May 31, 2025
I snuck out this morning for a solo walk while the boys eased into their day at the apartment. I picked up a cortado on the way, walked 30 minutes north, picked up another cortado and then walked back. The city and shops were just starting to wake at mid-morning and the peaceful stroll was a lovely way to start the day.
Back at home, we did homeschool and then fed the boys lunch. Over the weeks, the lesson that Ollie should save math for the end and instead start with reading and writing has slipped through the cracks. He whizzed through math and then took nearly an hour to write a letter to our beloved Queen (Hi Queen!!) due to fits of claimed exhaustion and writer’s block. He has clearly done and experienced plenty to share in his letters so the complaints must stem from lack of focus.
At about 2.5 months into the trip, all of us are starting to exhibit some signs of homesickness, or more specifically, yearning for friendships and family back home. Ollie has mentioned missing school and his friends a few times this past week and Lenny mentions missing PlayDay (his art-focused aftercare) multiple times. Fortunately, our summer will be filled with friend and family meetups starting in mid-June through the end of August. Its been precious to spend this time together as a foursome but we look forward to reconnecting with our loved ones in Europe.
Our adventure of the day was going to the Sevilla aquarium. Thankfully, it was entirely indoors and the small-ish aquarium provided about 90 minutes of fun and entertainment for all of us. Rather than permanent signage next to the tanks, the aquarium instead had screens slowly scrolling through to name the tanks’ inhabitants. This set up meant that we often missed the real name of the animals as the boys excitement restricted them from standing still for too long. Kyle and I would hang back to try and learn a bit more only to have our hands grabbed, “Mama, you’ve GOTTA come see this!!” and led to the next exhibit. The boys were especially thrilled to drag me to the anaconda exhibit, “Do you feel like throwing up??” I was sure this would be their favorite animal, but Ollie was most excited to see the axolotls. We have an animal alphabet book back home that used the axolotl for the letter A that we haven’t read in a year or more, but on seeing the salamander Ollie exclaimed, “Just like our book at home!”
Lenny’s favorite exhibit came right before we were about to leave. There was mini virtual reality ride in the lobby of the aquarium that luckily both boys met the height requirement for. Kyle and Ollie rode together to see the shark experience and me and Len rode the manta ray experience. I was grateful the ride was just 7 minutes because I started to feel slightly nauseous towards the end but Len excitedly asked to do it again.
We then took a taxi to the pottery shop to pick up pieces that were “roasted” according to Lenny. Everyone was pleased with how their creations came out and now we need to figure out how to safely pack these in our suitcases before our flight to France on Monday.
After the pottery shop, we made a quick stop at the grocery to grab snacks and food for our last few days in Seville. We then got the boys ice cream pops to cool down with Len getting a dracula pop and Ollie a frozen Mars bar.
We promised the boys a rooftop dip when we got back so we made our way upstairs. Before jumping in the water though, we started our egg cooking experiment. Before going to the aquarium, Kyle left the pan on the roof to heat up in the sun. Kyle had told the boys that it was hot enough to cook an egg outside this week and they asked to see the proof. We added butter to the pan, cracked the egg and then watched absolutely nothing happen. The butter melted, but the egg white remained clear. We left the egg in the sun while we swam and it seemed to cure or dry rather than cook. Google showed egg protein needs to be 140F ish to coagulate or cook so we likely fell short and the cheap AirBnb pan didn’t help.
For the first time this week, there were a few other groups also on the roof cooling off at the pool. One group of 4 in their 20s (?) with girls in thong bathing suits had us holding our breath and hoping the boys wouldn’t make any ridiculous comments. Thankfully they were too into the Batman Vs Bane game that Kyle created so no comments seeped out.
Back downstairs, we Facetimed with our neighbors and friends the Bracketts! The call went the usual way with the boys being super loud and showing their friends “tricks” where they jumped or fell onto the couch. It was challenging to hear them and learn more about what was going on in their world, but it was still great to see their faces if briefly.
We went to dinner at a restaurant ~50 feet from the door to our apartment. The boys were wrecked and antsy from the jump, even with Uno. The food was fine and provided an opportunity for Ollie to try octopus for the first time (he wasn’t a fan). We also ordered ham croquettes that Ollie crushed on our first day in Spain only for him to ignore them tonight in favor of bagged breadsticks and french fries. Len subsisted on hummus and french fries tonight.
At home in bed, the boys tried to delay bedtime by asking me all about antibiotics and the immune system. I started to explain what I could but quickly recognized the tactic and switched to bedtime songs on my phone.
