Sevilla

Today we took advantage of the nice weather and went to Sevilla, a town a little over an hour from where we live.  It was a gorgeous day.

A Moorish Fort in the town center

This is the third largest church in the world, and Christopher Columbus tomb is barried here!

Drew trying to catch the birds!  He would get really close to one and then they would fly off and he would yell "Oh , I just missed"!

Planted Spring Flowers!

On Friday we went to the plant store out in town and bought Drew and Claire each their own pot and flowers to plant and watch grow this spring.  Drew helped Claire out with planting her's... and will probably be in charge of watering them for her!  We'll keep you posted on how they grow!!

Tub Tub Time

Tub Tub Time became 100% easier at our house a little over a month ago when we started to put Claire and Drew in the tub together!  Claire is very entertained with Drew's crazy.. fearless.. swimming skills during tub time!

Claire enjoying the swing outside our house!  (Thanks Laura)!!

Toy Story 2

So.. Drew watched Toy Story 2 for the first time a little over a month ago and LOVED it!   If he could he would put this movie on repeat and watch it ALL DAY!  I found the doll Woody from Toy Story 2 and thought this would be the perfect motivation for Drew to be 100% potty trained and  it worked! This past weekend Drew mastered the toilet and can officially say no more diapers at our house.  After having Woody on the fridge for a month we were able to take him out of the box and celebrate Drew's accomplishment.  The first thing that Drew said when we took him out of the box was "PAINT HIS EYES... PAINT HIS EYES AND BOOTS"!!!  For those of you that havn't seen the movie they have to fix woody in the movie by doing this and Drew thought that he needed to do that right away as well!!!  It cracked us up and he was VERY focussed during this!!

Big New's @ The Olsen Casa!!!

A little over a week ago Andy had Claire on a blanket outside playing... She managed on her OWN to stand up on him out there.  That was just the start as she then started to pull her self up on everything.  She then mastered that and figured while she was on all fours that she could move... this little seven month old did it a little backwards and I would say early!  She now crawls all around the house looking for that brother of hers and insists on standing! 

Drew also has BIG news... he now wear BIG BOY underwear!!!!!  I don't know who is happier Drew or Mommy!!!!  This all started last weekend and he can even wear underwear for naps and all night! 

So the other day Drew yelled to me "Mom gloves are on"... I had no idea what he was talking about and was worried what the hec he could be doing...  I guess in the day care here on base that he will attend every so often they will wear gloves when in the toilet area and empting the toilets!  So Drew put a pair of socks on his hand and would empty his own toilet!!!!  I decided this was very handy, but probably not the most clean way!  We now use the BIG toilet and have graduated out of the small one where gloves are required!!

Welcome Aaron and Christa!!!

On the 17th of December the kiddos and us jumped on a four hour train ride to Madrid to meet up with Andy's brother (identical twin so I don't confuse you in pictures!) and his wife Christa. We spent two nights in Madrid and it was great.  We were able to visit Christmas markets, museums (where we viewed original paintings from Picasso) and great food!  We then took the train back south and continued our vacation with them for two weeks.

We took this picture from our backyard and this was the storm that followed us EVERYWHERE we went!!!  It wasn't always raining.... sometimes just lightning...thunder, annoying light mist, or a down pour!

We did escape from the rain a few times, we took a guided day trip to Morroco for the day.  It was a great experience and a beautiful country.

We were told that pick-pocketing was an issue there.  So Aaron borrowed a PURSE of mine and turned it into a hidden "fanny pack"  it amused us all day long:)

We escaped the rain again and took a trip to Gibraltar.  It was sooo beautiful there.  From this cliff you can see Africa in the distance and Spain in the foreground. 

We took a guided bus tour up the rock and at one of the stops their were monkeys!  The monkey's just roam around!  We were all taking turns having the monkeys sit on us (with our guids help).  We all had just cute little monkies on our shoulder and then out of no where the KING monkey jumped on Christa!

They would try to come in your car looking for food!  Drew thought his was great and was able to feed them some M&M's! 

For a few days we went to Portugal.  We toured many towns and went to the south western tip of the Iberien Pennisula. 

The markets were up and running in the evening and it really made it feel like the holidays!

Andy's brother and sister-in-law, Christa, in Portugal.

A look from our hotel room down

OK so it's not a crime seen, but close... .In our hotel their was a bright white rug in the sitting area.  As soon as we walked into our room  Andy told Drew that we could not eat over the rug. Drew did great and was EXTRA careful .  Our last night there we were all sitting around having some wine. Andy had just poured a nice glass full and knocked it over!!!! 

Thank you sooooooo much Aaron and Christa for coming out to Spain to visit us!  We had such a great time with you and loved never having a dull moment!!!  We love and miss you!!