Barcelona by Geek Girl

This is a guest post by Geek Girl, with minimal edits by Daddy Geek...

We are in Barcelona. We have done several things. Here are some pictures:



This is me with the lizard statue in Parc Güell.




This is behind the lizard statue.




I climbed a tree under some arches that are also
in Parc Güell.




These are the arches.




This is the curvy bench in Parc Güell.




This is a museum in Parc Güell.




We also went to a beach.




There was a rope pyramid by the beach.
After a while, I got to the top.

We walked up a hill and found out there was a castle at the top.




In the center of the castle there were some people
singing.




On the way down the hill, we passed a fountain
with stepping "stones".

We took the aerial tram down the hill.




This is a view from the tram.

We saw a wavy building. Here is a picture of the wavy building.



See above.

These are some pictures from my trip to Barcelona.

Geeks...In...SPAAAAAAIIIIINNNN

(Jim Henson, please forgive me for the title.)

The Geeks are on holiday in Spain, a destination we have had in mind for a long time.

So far, the trip has been pretty good. Short overnight flights are never that fun, but ours was relatively empty, so Geek Girl got a set of two seats to curl up in alone, and Mama Geek scored another set that she and I traded off. Arrival in Spain was easy and after a short Metro ride, we arrived at our first hotel of the trip - and lucked out, as the room was ready for check-in well before noon. Quick showers, and then we headed out to explore Madrid.

We had a late morning snack at Las Mallorquinas, a famous bakery/cafe on Puerta del Sol, before wandering to the Palacio Real, where I snapped Mama Geek and Girl Geek





before she returned the favor:





We found a small playground nearby, where Geek Girl could burn off some climbing energy





and then we got to see some kind of procession with lots of horses with well-clad riders, and eventually a coach





I'll let Geek Girl blog the final thing in the procession.

We found a quick lunch in a local place -- all the other patrons were Spanish -- and then wandered around to get some light and help battle jet lag. After a quick siesta, we headed out in the rain to find a tapas place we had read about, but we must have had the wrong opening times, as it was closed. Instead, off to have a quick bite of bocadillas con calamari and bocadillas con lomo before heading off for our new favorite dessert: chocolate and churros.

How do I know it is our new favorite? Just ask Geek Girl. I did, tonight in Barcelona: "What would you like for dessert, ice cream or churros?". She replied, with a tone I can only characterize as "enthusiastic pity" (for the idiot even suggesting there is a choice to be made), "Churros. Lots of churros."

On that note, buenos noches, amigos.

High Water

Geek Girl started 3rd grade this week and it's been raining all week.

Today the water got quite high:


There's a sidewalk behind that tree. Luckily the water's gone down and I"ll be able to go pick her up from school, but I was worried for a while.

Edited to add 5 hours later...

Another storm came through. This time the water was even higher than last time.


Here's what it looks like now that the water has gone down.


Daddy Geek is riding his bike home. Hopefully he hasn't been struck by lightning or drowned...

And another update, this time from Daddy Geek. Yes, I rode home in the storm. I had to detour around some flooded areas on my usual route home, but it wasn't too bad. I sang "Row, row, row your bike" with one of my fellow commuters today; it was good for a laugh and to alert the crazy runners that two crazy cyclists were coming up behind them.

Now, as long as the little seep of water coming into the basement stays a little seep, and assuming we don't lose power like all of San Diego, we ought to be OK...

What you need to build a fort...

Two of the neighbor girls are over to play and one has suggested building a fort. According to Geek Girl, "You need tension and teamwork to build a fort."

A Visit to the Beach

A couple of weeks ago we decided to take a quick trip to Virginia Beach. We left late on Thursday morning and were in Chesapeake, VA five hours later. We checked in to the hotel and then headed out to Sandbridge Beach -- just south of Virginia Beach.

Here's Geek Girl happily digging in the sand.


The next day we went back for an all day visit. Daddy Geek practiced his open water swimming, I went for a long walk, and Geek Girl continued digging when she wasn't dragged into the ocean by Daddy Geek. At the end of the day, Geek Girl and I had dug a large "dinosaur nest," but the incoming tide washed it out. However, Geek Girl recruited some new arrivals to help dig a smaller dinosaur nest safer from the waves.


Geek Girl would have loved to stay a couple more days. Hopefully next year we'll plan a longer beach vacation. On Saturday morning, there were a lot of people at the hotel breakfast who were headed towards the Outer Banks. Maybe one year we'll visit the Outer Banks, but we were pretty happy with Sandbridge Beach.

On the way home, we decided to cross the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and go home via the Delmarva peninsula. Yes, this added several hours to our return trip, but it also meant we were able to stop at the Chincoteague National Wildlife Reserve. We went on a short walk amongst the mosquitoes and were able to see the wild ponies way off in the distance.

In the mid afternoon, we stopped at The BBQ Joint in Easton, MD for some barbeque. Daddy Geek and I enjoyed the barbeque. Geek Girl wasn't too crazy about the smell. But she did enjoy the large chocolate chip cookie in a pan (which is also available with sauces and ice cream).

At the beginning...


All done.

Growing like a weed

I am 61.5 inches tall (but I like to tell people I'm 5'2"). Geek Girl is now 8.5 years old and we measured her at 53 inches. She's grown over an inch and a half in six months! Now the question is, how old will she be when she catches up with me? She has 8.5 inches to go. I'm guessing she'll catch up with me when she's eleven, hopefully not ten.

How to Make Dumplings

Another guest post from Geek Girl:

Yesterday I made dumplings for dinner. Here are some pictures:

Starting.

How to make the dumplings.

The finishing touch.

Some Manhattan Food

We spent 4th of July and several days afterwards in Manhattan. Here are some of the meals we remembered to photograph.

Chocolate Chip Cookie, Mississippi Mud Pie, and Sour Cream Apple Walnut Pie from Little Pie Company.


For our 4th of July dinner we went to Cafe Niagra for Sri Lankan food. Daddy Geek and I hadn't had any Sri Lankan food since we left Zürich and we weren't going to miss the opportunity. We also have a tradition of having non-traditional foods for holidays. Bastille Day 2000 found us in Paris and we had Chinese take-out in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower.


Geek Girl's big slices of pizza (she only finished one slice) from Big Nick's.


Macarons from La Maison du Macaron (website has music).
On the far plate are rose, lemon, and orange. The near plate has two chocolates, mango, caramel and cassis. In this shot, the cassis is too blue.


Here's another shot of the cassis where it's a little more purple.


One night we decided to stay close to the hotel for dinner. Daddy Geek decided to ask the concierge for a recommendation and after securing a reservation we hurried to the restaurant for our table. However, after we sat down and looked at the menu we realized that the prices were a little higher than we we wanted for large servings of uninspired Italian food (maybe that's why the restaurant didn't have a menu posted outside). They had brought us water, but we decided that it wasn't the place for us and we left. We ended up at Trattori Trecolori (which we had considered earlier) for a more affordable and just as enjoyable meal. Geek Girl really wanted me to take a picture of the balsamic vinegar/olive oil because it looked like the yin and yang symbol


Overall we ate pretty well. We also enjoyed Alsatian food, dim sum, gelato, a visit to Shake Shack, and yummy baked goods

Ohio and the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Kids' Museum

Note: this is a guest post from our Geek Girl. She wrote the text and took the pictures.

I am visiting Ohio! I am staying at Hampton Inn. Here are some pictures:

the view out our window

the bed I'm sleeping in

I visited the Children's Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Here are some pictures of the bird in the front:

-----------------------------------------------------

They have a special "kids only" thing where you can see the next floor up.
[Daddy called it the "anthill".]

They have an exhibit where you make a boat and then play with it in the river they made.

This is me at the birdseed part of the art exhibit.

I had fun at the museum!

P.S.: my daddy is big doofus!

[No, I'm not.]

Like Mother, Like Daughter Part X

Geek Girl has just showered, and needs to get her hair combed with detangler. This is one of Mama Geek's jobs.

I overheard Mama Geek telling Geek Girl to get dressed and they would put the detangler in, followed by Geek Girl's cheerful "OK".

Then silence. For several minutes.

I investigated, only to find Geek Girl was dressed, but reading. I went to remind Mama Geek that they were supposed to comb Geek Girl's hair, only to find Mama Geek was also reading.

Much guilty laughter ensued, until Geek Girl said, "Daddy, maybe you should be reading, too!"

So the Geek House was silent for some time. Inside the Plex, by Steven Levy, if you must know.

Cherry Blossom Time Again

We are rapidly approaching the end of our second year in the DC metro area -- which means it's cherry blossom time! We decided to avoid the crowds at the Tidal Basin and join the crowds in the Kenwood neighborhood in Bethesda, Maryland. We parked near downtown Bethesda and then walked down the Capital Crescent Trail. We knew we were close when we ran into a playground full of kids and this lovely tree.


We walked through the neighborhood to admire the trees. We stopped for Geek Girl to photograph the Parent Geeks.


And posed for a family portrait.


Daddy Geek likes taking close-ups of flowers.


And Geek Girl decided to show Whiskers some flowers.


We walked along lovely lanes of blooming trees.


And stopped at an ice cream truck for a small snack.


After we returned to the car, Daddy Geek rode his bike home while Geek Girl and I drove home. We've been told that another fun time to view the blossoms is to walk around the tidal basin as the blossoms fall. We'll have to see if we can fit that into the week.

Yesterday the temperatures warmed up and the blooms on the magnolia tree next door opened. Here's the view from our bedroom window.


Come visit!

Milk Art

For some unknown reason, Geek Girl frequently spills her milk. It's annoying, but this past weekend, it resulted in this interesting creature.

Nature

Geek Girl enjoys participating in an optional enrichment activity called Operation EarthWatch. One of this month's activities was to write a poem. Here is her poem, created with very little help from Daddy or Mommy Geek.

Nature

Plants give us oxegen (sic),

And trees give us shade.

Flowers are good decoration,

And from trees, paper is made.

Help the trees by recycling paper,

And plant a plant or two.

There are lots of kinds of paper,

to recycle so don't make new!

We need water to drink,

And so do animal too.

Please help to keep the water,

Clean, trash-free and blue.

Turn off the water when you brush your teeth

And take a shower, not a bath.

Next to a running river,

There are thirsty animals in its path.

Nature is full of animals,

As well as plants and dew.*

Animals are our friends

You can help animals and they can help you!

*water, realy (sic)

Crazy Hair Day

Today was Crazy Hair Day. Geek Girl was disappointed that her "bedhead" wasn't crazy enough, so I took a comb to it and this is the result.


Apparently she's reading one of the Girls' Guide type books at school and it says that for pictures you should look above the camera. I think we need to tell her to look a little lower...

Chainsaw Training

I've been trying to call Auntie Geek all day and I finally got through. However, she didn't have time to talk, because she's in the middle of chainsaw training. Wouldn't want to interrupt that now, would we...

Day Trip to Harpers Ferry

During the week, we wake Geek Girl up between 7:15 and 7:30 am and it takes an hour of constant parental harassment to get her fed, changed, and to school on time. However, sometimes on the weekend she'll wake up on her own, cheerfully, at 7 am (unless we have plans and want her to wake up early--then she sleeps like the dead while we grumble).

Yesterday she woke up at 7 am, so we decided to delay our plans to go to the National Gallery of Art and go on a day trip. And amazingly, by 9:15 am, we were on the road, even after our usual Sunday morning pancake breakfast.

Last year we purchased a National Parks Annual Pass and it's nice because we can use it for admission at Great Falls National Park, Manassas National Battle Field, and so many other places, including Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. It took us just under 90 minutes to get there and we started first at the Visitors Center and then caught the shuttle bus down to the lower town.

After walking along the river and looking at goose footprints, we got hungry, so we stopped for lunch and a picture.


We then crossed the footbridge over the Potomac River and in doing so were hiking on both the C&O Canal Towpath and the Appalachian Trail. We walked for a bit and then returned to Harpers Ferry to admire the joining of the Potomac River on the left and the Shenandoah River on the right.


Geek Girl was tired from the walk, so we sat to rest and take some silly pictures.



We had one more stop before heading home and that was to hike up hill to Jefferson Rock. Apparently, Thomas Jefferson found the view from this rock quite impressive.

Here's a picture of all the Geeks in front of a pretty church on the way up the hill.


A view of the rock as we get closer. The sandstone pillars were placed in the 1850s to save the uppermost slab.


Geek Girl and the information sign.


And the view downstream from near the rock.