Tis the Season...

… to celebrate my favorite holiday—HALLOWEEN!!!!

We officially began the party when I was FINALLY able to locate some pumpkins (small, but still). Every year one of my very favorite Svoboda traditions is the annual pumpkin-carving with my Dad. This year I was unable to spend the time with him, but instead of foregoing the tradition altogether I made do with my favorite man on this side of the ocean. It was Angel’s first time EVER to jack-o-lant (yes, I’ve made that into a verb) and I was pleased that he took the appropriate serious approach- google research and careful planning before the actual slicing began. We were both very excited by our final products. (His is the skull; mine the scary-face).

Afterwards I made some awesome spicy tacos along with all of the accompaniments (guacamole, pico-de-gallo, margaritas etc.) and we headed up to the terrace to celebrate Jaime’s birthday. Jaime had also made a FANTASTIC paella so there was plenty of delicious food to go around for the 20 or so partiers. After several hours of the festivities, we were all exhausted and didn’t even make it to really go-out on the town. (pictured: Jaime, Samuel and the paella)

Yesterday (Sunday) provided us with GORGEOUS weather and Angel and I went out for an early breakfast of tostadas, churros and chocolate at my favorite place- Café Futbol. We then drove out to buy some firewood and stock up for the coming months. After we had unloaded all of the firewood we took Gusana out for an adventure- up to Atarfe. We hiked up to the top of a huge cliff to the Ermita de los Tres Juanes (a hermitage). The views were amazing plus there is an Aviary where we walked around talking to all of the exotic birds (including 4 giant ostriches). There was even a wild peacock running around. The only downfall of the outing was when Gusana spotted a kitten and took off after it. To everyone’s surprise she actually caught it and killed it instantly (she’s never caught ANYTHING before). We were pretty bummed afterwards, but on the other hand, this might be the first time in history a worm has caught a cat.

SABES QUE…
“Halloween is actually based on an ancient Celtic holiday known as Samhain (pronounced ‘sow wan’), which means ‘summer's end’.”
from
http://www.pumpkincarving101.com/pumpkin_carving_history.html