Valencia

I know when Haim asked us to accompany him to Valencia he pictured his family strolling the old quarter with him, stopping for tapas after a long day's work, bundling together and snuggling to keep warm from the chill....The reality is more constant middle-of-the-street tantrums from Maya, a scary (we went to the Dr, he's fine), rattling cough from Noah, and drizzly weather that really just makes you want to stay inside.
Needless to say, this has been a difficult adjustment emotionally for Maya, and Noah is battling a cold/ bronchitis and jetlag....thank goodness I had him going to bed at 7 in Miami, so he only stays up till about 1am here...yesterday was better, though.
With Haim's first day at the office, the kids and I started finding our rhythm, Maya had only 2 minor tantrums, and Noah was asleep by 11:45. Maybe it won't even drizzle so much today!

Park time

Maya's 4th birthday

Maya turned 4 today. The day started with her waking up to crepe paper decorations all over the house (I love decorating with crepe paper), and a gift to open from me. We then took a walk downtown to the grocery for some last minute party supplies. At around 11, 4 friends came over for some crafts, cake and chocolate fondue, and some play time in the yard.

After a bit of a rest, Eve and Frank came over to play with Maya and her gifts (Maya was getting a bit frustrated with Noah's "helping" her play) while Noah and I went to get Haim from the airport. The evening ended with a family dinner of Maya's favorite, macaroni and cheese, and of course, birthday cake.

Nature Class

Chicken Patrol

This morning I was doing dishes around 6 am and I noticed one of the bunnies running really crazy figure 8's in the yard...I watched for a bit, and then stepped outside to see if there was any particular reason for the behavior, but I didn't notice anything. Several minutes later, as I was finishing my task, I noticed several of the chickens had flown over the fence of the chicken yard, and into the main area...about 5 of them were in a U shape with a large grey cat at the center...but these birds were not afraid in the least....instead, they were escorting a slinking cat off of the property. I was in shock...and of course proud of my girls....that's probably what was driving the bunny crazy...it was only about 15 minutes later that I realized I had missed a great photo-op.

At the rodeo

Yes, we do have rodeo in South Florida...