Castle in Segovia

Erin, Nate, and I took a bus one day to Segovia to explore a very popular castle. It was about an hour bus ride from Madrid.  I impressed myself with my adventurous spirit while in Spain.  I didn't let the language slow me down.  I am so happy that I had the courage to do the things that I did with the kids even when Mario couldn't join us, especially since we lived in Madrid less than 2 months.  I think even Eric and and Erin were impressed with how adventurous I had become.  They both know Spanish much better than I do, but neither helped me order food at restaurants.  They would just sit back and watch me stumble and then make fun of me.  We enjoyed walking around the streets of this very old city and seeing a beautiful cathedral, castle, shopping, and enjoying the very yummy pastries that were much cheaper in Segovia than in Madrid.  I still miss all those delicious pastries.

Our Final Week With Erin Part 5 Last Day Surfing

We decided to spend our last day surfing.  Unfortunately, I somehow missed getting very good pictures that day.  I will have to check another camera.  But I had to almost drag Erin and Nathan out of that water at the end of the day.  They had so much surfing and boogie boarding side by side for hours.  Mario and I sat back in our lawn chairs and just enjoyed watching all four of our children enjoy the water.  

Our Final Week With Erin Part 4 Hike and Waterfall Park

Erin loved to hike.  In fact, she loved anything that was outdoors. We decided to head back to the waterfall park one night and have a hike, dinner at the little outdoor restaurant in the park and then play on the rocks.  We thought the hike was a loop but when we were halfway around, we couldn't find the trail so we thought we would have to head back the same way we came.  Erin didn't want to go the same way and she was convinced the trail must be there somewhere.  Mario and the boys turned back and I told Erin I would continue down the nonexistent trail with her.  Eric must have been worried about us so he elected to stay with us.  We had so much fun going over and under fallen trees.  Clearly, there was no marked path, but we made our own and laughed and smiled all the way back.  I was so happy that Eric and I had that special time with her.  We beat Mario and the twins by several minutes.  After our hike, we ate dinner at the restaurant.  Unfortunately, the food wasn't great, but the scenery was amazing.  We spent the next couple hours playing on the rocks before we had to head back to the apartment.  It was such a fun, memorable night.