Visitors

Kirsten (Erik's sister) has come and gone, on her way to Ireland with some co-worker friends to party up and down the country. She was only here for two full days but we had a great visit and it was fun to see somone from our "old" life. I'll post pictures once she's emailed some to me (Jake broke my camera!)

Our friend Brad is arriving tomorrow morning and staying through Monday. He'll then visit another friend in England and head off to France for some winery-related business and wine-tasting (wish I was going with him!) Erik and Brad are attending a soccer match in London on Saturday, something Erik's wanted to do since we got here.

John and Gretchen (Erik's parents) are arriving on Tuesday and staying for about 10 days. We don't have specific plans yet except that Erik and I get to go away for a night! We're going to visit Dorset County along the south coast, where rumor has the beaches are absolutely amazing. We will spend the night, without kids, in a B&B...I am so looking forward to a little time away. Below is a picture of the quay in Poole, where we'll be staying:

Upcoming Plans
After John and Gretchen leave, my cousin Kristin will arrive to stay for her spring break. Erik is off of work until the third week in April, so we'll have lots of free time (we'll just pull Emma out of school, as her break doesn't start until the first week in April.) Kristin has done a lot of research and has a list of of things she'd like to do, so we'll help her work through the list. Erik's co-worker has offered us his vacation home in Devon (on the southwest coast, also has beautiful beaches) during that week, so we plan to spend a couple of nights there.

April 2--we leave for Spain! We found cheap flights to Alicante, on the Mediterranean Ocean. We rented a villa for a week, with a small private pool (the kids are over the moon about that part.) If you want to see the villa, go here:

http://www.alicanteholidayvillas.com/alicante_holiday_rental_details.php?id=95&ref=512

It looks like there's a ton to do there: miles of great beaches, old castles, Roman ruins, archaeology, paleontology, hiking the mountains to waterfalls, markets, local pottery...I don't think we'll get to it all in a week. It rains there quite a bit in April so it won't be like some summer laying-in-the-sun vacation, but it will still be warmer than here, so I am happy. And anytime it is warm enough to use the pool, I will be sitting beside it with my sangria and a good book. :-)

So, if anyone wants to visit Spain in April, the villas are cheap and the food is good so come join us!