happy new year! and our trip to madrid

happy new year!  we rang in the new year with a fun night out on the town with friends (pictures to follow), and emre and i have been battling a cold & a stomach bug ever since.  yay!

below are our pictures from madrid.  we had a WONDERFUL time celebrating christmas with the price family, who are marvelous hosts.  it was a treat to be in a household with all new toys for emre to play with, and a big & little sister to keep him company.  fond memories of our first christmas with our little e-man.

recovering from the looong flight there

kathryn entertains us with... a dance?

out for a walk, happily reunited, ben helps adam by tying his shoe

swinging at the playground - loved all the parks around their neighborhood!

we ALL had to try the slide, per kathryn's insistence

kathryn is the best big sister!  she wanted to help take care of emre in any way she could.

playing dress up - kathryn's idea!

sweet shop around the corner from adam & julianne's house - where we bought the christmas cake

this vendor was selling churros & hot chocolate, and people were standing around eating it on their way to the subway.

we ventured into sol (downtown) on the first day to see the christmas markets & have lunch.  it was a lot of fun seeing all of the christmas decorations!

in front of the madrid bear, sol

christmas tree in sol

the spaniards are all about building nativity scenes, and the christmas markets at plaza mayor were selling everything you need in order to create one of your own.

nativity mayhem

plaza mayor christmas markets

the day after christmas, adam & julianne went to work so ben, emre and i headed back toward plaza mayor to do some shopping and visit the mercado de san miguel for lunch.  

children's show outside of el corte ingles shopping center - must have been a big deal because the crowd was massive!

lunch at the market - amazing bruschetta and a slice of tortilla, with a little vino tinto of course!

emre enjoyed some paella when he woke up and drank water from a wine glass.  he's a classy kid.

the next day we ventured back downtown for more shopping and enjoyed lunch at taberna kaixo, a little spot we had found & enjoyed on our first trip.  

potato, smothered with eggs, chorizo sausage and spanish bacon.

emre liked the potato

adam & julianne took friday off so we could enjoy a day together.  we took the bus to the upscale neighborhood of serrano, where we enjoyed window shopping and a stop at a luxe baby store (julianne knows my weakness for baby food and toys), and wandered around a food market before stopping for a bite of lunch.  the perfect afternoon!

kathryn & carolyn, all dressed up to fit in on the streets of serrano

prices at the el corte ingles carousel

beautiful carolyn

emre's first carousel ride!

weeee!

lunch, surrounded by jamon (bow courtesy of kathryn)

on friday night, for a special treat (and on julianne & adam's 9th anniversary!) we adults ventured back to serrano for a walk among the christmas lights & dinner out at la trainera, where we enjoyed a faaabulous seafood feast.

fun christmas lights

we loved the chandeliers

julianne and i MAY have stopped off for a little boot shopping, where we may have found matching boots, which may have been purchased, much to ben & adam's dismay

srimps - sadly, the only food shot i took - it was all so good!

great friends!

on our last day, emre and i were both a bit under the weather so we enjoyed a day in with playtime at gymboree in the afternoon (thank you, price family, for introducing us to that magical and wondrous place). adam & ben enjoyed a romantic 'man lunch' out, and cooked us dinner when they got home!

brudders from another mother, sporting their 'revolutionary bromance' t's, which ben had custom made by a friend here in turkey.