Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Gabriela Update: 15 Months

It has been awhile since we had a Gabriela update and let's be honest, all anyone reading this really cares about is Gabriela so I'll give you a bunch of pictures and videos highlighting her current favs.
The best part right now is she is starting to learn words. One step closer to being able to communicate. I can't wait for the day! All of her words are in English except for agua but she does understand both english and spanish. For example if I say jump she jumps and then if Pablo says salta, she jumps! She is a genius.
Her current words are:
Hi
cookie
duck
shoe (sounds like two)
mama
daddy
puppy
papa
mommy
up
uh oh
agua
spoon (poon)
hot

She loves to play with Alkie
Alkie isn't always happy about it
She can now climb up on chairs
And she is really proud of herself
She now runs with Goonie in the park
She just recently asked to sleep with her baby (first time she is intrested in a lovie)
She is watching the Olympics
She is cute, what can you say
She brushes her own teeth
She love Tommy her dog
Working on finding Cookie Monster
Not quite sure what this is

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

CaniCross Cercedilla

Pablo went alone with Goonie to this last race even though it was in Madrid. Cercedilla is a cute, little town, in the mountains, which I'm all in for, but unfortunately the weather prediction was for rain/snow and cold and we decided it would be best for us girls to stay home.
Pablo had quite the experience without us though. When he arrived it was very foggy and he walked in the gym to check in and said as he walked out of the gym he literally saw the fog being sucked away and then all of a sudden it started snowing. He said it was crazy. Therefore, this turned into his first race in the snow! Yea! Fun! Not much fell but there was a nice little layer.
This race was part of the race circuit for the Spanish league. Its a serious race for those athletes who take this sport seriously and run to win, aka not Pablo. If you win the Spanish league you qualify for the European championships. I don't know all the details but this is a world people, a small, but pretty serious world. This means, the top athletes and dogs of this sport in Spain were at this race. And if you are part of the canicross federation, like Pablo, you can run too, even if you aren't super fast, it just means you pay dues. Ha!
Ok, so the race started and everyone took off, the super runners mounted their lead and Pablo and Goonie maintained their standard pace and enjoyed the snow. Then appparently at some point in the race, one of the top runners slipped and hit his head and was unconscious for awhile. The runners around him stopped to help, obviously, and he was taken away in an ambulance. (I'm pretty sure he is fine) So because all the top athletes stopped to help (the guy who fell was currently in second place) they all decided that the race should be canceled because it was too dangerous, all the runners  who were running this race to win were together now and it was impossible to start again from the point and figured the fairest thing to do was to cancel it.
This had all happened and everyone had left by the time Pablo came prancing by so he had no idea the race had been canceled until he crossed the finish line. He didn't care too much because he really enjoyed the race and wasn't running for points but apparently there was a huge drama that ensued. People did travel from as far away as Barcelona for this race so it was kind of a big deal and when it was canceled and no one got points to help them move up in the standings, you get some pissed dudes and dudettes.
When Pablo arrived
10 minutes later
Where's Pablo and Goonie

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

CaniCross Valdeluz & Super Bowl

Pablo has been running a few races in the new year and doing well. Last Sunday mommy decided she was going to try it out. It was my new years resolution. There are a variety of races on race days. First is the "professional" and that is what Pablo does. He ran 4.5 miles. Then there are kid races and then the popular race that is open to anyone and everyone. I did the popular race. It was 1.2 miles which sound short but not for a lady who is lazy and never trains. Oops! But Goonie helped me out and after almost dying in the first 2 minutes we found a good rhythm. We finished!! I almost died after but I survived!!
Before the race
Start of Pablo's race
Middle of the pack

The start
Almost home, Goonie is a poser
 
Then we came home and bbq'd some ribs and had some beers. Then started our pregame party around 10pm making nachos. Unfortunately the game started at 12:30 am our time so we only managed to stay up to watch the 1st quarter. Luckily they were doing so awesome that I felt pretty confident. Plus Gabriela decided to stay up half the night for some unknown reason so I was checking messages for frequent updates. I can't believe we won the SUPERBOWL! GOOOO SEAHAWKS! I'm so proud and it makes me miss Seattle so much!!
Ribs!
Her first rib

Tapas on the terrace in February
Super Bowl Nachos!
Ready for the Super Bowl!!

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Family Visits

Last month we had some family visitors to Madrid. It is always great to have family come down to our neck of the woods. First Pablo's cousins came down and we met them downtown after music class.  We went to the City Hall and went up to the top to check out the views of Madrid. We had never done it so it was pretty fun to see. 
Next, Pablo's sister, Natalia, come to visit for a few days. It was great to have some extra help with Gabriela. We took her to Gabriela's music class, did a tapa tour downtown, went shopping and went to Toledo for the day. We all had a great time.
Views of Madrid with Mari Esther
Gonzalo & Mari Esther on top of Madrid!
Family
Tapa #1
Tapa #2
Fernandez ladies
Tapa #3
lunch in Toledo
Sunday morning churros