Sorry for the bi-polar posts

Nerja  has been very good to us.  We made the right decision to stay here at the beach.  I regret that we didn't get to see Granada and Madrid this trip, but we've settled into a nice routine and everyone is more relaxed.  We still have four days left here but I'm already feeling pangs of longing for the life we've been living here.  I'm feeling bad about all of the complaining I did on this blog, but just like the "don't carpe diem" essay, it's impossible to enjoy every second of being a parent - no matter where you are.  Being in paradise is wonderful, but a screaming toddler is still a screaming toddler.  On Tuesday we will fly to Paris where we will stay for a week.  My brother is going to join us. I'm very excited to be in Paris again (Joe & I were there before we were married).  And then this trip, our first real adventure, will be over.  Maybe, just maybe, after a few months, we will be ready to do it again?  Either way, we've grown stronger as a family, a couple, and we've made memories that will last a lifetime.  I wonder how much of this trial travel with tots, the boys will remember?  Whether they will remember it or not, it will shape them in ways we will never know.  And even at the worst moments, my little family is still pretty cool.  

Trouble in paradise

The 3 year old telling it how it is We are loving the Spanish beach town of Nerja.  Today we enjoyed paella right on the beach which they cook in a huge cauldron.  We dyed easter eggs with onion skins.  We have a wonderful place to stay with plenty of room with patios with views of the ocean.  We can easily walk to everything.  However, our situation with the kids has only improved slightly.  Our three year old is still rebelling with everything he has.  He is hitting, throwing several mighty tantrums a day, refuses to nap or go to bed at night and then has night terrors because he is over tired.  We have to give him treats to get him to do anything.  Tonight, right in time for Easter, he tested out some new vocabulary words "god damn-it".  Wow.  I can't imagine where he would've heard that....  So while we aren't ready to call our new life, the "trial travel with tots", a complete fail, we would definitely NOT recommend it.  Joe is ready to go back to work asap.  We have had some wonderful moments together and I feel bad even complaining at all.  I realize what a great opportunity this is and how lucky I am to be sitting on the beach in Southern Spain.  Maybe you could do it successfully with some kids, just not ours.  Our three year old is too sensitive and needs a rigid routine.  We overestimated his capabilities (poor little guy).  So what to do now?  We have decided to cancel our plans to go to Granada and Madrid and just stay here in Nerja until its time to go to Paris.  We hope this will provide the stability our child needs to shape up before we sell him to the pirates.   

The halfway point

The halfway point Thank the gods we are out of Seville!  Ever since arriving in the lovely, warm, sunny, small yet bustling beach town of Nerja, our luck seems to have changed.  As I said in my previous post, it wasn't all Seville's fault, except the weather (rain) and the crappy lodging (we couldn't find anything better due to the Santa Semana celebrations).  Seville is probably a great spot, we had lots of nice moments and memorable meals. But Nerja seems to be where we should've come right from the start, and stayed the whole time!  But I always was a beach gal...  Joe is considering canceling the rest of our destinations (Granada, Madrid & Paris) and just staying put for the rest of our trip.  Fine with me.  Our accommodations are perfect.  Large, sunny, complete with beach toys, high chair, dishwasher, the owner even offered to babysit for us!  I mean, our kids are pretty cute when they are behaving but still that's pretty generous...  The beach is a short walk away.  There are a hundred great restaurants, bakeries and heladerias all right up the way on a pedestrian only road.  Last night we all had giant plates of delicious pasta for $3 Euros each.  The elusive Santa Semana parades we kept trying to find in Seville, we happened to just stumble upon last night that was so neat it almost made me want to get back into Catholicism again (even if only for the incense & music).  They take Easter seriously over here!  We spent the morning on the beach which kind of reminds me of Puerta Vallarta, Mexico or Cinque Terre, Italy with the mountains right on the beach vista.  Right now, both boys are napping, Joe is buying groceries, and I'm sipping some wine on our ocean view balcony.  Life is good again!

Tapa heaven, Santa Semana & RAIN on our parades!

Tapa heaven, Santa Semana & RAIN on our parades! We finally got to sit down at a sidewalk tapa restaurant a few days ago (well, I did.  Joe did laps with a sleeping Theo in the carrier).  The tapas were rich and wonderful.  What a great culture!  Here's what I had: bacon wrapped dates drizzled in honey (I'm a big fan of salty & sweet together and this was similar in taste to bacon that just happens to get with syrup on your pancake plate), fried eggplant with Brie also drizzled with honey topped with walnuts, leeks au gratin (served on a plate so hot the cheese was crispy on the sides), slightly spicy peppers served warm with sea salt, and a chilled tomato soup.  YUM!  We also love the quickie tapa places where everything is on display and you help yourself to whatever you want and then when you are ready to pay, they count how many toothpicks are on your plate.  Each tapa comes with a toothpick and they are $2 Euros each.  Fun for the whole family!  Now I'm on a mission to have real churros with hot dipping chocolate!  Joseph will be in heaven. We also are in the midst of the Santa Semana (Holy Week) celebrations.  I'm not sure exactly because we haven't actually been able to see any of it live yet but I think it goes something like this: each church has these elaborate "floats" with statues of Jesus & Mary & tons of candles - some of them 100's of years old - that parishioners walk under carrying through the streets all the way down to the cathedral in the center of town.  They then walk back to the church with it.  Some of these round trips can take up to 12 hours.  The strangest thing about it for me is  that the men are dressed in these creepy costumes that look like they are on their way to a KKK rally.  No joke!  White or black robes with pointy hats with slits cut for eye holes.  They are proudly walking around and every time I see one of them I get chills.  The festivities started on Sunday and get bigger every day until Easter.  Sunday was really fun.  We were able to hang at a tapas bar right in the thick of all the excitement.  People were everywhere drinking & eating in the streets.  It was great people watching. Actually the trip is kind of a disaster right now.  We are thinking of throwing in the towel and coming home.  Not really but at least once a day one of us is like "forget this let's get out of here!"  Despite all of the happy, fun moments, Seville has not been as good to us as Barcelona.  It's not Seville's fault, well except that its been raining since we got here and our living quarters aren't as functional.   We've just had a rough week.  Now both boys are sick and neither will ever sleep (even though Jos has dark circles under his eyes).  How can they outlast us every day?  We are both exhausted and they or at least Joseph is still going going going until late at night and then has night terrors all night which wakes Theo up.  We keep trying to see some of the Santa Semana (Holy Week) parades but it is either raining when we try or one of the boys is asleep (usually the former).  We are fine with a little drizzle, we've been walking in it since we arrived.  But I'm talking rain.  Not going sightseeing with two sick boys in the pouring down rain.  So the alternative is keeping them entertained in our small living quarters without driving ourselves mad.  I'm not ready to bail out of the trip yet, but I am ready to get the heck out of Seville!  Thank god for the food here, it's our only comfort right now, when we can actually get to it.