Santander...sans Dr. Bender!

What a relaxing day the kids and I have had! Today was the first full day of ICCE - the reason we're here having this incredible adventure and I was a bit worried about being in a new city, where I didn't know the language well, without Chris...but today was fabulous! We missed Chris, but saw him a couple of times and enjoyed our adventures without him. We got up late (again...but Zoe and I didn't fall asleep until after 2am our time - the boys are adjusting to the time change much better than the girls) and headed down to breakfast. Hotel Hoyuela has an amazing spread for breakfast and I quickly drank two cups of coffee and filled some plates for the kids. After breakfast, we went on a walk to explore the beautiful gardens and parks on the way to the beach.

Then we spent some time at the playground that was taunting Zoe while we were watching the soccer game Sunday night. They had fun, burnt off some energy - and Zoe even got to practice her back hipcircles (Ms. Mary, aren't you proud?) - on the fabric covered wire play structure. Craziness!

Then we spent a bit of time on the beach. The water is REALLY cold, like Cayuga in June cold - it was more than my Florida kids could really deal with. They did have fun playing in the sand and making crop circles - thanks Pop Pop! Zack even asked a couple of groups of kids "Puedes Jugar?" (Can I play?) - unfortunately, one group shook their heads no, and another ignored him completely. Oye...there were tears and then I convinced him that maybe we were saying it wrong.

Around 2:30 we grabbed lunch at Pan & Company - kind of a mix between a Spanish Panera and Subway. All the music was American Top 40 - but everything else was in Spanish. I was quite a sight ordering...but I did it, and the kids finally got some chicken! They were really, really happy!

On our way back to our hotel we found this cool statue called "Hombres del Mar" - or Men of the Sea. Zack, Zoe and I are now on a hunt to find a copy for our house :)

When we got back to the hotel, the kids both took great two hour siestas, and when they woke up, Chris was back on a short break between his session and the evening's opening ceremonies...we got the fabulous news that althought the room was hotter than heck, his presentation went GREAT! We expected nothing less!

Now, we're waiting for Chris to return from opening ceremonies so we can go to dinner. We're thinking Paella tonight - but who knows what we'll find! XOXO, Benderz