So much sand!

What a wild night! We had no idea what to expect with the kids sleep schedules. Everyone went to sleep around 9pm last night but no one stayed asleep! Odin was up for about 1.5-2 hours around 1am. Liam was awake for about 4 hours around 1:30am including reading books for about 90 min from 2:30-4am. Ainsley tossed and turned but slept the best of everyone and Whitaker did pretty well too but needed Keely to sleep next to him on the couch. By 10am this morning, everyone was rested and ready to go. We finally got most kids showers and the big boys and I went down to the bakery to pick out some breakfast. Donuts, chocolate croissants and muffins made up the morning breakfast.

We had an hour long walk to our first activity which turned into a two hour walk with a some stops and a bit of complaining but we made it to the beach. We learned on our tour yesterday that the nice sandy beaches in Barcelona aren’t real. Prior to the 1992 Olympics, they brought in tons and tons of great sand from Egypt to make the oceanfront more enjoyable. It was packed! We saw a bunch of huge yachts in the harbor. There is a 100 year old cable car which crosses the harbor that we had planned to take but the hour long line wasn’t something we were interested in doing.

So, more walking! We walked along the beach another 1.5 miles to our lunch spot to try some seafood paella - a Spanish dish of rice and fresh seafood. Of course there was a wait there too but the kids had newfound energy when we let them play in the sandy beach! They chased each other, built sand castles, and even dipped their toes in the water and tried to run away from the crashing waves. They had a blast!

Lunch was good. The whole prawns and crawfish surprised (or maybe horrified) the kids. Odin tried it but he and everyone else opted for the hamburger and fries instead. The lady sitting at the table next to us noticed Liam’s soccer jersey and Odin’s sweet corn shirt and mentioned she was originally from Stoughton. Small world!

The kids couldn’t wait for lunch to be over so they could go back to the beach. We explored several sections of the beach. One area was just sand. Another was more family friendly and had some playground equipment. The last area was all sports with 15 different volleyball courts setup for 2v2 beach volleyball. I spent my time watching volleyball with Whitaker while Keely once again braved the water’s edge with the big three.

In a surprise to no one, right after their 30 second warning that we were leaving, Odin and Liam fell and rolled in the sand covering themselves in wet sand. My nightmare! We found a shower and they did the best they could in the frigid water to rinse off. We knew another long walk home wasn’t in the cards tonight so we instead opted for the subway.

Barcelona’s subway system is clean, easy, and logical so with a short walk to the station, we cut our walking time home significantly which made for much happier kids! All four took showers again this evening to try to shake off the sand but I imagine we will be finding sand on them for the rest of the trip.

With a very late lunch, the kids had a few snacks before bed. Hopefully they sleep a little sounder tonight!

Kevin