Valencia-July 1, 2012

July 1st marked the first day of "Rebajas" when everything in Spain goes on sale.  Needless to say, while the boys relaxed at home, I did a little shopping.  I had a great time, but after shopping with Amy in Sevilla, I realize that it is more fun to go with someone else.  Andrew would have joined me, but the boys do not make to best shopping companions.  Before I left, Andrew and I were treated to a "Top Chef" competition between the boys.  They each made a "salad" and were given tomatoes, onion, olive oils, vinegar, bread and garlic. They both did a fantastic job!  Andrew and I were split, and the boys were bummed that it ended in a tie.  Oh well, we each chose our favorite dish-honestly!


We met the Woodberry group and went to the aquarium.  Andrew decided not to go in and sent the Woodberry boys in together.  Tommy, Robbie and I were on our own and we had a blast!  I had a wonderful afternoon with them as we explored the aquarium.  Our main focus-the shark tunnel.  The huge walruses and beluga whales were pretty spectacular, too.  One beluga kept playing with toys underwater.  I couldn't use flash, so I am not sure how the pictures look.

We met back up with Andrew (who is wearing a San Sebastian jersey)and had a snack before heading to watch the EuroCup Finals.  The boys were dressed in their Spain outfits;Tommy as Iker Casillas the goalie in yellow and Robbie as Sergio Ramos #15.  We watched the game at Carosel, a restaurant owned by Jordi, Andrew's friend.  We were joined by Marty and Susan Kaplan, who now live in Spain.  They look great!  Valencia agrees with them.  Marty was my 7th-12th grade Spanish teacher at Westridge and took me (along with 7 other girls) on my first trip to Spain back in 1987.  Marty and Susan have become special friends to our entire family and the boys were so excited to see them last night (as were we).  So, we all watched the games while eating outside-another delicious meal.  And the most exciting part of all was watching Spain WIN the EuroCup 4-0 over Italy.  4-0 over Italy!!!!!!!  Wow!  And, Tommy's favorite player scored a goal having not played in the semi-finals.  Way to go, Fernando Torres!!!!  The walk home was crazy!  People hanging out of cars with flags, fireworks, singing, dancing, drinking, just celebrating!!!!  It was quite the experience.  Oh, there are a few pictures of the boys playing with kids from the party after the game-they had a blast and Robbie set up a playdate with a real cutie named Andreu (Andrew in Valencian).