Abby insisted that we make one last trip to one of our favorite spots in Madrid – Parque del Retiro. We were excited that our friends, the Chopras, and their sweet puppy, Salchicha (yes, that’s ‘sausage’ in Spanish) could join us for some pre-international-flight puppy play!
Every year in October, Kyle and I invite our friends to join us for all things pumpkin – pumpkin penne pasta, pumpkin whoopie pies, pumpkin carving, etc. Last year we had just moved to Madrid and didn’t pull together a Granderson Pumpkin Party, but this October we decided it was time to bring the pumpkin party to Spain and we invited all our friends to join us. Thanks to Nadia and Lalit for hosting at their house!
After discovering that we were pregnant in August, we were thrilled to share the news with our family and friends. We decided to snap this photo in Retiro Park of us with our new “made in Spain” addition!
Madrid is home to two “football” – or as we would say, “soccer” – teams. Real Madrid and Athletico.
Our good friend, Cesar, grew up in Madrid and has been an Athletico fan since he was a little boy. Kyle initially followed his lead when we moved to Madrid and vowed his loyalty to Athletico as well, but soon came to a crossroads as he cheered on Real Madrid too – something Cesar certainly did not approve of.
Kyle made it to a few games – 3 Real Madrid and 1 Athletico – but I only made it to one in honor of our friend, Kevin Chu’s, birthday.
Rachel and Kevin enjoyed the view in Bernabeu Stadium.
Real Madrid pulled through with a win and we celebrated at Tony Roma’s (one of Kevin’s favorites :-)) afterwards. Happy birthday Kevin!
Just after arriving home from our camping trip, we received the biggest news of our lives…
We had always known we wanted to have kids and thought it would be wonderful if we could go home to Seattle with a little one on the way, but we also knew that these aren’t the sort of things you have complete control over. However, as we set off for our camping trip in August, the possibility became more real that we just might have made a little Granderson and would have to wait a whole 2 weeks to find out! A run where for the first time in my life I was wishing I had worn two sports bras and a breathless hike left me to wonder if it was all in my head or if my body really was trying to tell me something.
On August 11th our hunch became a reality with the appearance of two simple pink lines – we were going to have a baby! We could hardly contain our excitement and quickly shared the news with our immediate families but decided to keep things a little quieter until we were confident everything was going as planned.
We will never forget that surreal day – knowing that our lives had just been changed forever – and continue to be in awe of the reality that we created a new life together… unbelievable. And here I am at the start of this adventure…things are about to change!
Ah, and “Aunt Erin” quickly dubbed the baby “Huevo” in honor of all the eggs I’ve been eating since living in Spain and the fact that the baby was still more of a ‘huevo’ growing away at that point. Our little Huevo!
We celebrated our wonderful friend Lalit’s big 3-0 in July with a weekend of festivities – what could be better to kick off your 30’s than an outdoor movie, a big brunch, and an afternoon in el Retiro! We hope you had an absolutely fantastic birthday Lalit!!!
The Open Air theater was AMAZING with rows and rows of beach style chairs to enjoy the show. We got their early enough to grab dinner and score some free fleece blankets to keep us cozy during the movie. Fun!
The guys enjoyed lounging on the Chopra’s gorgeous patio before we all dove into Kyle’s delicious breakfast sandwiches and my tasty apple cinnamon cake. I think Lalit was pleased with his birthday brunch!
And the day was topped off by a gorgeous afternoon in the park, complete with cake, friends and champagne! I think Abby particularly appreciated Lalit’s choice of birthday celebration spots.
Wishing you a feliz cumpleanos from the Granderson’s, Lalit!!!
Kyle wrapped up his third term at the end of July and couldn’t have been happier! This was a particularly celebratory day for Kyle and his section – “N4” – since it was the last term they would have all of their classes together and everyone was preparing for a month of vacation before starting classes again in September. Congratulations N4!
Kyle celebrated his 28th birthday (yes, he’s a baby) on July 7th…but this year, he celebrated as “Keelay.” Little did you know that Kyle has a new identity in Madrid and he has come to be known as “Keelay” – the phonetic pronunciation of Kyle for Spanish speakers. Slowly but surely the name stuck and now his IE friends endearingly refer to their friend, their class representative, their group member, and their classmate as Keelay.
In honor of Keelay’s bday we invited a few friends over to our tiny little apartment to celebrate with a little cake and a toast to my favorite person in the world. My mom and Randy were even here to give him an in-person bday hug and Abby was happy to help blow out the candles on his delicious bday cake.
We also celebrated over the weekend with a night out in honor of Kyle and his friend, Oscar, who’s birthday was on July 8th. Feliz cumpleanos Kyle and Oscar!
After my mom and I spent an amazing weekend together in Italy, Randy came to meet us back in Madrid after working for several weeks in Greece for the Special Olympic World Games. He was exhausted, as you can imagine, but we were so happy to have him join us to explore the beautiful city of Madrid – our home for the year!
Nothing makes me happier than to see my mamma happy…don’t she and Randy make great European travelers?!?!
Kyle and I took them on a walking tour through Puerta del Sol and Plaza Mayor with a top at one of our favorite markets for some paella, olives, wine, and of course, gelato.
The highlight of their visit was an outdoor concert with the inspiring group, “Playing for Change” – a collection of talented street performers from around the world who perform together with an incredible mix of cultures and styles. Our favorite was the finale – “Stand by Me.”
The other highligh, coming in at a close second, was going to the Madrid Zoo. We may have been sweating profusely in the heat, but it was definitely worth it to see the dolphins, meerkats and baby pandas! Oh, and Randy enjoyed saying hello to his friend, Chip, as well 🙂
Thank you, thank you mom and Randy for coming to visit us in Madrid! We’re looking forward to many more concerts, trips to the zoo and other adventures with you…even if they are a little closer to “home” next time!
While I must admit that Spanish food is not our favorite and has surprised us with it’s overall lack of variety, no one can argue that Spanish tapas don’t deserve to be celebrated in all their tasty glory. Hence why we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to attend Feria de Tapas – a tapas fair held in Madrid’s basketball arena with booth after booth filled with tapas to try. Let’s just say our friend Josh was totally jazzed about this idea.
We all bought our tokens – each cana (small beer) and tapa was a token or two – and headed into the crowds to sample the best of the best.
Ahhh…happy and full, a feria de tapas success story.
The Ultimate Granderson Getaway 