Winter beach day

Sometime last month we drove over to the beach on base with the dog just for fun.  Now ‘technically’ this beach isn’t open right now, and ‘technically’ Americans are usually only allowed to use it during a certain part of the summer, and ‘technically’ I don’t think dogs are allowed (certainly not off leash!) But I have a tendency to be that person who asks forgiveness instead of permission!

You can see the Spanish Armada right over that stone jetty... Pretty cool!

We had the entire beach to ourselves. It was still a pretty cool day and windy too, not beach weather at all. Unless you have two kids obsessed with seashells and seaglass and a dog that LOVES to run.

Treasures

Crazy doggie! Those front feet just crack me up!

Attacking waves

We need to get back out there before it starts to really warm up. It’s really nice to be able to let the dog go crazy on the beach. I’m kinda curious to see if he can even swim, he is so top heavy!

Beach baby

Beach babe

Wiped out and COVERED in sand

Our time did get cut a little bit short as another family came onto the beach with a picnic basket. I knew Bowser wouldn’t leave them alone (he ran up to them as soon as he saw them walk down) so home we went with baths for everyone.

I am just so grateful that we can live so near the beach. I can see the bay from my driveway. I can hear the waves as I walk in our housing area. We can go anytime we want to some beautiful beaches along this sunny Spanish coast. While I might complain about the Navy (who me?) I am SO glad my husband isn’t in the Air Force or Army! At least with the Navy we are pretty much guaranteed to be near the ocean! I am so so so looking forward to Hawaii where I can go to the beach every. single. day!

Also: I am totally going to order this print. I just adore it.

16 x 20 paper print - The Cure for Anything Is Salt Water - inspirational ocean artwork, beach word art typography poster

Image via maechevrette etsy.com

Impromptu ER visits (are there any other kind?)

The responsible party.

So we were having a wonderful Saturday afternoon playing frisbee in the front yard along with a couple of neighborhood kids. M went chasing after a frisbee and wasn’t looking where she was going… She tripped over the edge of this concrete thing and fell right onto the concrete base. At first (because I am just a horrible person) I may have laughed and said “See, this is why we keep telling your brother to stay away from those!”. But then I realized she really was hurt. Thank goodness daddy was there to pick her up and carry her inside (the girl is almost my size!).

Once inside she didn’t calm down and was crying pretty bad. I grabbed some ice, my purse and told her we were going to the ER. She said she was fine (in between tears) but into the car we went. She said her wrist and hip hurt the worst but she had scraped her knee and elbow as well. I was pretty much convinced that she had a fractured wrist.

What a happy camper!

Lucky for her I had my point and shoot still in my purse from earlier in the day! I get to document the whole thing!  I am so so so grateful that our ER is pretty much always empty. We’ve never had to sit and wait for a bed – I’m actually trying to think if there is even a waiting room. The guys were super nice and made us stop halfway across the parking lot so they could get M a wheelchair (she was limping and holding onto me). So she was in right away and we just had to wait for an x-ray on that wrist. (By this time her hip was feeling better)

The corpsman asked me if she had x-rays before and I said no, only dental ones. Then after a few minutes remembered, oh yeah, she had a chest x-ray when she was like 5 because they thought she might have pneumonia. I can’t remember everything, okay!

Time for an x-ray.

She did great the whole time. They took three different shots and some of them were painful for her but she held them.

Taking pictures as I am hiding behind the glass...

She thought her wrist x-ray looked pretty cool. I am so mad that I didn’t get a good shot of it, or at least be able to tell where the bones are in this picture instead of a white blob!

Doctor came and talked with us and said it didn’t look like a fracture or break. She is pretty much just battered and bruised after her fall. M was pretty bummed since we missed her girl scouts Earth Hour party but she needed to take it easy and sit on the couch. I’m thinking tomorrow morning she is REALLY going to be feeling it.  The ortho doc is going to double check the x-rays this week just to make sure they didn’t miss anything but I am hoping we can avoid a cast!  M had previously stated that she wanted to break something because she wants to wear a cast. After this she said if a sprain hurts this bad, there’s no way she wants to break a bone!

100 Montaditios

One of my favorite places to eat in Spain is 100 Mondaditos.  It is a sandwich place that has just about every variety sandwich you can think of.

Every Wednesday everything on the menu is 1€, so a couple of my girlfriends and I decided we needed to go out to dinner tonight!

100 Montaditos, I love you!

 

Picture perfect setting, right on the beach at sunset!

As usual we were pretty much the only people in there. There were a couple of other occupied table but they were just having drinks, no one else eating.   6:30pm and you can guarantee the only people in a restaurant will be Americans!

Inside

The tables all have menu’s and order sheets so you just write down the number of the sandwich you want along with any sides, drinks, etc. Then just go up and hand it to the cashier, pay and sit down until they call your name.

Waiting at the counter, food please!

 

Beachside Rota, even better in summer when you can eat outside.

 

 

Montaditos and chips!

Here is how the montaditos arrive, a bunch on a plate with a pile of fresh potato chips in the center. The bread is this delicious crusty Spanish style bread. Now as to what we ordered: a couple of chicken caesar, one with kebab meat, one with Spanish tortilla (which is basically a potato frittata) and my absolute go to number one favorite, chorizo and brie. So. Good.

O couldn't wait any longer! Stop taking pictures mom!

 

Patatas con 4 salsas... yummy fries with 4 sauces - usually aioli, ketchup, taco and kebab. Comes with cute forks to eat them with (or fight with your sibling over - your choice)

Dessert!

Okay, I know it looks wierd but this is a dessert montadito. Yummy crusty warm bread filled with chocolate. Let it sit for a minute so it gets nice and melty. They also have a version with a berry sauce added. You would never believe that a chocolate sandwich would be delicious. My kids go nuts for them (and were COVERED in melty chocolate)

Lucky for anyone stateside, 100 Montaditos is going to be opening stores in the U.S.! While I don’t know if they are going to have the same delicious combos, you have to go try them if you see them!