the secret garden...

Well crap... I totally forgot about the blogging this for a couple weeks... anyway, spring is-a-coming here in Atlanta and Sean and I are starting the task of dusting off, cutting back and replanting our little garden. These pictures are from last year and I will update when we finish this year, but our patio garden is 100% what sold us when buying our townhouse. It is big and spacious with a large magnolia shading half of it and a professional landscaping job that the people who lived here before us footed the bill for. We mostly just try to tend to it and have made some small changes like planting three gardenia bushes (my dad's favorite), some dwarf mondo glass between pavers (which is the most sturdy plant I have ever met), some flowers here and there and my beloved pot garden (not the kind you may be thinking of). The pot garden always starts off looking like the photo above but by the end of our long summers looks overgrown and wild which I love. Sean and I have a similar theory of gardening which works out for us in that we never blame the other person for the death of our plants. It is survival of the fittest at casa Delaney, and once planted if the greenery can't survive mostly on its own merits and the natural rainfall there is a good chance it wasn't meant to be in our garden to begin with. So anyway, happy spring; enjoy growth, new beginnings, and a fresh start, and I hope it rains on you all enough to keep you thriving just like our little garden :)

Our gardenia that always reminds me of both my dad and my sister-in-law who wore a gardenia in here hair for her wedding.

The pot garden is getting updated this year, so stay tuned!

...alliance theatre for the very young...

 

Thanks to my friend Lettie and Norah's friend (Lettie's son) Jackson we found this Atlanta toddler treasure: The Alliance Theatre for the Very Young. Norah was one of the younger kids there but was mesmerized the entire 45 minute show.

 When we arrived this (very tall) man was snoozing in bed and all the children were given pillows to go sit down with. There was a cute little intro where a (very small) woman peeked out over the covers and then she and a fairy ballerina worked to wake the giant man up. He spoke English and the small woman spoke a combined language of gibberish and Japanese; this seemed to equalize the language barrier with the no so verbal toddlers. 

The show was filled with dance, bubbles, song, music, grown interaction, and whimsical props. I had a smile on the entire time and so did Norah and the other kids. It was so worth the time and ticket price and I would highly recommend it to Atlanta families with little ones- thanks Lettie and Jackson!

...Barça...

Sean, Norah and I traveled to Barcelona this past summer with my mom to have a mini Grogan family reunion.  We were missing a couple members but I was great to spend time with my brother Oliver, sister-in-law Carla, nephew Carver (who had spent the last school year in Turkmenistan and had not met Norah yet!); and my uncle Jeff; Aunt Cathy and her beau Doug.  The header photo is in Parque Güell which was certainly one of my favorite places.

 

Talk about a one man band!

Human Statue- he was so still it was amazing.

Mostly we ate, drank sangria, and wandered the city.  Norah enjoyed the crusty white bread and the ample attention from Carver, Carla and her Nannan!

She also crawled around numerous beautiful old cathedrals (holy dirty baby ;) Including Sagrada Familia which was more stunning in person that I could have imagined.  The color of the sained glass was mesmerizing.

Poor bebe only really got one good nap a day, in the morning we kept her out and she took cat naps on our shoulders, and in the afternoon we always tried to get back to our apartamento so she could take a good long snooze.  We loved the baby bjorn crib for all the travel we have done!  We got it used on ebay for a good deal.

We also ventured out of the city (armed with chocolate croissants) to visit Montserrat which is a monastery built into a mountain just outside of Barcelona.  It was a long day but so worth it.

Norah never got a full nap this day- she was a trooper and passed out cold on the train ride hone!  We traveled only with a linen Maya wrap which worked well and was lite and cool to travel with.  Again, this was a consignment store find for us- but totally worth purchasing full price in my opinion since we do use it a ton.  My back got tired but luckily I had people to share the load- and we were walking around sun up to sun down so I think I would have been tired regardless of what carrier I was using.

Beautiful Carla and the best 6 year old nephew/cousin a girl could ask for, Carver!

Sean and I went out the second to last night for a nice dinner at Els Quatre Gats which was a historical lesson as well as a tasty dinner.  Picasso like to hang out there, no big deal or anything.  It also featured in one of my favorite books, The Shadow of the Wind which was a little thrill for me.

Our walk home every night from in or around Las Ramblas (which was super touristy but a good landmark from which to explore).

I am fairly certain I am missing some awesome details (like how Sean almost got jumped while with the baby, the amazing coffee, etc) but overall we had a blast, loved the city and it was a great first trip with Norah!  A piece of our corazón is definitely in Barça!

Norah did get sick right when we got back to Pittsburgh but had lots of arms to snuggle in and got over it fast- thanks Uncle Oliver, Aunt Carla and Nannan!!