Zoo de Castellar

Meet Thor, the baby ocelot at the zoo.  He's only 7 months old, so cute and so soft!

The kids were in love with this little guy.  He was super sleepy so we headed out to see everything else there was to see.

I'm not quite sure what this guy is and I didn't read the sign.  He looks like a yak with a bad haircut.

Holy smokes, four smiles at the same time!

It took some time but we finally found his other leg. :)

This guy was playing hide and seek.  I don't think he fully understands the game.

Sleepy little guy.

Don't smile at these guys.

Yeah, we're not quite sure what these bad boys are either but they were neat looking.

This little one was so cute!  They were bringing her out just as we got there.  She got fed before the little ones were able to get close to her.  Her paws were so huge!  

She was making funny faces at the line of people waiting to see her.

Beautiful.

She was getting kind of anxious by this point so they would only let the kids pet her very quickly.

We didn't throw a pen at this guy....If you need to know why, watch the Kevin Hart youtube clip at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XxjEtYiyoE  and you'll see why.

It's the black swan.  

These guys couldn't have cared less that there was someone there looking at them.  They just went on with their business, which was doing nothing.

These little guys would reach down out of the cage and grab the food out of your hand.  Their tiny paws were super cute.

So majestic.

This one was so curious, just looking at everyone coming up the stairs looking like giant pieces of clothed steak coming to greet her.

After being smacked by the one on the left, the guy on the right decided to get in line and pick the dead skin off of the meanie so he wouldn't abuse him anymore.  

These guys are just so beautiful.

I have no idea what this guy was but he was one of the cutest little things ever.  As soon as the guy handed him over he wrapped his tail around my arm. 

He was so sleepy until someone brought out a banana.  He smelled it from a few feet away and chowed down.

Baby monkey riding on mama's back.

This capuchin monkey was the smartest guy ever!  He only liked the sunflower seeds though.

His paws were so soft.  He reached all the way up this pipe to grab a seed out of your fingers.  His little paws were so darn soft.  I just wanted to hold his hand!

This little guy was doing the fox call whistle at everyone.  He only liked the sunflower seeds too!  He'd spit out everything else we tried to feed him.  

We made it into the cage with all of the "non violent" animals.  

This guy on the top didn't like the fact that the younger guy in the cage was trying to get some of the food he was being offered.  He kept trying to pry his feet off of the bars to get him to fall down.

He would pick out all of the sunflower seeds and if you didn't get him more he'd try to eat your arm.

So we made him work for the good stuff.

Christopher got bit when he tried to get him off of Madison's arm to his.  He didn't like that idea.

Alexander wasn't too keen on getting bit by the birds since he'd already been bitten twice trying to get one onto his arm so he decided to go for the softer side of things.

Christopher wanted to hold this cute little guy too.

These ones weren't coming down where all the people were.  

This cute little thing didn't like Madison trying to pet it so it attacked her finger.

A new bird to hold.  This is the one that bit my arm twice when we ran out of food.  It actually drew blood.  Alexander's a pretty smart guy if you ask me but I'd still go back and hold it again.

It's a gang of cuties!

It would supposedly let you pet it if you wiggled your finger in front of it...I think it made it look like food because it didn't work for me.

This rooster was super colorful and was so fluffy when he puffed all of his feathers out.

Madison was all for this guy being on her neck.

So was Christopher.

Then they put it on Glenn's neck after he said no like 5 times.  I won't even post the picture of me with it on my neck because I look so horrible because I thought he was trying to choke me.

Glenn said this guy didn't want to eat anything else because he didn't want anymore sacrifices... :) (Madagascar movie reference)

Isn't he cute?!  

Alexander decided that he'd hold the owl because he was given a thick leather glove and figured this guy couldn't bite him through it.

Pretty cool being able to hold this pretty little thing huh?

This hyena was super cute and looked like he was smiling.

He started scratching at the glass like he wanted to eat my kiddos.  Nah, he just wanted to give them hugs! 

As we were about to leave, this guy came bee-boppin' down the way on a leash.  He climbed right onto my shoulder and I immediately wanted to take him home, just like every other cute thing at this place.  

This zoo is actually a rescue center that takes care of animals that have been seized by authorities.  They were being sold on the black market and were being mistreated.  I think it's one of the coolest ideas ever and it was so awesome to be able to feed, hold and pet these little guys. 

The kids always complain about getting into the car to drive somewhere but when we get there they always have a great time.  They loved this zoo and I'd love to go back there again and again. 

I'll be posting about our visit to C adiz in the very near future.  Most likely today because I've once again fallen behind on the posting front. Have a great day everyone!

Looks like I went on strike huh?

Nope, I didn't go on strike.  I just forgot to blog because I didn't have any pictures that I felt were blog worthy.  We've been getting the house all situated, and I think we've finally gotten into a permanent routine.  I got myself a 220 volt vacuum so that I don't ruin my dyson.  It started blinking when I'd turn it on and I'd like to have a working vacuum when we move back to the states.  

After dropping the kids off at the bus stop there are two ladies that I go to the cafe down the street with to have una croissant con mantequilla y mermelada, y una cafe con leche.  We sit and talk for about 30-45 minutes and head out to start the day.  I feel so much more productive when I start the morning like that.  Afterwards, Rajah and I go for a walk with Gosia and her baby Stella when she's not busy.  Rajah loves going for those walks.  We actually walked by her house today on our walk and she stopped for a minute and sniffed the door like she does when we pick them up.  

That's Stella, her buddy.  They both get so excited when they see each other.

During the first week of October, the kids and I went to the training they have at RAWL (Rota Animal Welfare League) so that you can be a volunteer there.  We went and took care of the cats about 2 weeks ago and we're going to take care of the dogs on the 16th of this month.  The other day, Alexander didn't have school but Madison and Christopher did.  We went to RAWL and took all of the dogs for a walk.  We had to take 2 or 3 at a time because some of them don't get along.  It's so sad to me that all these babies want is attention from someone that wants to love them.  They are all so sweet.  The next day when all three of the kids had the day off, we went there just to give the doggies a treat and say hi.  When we pull up, Billie starts wagging his tail.  He's such a sweetie and he's a fast runner too.

This is either Marty or Sasha.  there are two female tabby cats so we're not 100% sure who is who.  We'll have to ask the ladies that run the place.   The one below is the other tabby cat.  They are super sweet and love attention.

This Calico baby is Linda.  She's a friendly little girl that has a tail that's bent a little.  

Marty or Sasha.  What a cutie!

This is Billie.  He's the one that gets excited when we pull up and he decided to smile for the camera when Alexander was giving him a goodbye hug for the day.

In order, Woody, Acey and Jacob.  These guys are crazy little boys.  Jacob is so gentle when he's being walked and I think he gets a bad rap because he's part pit bull.  

Madison letting one of the rambunctious ones run around.  I'm not sure if it's Woody or Acey but man he was fast.

On the way back to their kennels.

The other day, I was nervous and thought that Buddy and Bobby had been turtle napped.  They didn't pop up out of the water like they usually do.  I thought they were gone for a few days and was all upset because 1. I liked them and 2. The turtle food I ordered online finally came in the mail.  Apparently they don't come out of the water as much when it's cold outside.  Good to know.

Glenn told me about the website bodybuilding.com and I printed out the weekly workouts that I'm going to start on Monday.  Maybe I can lose a few pounds before Thanksgiving so I can put them back on when we go over to a friends' house. :)  

That's it for now.  Have a great day! :)

Monday Monday.....

Rajah made a new buddy over the weekend.  Miguel, our landlord was clipping the pomegranate tree and the bushes around the front yard and Rajah was just wandering around.  We finally introduced him to her so he wouldn't be scared every time he came here. :)  As soon as he busted out the hose to spray the steps down, Rajah was in love.  He just kept laughing because she wouldn't leave the hose alone.  We got 3 grocery bags full of pomegranates from the trees.  These things are $1.28 a pound at the store!  I gave my friend a bag because there's no way we could eat them all.  Christopher and I are going to juice them and mix it with orange juice.  Miguel said it was delicious that way.  

Last Friday, Glenn and I went to the restaurant down the street.  The boys wanted to go with us but Madison decided to stay at home.  We drove this time but we usually walk since it only takes about 5 minutes to get there.

When we got there, this nice lady asked if the kids wanted to play a game.  She took them to this area and they were playing tetherball.  It's different here.  There's a little ball, unlike the volleyball we're used to, and they use these paddles to hit it around the pole.  

They were having a great time and I think the lady was having fun watching them try to hit that ball as hard as they could.

Now, I know I posted this on Facebook but some people may not have seen this beauty.  I needed a car.  I didn't want a giant car here and I also didn't want a nice car.  I needed something that would not make me cringe if someone opened their door into my car, or if I accidentally scraped the light pole on the side of the road.  Also, those toothpick trees are no joke.  For $1,100 Glenn found the perfect car for me.  It's got scrapes, dents, dings and a few broken things.  I love it.  

This happened because the previous owner didn't realize that she needed the emergency brake on whenever it's parked.  I'm glad that I know this.

Glenn put a screw in my side view mirror and now it doesn't fold in if I go to fast down the road.  Perfect fix.

This one, I've learned the secret to getting it to work just right.  Oh you want to steal my car?  Go ahead, but you'll get caught because you can't get out once they find it. :)  I should probably put some gas in her now.  She's gone since the 30th of September on 1 fill-up.  We're getting pretty low.  

Alexander likes Christopher's Halloween costume.  He tries to scare me with it whenever he gets the chance.  He does look like a creepy little man with it on right?

I saw this little guy on my friends' front gate and figured, what the heck, so I took a picture.

I sure do wonder how long it took him to get all the way up there though....

These are the most vicious looking plants ever!  The black spikes on the top are not messing around either.  They are sharp and super strong.  It looks like an aloe vera plant gone wild.

I think I'd rather take my chances with this giant cactus bush before I'd mess with the other one.  Both of these things are in a lot of the empty lots and sometimes in landscaping areas!  Why would you plant a devil looking plant like that?  Maybe to scare away intruders??  Not sure, but I know I won't be planting any myself.

It poured most of the weekend.  Glenn was in a golf tournament and it rained on him too.  I'm upset that I had to stop hanging my clothes!  I am going to start taking my wet clothes to the laundry mat though so that I know exactly how much I'm paying for laundry instead of waiting two months to get a bill.  

I still haven't used the dishwasher.  I get tempted so many times.  I just don't know what the electricity bill will look like, so the same goes with the dryer, I do what I can to save electricity until I know how bad it will be.  It shouldn't be horrible but you never know.  

I am sitting here trying to think of other things to say but I'm fresh out.  There hasn't been a great opportunity for us to travel yet but as soon as there is, we're taking it.  I'm in the process of trying to get a trip scheduled so we'll see how that goes.  It's got to be local because we're waiting on our passports but it'll still be fun.  I hope everyone has a great day!

Tour Bus Trips and Toothpick Trees

This is the way they go to school, go to school....You know the rest of that song.  It's not really so early in the morning though.  We don't have to head out until after 7:00 in order to get there on time, because we know the way now. :)  The kids don't mind riding to school in style.  Rajah knows what their bus looks like too.  She gets excited when it comes in the afternoon but not so much when she sees it leaving in the morning.  She gets sad when the kids have to go to school and she whines a little.  She does great at the bus stop with all of the kids now.  She lets the kids pet her as they walk by and one girl loves to give her hugs.  I'm proud of her for being so polite at the bus stop.  She hasn't barked at anyone there.  As you can see, she still sits like a little lady....hahaha!  Nah.  She's always been a little lazy when it comes to sitting up straight.  

This, is where toothpicks come from.  I'm sure of it.  I didn't take this picture but  I plan on taking a few of my own soon.  I joke around with the kids while we're driving by the toothpick tree down the road and say, "I have something in my tooth, can you grab me a toothpick when we drive by?"  Christopher thinks I must be crazy if I think he's going to stick his hand out the window towards a tree that looks like Maleficent made it magically appear to keep the prince out.  

The kids have been doing great and have adjusted so well here.  The boys love going to JAMS after school.  They play different games, ride skateboards, they can do their homework in the quiet room, and they get cupcakes sometimes.  I tell the staff there that my kids love it so much and that they are doing something right in there.  Not once have the boys complained that something bad happened there or that one of the staff members is mean.  Almost every time I go in there, at least one of the staff members is playing a game with a kid.  Whether it's ping pong, foosball or Smash Brothers, they are all having a great time.  I use it as bribery as well, like any good parent should. :)

See, she'll bring her ball to you when you tell her to go get it but she won't let you have it.

So last night I told Alexander to go throw Rajah's ball for her.  She likes to argue with him and backtalk.  She will bring the ball to you but as soon as you try to grab it so that you can throw it for her, she'll snatch it back up and run away.  Alexander didn't think that was funny, I did though, so I took a video.  As soon as Rajah saw me standing there she stopped arguing with him.  Alexander is doing his best to do work around the house so that he can earn enough money to buy a game that he wants to go with the 3DS that he just bought himself.  He's been asking me if there are any chores that he can do to earn some money, so I put him to work.  He doesn't like the manual labor type chores, well guess what buddy, they're pretty much all manual labor so suck it up buttercup.  You want the cash, better do a good job.

He was not fond of this chore at all.  He tried to get out of doing it like 5 times.  Not happening buddy.  You start something, you finish it.  I do think it's funny though that he thinks he's going to be able to stop doing chores as soon as he has enough money for that game.  Dream on little guy, dream on.  I'm thinking about making one of those work for hire boards so they can earn money without asking me what there is to do.  Here's an example of one.  I'm not going to try to make it all fancy because they don't care what it looks like, they just care that they get cash for their work.

Some of the other ones have baggies with coins in them too just in case I don't think the chore is worth $1 or more.  I think they're going to have a certain time to finish them though.  Once per week maybe.  If the dollar is gone, that means mom got to it first and you'll have to wait until next week to do it.  I smell some competitive behavior coming on.  

Yesterday it was pretty toasty outside so the boys decided to get in the pool for a bit.  Christopher has been working on teaching Alexander how to swim.  I think it's awesome.  The day we were all in the pool, Alexander actually swam over to my "raft" in the deep end, hung on for a minute and then went back over to the shallow end.  

Christopher has decided to be Freddy Krueger for Halloween this year.  He chooses his costume based on the accessories it comes with.  For the past few years I have made them make their costumes so I decided this year we could buy some.  Rajah does not know what to think of the Freddy mask.  The kids come around the corner with it on and she thinks it's them but isn't 100% sure so she is a little antsy.  It's funny.  One of these days I'll actually get a video that isn't pitch black so that I can post it on here for everyone.  

That's pretty much it for now.  Everyone have a great day!

Into The Swing of Things

So we're slowly but surely getting into a groove and haven't even gotten lost on the way to the bus stop in the mornings!!  The first few mornings were a bit challenging because it's dark, like, midnight dark out there when we leave the house.  No, it's not super early, just dark.  There are only like 2 roads we have to turn on but remembering those two roads in the beginning was semi difficult.  We finally did it though and Alexander tries to lead us there in the mornings.  He and Christopher discuss the way sometimes and can come to an agreement most of the time.  Other times I just keep truckin' and they end up following.

The temperature is starting to drop here quite a bit.  I have to wear a jacket in the mornings but by the time I get back to the house with Rajah we're both ready to take our coats off.  Madison and Christopher seem to be fine with the cooler weather but Alexander on the other hand, not so much.  He needs to wear his sweater every morning and he had to wear pants once already.  I'll be busting out the winter coats before I know it just to find out they no longer fit.  All three of them are growing like crazy.  Christopher is now 3/4 of an inch shorter than me and Madison is a couple of inches shy too.  Alexander's got some catching up to do to be as tall as me but he's not being left out when the height inches are being handed out.  He's going to need new pants too.

So, the swing of things, is bus stop, walk Rajah, pick up the house (dishes, laundry, whatever is left) and walk to the bus stop to get the kids.  We're pretty much unpacked at this point except for the few boxes that contain mostly stuff from the garage.  It's a little hard to figure out where to put garage stuff when you don't have one.  We have a bunch of cardboard boxes we're going to get rid of soon and then my new shelf can be put where it belongs.  We made our first (and Glenn's last) trip to IKEA and I loved it!  We found a wardrobe for Madison since she doesn't have a closet in the room she picked.  The picking out was the easy part but the putting together....no.

Trying to figure out if everything inside (the shelves and the hooks) were included was the challenging part but we managed to do it.

So, you may be wondering, why does she have a picture of her....what the heck is that thing??  Yeah, it's a microwave.  Tell me how to work it....No?  Glenn figured this out.  Top button, turn the knob for the time and then push the lightning button.  I just figured out that the down triangle is the cancel/clear button.  One day maybe I'll try to see if I can set the clock on it but for now, we'll just stick to turning the knob.

Yeah, there are the boxes I was telling you about and my new shelf!!  Everything you can recycle here has to be recycled out in town or you can get a fine.  No thanks, I'll reduce, reuse and recycle.  There's the good ol' booster seat Alexander had to get back into.  Rules are rules and we're not taking any chances.  Glenn works hard for the money *sing next part* So hard for the money!!, so he rides in the seat.  Madison and I put the shelf together and I have to say, it's kind of wobbly but we'll figure out a way to stabilize it before I load up the wine racks we got for it.  The whole picking out the parts at IKEA was not as easy as 1, 2, 3.  It was like 1-17.  We had all the right pieces and we didn't have any leftovers so I was super impressed with our skills.  I'll post an updated photo when we have it all done and loaded up. :)

Next question, what do those lines mean on the left knob?  No clue.  I just know if you turn it, the red light comes on and you're preheating the oven if you turn the right one to a celsius temperature that you have to google the conversion for.  Otherwise, you'll either burn your orange rolls or undercook them and have to apologize to your husband after all the frosting got sucked into them because you had to flip them upside down to cook the bottom after thinking they were done and spreading the frosting all over.  Yeah, it might have happened once. ;)

Those are the three lonely socks on the clothesline that I didn't see while taking the clothes down.  Yeah, I'm going all Little House on the Prairie over here and hanging clothes!!  I even wash dishes by hand and put them into the dishwasher to dry.  I'm going green!  Nah, I'm just trying to save as much money as possible.  We're not sure what the utility bill will look like yet so I'm not taking any chances.  Oh yeah, that white thing there, that's a dog bath!  Rajah says no it's not, she hates it and I don't care.  She hates all baths.  I love it because it's outside and if she gets dirty I can spray her down (yes, there's a shower head and everything so she can get warm water) and she can run around outside and shake off.  

She loves it when I sit right on the doorstep and watch her chase the flies, bees and whatever else seems to fly in front of her nose.  

Alexander got a gift from his 4th grade teacher Mrs. Montero before we left Maryland and he was out on the porch putting it together the other night.  Rajah decided she wanted to keep him company so she went out and sat next to him.  

I had planned on going to the gypsy market today in Rota but I'm going to see how much I get picked up this morning.  I should be able to make it.  

Oh, we have named the turtles as well as the fish that live in there with them.  Bobby has stopped trying to get into the pool, probably because he doesn't like sharing.  We think that's why Buddy is so aggressive with the cheerios when we feed them.  Bobby's a jerk, that's why.  Bubba is an orange and white fish with a crooked mouth and Clyde is the orange bully.  He isn't very nice to Bubba.  He probably took lessons from Bobby.  

This is Buddy, before we put Bobby back into the pond.  He's very shy most of the time.

So that's it for now.  I just heard the washer go off and I need to go hang the clothes. :)  

Adíos everyone!!

Hasta Mañana!