Daddy/Daughter Date

There are a couple of perks to working at Mattel.  One of them, for our Barbie girl, is going to see the premieres of the Barbie movies.  This weekend, John took Lane to see Barbie in the Pink Shoes in London, followed by a special lunch date.

She was so excited to go out with John!

Lane & Barbie

Barcelona

With the kids off school for the half term break and the winter seeming to drag on a bit, we headed with John to Barcelona - where he worked for a couple of days at Mattel's office there while the kids and I did some exploring.  In the evenings, we headed out for some delicious dinners together, and he took the last day off so that we could do some sightseeing as a family.  Here are the highlights of our trip...

On the first day, we went to see the Olympic Village, built for the 1992 games.

The kids and I took the tour bus to get an overview of the city.

And they really enjoyed the "rickshaw" we took to the Picasso Museum.

We found some amazing gelato!

We all visited La Sagrada Familia, which has been under construction for over 130 years!

The church was designed by Gaudi.  (We also visited Guell Park.)

The kids loved going down to the beach to play in the sand.

We stopped at the famous La Boqueria food market before heading to the airport.

Roald Dahl Week

Last week was Book Week at school and the theme was Roald Dahl.  While a few Roald Dahl books are common children's lit in the States (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach...), his books are much more popular here.  Lane felt the need to get "ready" for the week, so she increased her intake of the author's works... reading The BFG and The Magic Finger.  Ryan and I also worked our way through The BFG over the last couple of weeks.  The kids were treated to special assemblies and extra treats (including various "revolting recipes") and had the chance to dress up on Thursday.  Here are a couple of photos of "Matilda" and my Big Friendly Giant. 

Just four days of school this week, then the kiddos are off for half term (and we get to spend a couple of days in Barcelona)! 

The BFG and Matilda

Ryan eating his snozzcumber!