Wow.  November 1st and 26 degrees Celsius.  84 Fahrenheit I believe.  Unbelievable weather.  We wore our bathing suits to the beach and I went in up to my knees.   With more company, I would have gone swimming :) but my chilly companions wanted to climb the ropes on the beach.  I collected shells for crafts that Ben and I make together. 

No school on November 1st was a nice treat for us.We walked through the neighborhood Cabanyal to the beach.  We were told to be a bit careful where we walked in the neighborhood but the streets we take seem just fine to us.  It's definitely an older, working class area that has a lot of charming little buildings with old tiles.  I loved this one.   The front is covered entirely in tiles.

We also stumbled upon this lovely square (Plaza de los Angeles) with a church.  It seems like a great place to come and have tapas before comida.

. 

Well, it's the 6th day without the pacifier.  Yes, he still asks for it and bedtime can be a bit of a challenge.  Just another reason to stall bedtime actually.  And falling asleep takes a bit longer.  We tell him that it he's a big boy now but he doesn't buy that.  He could see himself driving with that pacifier.  It wouldn't embarrass him one bit.  However, no going back now.

Madre mia.  It wasn't easy.  Poor Ben missed his baba.  He cried for it.  And asked for it. Well...probably about 5000 times.  It was constant.  It took him 90 minutes to fall asleep the first time.  He woke up several times at night and then for good around 7am.  We're all tired.  Let's hope tonight is easier for him.  I feel bad for letting it go this long. 

You know, I'm not adjusting to this poo poo caca in the street thing.  I am so darn tired of having to watch where I step ALL the time.  And it also totally bums me out that I am so cacaphobic that I don't want Ben playing soccer in front of our apartment.  Actually, before we play any sport anywhere, I need to do a quick caca assessment to estimate the probabilities of poop on the the (soccer, football, baseball -etc) as well as the probability on our little tike who loves to somersault and dive after the ball. 

Not sure what to do with all this caca angst.  Start a scoop the poop campaign?  Perhaps.....

Goodness.  What a day.  Today was Ben's first full day at school.  How traumatic for the mama.  We explained to Ben that he would eat at school, sleep at school and stay for the afternoon.  We told him there would be no ba - no chupeta - (his pacifier) and he seemed ok with it.  I was stressed.  He said good bye like a big boy and I waited to talk with his teacher.  As I waited, I began to cry a bit.  Could it be because Mitch and I collided as he raised his head after kissing Ben and I lowered my head to kiss my son?  Could it be because my fingertip that I sliced last night was still hurting?  Or that nagging blister that was still killing?  Well, we all know that I was worried of course.  How would he sleep without his aquarium that our friend Josh gave him at birth?  How would he sleep without his special blanket? And how would he sleep without his "ba" and his mama beside him?

Well, according to his teacher, just fine.  Such a big boy.

Tonight, bedtime was a bit more traumatic.  We had not planned on eliminating that pacifier completely but the teacher suggested it and we just went with it.  It took poor Ben more than 90 minutes to fall asleep tonight, to cries of ba please.....mama ba....papa ba......ba ba.....ba.....ba ba......ba now.....where ba go mama......

sigh

thank goodness ben's teacher is keeping me in line.  it probably would have taken me forever to eliminate it.  Hmm...guess it already has...

We are a 10-15 minute "toddler" walk to the beach from our house along Avenida Mediterraneo.  We walked the other day and I just loved watching Ben celebrate our arrival at the beach.  The joy was immense and quite contagious.  I found myself feeling so grateful to be living our life right now, despite the terrible bronchitis and asthma I was experiencing at the moment.  (currently on the mend)

Anyway, check out the new photos of his "ode to the beach" and "dance, free toddler, dance" moves.

We're back from our trip to the States.  The flights back were long and delayed but relatively uneventful, especially from the child and the dog perspective.  Both behaved themselves phenomenally.   I don't think anyone realized that we were traveling with a pet, except for when dinner was served.  When they asked, chicken or beef, the LOUDEST bark came from underneath the seat.  BEEF was her clear choice.  We were very amused, especially because we made beef just last night and heard that very same bark come from our dog.  A special request from our Jack Russell Terrier :)

We are constantly amazed by our nice it is to fly Iberia and how miserable the US Air flight attendants are.  More about it another day, but suffice to say, I am really amazed that US Air is still in business.  I'm sure it's the flight routes and the pilots.  On our first flight over on US Air, we were scolded for asking for water (remember you can't bring any on) and for standing in line for the bathroom.   (they assumed that we were just 'hanging out' with our toddler - which is not allowed)

Iberia gives everyone headsets, slippers and blinders to sleep.  The meals come with wine and bread which is passed out several times.  Mitch laughs that they don't give you detailed instructions on the loudspeaker on how to place the boxes on your tray once you're finished eating.

It cost us $180 one way to bring our dog.  In addition to the almost $500 for the paper work, health certificates etc, this was an expensive endeavor.  Worst yet, NO ONE asked for any thing.  We can't help but wonder if it would have been possible to simply.....bring the dog with us, w/o any of the processes we followed. 

Ah...the Mercadona, our neighborhood supermarket.  I'll admit, it's not the typical market where the fruit, veggies and fish are the freshest.  However, it's just a block from our house and we are constantly amazed by the choices.  Some of our favorites:

Yogur de Coco - Coconut yogurt.  Why hasn't this caught on in the states?

Yogur de Coco con muesli - Coconut yogurt with muesli.  Hmm.

Ready made Spanish tortilla for $2.50 (1.68 Euro) Wow.  Why make it when it's this easy to buy?  True, mine taste a bit better, but they take me at least an hour start to finish.

Sliced goat cheese.  Why use swiss on your sandwich when sliced goat cheese is available?

Wine for anywhere from 1Euro (or less) and up.  We typically stick with something in the 2-4 Euro range and they are just fine.

Turkey sausage.  It's nice to find a pork alternative sausage.  Plus it's very yummy.

Petite Suisse - this is for kids but we like it too.  A mix of yogurt and cheese.

Of course, fresh, fresh bread.  Barra o Chapa de pan. 

Whole fish, especially trout, dorado and cod are excellent.

Cereal with dehydrated fruits.

Fireworks are a daily/nightly occurrence in Valencia.  I wonder if Valencia spends more per person on fireworks than anywhere else in the world. 

I have no idea why there was such a grand show a few blocks away from us tonight.   My guess is that it was in Ayora Park.  It was pretty awesome and lasted about 20 minutes at least.

I know that Las Fallas has a lot of fireworks.  Perhaps they practice a lot leading up to it.  Soccer games, marriages and I think bull fights call for fireworks.  I'm on a mission to find out what else.  Will let you know :)