jump in. Barcelona.

I'm so far behind, I don't know where to begin.

If you stop posting, does the blog still exist?  If no one posts, but no one's looking, does it matter?

Whatever.

Summer, as usual, has sped by.  Less than three weeks until school starts, and I'm filling with dread.  Just thinking about getting back on that crazy treadmill of pick up, drop off, homework, lessons, tightly packed mornings -- ugh.   Summer vacation rules.

We spent 17 days of this summer in Europe.  Gulp. Yep. It was pretty awesome.  I have a moving-to-Europe for a few years fantasy. I have quite a few ex-pat friends who were here for a few years and I so envy their chance to drop into another culture for a bit and then dash on home.

The thousands of photos can overwhelm me.  Come September, I'll have more quiet computer time, but now, I have to get it in bits when I can.  So, here's a few from Barcelona on our big adventure.

 I love the little black bathing suit we bought Jack in France.

 I was imagining the phone conversation here. "please pick me up. I can't take the metro today."

Big milestone to travel abroad with a kid with so many food allergies.  Biggest stressor was on the return flight when they handed out the peanuts to half of the plane before reaching our row.  I hadn't thought of asking them to hold the peanuts.  We don't know if his allergy is airborne (it appears not to be), but the allergist will only say, we don't really know.  We were four hours from NY when the plane was filled with peanut smells.  I was a nervous wreck and would not let Jack leave his seat.  He eventually fell asleep, and soon the peanut smell faded. 

 We only made it to the line for the Picasso museum.  Jack had one of his bathroom-issues kind of day, and there was wailing and stomach clutching in line.  We had to punt.   (this guy was not at the museum, just outside a shop.  We were scared to touch him b/c we were convinced he was a mime.  Alex took this picture and he also videotaped my freaked out approach.)