Thoughts from Barcelona

barcelona, life, random thoughts

Just over one year ago we packed up all our belongings, three children and dog and headed for Spain. We drove for three days through France and landed in Barcelona with inflatable beds, a few plates and a handful of cutlery. Sometimes these decisions make perfect sense when you are in the middle of them and only later do you think….”wow, we were mad!”.
Here are my thoughts 14 months on:
– Catalania is one of the most beautiful and vibrant places on earth.
– Spanish food is very tasty. Fifteen pounds tasty to be exact!
– Children are more resilient than we give them credit for.
– Being a stay at home Mum takes an enormous amount of energy and patience.
– Learning a new language as an adult is takes longer than you would think.
– You meet many, many interesting and truly incredible people in an international community.
– The Spanish know how to celebrate life in a way I have never seen before.
– Beach life never gets old.
– Living in wine country is beautiful, interesting and dangerous.
– Reaching outside your comfort zone to attain new life and personal goals rewards you in amazing and unexpected ways.

Where’s the Trampoline?

children, life

We’ve just arrived back home from a lovely visit to Cork.

Ava and Jake visited their cousins and we saw their fabulous new house.

Their house is a to die for mix of a country setting yet close enough to ammenities that you never feel isolated. Looking out their windows it feels as if you nestled in the wilds of Ireland. It’s so peaceful that I could have moved us all in had their not been protests from the current inhabitants. The inside is equally as idyllic.
Needless to say, we had a fabulous time as did the little ones.

They spent much of the days jumping on the trampoline, going down the slide and playing with the hens. The fresh air was lovely for them and especially lovely for the restful nights it provided for us!

After our fun filled weekend, we arrived home Sunday afternoon to a cold and cloudy day. Jake immediately ran outside to his own garden. Dressed in full gear (coat, hat, gloves) he stood next to our metal bin and gazed at the fence (3 feet away).

Me: “Jake, do you want to ride your scooter?”

Jake: “No.”

Me: “Jake, do you want to ride your bike?”

Jake: “No.”

I felt a bit sad as I closed the door and watched him stare longingly at the fence.

I just know he was waiting for a trampoline and a bigger garden to appear.

Bring on the new house!

Race for Life

life

I have made the huge commitment to run a 5k on the 19th of July.

My motivation is twofold:
1. To loose the baby weight that I have started gaining back due to stuffing my face with cookies and ice cream, and
2. To show my appreciation that our family is healthy and cancer free.

In the past several years I have had several friends diagnosed with cancer of some form or another. As I sit on the sidelines and watch them struggle, I thank God every day that we are not so unlucky.

This is my way to do a very small part to help those who are fighting right now or have fought in the past and are now all clear.

I am clearly not a runner and although a 5k is a small goal, it’s a big goal for me at this busy time in our lives.

If you have an extra £5, £10 or £15 lying around, please go to this site and support Cancer Research UK: http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/jilltolan

Thanks a million for your support and I’ll run my little heart out!

Ski Princess

life, random thoughts

Several years ago Darragh and I decided it was high time we learned how to ski. Our first ever ski trip took us to Whistler. We hit the jackpot with the most amazing snow of the season in one of the premier ski resorts in the world. Sadly, it was lost on us as we spent most of the time in our ski lessons on the magic carpet.

Since that time, we’ve been lucky enough to visit several other gorgeous mountainous destinations including Alpe D’Huez and a resort close to Salzburg. Both trips dazzled us with beautiful scenery and good times.

Of all our ski trips, I was looking forward to this year’s trip to Verbier the most. Not only would we get to share it with our beautiful baba’s, but I was determined to increase my ski confidence on the slopes of Switzerland!

I had two goals for this ski excursion:
1. Return with all limbs in tact
2. Depart Verbier with the confidence to anticipate a return trip with enthusiasm

I had a quick scan today and I thankfully have all my body parts.
Thanks to a very patient and understanding husband, I am amazingly psyched for our next skiing adventure!

jill_verbier_02

After two days of tears and the ever helpful shouts from behind me saying “point your ski’s down the hill”, I eventually made it down my little blue run without any snow plowing or side stepping. It took me 15 times, but darnit, I did it! After the first mishap of missing the ski lift, I even got on and of the lifts without taking any other skiers or myself out.

By the end of the trip I was zooming around with a huge smile on my face admiring the spectacular scenery.

I can now understand how people can catch the ski bug and return year after year. The wind on my face and fantastically beautiful scenery is someting I will look to with anticipation as the autumn leaves drop from the trees and the winter mornings cover the ground with frost.

Goodbye scaredy cat and hello ski princess!!!

Home Sweet Home!

children, life, random thoughts, toddlers

I love the excitement and enthusiasm you feel as you eagerly pack for a trip to an unknown and exciting location. The excitement mounts as you imagine the beautiful new scenery, delicious food and fascinating locals. Sometimes the locale lives up to your high expectations, sometimes it exceeds and ever so often it lags behind.

One thing I find interesting about travel is the anticipation of home at the end of the journey. No matter if it’s one week or one month, the last day always feels like it’s time to go. It must be a psychological defense mechanism to make sure you actually do go home instead of deciding to embark on a new life in your chosen paradise.

With two toddlers, it’s even more apparent when this time arrives.
By yesterday, every last piece of clothing was covered with puke, poo or snot. Jake had decided he was tired of the strange food and went on a hunger strike, Ava’s skin was covered in dry patches and felt like sandpaper and Jake was puking after every morsel that went into his mouth as he was overloaded with junk food.

Today our 6:30am bus to the airport was a no show and we were fleeced for our final pennies by the Easyjet baggage police in Geneva airport.

Tired and weary, we happily arrived in St. Albans this morning. The baba’s were delighted to see their old toys and eat food they recognized. I am eagerly looking forward to lying on the couch and catching up on American Idol episodes.

Home Sweet Home!

Switzerland here we come!

life

Team Tolan is soon to be on the loose. Tomorrow bright and early we embark for our first official family holiday. We’ve visited family several times, but this is the first time we are off for pure relaxation. Ahhhh….

This time tomorrow we’ll be safely tucked into our chalet in Verbier. Fingers crossed we are well and have no new molars for the next week. Just in case, we are armed with drugs, teething gel, drugs, vapor rub, drugs, and anything else we can legally get across the Swiss border.

The last time I skied was pre-baby and I was marginally better than the three year olds in ski school on their very first day. By the second day, they could ski circles around me.

Darragh, on the other hand, is turning into a pro! He flies down the mountain like a gazelle, throws himself down into a rugby fall when he gets to the end and comes up laughing.

Who’s the scaredy cat in our house?

Ava and Jake are a tad too young to hit the slopes, so we’ve booked an English nanny to keep them entertained. With any luck we’ll arrive to find supernanny waiting and come back with two toddlers who are sleeping through the night and not fighting over toys!

It’s 9pm and we have 8 hours before the taxi arrives. Three out of four of us are packed and the freezer is defrosting. Fingers crossed we have enough snacks and undergarments to get us through the next week.

Gorgeous scenery and fresh mountain air here we come!!!

Date Night

life

For the second time in 2 months, Darragh and I had a date night last night!
Had anyone explained the concept of date night to me several years ago, I would have nodded at them encouragingly, but secretly felt them sad and pathetic.

I remember the days of anticipating a date for several days. Wondering if you would hit it off. Imagining him funny and interesting. Envisioning talking and laughing all night and hoping the date would go on forever.

I did anticipate this date for days as it’s a rare treat that we get out on our own. Although I think we were both secretly hoping we were safely home and tucked into our beds by 11:00. Which we were.

We went to a little Moroccan place near us called Little Marrakech. I had been wanting to go for ages so it was a real treat. It looks quite small from the outside, but once inside there was a lovely dining room and really quirky and cool bar. The food was delicious! Quite unusual, as I always find Moroccan food. I had a baby chicken stuffed with nutmeg cous cous. What I loved about it was the cous cous was so sweet I felt like I was having dinner and dessert all in one! Darragh had a tangine which he quite enjoyed as well.

As we are finishing dinner and looking at the time, we contemplate if it’s too early to go home. Thankfully, Darragh decides on a coffee which draws the time out another 20 minutes (whew). We then decide we are in ‘the zone’ now and can safely show our faces to the babysitter.

We meander home and gaze into all the pubs filled with revelers.
Several years ago, I could not have imagined these days of limited social life. Funny as it seems, I would not change it for the world!

Accessorize

children, life

I am absolutely loving that Ava is getting to stage where her hair is long enough for hair accessories. Not only does Mummy think that she looks adorable, but she loves wearing them! She has that “I feel like a Princess” look in her eye.

Aside from feeling great, it helps keep the curls under control. Don’t you think?
ava

We are use gallons of detangler to prevent dreadlocks and I’m amazed at how matted it gets after a good sleep. Even with her fine baby hair it’s already difficult to comb. I see product and hair accessories in our future in abundance!

Ava & I were loving her new look and for almost 3 weeks she sported a color coordinated hair clip.

This week, however, Jake was feeling left out.

While getting ready for nursery, he began trying to rip Ava’s clip from her hair. Once he got it out (including a couple fine little strands of blond curls), he tried to stick it in his hair. His placement was perfect as he knew to skew it to the side. I watched him struggle to put it in. He looked at me with those big “help me Mummy” eyes. I was paralyzed. I could not bring myself to help him!

My head was telling me “it’s not a big deal, he’s just a little guy experimenting”, but my heart was saying “Nooooo”.

I never thought I would be a mother who confined my children to stereotypical gender roles but something inside me felt like I needed to help protect his masculinity. Where do you draw the line between harmless innocent cross dressing and your little rugby player being mocked and ridiculed in nursery?