It is crazy to imagine that we left home a year ago! As with many things in life, the time went so fast, yet it seems like forever ago that we were sitting in N’s end-of-year preschool performance, ready to hit the road as soon as the last notes were sung.
May 2017, back in the US, ready to head out on our adventure!
May 2018, a year of travel under our belts, strolling through our home for the last 6 months in Spain
In the last year, we spent five weeks traveling through the Western part of the US, with stops at lots of the amazing National Parks. We spent a month in Minnesota and Wisconsin, enjoying time with family and the the lakes. We spent an action-packed week in Iceland, and two months in Scotland, where we made a few forays into England. We bought a car and road-tripped through Belgium, France and Switzerland, before eventually reaching Spain. We have spent the last six months in Spain, where the boys are going to school and we are enjoying the everyday life in Spain. We also took a few road trips within Spain, as well as trips to Portugal and Italy. Phew! We are tired. But we need to rest up quickly because as soon as the boys are out of school, we are heading out on a summer European road trip – but that will have to wait until next year’s update!
I asked everyone their favorite memories over the last year and this is what they said:
L’S FAVORITE:
His favorite memory was when his friend (from back home in the US, but currently living in Germany) came to visit us over Spring Break. The kids had tons of fun!
A’S FAVORITES:
Sporting Events – watching Roger Federer play tennis in Basel, Switzerland. Watching soccer (football matches) – Scotland v. Malta in Scotland, and Arsenal in London.
A week at the Lake at my aunt and uncle’s cabin in Wisconsin.
N’S FAVORITES:
It was hard for him to remember all the things we have done over the last year (he was only 4 back then!), but he told me a few (in fact, he wrote out this list all by himself!):
N writes his ordinal numbers the Spanish way, but adds his own twist by doing it backwards 😆 Just in case you can’t interpret a bilingual 5 year old’s phonetic spellings… #1 says “llama hike”, #2 says “Spain hike”, #3 says “London” and #4 says “climbing”
Lunch with a Llama (note: we are in the midst of planning another hike with an animal this summer so stay tuned for an update on that – will that hike make it on next year’s “favorite” list?)
The hike we did in our town in Spain
London (mom note: London is nice and all, but I don’t think he really liked this trip THAT much, I think it was more that we were looking through pictures and he happened to see London and that reminded him of it)
Climbing rocks at Rocky Mountain National Park – in fact, I would say this was a really noteworthy event because it was when he discovered his love for climbing on rocks!
MY FAVORITE THINGS:
Hiking in Switzerland (also here and here)
Iceland. So much of iceland, but specifically the waterfalls and….
swimming in the local pools
The geothermal pools were lots of fun – separate pools of varying temperatures, lots of floaties just, well, floating around, for the kids to play with, an obstacle course and waterslides. Plus, so much less crowded than the typical Iceland tourist sites. These were actually full of locals!
The Delicate Arch hike in Arches National Park. This hike was a bit of a challenge for the kids, but I’m so proud they did it, and the view at the arch was incredible.
C’S FAVORITES:
The time we spent in a cabin at the YMCA of the Rockies resort, just outside of the Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.
The tally for the year:
States Visited: (10) – GA,TX,NM,AZ,CO,UT,WY,MT,MN,WI (not counting the ones we just drove through)
Countries Visited: (10) – USA, Iceland, Scotland, England, Belgium, Switzerland, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy
Cars Purchased: 1
Cars Sold: 1
Miles/KM driven: more than 10,000/15,000
Flights Taken (per person): 6
Trains taken: 3 (5 for A & M)
Metros ridden: 2 (3 for A & M)
Seasons of the Alien Adventures of Finn Caspian podcasts listened to: 3 1/2
Teeth lost: 9 (A – 2, L – 6, N – 1)
It has definitely been a year to remember! We have enjoyed the time we spent together and the adventures we have had. We are looking forward to more adventures the coming year, so stay tuned!
