BACK TO SCHOOL!!!! DE VUELTA AL COLE!!!

Nicolas went back to school on September 7th. He was wishing to start again, he loves school, he is excited about everything,new classroom,new teacher...seeing his friends,when I picked him up the first day you could see the excitement in his face. I can´t say the same about Alec. He´s been going for a week approximately and he cries when I drop him there, during, and when I pick him up he is still crying!!! only one day last week he played for a while without crying and then went back to the tears!!! I hope he gets used to it soon!!! We started leaving him half and hour with me in the classroom, a few children and a few parents, then we increased to an hour with no parents, and now we are in the two hour stage. I took plenty of photos of Nicolas but I couldn't take any picture of Alec at school yet. Here is one of him when we tried his uniform on. It is huge on him and it is the smallest size in the store!

DOS DÍAS DIVERTIDOS. TWO FUN DAYS!!

Here is something else we did this summer.The bottom photos are from Terra Natura which is a Theme Park (combination of a zoo and a water park). Nicolas loved seeing the big owls, some lions, elephants...but he really loves to swim and play in the water like most kids, Alec loves it too. So they had a blast, at the end of the day we were all exhausted,but it was well-worth the visit.

The first three photos are from another park for kids called Pola Park. This is a permanent carnival, with a bunch of rides. As everybody can imagine the top right picture is after the whole day at the park, we changed alec into his pijammas and they both passed out as soon as we sat in the car to go back home at midnight.

HOGUERAS DE SANT JOAN 2007-SAINT JOHN´S BONFIRES

No puedo terminar mi resumen del verano sin nombrar las hogueras. Explicaré brevemente lo que es esta fiesta para los que no la conocen.

I can´t finish my summer summary if I don´t mention Alicante´s annual Festival called HOGUERAS DE SANT JOAN (SAINT JOHN´S BONFIRES). It happens every year in June, starting officially on the 21st and ending on the 24th. It is really amazing to see the transformation of the city a few days before and during the festival.

Lights ornaments everywhere, music in all the neighborhoods all night long until the day comes. Parades in the evening.fireworks and firecrackers at any time of the day. During a week after the festival is over, the city has a huge firework exhibition every night, like the fireworks on the fourth of July in the States but during 7 nights.The beautiful sculptures all over the town, over 50 of them, like the ones that you can see in the pictures. These big sculptures, some of them are three or four story tall, are made during the year by specialized artists. Each piece costs thousands of dollars, you can see them for only four days because on the night of June 24th they are burnt!!!!!!! Isn´t it crazy???

Well, young people wait to see the bonfire burning, as near as the firemen and authorities allow them to be, and once the fire is controlled, the fun starts!! Everybody that wants to get wet starts to yell, jump, sing, and even insult the firemen. The insults are also a tradition and firemen don´t take them personal, they know that´s the way it is, so they aim their hose at the crowd , it is fun, fun!!!

People live the festival in many different ways, you can choose how you want to participate, or only be a spectator. The traditional customs people wear during the festival are beautiful, they are an adaptation of the old bridal outfits, and the clothing people wore more than a hundred years ago in this part of Spain. This festival has been declared an international touristic interest.

Each sculpture has a theme, they are usually satirical. A joke about national or international politics, or any actual subject, for instance world pollution... Plan your next vacation and come to check it out yourself!!!!!!!!

ALEC STARTED TO WALK THIS SUMMER!!!!

Alec started to walk with some help from us or holding on to the furniture around June but he took off in July when he turned 13 months old, now he is almost 15 months old and he runs, dances... it is funny to see how he copies Nicolas dancing, they love Led Zeppelin, Alec shakes his head and stumps his foot like if he is crazy about rock and roll, really cute. We crack up!!!

NICOLAS AT SCHOOL

Nicolas ended his first year of pre-school. Here in Spain they start school when they are 3 years old and they stay in that school until they are 12. He will have three years of pre-school before he starts FIRST GRADE after that it goes like in the States, 1st grade, 2nd grade...

He loves school ,here is a picture of his school party the last day,June 20th 2007. I will send you soon another one of his first day next week,when he´ll start in the classroom of the four year old!!!!