Things are getting heated here

I was just reviewing my blog, thinking that it had been a super long time since my last post but it turns out to have been only about a month ago. I guess I am doing better at this no-so-monthly updates thing than I thought. Last I was talking about my parents´visit and the girls´first feria experience, and since then we have done some other cool stuff.

First we visited an animal preserve about an hour outside of Seville called La Reserva. It´s in the mountains, off the beaten track, and you drive through it in your car rather than walking. As you drive the various animals come up to your car and look for carrots. I assumed since the girls seem to love animals that they would be excited to see them up close and personal. I was wrong. Laura promptly started screaming at the first emu who rudely shoved his face into her window, so we rode with her side up the rest of the time. 

They have all kinds of animals there and the least dangerous ones can either come up to your car, or you can stop and get out to see them in their habitats (like the wolves and chimpanzees). Some you just had to drive by and couldn´t get a good look at, like the lions, tigers and rhino. We got to see tons of camels and zebras but my favorite were the giraffes. I fed them carrots and we got to get really close to them. So cool and worth the pricey entrance fee in my opinion. You can actually drive through the circuit as many times as you like. We only went through once and then had lunch before heading home.

We also spent one day in one of Seville´s huge parks with Jose´s family. The girls got to see their cousins and it was adorable and exhausting have four one year olds to chase around. Jose´s grandmother and the girls´great grandmother was there. She got four great granddaughters in the span of three months last year. I am glad they are all so close in age and that they will all grow up together.

Jose and I took the girls to the feria in the town where we live and so they got to wear their dresses again. This time we weren´t there too long and when we went in the morning it seemed like we must have chosen the family time since the only rides that were going were for little kids and everyone else there had a stroller as well. Next year we will work on dancing with the girls.

Not too long ago we bought a bike trailer second-hand and in the past month we tried it out. I was pleasantly surprised that the girls seemed to really enjoy being pulled around and that Jose didn´t die pulling it up a hill behind his bike. We rode around a park by our house and stopped at the playground where the girls made friends with other kids. There is nothing like heading out with kiddos to strike up a conversation with other parents. The thing is you always end up learning the child´s name but not the adult´s. Oh well.

Vera is now walking really well. She started while my parents were here visiting and in the past month no longer needs to hold on to anyone´s hand or furniture. She is cruising around by herself and she loves it. We have also been trying rather unsuccessfully to get both girls to eat more actual food. It´s been slow going. On the bright side, they have been sleeping most nights all night. Vera has NOT been wanting to nap during the day though. She has also started blowing kisses and waving to everyone which is adorable. She will also give her dad and I smooches which seriously melts my heart. She´s is so sweet and has started to carry around her baby doll, giving it kisses, too. Vera says "mama" and just today said "Cooper" for the first time.

Laura is now pulling herself up to stand in her crib and on the furniture. She walks really well holding on to someone´s hands and I have caught her a few times passing from the couch to the chair or from the table to the chair so I am hoping she starts taking steps on her own soon since both Jose´s and my backs are taking a beating from walking bent over all the time. Laura still takes a nap at the same time in the morning and has been sleeping really well. She is the better eater of the two and tends to try everything I put in front of her. Laura says "dada" and loves to clap at everything. She is also obsessed with animals including dogs and horses and loves to point them out.

We just recently booked our flights back to the states for the summer and are excited to be home for almost two months! We hope that the actual act of getting overseas goes as easily as it did last year although this time we have two quite active toddlers instead of two little babies. I have my doubts so any advice on what to do with them for nine hours on a plane would be well received. Our pool will open next week and as they love their baths so much I am sure they will enjoy swimming. It´s gotten really hot so I am looking forward to being able to cool off. 

Well, that´s about all we have done in the last month. It´s been busy and we are glad that Jose is now on half days until his vacation time. Oh and Eurovision happened and Spain came in DEAD LAST. Like almost no points. The singer was awful, his voice cracked in the middle of his performance, the song was annoying, everything about it was a disaster. And not the over-the-top kitschy  disaster that is the show in general. Portugal won this year with a beautiful song in Portuguese. Jose made fun of me for watching it again. Whatever. Did I mention that I got a job for next year and that it allows me to be home with the girls in the morning? Yay! I will keep everyone updated. 

Also, I will leave you with a few pictures of me since I have come to realize that I am usually behind the camera. One is from an afternoon Jose and I spent in downtown Seville a few weeks ago. The other is from today when I got to see some friends from my time at UNC who I haven´t seen in years. It was awesome to be able to catch up with them!