Spring Break 2026: London and Socttland

We had a quick stopover in London. In the morning, Claire had a phone interview,and David had a work meeting. Then Portabello Road Market in Notting Hill:

Next up: Sprinting through the airport to make our flight to Scotland. Walking along the beach:

Claire got a mac and cheese sandwich at a stand on the beach that had 

"the famous seagull insurance," which we did not buy.

Ruins of a cathedral and cemetery. 

We held our requisite game of looking for our birthdays on the tombstones. 

Claire sporting the outfit we found at a thrift store on our walk that morning:

Site of the beginning of one of David's favorite movies: Chariots of Fire:

David, Iris, and Sybil wandered through St Andrews while Claire and I got a tour. Note: We considered it divine intervention that our tour guide had a lot in common with Claire, including being on the rowing team (which is on the hunt for coxswains). In David's wanderings, he asked a philosophy student if he knew any LDS students. The student responded, "No, but I know an ex-LDS student." This represents the biggest drawback to Claire attending St Andrews. The nearest ward is over an hour away. After the tour, we made the commute to Dundee just to see how difficult it would be. The church building looked vacant, but I insisted on getting out of the car, and David insisted on ringing the bell. We met some missionaries who gave us the number of an LDS St Andrews student (with whom we had breakfast the next morning), and after talking to the bishop, we found out that the LDS students who go to St Andrews are usually master's students, no undergrads. Before leaving Dundee, at Iris' bidding, we visited an observatory which had some pretty awesome telescopes. Then we got caught in a 90-minute lecture that we weren't expecting, but kinda loved for a few reasons 1) the man was extremely passionate about astronomy, 2) trying to decipher his thick Scottish accent was an adventure.

Iris and I went for a walk the next morning while David went on a long run through the countryside.

Something crazy inside made us decide to drive from Fife to London. 

We made a stop in Edinburgh. The castle:

Hike to King Arthur's Seat, an extinct volcano:

Just a thought as we enter Holy Week.

Claire spends an inordinate amount of time cleaning her room on a daily basis. When I asked her why she doesn't simply maintain cleanliness, she responded, "Being sloppy is a luxury."

Loose gospel parallel: We can afford to sin because a way has been made for true repentance and cleansing.

Spring Break 2026: Goodbye Madrid

We started off the day with a tour of the Royal Palace. We all loved our tour guide, Jesus, but especially David. With his dry humor, he talked about how much he disliked the royals' drain on the economy, although he technically was supposed to stay neutral on the topic. 

7 floors, over 4000 rooms

Tour of the Prado

Due to our previous excellent tour guide, Sybil knew how many children Queen Maria Luisa had: 24. Coincidentally, we saw our friend Luisa Maria in the Prado. We've known Luisa Maria for more than 20 years--we lived in both Michigan and Arizona together.

Temple baptisms

The next day was our last day in Madrid: 2 college tours.

The first was Saint Louis University. Claire had already been accepted with a scholarship. 

She loved it. 

Then we went to IE (where she was accepted the next day after an interview).

And she loved that one even more.

But....while we were in Madrid, she got an acceptance letter to a "reach school." We weren't planning on visiting St Andrews, because honestly, we weren't sure she'd get in. So, our travel plans suddenly shifted to include Scotland...which she loved the most.

But not before I spent a horrible night alone at the Madrid airport due to visa issues. I'm pretty sure that's the only time in my life that I've been in another country without anyone I knew. I was convinced I would make David proud and find a hotel without his help. But after charging my phone in the bathroom for a few hours, several internet searches, and a very sketchy phone conversation with a heavily-accented man telling me to wait in the dark parking lot for his friend who was driving a van without a hotel insignia on it, it was already after 10pm. At that point, sleeping on a concrete airport floor seemed more appealing.

 

Spring Break 2026: Segovia

One of the things I love most is going on runs in foreign countries. [With the exception of Egypt. I was way too self-conscious wearing skin-tight running clothes in Egypt.] Beautiful Irises I saw on my run in Madrid:

David had a work meeting in the morning and then we took a subway, train, and bus to Segovia, where we got a tour of the beautiful town.

The Alcazar Castle which was the inspiration for the Snow White castle.

Going to the top

We ate some bocadillos de pata negra (black pigs of the region that have a pure diet of local acorns) before our tour of the cathedral.

The ancient aqueduct

Sybil jumping on the train platform with the gorgeous sunset in the background:

Spring Break 2026: Madrid

The focus of Spring Break was college visits for Claire. The 2 locations she is considering are Spain and the UK. The first stop was Madrid. In the airport, I challenged Iris to convince Sybil that Starbucks is actually called "Starbook-os" in Spain. Soon after, Sybnil was asking for a "pink-o drink-o at Starbook'os." We arrived Saturday morning and got a hotel for a few hours to catch up on sleep. The view from our balcony was beautiful:

The inside had wonderful detail.

After naps, we left Claire at the hotel taking an entrance exam for a university in Pamplona. 

The last time David and I were in Spain was when Claire was forcefully weaned at a year old. One of the things I wanted to see most, we were not able to see bc it was pre-cell phones and we didn't realize Reina Sophia Art Museum would be closed. But we saw it this time:

When I was a kid, my parents went to Spain and brought me a book back about Guernica, which fascinated me. This time, the discussion of the Spanish Civil War brought up some interesting debate about whether the newer war in Iran--Claire was concerned about women being drafted:

On the way to the Airbnb, we did some impromptu thrifting. The Airbnb had a room just big enough for Sybil.

That night, we did one of my favorite things from out last visit: a really good dinner followed by flamenco dancing. 

Outside the restaurant

At 1am, we saw a group of kilted men--Happy St. Patrick's Day! We heard their bagpipes almost all the way to the historical San Gines churraria, which was a few doors down from our Airbnb. I always thought churros were Mexican--not so! But these didn't have sugar and cinnamon on them.

The next day we went to church (we heard only about 2 people with a Spain-Spainsh accent--most were from Latin America) and then walked to the American Museum (Iris's history teacher talked about visiting it, which piqued her interest). I was happy to see that at least 6 items in the museum were items we have in our home.

We ate at Cafe Varela, which we happened to pass on the way home. It was from 1870--everything is old! Conversation snippet at linch: 

David: Last time we were in Spain, I learned about the Borat swimsuit in Mallorca.I love Spain! 

Claire: Mom, is that when you found out your husband was gay! 

Caroline: No, I found that out before marriage when he asked to put Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin posters up in our bedroom. 

Later in the conversation, David was talking about all the topless beaches we accidentally stumbled into in Mallorca. 

Claire: And that’s when you knew he was heterosexual.

Sunday night we wandered the streets and sat in on 2 catholic masses.

The only dinner reservations we could get at the oldest restaurant in the world were at 10:30pm, but we were so jet-lagged that it didn't faze us.

El Sobrino de Botin: over 300 years old! Older than USA!

Next up: a speed train to Segovia.

 

Not a whole lot new to report. Just gearing up for Spring Break college tours in Spain/UK.

Awesome visit from a long-time friend and her kids.

Elijah was probably transferred from Dominica back to Puerto Rico.

The 3 things he has missed most: Sam's Club, Walmart, and Taco Bell.

 

How do I twiddle my thumbs?

Exactly one week ago I had my fourth interview for a job I'm very interested in taking. It's through the same medical school my dad did his residency and a college where Iris is very interested in attending (she could get free tuition by the time she graduates if I'm working there). 

When I graduated in December, I was sure I'd be working by the end of February, for sure. Now Spring Break is creeping up; I anticipated the European college visits with the family would be a casualty of my new job. 

Alternative activities: 

• 10 audiobooks in February, 
• A plethora of silly Amazon purchases like a baggie drawer organizer, oven hood light bulbs, a curtain rod and curtains, a head for the hose because I'm spraying down all of our area rugs
• Rearranging all of the furniture in our house--my next task is to find the fingernail bandit who is leaving nails under all of the cushions-NASTY!
• Hospice volunteering
• Hours and hours of Relief Society visits (including hospital/doctor)
  

I would like to say that I'm cooking gourmet dinners nightly, but I still consider cooking an extremely low priority, although I do manage to force-feed my kids more fruits and veggies these days. Except Claire--what she eats is a total mystery to me.

Other happenings: Iris had another round of televised semi-finals:

AND she was inducted into the National Honors Society

Senior skip day: Claire recruited me to be the chastity belt for the group of 4 boys and 3 girls.

But a group of seniors that roasts hot dogs, marshmallows, and then has fireside scripture study before turning in does not need a chaperone. So I took long walks and slept in my car.

Double date

playdates with soccer friends

I watch the sunrise most mornings while I exercise: more walking than jogging these days--it's just so much more enjoyable. I'm sure I'll go back to jogging when my time is constrained.

Sybil has been doing a lot of extra credit projects--payment for her AppleWatch.

This video she made was called "Cookie Science."

 Sybil was trying to pull her tooth out yesterday. 

Me: You’ll want to wait until the tooth fairy comes back to town. [David has been in Florida this week]

Sybil: Do you have a 20? 

Me: huge laugh. This tooth fairy gives fifty cents. 

Sybil: Well, Dad can just Apple Pay me.