Hiking the Spanish Mountains

After Vigo, we flew back to Barcelona then drove 4 hours to a ski resort town in the Pyrenees mountains of Spain, in hopes of finding "the" Spanish day camp.  One that the the kids would like and is in a place where Jared and I would also have things to do.  And, by golly, I think we've struck gold.  But more on that later.  

On the last day of camp, which was Friday, parents were invited to join the counselors and kids on a hike.  Even thought I hadn't packed any athletic clothes for our 4, or is it 5, or is it 8 weeks vacation, I thought it would be fun and figured I'd be fine given the hike was planned for kids ages 4-12.  So, I put on my sportiest outfit and followed these Spaniards up the mountain.

For a city girl, Rocky is quite the little hiker.

Peanut is a little billy goat.  He's at the top waving his hat at us.

John (in red) and Peanut became instant friends over their Pokemon Go addiction.

Our reward at the top of the mountain, a dammed lake.  Cold and refreshing after a long climb up.
Bathing suits were optional for a few of these kids.  While I'm used to my relatives swimming in their skivvies and little cousins going totally commando, seeing Westerners do this still (pleasantly) surprises me.  

Our group heads down the mountain.

Thanks to my bike ride in Switzerland, I recognized the sounds of those bells in the distance.

Rocky picks wild raspberries.  My very picky daughter tasted this fruit for the first time in her life (she's 5!) and is now asking to have raspberries for dessert.  It only took a long hike to make her thirsty and hungry enough to try them.

I've never been to the mountains in the summer and realize what I've been missing my whole life.

Family photo op.  We're just missing Peanut who was way ahead of us. 

The hike took us about 4 hours and was really fun.  I trekked along with a couple of 4 year olds, and I could easily tell that it wasn't their first time doing this hike.  Peanut and Rocky were also quite agile and made the excursion look easy, even though they're totally new to hiking.  Jared and I didn't do too badly either.  Although, by dinner time, I was ready to turn in.  Peanut and Rocky were bouncing around like usual.  The way they were acting, you'd have no idea the day they had.

It was a great day and made me appreciate the beauty of nature even more.