Happy Halloween!

Since Jack was just a little too young last year, this was our first real Halloween together as a family and we wanted to make sure he got the full experience (even when living in Spain where the holiday is not very celebrated). Therefore, Alexis and I decided that there was no Halloween complete without a...

1) Pumpkin Carving Party!!

Alexis and Jacques surpised me a few days before Halloween by bring home a gigantic (by Spanish standards since Jack-o'-Lanterns don't really exist here) 8 kg pumpkin for us to carve. They had specially ordered it from our local Fruteria under the sole condition that we promised to eat it. Here's to a diet full of pumpkin pie, bread and soup in the coming weeks!

That looks awfully squishy...

Let the carving begin...

Final piece out...

Cheese!....

2) A day in a full-blown Halloween decorated amusement park

On Saturday we made the short journey south to Tarragona to visit PortAventura. For our family and friends from PA, it's pretty much the Spanish equivalent to Hershey Park. This was the one place we could think of that would get all decked out for Halloween and we weren't disappointed. There were pumpkins, crows, spiders, witches and all kinds of other "scary" things galore. Jack was a bit young for most of the rides, but he loved just looking around and checking out the espectaculos.

3) Costume Making!

It took a while, but Alexis and I (or I should say Alexis) finally decided on the perfect costume for Jack just a few hours before the Halloween festivities started. We were working with basic "ingredients" from our apartment...but the transformation from old pair of PJs to cuddly tiger was remarkable. It's amazing what a bit of paint and an artistic husband can do...

Costume creation in full motion

4) Halloween Party in the Park

We had a few options to choose from to celebrate Halloween, but we finally decided last-minute on spending the afternoon in Parc de la Ciutadella with other Halloween-loving families living in Barcelona. It was quite the international group and Jack had a lot of fun running around the park with the other kids.

I spot a Papa...with camera.

Prowling around the playground

Sharpening my claws...

Ready to pounce...Look out Mama....

At first when a little boy came up to Jack, I was afraid my little tiger would try to snatch one of his cookies...turns out the little boy was much more interested in chasing Jack's tail. Lucky for everyone, Jack was super quick and made a fast getaway...watch him go!

The Chase...

Swinging through the jungle...

Alexis and I officially deemed Jack's costume a success when a little boy told his father at the bottom of the sliding board..."I don't want to go up there...there's a tiger up there!!!"

One, two, three...

GOOOOOOO!!!!

Happy Halloween everyone!!!

Leaf peeping in Montseny

After living in Barcelona for more than 3 years, Alexis, Jack and I have finally seen firsthand some fall foliage in Cataluna! Autumn has always been one of my favorite seasons, and seeing the leaves changing colors and smelling the crisp cold air right before the onset of winter has been one of the things I have missed most about the Northeast. Lucky for us, we were able to time our trip to the mountains perfectly...no rain...and we even managed to spot quite a few yellow and orange leaves in a sea of green and brown.

The first stop of our day was to the highest peak in Montseny, el Turo de l'Home, because what better place to see all the leaves from than a bird's-eye view. Our hike was definitely not as intense as it might sound, we drove to the highest point possible and then hiked the rest of the 20 minutes up. It was a good excursion for Jack and his trying-to-get-back-into-shape parents. The last time Alexis and I climbed to the peak, we were just a few weeks away from welcoming Jack into our life...so it was a bit funny to be carrying him on my back this time!

Up we go!

The view from the summit...

Let's fly!

A quick refuel...being carried around is a lot of work!

Papa?...We are awfully high aren't we?

Right before the clouds covered us all...

What we weren't expecting on our trip to the mountains was the mass of people flocking there as well for Mushroom Picking season!...a real Catalan tradition. Alexis and I have been to this park many times in the past, but have never seen so many cars parked along the road and families armed with baskets and sticks rooting around in the wilderness. We considered joining in on the fun, and even picked up a Mushroom Picking pamphlet from a guard station, but were quickly discouraged. The pamphet, although very official looking, offered only one piece of advice...do not pick or eat poisonous mushrooms. Unfortunately for us, there was no pictures or additional aids for our little side adventure so we quickly decided it was safer to buy mushrooms from our Fruteria and leave the wild ones for the locals.

After our summit hike, we headed to a nearby lake for a more relaxed walk and lunch. In the time it took to find a good picnic area by the lake, we managed to find quite a few varieties of mushrooms and decided our initial assessment was correct...we had no clue the good from the bad ones. Next fall, if we are still in Cataluna, we will definitely be going back with one of our Catalan friends.

The lake...

Watch out Papa! It's slippery!

A flat path means that Jack gets to walk!

Just some of the changing leaves...

Look at me go!

I walked all that way?

The lake turned out to be the perfect place to see autumn in action...and to let Jack stretch out his legs as well. He is well on his way to becoming an independent little walker.

Jack Walks!!!

Even though I am quite behind on blogposts, I couldn't resist to put up a few videos of Jack toddling around the apartment.

Thats right...after many months of cruising, Jack has finally taken his first few steps towards independence at 13.5 months. For the past month, he has tinkered more and more with walking...even sometimes amusing Papa and Mama by taking a few steps into their opened arms. But, I guess we have to thank one very rainy weekend in Barcelona and a much needed rainy day game to finally give him the little extra incentive to get moving. Now he is really unstoppable...he just loves toddling (but still probably prefers the much safer and quicker crawling mode of transportation).

We've even managed to take a few excursions outside equipped with his new pair of shoes and Mama's hand for holding...no buggy! Granted it takes 10 times longer to walk to where we want to go, and we only really go a few blocks...but the little guy loves it. He practically breaks into a run and laughs in excitement at the new little world he now gets to discover on foot.

These videos were taken with a one-man camera team, and unfortunately I forgot to tidy up the place a little before rolling the camera...but I think everyone should enjoy them nevertheless.

Watch me go!...Here I come!...

Still love to do that cruising thing...