Festes de la Mercè

Emie and I getting ready for the festival

Graffiti...by us!

Spray

Usually these Castellers go up eight levels (and it's a little five-year old at the top!)

Barri Gotic

Mar Bella beach at sunset (that's me and Jonathan in the water)

With Marcella at Sagrada Familia

Today there's a festival going on called Festes de la Mercè! We headed down to the Placa Catalunya where there was a graffiti workshop and we painted some graffiti on the walls. When we got there someone had already drawn my name on the wall! Also at the Placa there was a workshop with the castallers (the human towers) where people lifted you and you stood with your feet on their shoulders. It was fun but I thought I was gonna fall! After we were at the festival for a bit we went down to the beach to meet up with the Americans. At the beach we made a movie to "Say Something" by Austin Mahone! They brought their boogie board so we played on that too! When we were done at the beach Tobin went to Kayla and Jonathan's house for a sleepover but I didn't because I wasn't invited! Then my mom and dad took Marcella and Arturo and I to this big light show on the side of the Sagrada Familia and Auntie Karrie and her baby Emie came! The light show was amazing. It projected on to the big building and showed fish and animals and designs and thunder! We walked Marcella and Arturo home after it was done then I went to bed.

Bowling (and a loooong lunch)

Waiting outside Agua at Port Olimpico

Agua

Bowling with Jaume and Julia

I'm starting to get into the routine of school here in Barcelona! After school we went out to lunch on the sea with a professor my dad met, who lives in Barcelona. I had some potatoes, calamari and paella (a Spanish dish with rice, seafood and vegetables). We all split some really good chocolate cake for dessert and pineapple with mango sauce! When lunch was over the grown ups decided to get a coffee and ended up staying there way longer! We stayed there for three and a half hours all together! After we finally finished lunch we rushed home to go bowling with Jaume and his family! Bowling was so much fun! I had one strike and one spare only because the bowling here is harder. There are more pins and they're moved way farther back than in Canada! Also throughout the game it wouldn't count my pins including my strike. It would just ignore it and my points would stay the same :( Everyone else was doing really good and we were all so close to winning but Dad won one round and Jaume's mom won one. She was really good! Bowling went super late so when we got home we had a late dinner and went to bed.

Auntie Karrie is here!

The gallery owner at Mutt wanted our picture for HIS blog!!!

Graffit

Hidden Moorish courtyard

Magic shop

We got cupcakes for Mom and Auntie Karrie at my favourite bakery :)

Schools is on, of course, this morning with mom but at least it's only a few hours instead of 6 like our real school! After school we went to an art gallery called "MUTT" and got a little graffiti book! We decided to walk around the rest of the neighborhood because they have a bunch of good graffiti and we wanted to get some photos. Also there was a magic store so we got a jack in the box thing that jumps out of the box with red eyes and laughs and scares you when you open it! When we got home we scared mom with the jack in the box and Auntie Karrie when she got here! She arrived here at dinner time so we all ate dinner together. After dinner we all hung out at the house until bedtime.

Pizza party!

Making a movie with Kayla and Jonathan

In school this morning we started learning about Picasso, the artist. After school Tobin and Mom and I went out to get some groceries because tonight the Americans are coming over for dinner! But everything was closed and it was raining :( We decided to stop at this cafe and get a coffee and hot chocolate. The placed we stopped at has been rated number one in Gracia for their chocolate. It was yummy and warm! Finally we found a little store to just get enough to make our own pizzas for dinner - fun! When they came over for dinner we played on the iPad, made our pizzas and made a movie. They had to leave early though because we all have school in the morning! When they left we went to bed.

El zoo

Giraffe and I

Baby orangutan!

Naughty monkey

Zebra picture by me

Dolphin show

Rope swing at the playground

Today was school again. After school we went to the zoo. It was huge! There were so many animals. My favorites were the lemur, the black panther, the marmoset monkeys, the red panda, the giraffe, the flamingos and the anteater. We also saw a dolphin show where the dolphins did flips and carried their trainer around in the water and jumped really high in the air. If you were in the first or second row (we were) you would get splashed by the dolphins. I loved it! Also, there was a very cool playground so Tobin and I played on it and we played on a rope that would swing you from platform to platform in the air. I really liked the marmoset museum they had because I've always wanted a marmoset monkey but I can't get one because they can't live in houses. In the marmoset museum there were about 12 different types in the different cage areas. One cage area had a bunch of marmosets just huddled in a little area all smushed together! After the zoo we came home and Mom and Dad went out for dinner while we stayed home and went to bed. 

El Corte Inglés

Mmmm...milkshake!

                                  Hey Y'all video

We started off this morning with doing the usual school work. After school we went to the big mall called El Corte Inglés. There we didn't really find anything at all but we did stop at the cafeteria on the top floor to get a milkshake and some fries and they made us do the weirdest thing - we had to eat the French fries with our hands!!!!? Once we were done at El Corte Inglés we walked home and made a video on the iPad. Then we had dinner and went to bed.

Artsy kind of day

Art gallery

In front of the sculptures that aren't too gross

My sculpture

Street art

In front of the Santa Maria del Mar gothic church

Scored a beanbag...YES!

It's Piknic Electronik day again today! Before we went there though we went to an art museum and an art workshop at the Museum of Modern European Art. In the museum almost all the art was of..... nudes! It was disgusting and I don't know why they'd show us that for a kid's workshop! For the workshop part we got to model clay sculptures of whatever we wanted and I modeled a bunny and a half snail/half unicorn! Down the street from that there was also this little festival in the Born district where you could paint stuff.  They used materials you would usually use to paint your room with so it was hard to paint something detailed, so I just painted a flower! Afterwards we went to Piknic Electronik. This time the most wonderful thing happened...we got a beanbag!!! At the Piknic we bounced on ALL the bouncy castles (of course!) and Tobin and I brought our water balloons and saw some kids having a water gun fight so we joined in with our water balloons! I got the most soaked because all the boys ganged up on me and trapped me in the corner then dumped the giant bucket of dirty restaurant water on me..... 3 times!!! After Piknic Electronik we walked to this barbecue joint and got dinner. I had a cheese crepe because the rest of the stuff they had was meat! The restaurant was really nice because it was outside and they had live music and flamingos dancers! But it was hidden in a secret location so when we had to leave we couldn't find a cab anywhere! We ended up walking to the fountain show just as it was ending because there were a lot of cabs there and got to see the last few minutes of the fountain show! When we got home we went straight to bed.

Caldes d'Estrac

Looking for seashells

Beach

In the village of Caldes d'Estrac 

Today we took a train to a beach in a different village, called Caldes d'Estrac. We had to have 14 stops and then go onto a different train. It took so long for it to come. Once it finally came we had a couple more stops to go and then we got there. When we were there I swam out to the buoy, collected shells, built a sand castle, swam and walked along the shore. All of us also explored the little village and went out for dinner. I had an egg and rice! Afterwards I got an ice cream cone. It was getting really late and we knew we had a long trip home so when we got home it was super late and we went to bed.

Quiet day

School

Today was a quiet day. We caught up on our blogs and did school. At school we did the same subjects as yesterday like math, read a story and answered questions about it and Spanish. In the afternoon we went to the park with Marcella and Arturo and brought water balloons. This time we didn't have a water fight, we just blew up the balloon with water as big as it could go (so big that it was almost breaking!) and then chucked it around in circle so whoever didn't catch it properly got the whole thing splashed on them and was soaked! I was the one that it landed on! Also at the playground we played hide and go seek and the cute, little puppy who was there last time was back again! Afterwards we just came home, had some dinner and chilled out until bed time.

Girl's date

Lunch

Today I went shopping with my mom! Before shopping though we had to start our first day of school. At school we did math, read an article then answered some questions on it and learned some Spanish. Then is was time to go shopping! We walked down to Portal de l'Angels, a street with almost all my favorite stores! I got a new pair of red flats and a purple sweatshirt. We were hungry after shopping so we stopped at this little roof patio on the Ramblas for dinner. Me and Mom spilt a pizza and for dessert got a white chocolate crepe, my two favorite things! Once we were done our yummy dinner we took the subway home.  After I showed Dad and Tobin my new things, I played the iPad then went to bed.

Feliz cumpleaños Tobin!

Making the breakfast with my Auntie...

...and Uncle!

Birthday boy

There is a Spanish custom where you get to pull a person's ears on their birthday.  The number of pulls = the age they are turning!

Tobin's birthday party

Tobin's birthday is today!!!!!!! We woke up and I made pancakes while Auntie Christa and Uncle Craig made French toast! The pancakes were so yummy because I put nutella on mine with whipped cream! After breakfast we opened Tobin's presents in the room I decorated for him, I got him a soccer ball massager and new headphones because I had broken his! He was also really excited when he got 9 dunnys because he's turning nine! When the party was over Auntie Christa and Uncle Craig had to go because they leave today. I was really sad :(. When they left we rushed out to see Madagascar 3 in the theatre. But when we got into the theater something was wrong, we were the only people in it! It turns out we were in the wrong theater and we were supposed to be in the one next door! The movie was really good though once we got that a figured out! For Tobin's birthday dinner we went right next door to the restaurant called Gut because only our parents had been there and not me or Tobin! They made they specialty noodles for Tobin and I and for dessert they even put candles on Tobin's brownie! When dinner was over we came home and went to bed. Happy birthday Tobin!

Independence Day

Heading into the crowds

Passeig de Gracia was packed with protestors

With Tobin and Jaume

After the march with Jaume's family

Today is Independence Day. It's where all the people of Barcelona march around the streets chanting and there's speeches because many people want Catalunya to be it's own country but the government won't let them! Before we went out all of us made our own home made flags with paper and a straw! We went to the independence rally with my friend Jaume from the camp and the rest of his family. He had brought a giant Catalunya flag that was the size of a large window so we swung that around and chanted for independence! It was soooooo busy. We were out walking around for two hours and we only moved 2 blocks! You couldn't basically move except every once in a while and only a few steps at a time!!! The news said there was almost 2 million people taking part in the demonstration! The Independence Day march lasted for a while so when we got home we went to bed.

Preparations

Great shop where I found a ton of cool things for Tobin

Looking at sculptures with Dad

Ummmm?!?!?

Tobin's birthday is only two days away so today Dad and I went shopping for it! I got him a ton of stuff!  I'm even planing him a surprise party :). Also when we were out shopping Dad and I looked in the clothes shops and I saw some things I like so we'll be going back there! After shopping we came home and had some dinner at the house. We wanted to play something after dinner so we played Mexico (a dice game) but I didn't win any of the times! Auntie Christa and Uncle Craig also taught us a beetle game where you had to role a dice and if you got a certain number you'd get to draw in a certain body part of the beetle. It was fun! Afterwards it was time for bed.

Piknic Electronik

Taking the telerifico up to the top of Montjuic

Feeling the love

With Dad

Art at Piknic Electronik  http://www.walkinggallery.com/

A peaceful moment before all the girls started dancing!

This day is Piknic Electronik! It's a huge festival with electronic djs, bouncy castles, soccer places, beanbags and a lot more! At Piknic Electronik I bounced on all the bouncy castles and Tobin and I even raced through them (I won)! Also I danced to the djs, hung with my aunt and uncle, played soccer, got an ice cream and tryed so hard to get a bean bag but every single one was taken! It was so much fun! Afterwards we went to the fountain show, if you remember that from one of my blogs a while ago! It was just as magical as the last time! Except this time they were these random girls that started dancing at the edge of the fountain and everyone started dancing (including me!!!!!) Then the fountain show people played pop music instead if opera music! It was incredible! When it ended we took the subway home and went to bed.