Weekend wrap up

I'm pretty sure this post was supposed to have content with the photos. Somehow though in prepping for our last week of school before Spring Break, things got lost in the shuffle. There was much to do. Dance class followed by our ritual of viewing the puppies across the street, then pizza and ice cream for a treat on a warm spring night. Later in the week there was a school fundraiser at Chuck E. Cheese that went off without a hitch. Though if I remember correctly, Carolina was in fightin' form that night--nothing like the mild girl I took there in December. But we managed. And then the week churned into weekend and we had just one day to enjoy before packing up and heading out to the airport on Sunday. We hit the park, napped and colored eggs well into evening. I was trying to milk out the last bit of pre-Easter fun before journeying to Spain. Of course, what I didn't know then was that our first attempt at leaving would hit a large roadblock in the form of Elisa's passport. I knew there were about 2 months left on it and that we'd need to renew it once we came home (in time for Amaia's wedding in June). But what I didn't know, and had never heard before, was that she would need at least 3 months of validity to even ENTER the country. Oops. Yeah, we were forced to turn around at the ticket counter and schlep back home. It was not my best traveling moment with kids. I cried, I raged. Then I just accepted that this was not meant to happen so prepare for the next step. Ugh. What a pain in the ass. 

We made arrangements to get to the Passport Agency Office downtown the next morning with paperwork and photo in hand. And even though it was a renewal of a minor's passport, both parents and child had to be present to renew which meant the whole damn family would be trekking there. Oh yes. It was a grand field trip complete with waiting in the 45 min. line to enter the building, followed by another line to get an appt. time. Followed by a little lunch before returning to wait 2 MORE hours to even be seen. If there is a hell, I'm sure it's staffed by government officials like those. But the good news is that we did it. By 3pm, Elisa's freshly minted passport was in our hands and the girls just had time for a quick nap before we headed out to the airport again. It was not the best traveling day formula for being rested and less anxious, but it worked. We made it on the flight to Barcelona (another long story, but let's just say in standby travel you take the nearest city sometimes) and after a quick flight over to Madrid on Tuesday morning, we were surrounded by family. Oh yes, that's why we do this. What a week!