Raising Flowers and Skids

Quote of the Week

Posted on November 2, 2015 by Leah

“You may not be doing anything bad, but are you doing anything good?”

It’s easy to fall into this mode of operation.

Right now with 3 (and soon to be 4) teens in our home, I’m just happy that they aren’t falling into the “doing something bad” category!

But as a parent, I do want them to be more proactive and try to do something good. Make an effort to do something good. Go out of their way to do something good.

Technology is such a big topic in our house, and I think this quote speaks to it here too. I don’t think my kids are surfing inappropriate things, but I do think it is a big time suck and that time can be used more productively.

So, my challenge to them (and to both Rob and I because we fall into the same trap) is to make sure this week we go out of our way to ensure “good things” are happening. That we are making an effort to “do good” and not just giving a sigh of relief that we aren’t bad.

Free day exploring Madrid

Posted on November 2, 2015 by Leah

Friday was a free day! Christine and I took our boys, plus my adopted boy for the trip and we headed into town on our own via the train.

We decided to first take the boys to the Reina Sofia museum where they could see the world famous Guernica by Picasso. We knew we could not keep them interested for long, so went straight to the second floor and saw some Dali. The boys zeroed in on Dali’s “The Great Masturbator” painting and had a field day with that! They couldn’t believe that their Mom’s would bring them to such a place! We spent some time discussing Guernica. I don’t know much about art, but Christine does and I had my trusty guidebook:)

We then headed off to the Crystal Palace and walked the grounds of the Retino Park. We took some fun pictures!

Josh can’t jump in any of the jumping pictures because of his hamstring injury. Poor guy did his best:)

We then headed back to the Sol and the boys went back to Futbol Mania.

We decided on the same lunch as yesterday – calamari sandwiches (although Josh just had a plate of baby squid) and back to the market where Josh devoured a huge meringue cupcake. I didn’t even get a picture of it!

With the boys filled with sweets, we did some more shopping including bringing them into the shoe stores! We found one great store with Spanish made brands and the boys sat patiently – luckily the store had Wi-Fi! I tried to solicit opinions – it was hard! (Christine got some awesome pics which I will have to add when I get them!)

We caught up with most of our group at the end of the day and then we headed back and had a relatively early dinner.

The boys went a little crazy as Marko let up on their curfew so they partied it up on the 8^th floor before heading to bed.

The boys finally see Madrid…

Posted on November 1, 2015 by Leah

On Thursday we took a group tour into Madrid. It was mediocre at best – but the boys saw some sights: Plaza Espagne, the Royal Palace, Puerto Del Sol.

Of course the highlight for them was the Futbol Mania store where they all pretty much went crazy! We then branched off and found some Calamari Sandwiches from a place recommended by my trusty guidebook, and then went to the Mercado San Miguel again! The boys found some pasta there too – good right before another game.

We tried to go to the nun cookie shop again, but it was closedL but we took the boys to the famous churros place (the same one we visited the other night) and they snuck some in (as they were not allowed any sweets as they had a big game coming up).

We headed back to the meeting point and loaded the boys on the bus while Christine and I tried to squeeze in some souvenir shopping. We found the popular Primark store and bought for our families and then took the train back to the hotel. We went back on the bus and headed to the game. Because there were two games, and our boys were playing the later game, Christine and I wandered the streets in the suburbs a bit and found some teenagers who directed us to a mall that was about a 30 min walk. So, we walked! And shopped, but found nothing, and came back to the game with bananas and chips and guacamole!

They boys played well against the backdrop of an incredible sunset, but ended up losing all the same (apparently this team is one of the top teams in Spain).

Josh also ended up hurting his hamstring and had to come off in the second half. Poor guy:( but on the bus ride home, he was willing to forgo the back of the bus friend’s extravaganza and sit with me while we iced it.

They had some pasta for the boys at the hotel and we all sort of snacked and we then headed to bed. Most of our group was pretty tame. A few nights were spent in the lobby bar, a few Dads went and joined the Girl’s team parents who partied it up every night in Madrid (clubs only open at 2am… I don’t know how they did it!)

Exploring Madrid and a lot more soccer….

Posted on October 31, 2015 by Leah

On Wednesday, the boys were heading back to the Real Madrid training center to train some more, and a bunch of parents went into Madrid to tour around. I had a great guidebook, so once we got there (after a bit of a crazy time with sitting on a train that wasn’t moving, getting off to find another train that left, back to the original one that left too, then finally finding another one!!) we just explored following the suggested route.

We went to Puerto del Sol, back to the Mercado San Miguel market, off to a little church – that smelled like lemon cookies:)

My guidebook told us about this little unmarked door leading to a convent bakery – where you walked into this corridor and into a little room where there was a big wooden turnstile, you spoke through the turnstile (you couldn’t see the nun) and told her what you wanted, then put the money down, turned the turnstile, then turned it back to received your cookies! Of course, they were lemon (that was the smell)!

We continued on and went to the courtyard of the Royal Palace, and then toured the modern, but beautiful cathedral. We passed the Theatre and wandered through some more streets and squares.

We made out way to the top of a department store that was known to have a gourmet market/restaurant area with fabulous views.

It was really nice! We headed back to the hotel via the train (which we got right this time) and found the boys in their forced “study hall” supervised by coach Marko. They studied until it was time for us to leave for their second game.

They also tied their second game – it was tough competition!

After the game, we headed on for more soccer except we went to the stadium to watch Atletico play. They won and the boys loved being up in the stands cheering them on with all the Spanish fans.

Josh loved his ham (prosciutto) sandwich – had two of them at the game as he was starving after playing.

It was a super late night and everyone was completely exhausted, but another great day.

More soccer and a bit of touring in Segovia, Spain

Posted on October 30, 2015 by Leah

On Tuesday the boys went the Atletico Spanish FA training facility for training. We wandered around a bit and visited some outlets before watching them continue to train.

After lunch, we heading to the small town La Granja where we had a traditional Spanish lunch. The kids were grossed out by the egg in the soup, but Josh loved his suckling pig.

We then wandered around some gardens of the local Palacio Real (beautiful with the fall leaves changing). Josh was getting annoyed with all the pics I was taking – but we worked out a compromise: he would walk up ahead with his friends, but when he saw a spot he knew I’d want to take a pic of, he’d stop to let me take a shot. Luckily he keeps his eyes out for photo ops:)

It was a little chilly so I had layered up, hence why I look like a giant puff ball!^^^

Most of the boys and girls teams ^^^

Can you see how he is sarcastically smiling in these pictures – humouring me:)

Then he had enough (I was teasing him a lot!) ^^^

Isn’t this the most gorgeous bathroom ever?? ^^^

We continued on the bus to the little town of Segovia where we walked the streets and explored the amazing Alcazar castle.

So funny to see this swarm of kids in green jackets on these tiny streets! ^^^

We both thought this looked a bit like Africa! ^^^

With his coach ^^^

The castle was very cool, and then we climbed up the tower (the very narrow stairwell!) It was incredible, with unreal views.

We headed back into town and saw the famous Roman Aqueduct. I wish we had more time to explore that gorgeous town. A return visit for sure!

We headed back and Christine and I, exhausted, laughed and laughed about nothingness until we cried. Loved travelling with her!

Dinner at the hotel again where Josh hogged all the strawberry ice-cream (claiming he was a dealer and dealing it out when requested). Wish I had a pic! Hilarious that kid.

What was also hilarious is that his whole team call him by his last name. Some people even asked who “Josh” was when I called him! I had to resort to calling him by his last name sometimes too!!

I was glad we had decided that he would sleep in my room, as by now, most kids who had parents there were sleeping with their parents to try to get a good night sleep! (Even though coach Marko had strict rules and curfews, which the boys followed, but were still exhausted with all the training)

Training, Game #1 and the Prado

Posted on October 29, 2015 by Leah

The next morning the boys went to training again at the Atletico training complex. Christine (the goalie’s Mom — I have known her for a few years since our boys have played on the same teams for 4 years —- but I loved getting to know her so much more in depth. Love her!) and I headed out to spend the morning at the Prado museum. We took the train in, and had a great time wandering according to my book’s guide. We also walked through the botanical gardens:

I LOVE European train stations!

We made our way to a little local restaurant for lunch, but without knowing Spanish, ended up with a cheese sandwich and potato omelet sandwich! We headed back to the hotel where the boys were resting up and then we headed out to their first game.

I know there are a lot of soccer pics, but I sat through a lot of soccer – so this is nothing!! They ended up tieing 2-2. It was neat to head out to the suburbs to see their soccer fields.

Love the intensity in Josh’s face in this one^^^ I can’t believe how grabby he is too! Everything happens so quickly in real life that I don’t really notice – but when I saw these shots, I was surprised!

Not very happy that they tied:( He plays to win! ^^^

We had a nice dinner at the hotel and headed to bed, completely exhausted, but a great day!

Day one in Madrid: Training with Real Madrid

Posted on October 28, 2015 by Leah

The 1^st day we were woken up early as the boys had to head to the Real Madrid training complex. They had an awesome time and enjoyed the training in the amazing facility.

We then headed to the Real Madrid Stadium where we had a nice lunch at the café and then got to take a tour.

We headed back to the hotel where we had a bit of down time and the kids got to hang out for bit. The coaches decided to take all the players out for dinner, which was so nice as a bunch of us went out for a parent dinner in downtown Madrid.

Yup. A few of us ate this:)

It was pouring rain and we got majorly soaked but we found our way to the Mercado San Miguel and had a great night (or, as Christine said, it was like a really good cocktail party) and had some yummy tapas. We followed it up with the traditional churros.

And the soccer adventure in Madrid, Spain begins

Posted on October 27, 2015 by Leah

When Josh’s team announced they were headed to Madrid, Spain in the fall, I didn’t think we would be able to make it happen. We toyed with the idea of sending him on his own with his coaches, but nixed that idea after some thought… I was the poor parent that volunteered to go with himJ

We had one of his teammates travel with us and headed out on the Friday around noon with a 4-hour layover in Chicago. We then took the overnight flight to Madrid, and arrived at 7:45 am, exhausted having only slept a few winks, but enjoyed a few moviesJ

We made our way to our hotel and rested a bit (well I did, the boys went and found some team mates who were already there) before having a quick lunch and catching up with everyone.

Since this is a relatively new team, I didn’t know the parents very well except for the goalie’s Mom, Christine, as her son had been on Josh’s old team for the past few years. So, it was nice to get to know people a little better (much better by the end of the trip!).

The kids were excited to head out to Real Madrid game, where Real Madrid won 3-0 (against Levante). It was a bit crazy being with everyone with a crowd of 70,000 and everyone jetlag, but out guide and host for the week (Mario) did a good job at herding us together.

We headed back to the hotel and then a group of us went out for some tapas at a local restaurant. We were happy to have one of the Dad’s join us that spoke Spanish and help us order. Although, we ended up getting about 5 different kinds of potatoes! (Which we ended up joking about all week as it seems potatoes are in everything in Spain!!!) The kids ended up having some chicken and calamari. We headed back to the hotel utterly exhausted, but a great start to the trip.

A little Sam and Josh time

Posted on October 16, 2015 by Leah

While the big guys were in Utah, we got to spend some alone time with Sam and Josh. It felt peaceful just having the two around!

Rob took Sam out to the Air Museum and they had a great time!

We then took the kids out for dinner, and then went to the bookstore to buy a couple of books.

Church was even peaceful!

We also had a special occasion for Josh. He has been selected to play soccer for one of the best teams in our region, in the highest league. It is quite an accomplishment for him, so we got to go for his “signing” and celebration. He was hilarious – pretending to read the contract.

This coming week I travel with him to Madrid, Spain, where he and his team are headed to play some soccer with the Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid academies. Again, quite an exciting time for this guy (and this mama who gets to go with him!)

Adventures in Utah

Posted on October 13, 2015 by Leah

We really wanted to make it out to visit my brother, sister-in-law (Jamie and Judy) and cousins this year. We just love their family and my kids are desperate to have cousin time. But logistically and financially it was really hard. So, we came up with an idea of sending just the older three out (with a promise to the younger two that their day would come —assuming the older kids don’t ruin it for them by being terrible guests!!)

What a blast they had!!!

It started out great, dropping them off for their early morning flight. They were all pretty confident and a bit annoyed at all my little reminders. I guess I didn’t remind them enough because several hours later, Rob got a call that they had missed their connecting flight. Not due to the airline fault – but because they left the gate to go get DRINKS and then never heard the announcements for boarding. Seriously. Argh. Luckily some nice ticket agent took pity on them and re-booked them (luckily there was another flight on the same day with seats) for no charge….

Anyhow, they arrived safely and were treated like Kings and a Queen!!! I know from staying with Jamie and Judy that they treat you like gold – seriously they have the host etiquette mastered and magnified!

Judy was kind enough to send us pictures throughout the long weekend and I was seriously jealous of everything they were doing – but more jealous of the bonding that was happening. So glad my kids had this opportunity! So appreciative of Jamie and Judy loving and embracing my children. Hope to return the favour soon!?!??

Here’s the shots she sent me.

First up: University touring – UVU and BYU. My kids loved the schools!!

^^^ My simply gorgeous niece tour guide!! How did she grow up so fast?!?!?

^^^Small world! They bumped into a missionary friend who served in our area when Gabe got baptized (and helped arrange his baptism!)

They went to the Provo Temple too:

That night they went to a high school football game (Judy didn’t go, so no pics, but she spent tons of time debriefing me on their day!)

The next day, they did some Walmart shopping which Zandra was dying to do!

Then got to see soccer star Ellen play! She scored (and apparently has scored 9 goals in 4 games – very impressive – maybe there is a soccer gene in the Davidson side?!?!)

^^^Hmmm… we really need a shot of superstar Ellen playing!!

Then they took them into SLC to see temple square!

^^^Abby wasn’t able to go with them:( And look how tall Tanner is (and Drew is getting!!!) Even my cutie Ellen!!

Last time Zach was in temple square, he looked like this:

And his cousin Abby at that time looked like this:

(we went one other time to visit them when Zach was 6 but didn’t make it to temple square)

Glad to see Zach and Abby are still bonding:

As are the other cousins:

So glad they got to spend some time with our dear friends Roland and Chandra and their cutie Kade (who was just under 2 months when we met him). We love these guys!!!:

We were pretty excited for them to come home, but they told us unanimously that they wanted to stay… and that the trip was just too short (which, I agree, but we worked with what we had!)

I am so grateful to Jamie, Judy and their kids for showing them such an amazing time, sharing with them, giving so generously, loving so unconditionally (and sending me step by step pics – even though they didn’t include any pics of themselves!!! Too busy looking out for others!) When I married Rob and introduced my 3 step kids into our extended family, Jamie and Judy did not miss a beat. There was no awkward “your kids, vs his kids” or even any kind of adjustment! It was simply welcoming more into the fold with open arms and I just love them so much for that. I also love that my kids have these awesome cousins who they wish they could see all the time! Now on to planning next summer!

We picked them all up at the airport late last night – happy to see they made their connecting flight – and they were filled with stories and excitement! Nice to have them home.