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All the pictures from the first days of our adventures in Spain are up on our Shutterfly site... http://benderz.shutterfly.com/ ...Enjoy!

Madrid - what a crazy cool 24 hours!

This was the first picture taken of Zack and Zoe in Spain - at the Madrid airport. Zack came through fine - Zoe was not happy it was time to wake up after only 4 hours. She did rally - they both did. As a matter of fact, so far, Chris and I have been super impressed with how well they've kept up!

This is our hotel in Madrid - Apartmientos en Busca del Tiempo. We're right above a super cool tapas bar as well as a restaurant all run by the same people. The hotel was not at all what Z&Z were expecting...which made it even cooler! The bonus fun was that they both figured out how to use a "butt washer", and after a very warm siesta this afternoon, we found the air conditioning remote and I'm currently blogging (while the rest of the fam sleeps) in cool comfort!

This is the outside view of our hotel. We're located on a pedestrian walkway - so no cars...plenty of cafe tables and great people watching. Our room is on the 4th floor - so we have gotten our exercise walking the 8 flights each time we go to our room!

Puerta del Sol is just a couple of blocks away from our hotel...and you'll never guess who Zack found on a billboard there...a bunch of his friends! This place is futbol crazy - I've never seen so many jerseys and soccer balls. So fun!

In the background in both of the above pictures you can see the Royal Palace of Madrid. We chose not to go in because of lines and cost - and the fact that the kids were hot, tired and ready for their siesta - but it was pretty darn impressive even from outside the gates.

We found a store called futbol Mania and Zack and Zoe spent some time on the soccer field. Zack was impressing the locals with his backheels and other fancy footwork :) We also picked up tshirts for everyone to wear tomorrow when Spain takes on Italy in Euros 2012. Vamanos Espana!

Such a different world! It's fun to watch the kids see things through different eyes and realize that the American way is not the only way. Love all the outdoor seating and cafes!

Fun people watching and such a cool idea to cover their outdoor shopping space. The street acts have been quite entertaining as well...although my boys are too busy trying to figure out how everything works to really enjoy!

Dinner! Lots of ham, yummy cold soup (that tasted remarkably like my cabbage salad), and a fabulous potato omlete/tortilla dish. Great cerveza and vino too!

We finished the day out with some 10:30 churros con chocolate. Zack was a huge fan - pretty sure we'll be enjoying those again in Santander! We've had an amazing day - and some great eats! I was worried about the kids trying new stuff, but they've done fabulously! Thanks for all the fun posts on Facebook! All four of us are enjoying reading them. Enjoy your Saturday night!(It's 12:30 here, I'm heading to bed!) XOXO, Benderz

Hello from Madrid!

It's been a crazy-full day here already...and we still have so much planned! Our plane landed at 9am Madrid time (3 am Jax time). If your keeping track, the kids got at most 4 hours of sleep...but they were very impressed with their first airplane meal. We withdrew some Euros and were off on our bus ride to get close to our hotel. A taxi took us a little closer ( but could only get so far because of the Gay Pride Rally going on in the Puerta del Sol today). We checked in to the cutest little hotel (8 flights of stairs) and were off. We saw the Puerta del Sol, the Plaza Mayor and the Royal Palace and ate lunch at the Mercado de San Miguel. The kids are being such troopers- and crashed just in time to return to the hotel for a 3 hour siesta. We're headed back out to shop and grab a late dinner. Hopefully, I'll get to post camera pics later - the ones below came from my phone. Check out us at the Royal Palace and the kids being conned into taking a picture with some random character in the Plaza Mayor - who then asked for change. Lesson learned! XOXO, Benderz

Safely in Philly...

We are currently waiting in Philly for our flight to Madrid...it's a 6 hour layover, but we had a super yummy lunch at Legal Seafood - so miss their clam chowder! - and spent a bit of time wandering through the airport. Zack and I are currently sitting at the gate while Chris is attempting to pull Zoe's tooth out in the bathroom. Either that or she's going to play with it all night long! Our travels have just begun, but so far - so good!!

XOXO, Benderz

Our Schedule...

I feel like there are a bunch of people who are almost as excited about this trip as we are...so I'm blogging. That way, if you'd like to vicariously travel through us, you can! My hope is that I'll be able to add a few pictures and a few sentences each night of our trip - but we'll have to see how time differences, wifi and attitudes all work out. Chris has spent a great deal of time working out all the little details of the trip - and has prepared an amazing trip logistics packet, that is a crazy wealth of info. I'm going to try and give you the short version of where and when so you can anticipate with us :) ***Fri, June 29th - Leave Jax, Layover Phil, Flight to Madrid ***Sat, June 30th - Arrive Madrid, Plaza Mayor, Retiro Park ***Sun, July 1st - Train from Madrid to Santander, Spain plays in Euro 2012 Finals! ***Mon, July 2nd - Chris Conference, Santander ***Tue, July 3rd - Chris Conference, Santander ***Wed, July 4th - Chris Conference, Santander ***Thr, July 5th - Chris Conference, Santander ***Fri, July 6th - Chris Conference, Santander ***Sat, July 7th - Taxi to Bilbao, Flight to Barcelona, FC Barcelona Stadium, Rambles, Montjuic and Olympic Stadium, ***Sun, July 8th - Sagrada Familia, Train to Lyon, France ***Mon, July 9th - Train to Besancon, Tour de France time trials ***Tue, July 10th - Train to Paris, Eiffel Tower ***Wed, July 11th - Flight to Jax ***In Santander we are hoping to see the Palace of Magdalena, the Cathedral of Santander, Plaza Porticada, and the Almeda de Oviedo (shopping!) The conference doesn't end until 6 most nights, so we're hoping the kiddos adjust to the 8-10pm dinner hour quickly so Chris can join us on some outings - and at some dinners. More to come when we start to go!! xoxo, Benderz