Not to brag, but . . . (by Michelle)

Not to brag, but our kids have really done a great job of touring with the students. We've expected a lot of them and several students have mentioned how impressed they are that our kids can keep up with the schedule. Here is how a typical day on the road goes. First, we usually have a provided breakfast in the hotel. Usually this is a roll and hot chocolate or orange juice. Then we rush off to meet a tour guide. Tours can be exhausting. They alternate between hurrying from one place to another and then standing in one spot while the guide speaks at length IN SPANISH about whatever it is that we are touring. It is not abnormal to tour a cathedral for up to an hour. David and/or I usually try to translate a little for the kids or I try to give them my own mini-tour (which usually means pointing out strange or interesting things or playing a few rounds of 20 questions and all the while keeping watch to make sure that the tour doesn't dash off to the next place.) The kids have the greatest time with the students, but when we are on tours they are expected to be quiet when it is time to listen. The kids try to learn something new, to be observant and engaged, and to find something to like about a place. And when a tour is over? There is usually free time which means the family goes exploring on our own. (more walking) Honestly, they are often tired (walking 4-5 miles is pretty normal now), bored, hungry, thirsty, and bathrooms are also not always nearby and convenient, but they have tried not too complain too much and both David and I have been very proud of them. I am especially happy when I see them trying to help each other (like in the sweet picture above.)

BUT EACH ONE OF US has had bad days here and I especially felt like this sequence of pictures captures that well.

THE SETTING: Here is the picturesque Plaza de Espana in Seville. We came here on our free-time after a 3 hour tour of the Seville cathedral and the Alcazar palace.

THE STORY: Mom is distracted, taking pictures, and Eva really wants to sit in the shade on this side of the plaza, but Mom wants to go to the other side for a picture and Eva gets a bit miffed. Finally we are on the other side of the plaza and Mom wants to take a picture with everybody, but Eva isn't going to budge. Not for anything.

Alex and Simon think it is really funny that she is throwing a fit, so they try to "help out" (knowing they will get an elevated reaction from her.)"Let's just wait until she is finished sulking."

Finally, after 10 minutes of hiding out she succumbs to the picture. "I'll be in the picture, but I'm not going to smile." I guess that it doesn't matter since Simon isn't really smiling either.

Later, leaving the Plaza, Eva falls asleep ON DAVID's HEAD. (David wonders why his shoulders are always sore at the end of the day...?) So often on the road the moods just mean that somebody needs to eat or sleep.

What a day! All of this and still there are Halloween festivities to come (see Simon's blog below).
(p.s. I suppose it doesn't seem fair that no one has had a camera on me when I've been in a mood. Being the Mom, and hogging the camera, has its perks.)