucked away in my suitcase. And Friday was the perfect day to pull out my last one!

Hand glove monsters! Although they were a little messy to make, they were fun and easy and the kids loved it!

They were all so proud of their finished products!

Scary, silly monstruos and happy, contented kids!

bicycle race

A five day weekend. Five whole days to keep four energetic children entertained and taken care of and fed and sane and alive. Oh, and did I mention that mom's been out of town for a week and a half? Abuelita and I have definitely had our hands full, but we're surviving quite nicely, if I do say so myself.

Thursday was a beautiful spring day and also the first day in about a week and a half that all four kids were healthy enough to leave the house. So leave the house we did!

We ventured down to the port with juice boxes and roller blades and spent the next couple hours soaking up vitamin D and letting out our pent-up energy.

The sequel:

This is the "Place of the Four Winds." Or something like that. But I think that "Perfect Place for Four Little Ninos to Run Around and Roller Blade For Awhile" would be a more apt name.

There was quite a bit of racing.

..And smiling and falling and laughing and crying and getting up to do it all over again.

Sometimes a beautiful day is just what you need!

i am the walrus

A couple weeks ago there was a dress up/parade day at school. Why? I'm not quite sure. The language is still somewhat of a barrier, although I definitely am understanding more and more every day. All I really knew was that I needed to be at the school at 3:30 to take pictures and to take the kids home at 4:30.

Some were more excited about pictures than others.

Carlota and friend:

Every day sure is an adventure here! I can never be 100% sure what's going to happen. Even when I think I've got the schedule down, plans can change. I'm always on my toes and ready for anything! Fevers, bad moods, bad weather, days off of school--you name it. I always considered myself to be a pretty easy-going person, but I think this experience has confirmed it.

it's a beautiful day

Saturdays are the days I take pictures.

The first Saturday I was here, we spent the morning in our pajamas making bunk bed forts and telling stories.

Last Saturday was a rainy one. But the rain didn't keep us cooped up in the house for long!

Guillo, Ariadna and I took a little walk along the port.

Castle to the right,

and a Cathedral to the left.

And so many boats in between.

This morning, I awoke to two very excited girls jumping on my bed.

"Esta nevando! Esta nevando!"

Snow, snow, snow!

Normally, it will snow a little in the mountains, but never in the city.

While the big kids went exploring in the snow, I got to hang out with this little chick.

We were puppy dogs. Which is perfect because "How much is that doggy in the window?" just so happens to be our favorite song.

Then she became a professional photographer.

Then the whole family piled into the car and took a little walk.

Unfortunately, I forgot to pack my snow boots.

We built a snowman that turned out to be more of a bruja.

And one little girl will be getting a visit from the Tooth Fairy tonight.

Snowy Saturdays in Spain are stupendous.

another world

Time is flying. It's a phenomenon that never ceases to amaze me. There are still as many seconds in a minute and hours in a day as usual, but somehow time finds a way to bend all those rules and simply speed up or slow down whenever it wants to.

I graduated college! I have my Bachelor's degree in English. Unfortunately, I don't have much to show from my last semester in Hawaii. I'm the worst at remembering to take pictures. I don't really have much to say, either. Hawaii seems so long ago. And so far away! Which it really is. But, some of the highlights from the last semester were: going to Chicago with Ariel and Janelle, watching the romance unfold between Ariel and Ryan--who are now ENGAGED!!, making some new friends, learning how to slackline, book club dinners every single week, seeing Breaking Dawn at midnight and laughing our heads off, and of course, when my family came out for a week of graduation celebration and fun! I absolutely loved my time in Hawaii. The people I met, the experiences I had, the things I learned. But now that chapter of my life is closed.

Now I'm in this new place. This place where they say "hola" instead of "aloha." Where no one seems to know about second-hand smoke and I'm still astounded every morning when I see my foggy breath in the chilly air and there are palm trees lining the streets at the same time. I spend my days hanging out with four of the coolest little ninos around. I've also been doing a whole lotta work on my espanol. I love this place already and I'm so grateful and excited that I get to spend the next three months here.

Unfortunately, because of technical difficulties, I can't upload any pictures at the moment. So for now, that's all from me. Adios!

all i've got to do

Never write a research paper on your favorite book. You will hate it at the end.

catswalk

*warning. if you press play on the above video, be prepared to have this song stuck in your head for the rest of the day. possibly multiple days.

My mom is the first person who sent me the original of this video. Which is actually pretty surprising because rarely do my parents know about things on the internet before I do. But anyway. My mom sent it to me and said that it reminded her a little of me. At first I was offended. But then I just accepted it. Because the fact of the matter is: I love cats. I love every kind of cat. And I may even extend that to every kind of animal. Except possibly sloths. I've never quite been able to connect with them. Sometimes people make fun of me because of how much I love things. Like animals. But so be it.

I'm in love, I'm in love and I don't care who knows it!

And here follows a lovely montage of a sweet kitty we "fostered" at our house for a few weeks this summer:

Cats are cute.

a shot of rhythm and blues

If you're ever driving down any kind of coast

(esp. at night),

play this song.

don't try so hard

I would apologize for my lack of blogging, but it seems like everyone does that. So I guess I shall simply commend myself for being an average blogger.

Mediocrity is what we strive for. right?

Also, happy autumn to all.

etcetera

More pictures from June/July.

One day, whilst driving to the beach, Savanah and I stopped by some old ruins of a church and took some pictures.

And apparently thought squatting was a good idea.
My very cool roommates, Chelsea, Savanah and I, had Christmas on June 17th. Why? Because Chelsea had a Christmas tree under her bed.
We ate funnel cakes and I rode the Zipper for the first time at the 50th State Fair. I know what you're thinking: Wow! Hawaii has had 50 state fairs? No. Hawaii is simply the 50th state and this was its fair.
Remember this? Well these are the actual pictures from my adventure. So so fun.

I've been home in Utah for the last month, enjoying my summer vacation and it's been amazing, but unfortunately all I've been doing is sleeping and reading and I don't have any pictures of those activities to share with the world wide web. Maybe by the end of the summer I'll come up with some pictures of me doing things that are worth blogging about.

every little thing

Sometimes when it's really late at night and I need to take a break from my homework I....

..paint over a picture of my sister and me.

I don't even know how I found the particular website that I was on, but it was basically like the old school Paint program. I just uploaded a picture and then started playing around with it. I decided it would be cool if I completely painted over it to make it look like a real painting. I didn't use any special program or feature, I went through section by section and painted over it with the little paintbrush. Nothing is left un painted.

It was fun and actually pretty relaxing for my brain. And I like the finished product.

And don't worry. I finished my homework afterward.

a kind of magic

"It's a strange thing, but when you are dreading something, and would give anything to slow down time, it has a disobliging habit of speeding up" --Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Harry Potter is over. Of course I went to the midnight showing. Of course I went with Ariel. Of course we saw it in 3D with the special-edition Harry Potter-shaped glasses. Of course I brought my wand and my owl. Of course I cried.

I was the first person in my third grade class to read the first Harry Potter book. I've read all the books--mostly at about 1:00 in the morning on the day they came out. I've seen all the movies. As Harry got older, so did I. As the books got darker, I got more mature. I fell in love with the characters. I knew them by name. Hogwarts was a real place that I went back to in my mind just as Harry did in every book.

I was so excited to see this last movie (and it was absolutely incredible), but in the back of my mind, I was slightly dreading it. I didn't want to say goodbye to something that has been a part of my life for the last twelve years. That's more than half my life. Harry Potter--the books and the movies--was such a magical journey. As Daniel Radcliffe said, this is not the end of the story because "each and every person...who have followed these films over the last ten years will carry this story with them through the rest of their lives and it will affect what they do."

It's been magical. Thanks, hp. I'll love you for always.