Madrid

Olivia had two weeks off for Spring Break.  At first we were thinking we would just go to The Atlantis in Dubai for a few days since we basically just arrived and didn't really have the feeling that we needed a vacation just yet.  But, we decided we needed to take advantage of the time off and just go for it.  I studied abroad in Spain twice and have always wanted to take Mike back.  In a strange way, Spain is where we fell in love...the time apart the summer after my junior year in college, really solidified our relationship and is when we both realized undoubtedly, we were it for each other!

We truly had the most amazing trip.  We all had an absolute blast, especially the girls.  They were dream travelers and we put them through the wringer!  We were in Spain for 13 nights and visited 11 cities!  When Nonna came to visit us in February, we started working on them to join us on the trip and after some time, they decided to join us!  It was so much fun having them and really made the trip for everyone!

First stop, Madrid for 5 days. 

Walking into the Prado--one of the highlights of the entire trip for Olivia. 

 She LOVED finding all of the masterpieces that were on the brochure :)

 This was our first major trip since having kids.  It was slightly different than all of the trips we took before having them.  There were many more stops like these, on a playground that we just stumbled upon.

 We also had many many stops for ice cream, despite the cooold temps!

 Churros y chocolate!

 One of our first day trips, El Escorial and Segovia (get used to seeing Eliza with her finger in her mouth, that is just her being a stinker because we are taking her picture...at least she now will look in the direction of the camera)

 Entrance into Alcazar in Segovia

 Selfie (we have always taken what we called "a cheese" on every trip, now they have a name)

 Love this photo.  Both of my girls peaking out at the view from the comfort of their stroller.  We had Nonna and Papa bring another umbrella stroller (never thought at almost 3 and 5 years old, we would be buying another stroller!).  Using two umbrella strollers was a huge trip saver.

 She wanted to climb to the top of every tower we could...Mike and I have always done every climb on our trips too!

 

 EXHAUSTED!  We only brought the bottom part of Olivia's car seat and she really missed the back when sleeping. 

 Next day, the Royal Palace in Madrid

 Miss No Nap :)

 Lunch and red wine in the Plaza Mayor

 We also had many stops for coffee to give the kids (and all of us) a rest.  The girls were so tickled by playing hide and seek at the table :)

 We ran into this Invisible Man twice.  The girls LOVED him :)

 Retiro Park

 Wishing they had food to feed the ducks

 Strike a pose

 Love their grandparents!

 Behind us is the main post office...that building made such an impression on me in high school

 Having lunch at a yummy tapas bar

 One great joy of having grandparents on the trip and all staying together in one apartment: Mike and I got to slip out for tapas and red wine while they put the girls to bed.  We had tried going to this tapas bar earlier in the day, but they didn't have tables for our tired feet to sit down at.

 Yummy yummy garlic shrimp

 Next stop, Toledo.  We stopped on our way to Granada

Cute girl!