Happy Birthday Grandma / Feliz cumpleaños Abuela

We had to do it! We bought some party hats and party blowers and surprised grandma at the hotel. The kids loved the idea and grandma Purser gave them a big smile when they knocked on the door and sang Happy Birthday to her.


¡Tuvimos que hacerlo! Compramos gorritos y matasuegras y sorprendimos a abuela en el hotel donde se estaba quedando. A los niños les encantó la idea y abuela les regaló una gran sonrisa cuando todos llamamos a la puerta de su habitación y le cantamos Feliz cumpleaños.

Throw me a bone / Dame un hueso

Ryan loves dogs. As soon as he sees one anywhere, the park, the beach, the streets, the airport, he wants to play with it. While we waited for Grandma and Krista, Ryan spied a little puppy and right away he wanted to touch it. Without a bone to offer, Ryan gave the puppy his finger to lick.

A Ryan le encantan los perros. En cuanto ve uno en cualquier parte: el parque, la playa, la calle, el aeropuerto, enseguida quiere jugar con él. Mientras esperábamos por la abuela Purser y Krista, Ryan vio un perrito y quiso tocarlo. A falta de un hueso, Ryan le ofreció uno de sus dedos para que el perrito lo lamiera.

Grandma has arrived / Llegó la abuela

Well the long awaited day has arrived!! The kids have been counting down and Grandma and Krista are finally here! They definately had a long journey, but toughed it out to come and visit. They wanted to get on the time schedule here so they stayed awake until bed time. Krista was having a great time with her cousins, but I think that Grandma could have gone to bed the second she arrived! We are all excited for the time that we will have together and Diego is happy to share his favorite things about the island with others.

El día tan largamente esperado por fin llegó. Nuestros hijos han estado contando los días y finalmente la abuela Purser y Krista están aquí. Sin duda fue un largo viaje para ambas pero hicieron el esfuerzo de venir a visitarnos tan lejos. Querían acostumbrarse al nuevo horario así que decidieron esperar a la noche antes de ir a dormir. Krista se lo pasó en grande con sus primos pero la abuela podía haberse ido a dormir el segundo que pisó el aeropuerto. Estamos animados por el tiempo que pasaremos juntos y Diego es feliz de poder compartir sus lugares favoritos de la isla con otros.

Transportation #1 / Medio de transporte número 1

Santa Cruz is the capital of Tenerife. One year ago, they opened the "tranvía" (a tram system) just one street over from the house where we are living. It was interesting to come back after three years and see this main street transformed into a tram system. We used to walk up and down this same street daily. Now we just jump on the tram and can go from Santa Cruz to La Laguna (the next city over) much faster than riding a bus. The kids love to ride the tram. One time, on our way back to Santa Cruz, Jacob and Lauryn wrote a song using the name of our stop (La Paz) to the music of one of their viola songs. The following pic is from our last trip to the beach.

Santa Cruz es la capital de Tenerife. Hace un año, abrieron el tranvía en la calle por detrás de la casa donde nos estamos quedando. Fue interesante volver después de tres años y ver los cambios en esta calle principal. Antes solíamos subir y bajar caminando por esta misma calle casi diariamente. Ahora nos subimos en el tranvía y podemos ir de Santa Cruz a La Laguna (la siguiente ciudad) mucho más rápido que con la guagua (autobús). A los niños les encanta el tranvía. El otro día, cuando volvíamos a Santa Cruz, Jacob y Lauryn se inventaron una canción con el nombre de nuestra parada (La Paz) y la música de una de las canciones que saben tocar con la viola. Esta foto es de nuestro último viaje a la playa.

Black Sand / Arena Negra

Since the Canary Islands are of volcanic origin, a lot of the beaches (especially the western islands) have black sand. After a sunny day, it gets really hot which makes it very difficult to walk on the sand. The kids, however, love it and it feels good to get your feet in the cold water after running across the beach.

Como las Islas Canarias son de origen volcánico, muchas de sus playas (sobre todo la de las islas occidentales) son de arena negra. Después de un día de sol, se calienta mucho y se hace difícil caminar por la arena. A los niños, sin embargo, les encanta y qué gustazo da meter los pies en el agua fría después de correr por la playa.

Grandpa Fumero / Abuelo Fumero

Grandpa Fumero (Diego´s dad) came to the house today. I guess we couldn´t let such an opportunity pass without taking a few pictures. Both Alejandro (Pily´s son) and Ryan wanted to be on grandpa´s lap. Thank goodness there was room for both of them.

Abuelo Fumero (el padre de Diego) vino a casa hoy. Imagino que no pudimos dejar pasar una oportunidad así sin sacar alguna que otra foto. Tanto Alejandro (el hijo de Pily) como Ryan querían sentarse en la pierna del abuelo. Menos mal que hay sitio para los dos.

Welcoming Aynara / Bienvenida Aynara

Jacob and Lauryn loved holding their new cousin, Aynara. We visited Miguel Angel (Diego´s youngest brother) and Leticia at their house in Tejina, a little town 30 minutes away from La Laguna.

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A Jacob y Lauryn les encantó coger a su nueva prima Aynara. Visitamos a Miguel Ángel (el hermano menor de Diego) y a Leticia en su casa en Tejina, un pueblito a 30 minutos de La Laguna.

Mermaids & Mermen / Sirenas y Sirenos

On June 26th, we took our kids to Las Teresitas, a small beach on the east coast of Tenerife. They had a blast! Especially when Diego turned them into sea creatures. We had to capture the moment. Even Ryan stayed still long enough for this pic.

El 26 de junio llevamos los niños a las Teresitas, una playa en la costa este de Tenerife. ¡Se divirtieron mucho! Especialmente cuando Diego los transformó en criaturas marinas. Tuvimos que plasmar ese momento. Incluso Ryan se quedó quieto lo suficiente para hacer la foto.

Spain Versus USA

I guess since everybody we know has a blog, it is time that we get one ourselves. It seems to be the easiest and the fastest way to communicate with old and new friends, to mantain some kind of journal, and most importantly to spread gossip around in a more sophisticated manner. For those of you out there that don´t know, Melany and I have been married almost ten years and have four beautiful children (I can say that in my own blog, right?). Melany is pregnant with our fifth and hopefully, the baby will be born in Spain before we return to the US this December. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that we are in Spain right now. We arrived here last June to stay six and a half months. Besides visiting family and friends, spending time at the many beaches around here and eating delicious food, the main purpose of this trip is to research Literature from the Canary Islands in order to complete my doctoral dissertation. If I am successful I will be graduating soon as a Doctor in Spanish Literature. And then, who knows! We would like to move back to California but it still is a little too expensive for us. I know Melany would love to live closer to her family and I don´t really have a preference to where we should live or even work in the US. Anyway, life is good to us right now. We promise to keep this updated as much as possible. Please visit us soon and let us know what you think and what´s going on with you and your family.