Life Lately Round 12

Well it has been a little over a month since I last updated everyone on our life here in Spain...  When we left off, the state of alarm was lifted and things went back to the "new normal" which for a few weeks looked a lot like the old normal.  Our sleepy beach town came alive with all the tourists as if there was no pandemic and it has worried us.  Restaurants and bars are packed, people are out and about -- but at least the beaches are being patrolled.

Of course all the tourists mean the numbers of COVID cases are rising yet again -- back into the 1000s of new positive cases daily but this time no shutdowns are happening (yet).  Various regions throughout Spain have gone back to some of the earlier phases but nothing like the strict lock down of March and April (thank goodness).  We get a new update from the base almost weekly of areas within Spain or Europe we can't travel to due to increase in case numbers.  And coming from Spain, quite a few countries have shut their borders to us.  

In early July our region made a stricter mandate for masks -- basically all the time you are outside your home or not with your family.  So even walking to the grocery store by myself, I have to wear a mask.  Walking Serafina to camp, I have to wear a mask.  Taking the trash out, mask on.  Luckily the mandate doesn't require (but does encourage) masks for kids under the age of 6 so we don't make Serafina wear one unless she is inside a store -- especially with her asthma, it is better for her if she isn't in a mask.

Speaking of her asthma, we saw the pediatric pulmonologist in Jerez (so a Spanish doctor) at the end of June and he was amazing (and spoke perfect English which made it easier for all of us).  He was just as shocked as we all are that her breathing issues only started in early March.  He switched up her inhaler (this is now switch number three in just about as many months) and wants to get some lung tests as well as allergy testing done.  Because of COVID, we have had a hard time scheduling her testing but we hope to have it done by the end of August.  And the inhaler switch has helped A LOT so that has been good.  

 

Camps started up again for kids, with more limited spaces and more safety/health precautions in place.  We decided to sent Serafina to camp since she desperately needed social interactions with kids and to practice her Spanish -- and it is the same camp she went to last year so we knew it was amazing.  They have temperature checks at pick up and drop off, lots of hand washing...  The teachers wear masks or face guards (or both).  But the kids are able to be together and run and play.  They aren't doing the same activities as they did last summer, but she is still having fun and that is all that matters.

We have been able to enjoy time with friends, going to the beach and out to eat.  We all carry masks everywhere and I have ours stashed by the door on hooks so we grab one each time we leave the house.  We are still hanging out with the same few families and friends over and over again, keeping our circle small and trying not to take any unnecessary risks.  We have had a few friends travel within Spain and Portugal in early July but now that things are slowly shutting down again, we feel like we missed our opportunity to travel.  But that is fine with us -- we are just so thankful Spain took things seriously the first go around so we can get out of the house and actually enjoy our summer and let Serafina play with friends. 

As of right now, both the base school and Spanish schools are planning on having in-person instruction starting this school year.  We enrolled Serafina in both just to keep our options open. Our first choice is to keep her in Spanish school but distance learning in Spanish is a little (A LOT) challenging for all of us.  So keep your fingers crossed things stay okay and we get to send our sweet girl to Spanish school in September.    

And that is really it -- hopefully my next update is just as boring!

The Peanut is Five

Well, the Peanut turned FIVE at the beginning of February but life had us a little under the weather (we all got the horrible flu and were miserably sick for a good week, it was awful).  So I am a little late to the update game -- but lucky for Serafina, her birthday turned into a birthday month!

the only picture we got on her actual birthday, resting on daddy because her fever was 103*

celebrated with cake a few days later when she was fever free (and before dad had to leave on a work trip)

finally able to celebrate with friends later in the month

Nicknames: she still calls herself Sera or Serie -- at school she goes by Serafina but most of her friends call her Sera.

Looks: still blond(ish) hair and curly but getting straighter on top and down to the middle of her back if I straighten it (but about shoulder length when curly) -- her hair lightens up a lot in the summer so now it is darker than usual since she isn't at the beach everyday.  She is still tall for her age and would prefer to wear leggings and t-shirts all day, everyday (but also loves frilly dresses -- go figure).  

Eating: still a really good eater!  She will try almost anything but particularly loves cucumbers, strawberries, peas (probably her favorite food), chicken (and any meat but she calls it all chicken), paella (she calls it orange rice and tries to order it at every restaurant we go to), olives, apples, rice... The list goes on.  While traveling she is doing better sitting and eating which makes it easier on all of us.

Health: this year has been a little rough for sickness -- last spring she got scarlet fever not once but twice (apparently she doesn't get strep throat, she just goes straight to scarlet fever).  She's had her fair share of colds/coughs and then for her birthday this year we all had high fevers and were practically dying of the flu (not really but it was miserable).  Poor Sera had a fever for a week and missed so much school and we even had to cancel her birthday party (but we did make it up later in the month).  AND she has her first loose tooth -- she isn't so sure about it but does seem happy about the "Mouse Fairy" that will come (we combined the Spanish version with the American version!). 

when you both have the flu and go to the doctors together

Sleeping: still not consistently sleeping through the night, but it is what it is -- night terrors are still becoming more rare but they do still happen, especially during times of big change (school starting or ending, traveling, visitors).  She still naps a a few times a week, especially on swim lesson days because of the time of our lessons.  We also have her nap if we do anything out in town since activities and dinners tend not to start until later at night.  

Saying: still talking all the time, seriously, she never stops talking -- ever!  Her imagination is just incredible and I love hearing the games and situations and such that she comes up with -- her current favorite thing to do is talk in a British accent for all her dolls.  It cracks me up and she is surprisingly really good at it!  Her Spanish is still progressing each day -- we find it amazing that she can switch back and forth so effortlessly.  My favorite is that she is learning so much at school that there are many words she doesn't even know in English!  We had a parent/teacher conference in the fall and her teacher was so impressed with her language skills, she said sometimes she forgets that Spanish is Serafina's second language!

Likes: lots of things -- 

- cooking and baking: every single day she asks what we are making for dinner and if we can "mix" (aka bake something), she prefers to eat the dough rather than the finished project but it sure is fun (and messy) cooking together, her favorite is to make "tick tock cookies" (aka chocolate chip cookies) with me or to cook dinner with Trevor

- swimming: still taking swimming lessons and still loving it, she is such a fish and would prefer to hang out at the bottom of the pool but her strokes are coming along and we are super impressed!

- dancing: she started ballet this year and she is in heaven, she did SO well at her winter recital (first time ever she had no stage freight) and she dances pretty much wherever she goes 

- princesses: still loves all things princess, especially all the Disney princesses -- she doesn't really have a true favorite, it changes daily

- animals: still loves animals, doesn't care what it is, she loves it -- she asks every single day if we can get a baby kitten (and every single day I say yes but that we have to ask daddy who sadly tells us no)

- Barbies: she got a huge doll house for Christmas and she loves it -- she calls it her Barbie Dream House and loves setting it up and playing with all her Barbies and dolls 

- coloring/drawing: she is constantly carrying around a notebook + pens/markers, she is always drawing or writing or designing dresses 
- Play-Doh: I finally got over my hatred of Play-Doh and we have quite the collection now.  Serafina loves playing with it and loves making Play-Doh dresses for her Barbies -- she gets insanely creative with the details, it is pretty impressive actually 

What Else: this year the transition back to school was so much better -- we have a new teacher who is amazing (seriously, she is the best).  Serafina went to the best summer camp last summer and it really helped her Spanish language skills take off.  She had SO much fun playing with the big kids each day and doing all the fun camp activities (swimming, going to the castle, going to the farm and botanical gardens, learning to sail and more)!  I just can't get over how brave she is, often being the only American is many situations and adapting and loving life.  She still loves playing with her American friends on the weekends and loves going on adventures/travels.  She asks all the time when we get to go on an airplane again.  Serafina hates change (but loves to travel).  She struggles when things are different, even if I drive a different way home from school.  She does better when things are explained to her (like when Trevor has to travel for work or when there is a break in school), but it can still cause some big meltdowns and sleepless nights for all of us.  Serafina loves SO hard, her emotions are so big -- I really think we have a little empath on hands, she truly feels the way others feel and while so amazing she has such empathy for others, it can also be challenging.  She is so kind and sweet (and spicy) and we love our Peanut so very much and she brings such joy and adventure to our lives!  

Some of my favorite pictures from the past year --

Life Lately Round 11

Been while since I have done a Life Lately post... I think my last one was back in October for a Day in the Life.  So let's catch up, shall we?

Our winter started with an amazing German Christmas Market trip and of course all the holidays -- which my parents got to experience so that was really fun.  Our winter was packed with visitors and travels (Trevor mostly for work).

And as usual our spring was insanely busy with a week long road trip to Portugal during Semana Santa (Holy Week -- the week leading up to Easter), then we had Feria at the end of April -- basically we all got sick and didn't quite have a weekend long party like we have done in the past.  And then we took the most amazing trip to Scotland (first post here and second post here)...

Which led us up to the end of the school year for Serafina and wow was it busy!  Between the fin de curso celebration and various other class parties, June flew by!  I wrote a really long post about our experience with Spanish public school (spoiler: we LOVED it).  And we also took a day trip to Cadiz for the 2nd Annual Beer Festival...

July brought one of my closest friends (who really is like a sister to me) and her husband for a short visit.  We packed in a bunch in their short two days here but we had a blast -- including a tour at Luis Perez, a local winery in Jerez (which is hard to find since we live in the sherry triangle, where all true sherry is produced).  Highly, highly recommend going on a tour if you ever come to visit us, or even if you are local!  We did do a "do it yourself" sherry tasting at our local bodega -- El Gato and also enjoyed some insanely good tapas!

This summer Serafina has been enjoying a summer camp of sorts.  I wanted her to continue to practice her Spanish as she will continue with public school in the fall.  I found a great camp that is for kids with and without disabilities (all of the kids with disabilities are highly functioning).  They do so many different fun activities throughout the summer -- going to the local cheese farm, going to the beach, swimming at the local pool, having bike safety days, sailing lessons, learning all about the castle and church in town and more!  She has so much fun and loves going to "camp school" each day!  Our town also put on a foam party that Serafina just loved...

Our weather has actually been quite a bit colder and windier than usual so sadly we have had less beach days this summer, but we still went whenever the weather cooperated!  And of course had a blast whenever we spent time at the beach -- Serafina is getting very comfortable in the ocean (no worries, she can swim)!

And while I know summer is not over, especially for us since school doesn't start until September 10th -- we are off on an epic adventure for the last two weeks of August!  Follow along on Instagram (especially stories) to see where we are headed and all of our adventures!

The Peanut is Four!

Our sweet gal is four which means she gets her own update!

Nicknames: she calls herself Sera or Serie so we go along with it -- at school she goes by Serafina but most of her friends call her Sera.

Looks: still blond(ish) hair and curly but getting straighter on top (and finally growing!) -- her hair lightens up a lot in the summer so now it is darker than usual since she isn't at the beach everyday.  She is still tall and loves wearing dresses and leggings so we often have to size up for the length.

Eating: still a really good eater!  I do miss the insanely balanced and diverse meal/lunch she would get at her preschool but for the most part we have lucked out in the eating department.  She is four so she gets picky and decides one day she likes something but the next she doesn't but that is all normal!  She struggles to sit and eat (not because she isn't hungry but because she would rather play) and this is very difficult when traveling -- but we make it work and she eats a lot of french fries when we travel :) At home she is a great eater and loves most fruits (strawberries especially), most veggies (particularly peas), chicken (any meat is called chicken), rice -- she will eat rice all day every day if we let her, yogurt, pasta... I could go on!  Overall she eats great and we have no complaints!

Sleeping: still not great but it is what it is.  On a good night I am only up once with her for a nightmare or night terror, most nights it is at least twice and rarely do we get a night of no wake ups.  We have tried everything and we just have a kiddo who has trouble with sleep.  We switched her to a full-size bed in the fall and that actually helped a lot.  Night terrors are becoming more rare but they do still happen.  She still naps most days and on nap days, she typically sleeps better at night so we aren't about to fully give up naps just yet.  

Health: I feel like we finally turned a corner with the illnesses and ear infections this year -- they seemed less and less and more spread out.  She most definitely gets the normal colds and sicknesses but that is all part of being a kid and going to school.  She took a nasty fall in November and sliced her chin open, resulting in her first stitches (3 to be exact) but she was so strong and so brave (way better than her parents) and it didn't seem to bother her one bit!  She also got her first black eye after falling on the concrete playground at school!
  
Saying: talking all the time, seriously, she never stops talking -- ever!  Her imagination is just incredible and I love hearing the games and situations and such that she comes up with.  My favorite is first thing in the morning when she wakes up and tells me all about her insanely vivid dreams or right after school when she talks nonstop in English just getting it out!  Her Spanish is still progressing each day -- we find it amazing that she can switch back and forth so effortlessly.  I often have to write down words to then learn myself (I swear each week I walk into my own Spanish class with a list of words I have learned from Serafina)!  

Likes: lots of things -- 
- mermaids: but said "marmaid" and she is obsessed!  She has mermaid sheets for her bed and a few mermaid dolls and goes almost everywhere with her Barbie mermaid, pretty sure she would turn into a mermaid if she could!
- cooking and baking: every single day she asks what we are making for dinner and if we can "mix" (aka bake something), she prefers to eat the dough rather than the finished project but it sure is fun (and messy) cooking together
I should note that she is a leftie and it has been a real eye opener for both myself and Trevor teaching her to cut, stir, peel, etc. with her left hand since he and I are right-handed.  But we have all adapted and she is really quite talented in the kitchen!
- swimming: still taking swimming lessons and still loving it, she offically swims without her floaties and was the first in her class to do so (we are so proud)!

- dancing: she started flamenco (she calls it "flamengo") lessons this year and she LOVES it, not sure if she actually dances in class as parents aren't allowed to watch but she loves her shoes, her skirt and the music

- princesses: still loves all things princess (she loved going to Sintra, Portugal to see all the castles)
- PlayMobil: she loves her PlayMobil toys -- we have quite a bit and she loves everything about them (we have a barn with so many horses and a lot of faires and she loves both equally), she sets them all up and creates little scenes and has imaginary play :)
- animals: still loves animals, doesn't care what it is, she loves it -- she thought the guinea pigs in Gorlitz, Germany were the coolest thing ever, but she also had a blast petting a snake in Grazalema, Spain.

- baby dolls/Barbies/any doll: she loves her dolls and has added a few Barbies to her collection, she has fun changing them and taking care of them (feeding, rocking to sleep, etc.)

- building: still loves building things, especially with our magnatiles (or whatever the cheaper version is called)

What Else: the transition to the big public school was rough on all of us (we seriously had the best preschool and teachers ever) but we are slowly getting used to the bigger school and the new way of doing things -- Sera is the only American in her class and that has been a challenge for all of us: the language, the cultural differences and more, but we are finding our way and making it work!  She loves playing with her American friends on the weekends (we are so lucky to have such an amazing group of friends here) and loves going on adventures/travels.  Shockingly traveling is harder in some ways at this age because she has her own opnions about what she wants to do, but we still take her everywhere with us and love showing her the world!  She is a snuggle bug and would snuggle all day, everyday if we let her.  When hurt she wants mommy but otherwise she is a daddy's girl through and through!

Some of our favorite pictures from the past year -- 

in Valencia, Spain

first day of school

pretty much sums up our family and relationship :)

in Berlin, Germany

in Bamberg, Germany

still "baby"wearing in Sinta, Portugal

Life Lately {Day in the Life}

I haven't done one of these in awhile and I love reading about how other people spend their day -- so I am sharing our day!  Serafina is a little over three and a half and I am a stay at home mom... Although I have started subbing one or two days a week at the school on base, but in general, I stay home.  And we live in Spain... So without further ado --

Documenting our day on a Wednesday -- which is probably our busiest day of the week!

7:21 -- I wake up in almost a panic as I have realized that Serafina has actually slept through the whole night which is a rare occurrence for our sweet Peanut... yes, we have tried everything and no, nothing helps.  We are just used to our little lady waking up at least twice per night.

7:40 -- I finally roll out of bed and start getting ready for the day and surprisingly Serafina is still sleeping...
I am not one to wake up before my kid because I get up so much with her during the night, I need all the extra sleep I can get!

7:51 -- our gate bell rings and I realize our house cleaners are a good 10 minutes early but oh well, I am happy they are here today because I have questions about a paper that was sent home with Serafina yesterday.  I was able to translate most of it but still had questions -- especially after some of the parents were asking more questions and making comments in our group chat.
So turns out her class is doing a unit on the body -- parts, senses, emotions, being healthy, etc.  The class will be learning about all of this in the classroom but the parents are also expected to teach the kids at home too.  Eventually the kids will be taking something to school that relates to the body and teaching what they learned at home to the rest of the class.... 

8:00 -- I finally wake the Peanut up and she is beyond excited that it is Wednesday and that our house cleaners are here.  They are seriously her favorite and mine too!  I love hearing Serafina speak Spanish to them (one does speak English but she forces both of us to speak Spanish to her which is wonderful for us)!  I also love that I have two extra hands today, often they are the ones that get Serafina dressed and fed on Wednesday mornings because she prefers them to me :)  On Wednesdays I pack Serafina's desayuno (breakfast -- aka snack) in the morning because it is fruit day and just easier to cut up the fruit in the morning to keep it a little fresher.
Most mornings, Serafina usually wakes about 7:30 and we snuggle on the couch, slowly get ourselves moving -- her eating breakfast and me doing the same while also doing chores around the house (starting laundry, putting away dishes, etc).  Serafina's school has a schedule for what to bring for snack -- what they call desayuno.  I always pack what is required for that particular day but I do pack a bigger snack because she doesn't eat lunch until she gets home until after 2pm.  I use our Yumbox and we love it.    

8:45 -- the massive scramble to get us out the door and to school on time -- we drive to school as it is just easier.  We have to park about 3-4 blocks away but it is pretty fun walking with ALL the other kids and parents to school.  It is especially fun when we see someone we know and we all get to practice our Spanish
School starts promptly at 9am and the school gates are closed by a city worker at 9:05am so you can't be late or you are locked out!  I can only describe the start of school as organized chaos -- there is a police officer (sometimes two) directing traffic around the school to help with all the people.  The gate opens about 8:55am and parents are only allowed inside the gates if they have a student in the infantil classrooms (so three, four and five year olds) -- all the other parents are kissing their kiddos bye outside the gates, so it is a lot of parents/kids hanging out in not a large space.   

9:00 -- the siren rings (yes, a siren, not a bell) which signals school is starting so all the kids run to line up.  Serafina lines up right outside her classroom so she waves goodbye to me as her teacher leads her into the class.... And then I begin the short walk back to the car, making sure to make it out of the gates before they are locked!

9:05-10:15 -- I hit the gym (on base) for my favorite workout class ever -- it is extremely hard but I love it.  Love the instructor and all my friends who are regulars with me!  We have a blast and sweat so dang much!

10:15-11:15 -- I have to leave workout class a little early to run across the street to my Spanish class.  I take Spanish once a week and I love it.  I have somehow managed to be in an advanced class with people who are practically fluent in Spanish so it pushes me to learn and study.

11:15-1:45 -- this is my time to run errands, do chores around the house, eat lunch, shower and do all the things...  Today I returned a few things at the NEX (the shopping store on base), grabbed lunch for Trevor at the commissary (grocery store), grabbed mail... ran home, started laundry, put things away, ate lunch, started lunch for Serafina, showered... It goes by so fast!
If I don't have Spanish then I have a little bit more time to get things done.  The days I don't have Spanish sometimes I'll grab lunch or coffee with friends from the gym or run errands I have in other towns, just all depends on the day.

1:45 -- head out the door to go grab the Peanut from school.  Again I drive because it is easier as it gets us home faster, gets us to lunch faster...
The gates open up about 1:55pm and again only parents with the little kids are allowed in the gates, so most are waiting outside for their kids to come out.  And again there is often a police officer directing traffic.  I walk down to Serafina's class and wait in a Spanish line (not a line at all) for the teacher to see me and release Serafina to me.  

2:00 -- this is my favorite part of the day -- Peanut comes running out of her class and immediately starts talking so fast and so much.  She has to get all that English in that she missed for the past five hours :)

shenanigans in the car before buckling up to drive home

2:10 -- home and eating lunch, having some snuggle time on the couch.  We usually watch a TV show at this time.  I have learned the hard way that it just helps Serafina decompress from her day at school, it just makes for a better afternoon.

2:45 -- today we have dance at 4pm so instead of nap we do quiet time -- Serafina can bring a toy or two (current favorites are her playmobil sets) upstairs and quietly play in her room... the goal is about 30 minutes but lately we have been struggling with that so I often have to go upstairs and remind her that it is quiet time.
We have dance Wednesdays and Fridays and swimming lessons on Tuesdays and Thursdays a little later in the evening.  So on Wednesdays and Fridays we have quiet time, but the other days Serafina still naps (not always on the weekends depending on what we are doing).  She will usually nap from about 3-4:30pm.

3:20ish -- quiet time is officially over so we head downstairs and Serafina plays while I continue with the laundry...

3:50 -- the scramble to get out the door for dance -- Serafina takes flamenco lessons and it is the most adorable thing ever, the shoes, the skirt, all of it!  We drive to dance and we pull up right as the teacher is walking up, so I drop Serafina with her and head back home.
Parents aren't allowed to stay during dance, so I run home and start dinner, answer emails, translate all the messages that came in during the day from the parent group chat of Serafina's class, finish up the laundry...

4:45 -- I am getting ready to head out the door when Trevor calls to tell me he is on his way home (SUPER early!) so I ask him to pick up Serafina which gives me more time to get some stuff done around the house.

5:05 -- Serafina comes running in the door showing me all her new dance moves!  And then she helps dad in the kitchen making something... Trevor has a standing guys night with some friends on Wednesdays so he will head out after bedtime.

6:00ish -- dinner time!  Tonight it is spaghetti and meatballs with some veggies.  We typically try and eat dinner together (or at least Trevor and I sit down to dinner together) but tonight Trevor has to help a friend move some furniture so after a massive tantrum from our sweet gal who did not want her dad to leave, she and I end up eating dinner on the couch watching some TV.

7:00 -- Trevor is back so he and Serafina play a bit while I clean up and get things ready for the next day -- make Serafina's desayuno and get her bedroom ready for bed...

tomorrow is bocadillo (sandwich) day 

7:30 -- start the bedtime wind down -- reading books, quiet play, getting pajamas on, etc.
If Serafina has had a nap this is all pushed back about an hour.  Especially on nights we have swim since we typically don't eat dinner until 7:00pm.

8:00 -- lights out and she is out cold... doesn't always happen, especially on days she has had a nap but it is nice for her to fall right asleep some nights.  Trevor and I catch up briefly about a possible upcoming trip and the next few days of the week before he runs out the door to his friend's house.

And now it is time for me to relax and unwind before I head to bed... writing this blog post, doing some travel research and also catching up on some TV.

9:15 -- wake up #1 for the night... it could be a long night.

10:02-- wake up #2 for the night.  I am off to bed as it looks like we may be in for a rough night.

Of course there were plenty of redirections and distractions and a few tears over a jammed finger as Serafina and dad were playing on the floor... Overall our days aren't this busy as we have more down time -- spent playing in our basement, making cookies with mom, doing all sorts of art projects, going on walks, or even watching TV if the day/mood/weather calls for it...

With Serafina in school full-time we do have less time at home and less time for play dates or activities with friends -- which is typically what we do on the weekend.  Getting a job here in Spain as a spouse is next to impossible so for now, I am enjoying my time at home.  Subbing works but it isn't always possible because the school hours are different from Serafina's and that can be a bit challenging to figure out care -- but we make it work at least one day a week.  And overall, we still love our life in Spain!