Tangled: Princess Rapunzel Kid's Bedtime Story

Don't miss these classic bedtime stories:
Frozen
Beauty & the Beast
Moana
Cinderella
Little Mermaid
Mulan

Once upon a time, a single drop of sunlight fell from the heavens. From that drop of sunlight a magic flower grew, which had the power to heal the sick and wounded. An old woman named Mother Gothel selfishly kept the flower hidden and used its magic to keep herself young and beautiful for many years.

In a nearby kingdom, the Queen was about to have a baby, but she grew very ill. The people went out in search of the miraculous Golden Flower of legend, in hopes that it would heal their Queen. They found the flower and scooped it out of the ground. They used it to make a medicine that healed the Queen and she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl with shining golden hair. They named her Rapunzel.

Mother Gothel was angry that the flower was taken from her, so she snuck into the palace. She realized that Rapunzel's golden hair held the power of the magic flower, so she tried to cut some. But when the hair was cut, it turned brown and lost its power. Mother Gothel had no choice but to take the whole child. She stole Rapunzel and hid her away in a tall tower in the forest.

The King and Queen were distraught that they couldn't find her. So every year on her birthday, the kingdom lit floating lanterns and flew them into the sky in hopes that one day Rapunzel would find her way home.

Rapunzel grew up thinking Mother Gothel was her real mom and Mother Gothel told her lies about how awful and cruel the outside world was, to make Rapunzel afraid of leaving the tower. But still, Rapunzel grew up a kind and curious child. Every year on her birthday she snuck out of her room to look out the tower window and watched as lights floated up into the sky. She wondered what they were and wanted to go see them up close.

On her 18th birthday, Rapunzel asked Mother Gothel to take her to see the floating lights, but Mother Gothel said, "You are not leaving this tower, EVER!"

Meanwhile, a thief named Flynn Rider and the Stabbington brothers had stolen the Princess's crown from the palace and were being chased through the forest by the palace guards, led by the Captain's horse, Maximus.

Flynn betrayed the Stabbington brothers, took the crown and escaped them all by climbing a tower he found hidden in the forest. Rapunzel's tower. When he got inside, Rapunzel smacked him in the head with a frying pan and hid him in the closet. She was scared of him, after all the tales Mother Gothel told her about mean and evil people. But he didn't look evil. So when he woke up, Rapunzel made a deal with him.

"Take me to see the floating lights and return me here safely," she said. In return, she would give Flynn back the satchel with the crown, which she'd hidden under some floorboards. He reluctantly agreed.

The world outside her tower was wonderous and Rapunzel loved everything about it. But she was still a bit frightened of it. Flynn thought he could scare Rapunzel into giving up her quest and get his satchel back quicker, so he brought her to the Snuggly Duckling, a tavern filled with ruffians and thugs.

Rapunzel was afraid at first, but she was kind-hearted and compassionate. She found that she had something in common with all of those big, burly, scary men. They all had a dream. Rapunzel wanted to see the floating lights, one of the men wanted to be a pianist, one wanted to bake cupcakes, one collected ceramic unicorns.

In the end, they helped her and Flynn escape when the Palace Guards came. They ran down a tunnel and Rapunzel used her hair to swing herself and Flynn to safety. But they ended up trapped in a cave that was flooding with water! Rapunzel used her magic hair to light the darkness and find a way to escape.

Flynn was amazed that her hair magically glowed. "It doesn't just glow," Rapunzel said. She then used her hair to heal a cut on his hand.

Meanwhile, the Stabbington brothers met up with Mother Gothel, who'd realized Rapunzel had left the tower, and they chased after Flynn and Rapunzel together. Mother Gothel tried convincing Rapunzel that Flynn only wanted the crown and didn't actually care about her. She dared Rapunzel to return it to him and see what happened. Then she left.

Maximus the horse caught up with Flynn and Rapunzel, but Rapunzel convinced him to let Flynn show her the lights first, then they could chase each other to their heart's content. Flynn then showed Rapunzel around the kingdom. Some girls braided her hair with flowers so it wouldn't get tangled up everywhere and Flynn thought she looked beautiful. He took her to read books in a library, they ate cupcakes and she drew a beautiful mural with chalk.

When it was time to go watch the lights, Flynn took Rapunzel out on the water in a little boat. Flynn had gotten them lanterns to light too, and they watched them soar up into the sky, lighting up the night like stars. Rapunzel gave him back the satchel with the crown because she trusted he wouldn't abandon her. But Flynn realized he didn't want riches anymore, he just wanted to be with Rapunzel. He put down the satchel and took her hands. But before they could kiss, Flynn saw the Stabbington brothers appear on the shore.

"I'll be right back," he promised Rapunzel, and left her on shore with the boat. He took the satchel and went to meet the brothers. He tried giving them back the crown so they'd leave him alone, but Mother Gothel had told them about Rapunzel's magic hair and they decided they wanted her instead. So they tied Flynn up on a boat and sent him across the water to be arrested by the guards.

They went after Rapunzel, but Mother Gothel jumped in and stopped them. She wanted Rapunzel to think she'd saved her, when really she'd been the one to send the brothers after Rapunzel in the first place. Rapunzel, thinking Flynn had betrayed her, went back to the tower with Mother Gothel.

In the jail, Flynn saw the Stabbington brothers in another cell. He grabbed them through the bars.

"What did you do to her?" he demanded.

"It wasn't us," they said. "It was the old lady."

Flynn realized Mother Gothel was behind the whole thing and Rapunzel was in danger! Luckily, Maximus had gone back to the Snuggly Duckling and got Rapunzel's new thug friends to come help Flynn escape. Flynn rode Maximus through the forest and climbed the tower. Once inside, he saw Rapunzel tied up in the corner and Mother Gothel stabbed him from behind!

Mother Gothel tried pulling Rapunzel out the back door, but she struggled and fought.

"Stop fighting, Rapunzel!"

"No!" Rapunzel said. "I will never stop fighting to get away from you. But, if you let me heal him, I will go with you. I won't ever try to escape. I promise. Just let me heal him."

Mother Gothel agreed. She tied Flynn up so he wouldn't follow them and Rapunzel went to heal him. But Flynn stopped her. He knew if she went with Mother Gothel, she'd be unhappy for the rest of her life.

So Flynn took a shard of a broken mirror and cut off all her magic hair! That way, Mother Gothel couldn't use Rapunzel and keep her prisoner.

Without the magic, Mother Gothel turned to dust. Rapunzel's hair lost its golden color and turned brown. And she couldn't heal Flynn. She bent her head and cried, singing her magic song. But, even without her hair, Rapunzel still had magic in her. One tear fell onto Flynn's cheek and the magic flowed through him and healed him!

He woke up and they kissed and they went back to the palace together. Rapunzel met the King and Queen, her father and mother, and they knew right away she was their lost Princess. They pulled her and Flynn into a big hug.

The Kingdom rejoiced. Their lost Princess had returned, and she was loved by all. Especially Flynn. He asked her to marry him... and she said yes! And they all lived happily ever after.

The End.

Top 6 Essentials for Travel to Europe

Reflecting on 2.5 months abroad, we're coming to realize what things were absolutely essential, what were not, and what we wished we'd brought. In no particular order...

1. Rain jackets
Lightweight, easy to carry in a backpack and doubled as a sweater on windy days.

November through January in Southern Spain can get nippy, especially at elevation. But you don't want to carry a bulky jacket or big sweater. Layering is key. A mid-weight sweater and a rain jacket to block the wind was the perfect combo.

The stylish jackets you see the Go adults sporting are the Marmot Precip.

2. Travel towels
For the times when your Airbnb is a little stingy with the bath linens. Our REI travel towels would have been great to have in the backpack on rainy days or on days when our wanderings brought us to the beach.

3. Travel car seat
We forgot ours at home, so we bought one in Chicago and then never used it. But if you might take a taxi or rent a car, save on the carseat rental fee and get a MiFold. It's small enough to carry around in your backpack when you go out exploring.

4. Outlet converter
Your chargers aren't going to work in European outlets. This adapter doubled as our charging block for phones, laptops and kindles, as it had two USB ports.

5. Portable battery charger
If you have an iPhone with good battery life, you'll probably be fine, but our crappy old phones lose battery life within 8 hours when you're constantly on GoogleMaps and TripAdvisor. I can't tell you how many times this Anker portable battery saved our skin.

6. Hardcover Notebook and Pen
Specifically for the 4-year-old child being toted around to historically significant that were not interesting to her. We had no space to bring toys, except one or two small dolls that she eventually grew bored of.

This 1,50 euro hardcover notebook, together with 2 euros in writing utensils, were her constant companions. She was able to create, to play open-ended games quietly by herself on planes, trains, at busy restaurants, and on rainy or sick days when we were cooped up.

We called it her Travel Journal. I was so proud to see her happily scribbling away, asking me how to spell words or to play tic-tac-toe. It was all she needed to entertain herself for 2.5 months and we carried it absolutely everywhere with us. Every child is different, but some sort of open-ended creative toy is highly recommended.


Any other vagabonding essentials I missed?


*Disclaimer: this post contains affiliate links. You don't pay any extra, but I get a kickback for purchases made via some of these links. That's why I only recommend products we truly love!*

No Flour Playdough

Avoiding wheat flour requires diligence, because wheat is in everything. Not only can it cause problems when ingested but it can also be absorbed through the skin, which rules out Play-doh for people with severe gluten allergies.

But Gluten Free Play Dough is the easiest thing in the world to make! (And an excellent project for snowy winter days in the Midwest.)

• 2 cups baking soda

• 1 cup cornstarch

• 1 1/2 cups water

• Paint

Combine the first three ingredients in a pot over medium heat and stir until it forms a ball.

It can't get any simpler. It takes about 5 minutes of constant stirring. You can feel it thickening at the bottom, then all of a sudden it's hard to stir, then it clumps into one big ball and you're done.

Divide into portions. Dab some paint (we used Crayola washable) on each (1/2 tsp makes a nice pastel color). Fold the paint into the dough and knead to incorporate. (This was Babs' favorite part). Once the paint is incorporated and the dough is cooled, the paint won't come off on your hands.

Store in airtight bags. If it dries, it'll form a crust on the outside. You can fold this back in and knead it until the dough is pliable again. But I find after a couple weeks, the dough is spent. It becomes either brittle and crumbly or moldy and stinky. In either case, chuck it and start again! Making it is part of the fun!

Arcos de la Frontera & Going to the Hospital in Foreign Country

Our second house sit of the trip brought us to Arcos de la Frontera for 10 days. (More on becoming a house sitter in this post.) Mr. Go and our friend had their own Airbnb for the first two days while Babs and I cared for three lovely cats.

It took me another day and a half to recover from my food poisoning while Mr. Go and our friend explored Arcos, which is really quite tiny. The charming whitewashed old town, with its castle and church high on the hill, was rife with shops and restaurants.

The narrow lanes climbing up the high hill were a struggle for automotive traffic. If a truck had to stop to make a delivery, all the vehicles behind just had to wait. And pedestrians had to find a doorway to hop into when a car went by or else be nicked by the side mirror.

Our apartment was incredibly comfortable. We had a clothes dryer for the first time in two months and relished the efficiency of not waiting for the stuff on the rack to dry in the sun. The homeowners were an American & a British former American and very much our kind of people. She left games and markers out for Babs and upon her return, brought a gift from Barcelona for her!

There was a playground directly outside our front door that was always filled with kids. Annoying on New Year's Eve when they were tossing firecrackers at our windows, but otherwise fun for Babs to walk outside and have kids to play with. One girl with whom she played several times saw us on the sidewalk one day and greeted Babs with a hug just like they were old friends.

The cats were indoor/outdoor, but still somehow felt clean. As clean as a cat can be, anyway. It was a breeze to care for them. I never realized how lovely it is to have the warm weight and gentle vibration of its purrs on your lap (or chest, or hip). The oldest cat was a snuggler and slept in bed with Mr. Go, while Babs and I cuddled in the other guest room.

In the coming week we would discover several lovely hiking trails around Arcos, some that led to the lake and others wrapping along the river and around the castle.

But after two days in Arcos, our friend left for home and Mr. Go joined us at the apartment, tired and wrecked. As I was putting breakfast on the table, Babs headed upstairs to wash her hands, caught her toe on the first step and BAM, started screaming.

Her parents frantically rushed to her. All teeth were intact. There was no blood. That was good. I scooped her up and a second later, the blood came in big red drips. Mr. Go removed the paper towel after a moment to inspect then looked at me, face sheet-white, "We have to go to the hospital."

I had been dreading this situation, but knew it was all but inevitable. With three people on such an extended stay the odds were someone was going to need medical attention. I was just glad there was nothing broken.

Luckily, Mr. Go's Airbnb host had given our friend the phone number of her taxi driver friend, who'd driven him back to Jerez that morning. I called him and managed, in Spanish and a panic, to arrange a pickup.

Google told me there were two hospitals in Arcos, but it was a Saturday, and hours of operation on weekends were spotty. Our taxi driver, Juan Luis, bless him eternally, knew where to take us.

We checked in at the window and were pointed down the hall. I had a child who needed stitches, so when I saw an open door and a nurse in the room, I went in, I didn't care that she was still waiting on a patient. My typically hesitant Spanish was forced out of me by a million years of maternal instinct.

"Mi hija necesita puntos."

She pointed across the hall to the waiting room we hadn't noticed before. But before we sheepishly sat down, she removed the paper towel from Babs' chin to take a look, probably thinking these silly Americans were overreacting. But her eyebrows shot up and she nodded at me. Yep, stitches for sure.

There were two or three people waiting, and two or three nurses on duty. We were seen within 10 minutes. I was instructed to lay on the bed and hold Babs on my chest, pinning her arms down. Mr. Go was to hold her legs. One nurse held her head while another did the stitches.

To her credit, my daughter was so brave. She cried for a few minutes after the injury, but not a tear after that. Not even when they gave her two shots of anesthetic in the chin. She wound up with three stitches.

A doctor did a brief exam of her chin and jaw to check for anything broken. She spoke about a dozen words of English and not very confidently. We were to come back in 7-10 days to have the stitches removed. We asked what questions we could and thought we sort of understood the instructions. But when Juan Luis dropped us back off at home, we scheduled a consultation with our dear Doctor Friend in Colorado. DF told us the stitches looked well done and gave us the run down.

"It's really hard to mess up the aftercare for stitches," she told me, sensing our panic through the video screen. Nothing could have eased my worry any better.

DF recommended leaving the stitches in for 3-5 days, so we split the difference and on day 6, went to the other hospital in town, as it was closer to our apartment. But the nurse told us the stitches weren't ready to come out. So we tried again the next day, at the hospital we received the stitches.

Luckily, our previous doctor was there. I'm pretty sure she let us cut the line of 5 or so patients. We slipped in and within five minutes were out again.

Mr. Go had purchased us Arch RoamRight travel insurance before our trip and the hospital took that info on our first visit. I'll update this post if/when the bill comes in the mail.

We took it easy after the injury. Probably too easy. We made Babs drink her meals through a straw for several days, worried about her jaw and spills down her chin.

Arcos was very comfortable. If there hadn't been an injury we'd have been going out way more often to explore. We liked the small-town feel, the beautiful scenery and the charming old town.

But we were getting kind of tired. We'd been exploring Spain for over two months. Always thinking about what we should do next, where to go and how to be prepared and safe. Entertaining Babs and ourselves, struggling to communicate, to keep putting ourselves out there even when it was uncomfortable, because otherwise what's the point?

Taking a slice out of our normal routine to live in a different country has not been easy. It has been beautiful, delicious and fun. Navigating medical issues in a foreign country (various infections, bloody noses and stitches) were some of the more challenging moments, but challenges of all sizes came daily.

I was ready for a rest. To let my brain rest by falling back into the comforts of the known, of an old routine. I needed a break from exploring. I'll be ready for more before too long, but we were counting the days to our flight back home.

We just had a few more days to spend in Seville and Madrid first.

Little People International Nursery, Albir, Valencia, Spain

Babs attended preschool at Little People International in Spain for the month of November. Mr. Go and I were more apprehensive about it than the child was. Would she be able to understand the other kids? Would she fit in and have fun?? Communication between myself and the director of the school hadn't been real great, but, as per the norm, we needn't have worried.

The school was great. Turns out it was a good thing the director didn't let me pre-pay, because the "registration fee" that the application spoke of, simply didn't occur. And--after living two days in Albir, we realized we didn't want to stay put in one town for the full 2 months, and paid only for 1 month. A whole 410 euro (390/month plus 20 euro supply fee= $465 USD).

The school is located on a nice, quiet side street with a locked front gate. There are three classrooms, one for infants, one for 3 years and up, and one for older children (10ish years old). The kids all get to eat together and play outside together, and according to the director, the middle class kids love to babysit the infants. It was all very cozy and familiar inside.

The majority of the kids are international, from Norway and the Netherlands, but there were several Spanish kids whose families lived in the area. The school focuses on bilingual education, helping the kids all learn Spanish. And all of the teachers also spoke English.

We felt welcomed immediately. Snacks and lunch were provided. They have food catered in, and Babs' teacher also eats gluten-free, so there were no problems there.

We chose this school because it had a website and we were able to communicate with them (sort of) before we arrived in Spain and ensure Babs would be able to attend. But once we arrived in Spain and started exploring these small towns all along the coast, we noticed a million pre-schools and nurseries. We didn't pop in to talk to them, but I imagine one of them might have had room for Babs for a month. So we probably didn't really need to limit ourselves to only what we could find online.

The weekend before we left Albir, the school director had organized a trip for the class to what we in the states would call a Children's Museum or like a children's farm. And I use the term 'organized' loosely. We had asked her if anyone might be able to give us a lift up there, since it was 50km north and we have no car, but then wound up figuring out public transportation anyway. So she definitely didn't think we were going to make it, and so Babs' name was not on the list of children at check-in. It turned out fine, they just added her name to the list, but it just illustrates the level of organization and communication.

Attendance to the Granja Escuela de Baladre cost us 32E, which also was never mentioned to us in any of the conversations prior to arriving there. But it ended up only costing 30, because we paid with a 50 and the guy only had a 20 for change. That seemed to happen sometimes with giving change, people just round down with a shrug.

The day was fun, though I wouldn't say it was worth 30E. They had a 'baking demonstration' where all the kids got to add ingredients for cookies into a bowl and take turns stirring, then kneading the dough and adding chocolate chips. Then the garden visit, where a man ate weeds off the ground to illustrate that everything was edible, but seemed to only encourage kids to put random things from the ground in their mouth. The kids made mud/seed balls, which apparently they use to fertilize the ground? He was speaking Spanish so I only caught about 25% of it.

Then there was a paella lunch (which included a beer), followed by a farm visit, where Babs got to pet a 20-year-old pig. The farm, very admirably, rescued wayward animals, such as 3 pigs, some chickens and a raccoon.

We got a chance to meet some of the families whose kids attended school with ours, and one Spanish family gave great reasons for why she chose to pay to put her kid in this school rather than opt for a public school (which would have been closer to her home and free). Class sizes are smaller, and the focus is really heavy on bilingual education.

Overall we were very happy with the school, and it made living in Albir for a month mostly worth it. Though we laughed at ourselves when we started to complain about living in a tourist town for a month. We escaped the frigid midwestern winter for a while to enjoy the sunshine in Spain... It's all good.


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Albir, Valencia, Spain

We've been booked in an apartment in Albir for the month of November while Babs attends school at an international nursery.

Albir is a coastal town. The climate and views are amazing, therefore, the tourism is high. There's a remarkable population of Dutch and English in this tiny village. The beach isn't sandy, but pebbly with medium to small, smooth sea-tumbled rocks. (Not very comfortable to lay on.)

We booked our apartment on Airbnb, since 'holiday rentals' were crazy expensive, and 'short term' rentals are 6 months at the least. We were on the 2nd floor with a balcony that has a view of mountains and the village. It has two bedrooms, a lovely little kitchen and a super sweet host named Ange. He was really nice and helpful, and like most Spanish-speaking people who also speak some English, spoke it very well but was super apologetic about it.

We've been very comfortable. A little too comfortable. The area is super tourist-oriented, with signs in English and "English breakfast" on many sidewalk chalkboard menus. Many Norwegian folks have set up businesses here to cater to the Norwegian tourists. (We got the most amazing bratwurst at delicatessen 'Delicioso' from a Norse Goddess of a woman, who very impressively spoke Spanish, English and whatever Nordic language was her native tongue.)

But at least four times I embarrassed myself by speaking Spanish to a waiter or waitress who looked at me blankly and confessed they didn't speak Spanish. Mr. Go and I agreed after two nights in Albir to spend only one month in the area instead of two, as we'd originally planned. And even then, a month there was tough for us. To be fair, a month anywhere while traveling would be hard for us, but here even more so.

Along the main street heading toward the beach, second-hand stores run by Dutch immigrants and English tattoo parlors offered some diversion, but nothing I would call authentic. There's no real 'downtown' area. It's all new developments. Between Albir and the larger city of Benidorm there's nothing but camping and restaurants that cater to tourists. We were disappointed in every paella we ordered.

L'alfas del Pi, 3 km inland and Old Town Benidorm 7km down the coast has offered the best glimpse of the windy-streets and hidden plazas that I love so much about Spain. L'alfas del Pi is a tiny blip of a town, but they were having a fiesta the weekend we visited and the street decorations and parade of reinas y damas in their fancy dresses was charming to the max.

In Benidorm, along the bigger road and along the (nice, sandy) beach there are plenty of 'things' to do, eat and see, but save your lunch for tapas alley. Old Town is at the Southern end of the beach, and the windy pedestrian-only roads with patio chairs crammed in for tapas restaurants are a lively hangout for Spaniards.

Babs has been having a blast. Of course waiters and waitresses love her, pinch her cheeks and give her extra candies and stickers. She loves school, too, and comes home with new Spanish words every day. (More on the school in another post.)

A LA MERCADO

There are five grocery stores within a short walk from our apartment. Aldi, Lidl, Consum, Mercadona and a more regional Supermercado. Mercadona has the best prices and selection. The seafood counter is prodigious, it being a coastal town and all. They're no Super Walmart, their beauty/bath/pharmacy section is small, because there are Farmacias on every other street corner, recognizable by their green plus symbols.

PS: Thank goodness for the big-box Aldi, because everything else was closed for some holiday on our second day in town. All the grocery stores are closed on Sundays, too, except the Lidl and probably the Aldi too.

When you purchase some seafood, such as a lubina (seabass) or calamar (squid), they may ask you if you want them to clean it for you ("Limpia?"). I always said yes, and they used enormous shears to clip off the head, tail and open the belly. PS the squid was really good, despite my overcooking.

Pro Tip: For buying groceries from a deli counter, it's important to know your numbers. It took three deli experiences for me to figure out how to say a quarter kilo. (Doscientos cincuenta = 250 gramos)

Sunday Markets

On Sunday, there's a market in Albir along the main drag. It's like a little canopy city that pops up in a big parking lot and it's filled with clothing, bags, a couple fresh veggie stalls, coffee trucks and even a roast chicken truck. Though the only thing we bought from the Albir market was a pair of 1E sunglasses. Every town seems to have these little pop-up stalls, though not always on Sundays.

Life in Spain has a different pace and vibe to it than America. Most things don't get going until later in the morning. Stores, restaurants and even Babs' school seemed to open later than in America.

Spaniards enjoy their breakfast of croissants, bocadillos or tostadas around 9-10. They have a beer or another coffee and a snack around 11, then their big meal, "comida," at 1:30-2pm. Then it's siesta time. Some stores and restaurants even have signage on their doors to say they will be closed for an hour or two in the middle of the day for siesta.

Around 5pm it's snack time, aka merienda. Dinner, "cena," is typically more like a light snack which occurs around 9-10pm. We've been out for cena only once or twice so far, and even then it's been on the early end of it. This post (and her entire blog) offers great info on Spain.

Serra Gelada Nature Park

The best thing we found in Albir was a beautiful hike along the coast from Albir to Benidorm. There are lots of little trails in this green space. One trail goes up to a lighthouse (one of the busiest routes, as it is paved and easy). The longer hike through the entire park was populated by 3 other hikers when we did the route. It took us almost 3 hours traversing over peaks and saddles, stopping occasionally to snap a breathtaking photo of the coastline and mountain ridges, each more beautiful than the last. There were even some rocky parts that got a little technical.

The trail ends at a janky cross in Benidorm, then there's a bit of a walk into Benidorm proper. Make sure you bring snacks and water.

We took the #10 bus back home.

Bottom line on Albir: I wouldn't go back. It was commercialized and a sea of silver-haired Norwegian retirees. We were almost bowled over by a pensioner on a motor scooter more than once. As of this writing, we are 4 days out from Albir and inland is quieter, smaller, and much more our speed.

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Three Days in Alicante, Spain

Alicante is a smallish city on the southeastern coast of Spain. We stayed in a cheap Airbnb 2km north of city-center in an awesome area. The closer you get to city-center and to the coast, the more touristy it feels. It's busier, the shops and cafes are more modern and the wait staff speak some English. *thumbs down emoji*

In our area, at the corner of Carrer Colombia y Avinguda Novelda, at the end of a shady-looking alley, we were in prime authentic location. Google Street View tells the story better than I ever could.

With a welcoming front like this, how is the place not booked solid? Even with no hand towels, no paper towels and being given 1.5 rolls of toilet paper by our generous host, we couldn't really complain at $26/night.

On the whole, Spaniards were friendly enough, especially with Babs, pinching her cheeks and waving at her.

There was no shortage of places to eat. Every other shop is a cafeteria or coffee shop. But far and away our favorite place was El Mosquito.

Let me wax poetic about El Mosquito for a moment. It's small and cozy inside, but not crowded. Bathrooms are upstairs. The wait staff were all incredibly friendly and welcoming without being overbearing. They spoke no English. As the waitress was trying to explain menu del dia to us, other customers were chiming in with the handful of English words in their repertoire to help us all out.

We inquired, in a general way, if the entrees were gluten-free ("sin gluten"), which launched an in-depth conversation that no one involved understood. In an effort to be sure we were satisfied, I suspect they may have gone to the mercado next door to purchase a package of sin gluten breadsticks to serve us. We never felt they resented us for being difficult on so many levels, and the waitresses kept pinching Babs' cheeks and even gave us the rest of the package of sin gluten breadsticks to take home with us.

Find El Mosquito here. Maybe there are better places to go in Alicante, but this was the absolute best, most authentic, charming, delicioso restaurante we visited. Five stars, 10/10 would recommend.

What Not To Do:

Being right on the water, Alicante is a popular destination for tourists. We saw two enormous cruise ships dock at the marina and an influx of English and Dutch retirees and young families disembark for a daily venture through the city.

Castell De San Fernando was not much more than a platform on top of a small hill. Castilla de Santa Barbara, however, was a tourist trap.

Sure, it was cool that the castle was built in the 700s, but what wasn't cool was the crowds of people milling around. Some people are into it, it just happens that the Go Family is not.

You could step inside the "castle" proper into smallish chambers housing old pottery and other exhibits. The view of the ocean and the city was nice, though. The Internets said it would cost us money, but everywhere we walked around was free. Maybe we didn't find the paid portion, maybe it was a free day, who knows? My recommendation: Just Don't Do It.

When ready to depart to our next destination, Albir, about 50 km up the coast, we went to the Luceros train station, situated in central Alicante. The L1 tram goes north until it ends at Benidorm, then simply disembark the tram, go to the other side of the rail, where the L9 begins. The L9 goes further north, to Albir, where we are currently sitting pretty in a sweet Airbnb for the next month. The tram journey cost us 9.70 Euro (Babs was free).

More on Albir in the next post!

International Travel with Kids: Spain Edition

Well, we're at it again. We liked the southeastern coast of Spain so much last year, we decided to return this year...for two and a half months.

Only time will tell if that was a good idea or not. We might get homesick a month in, we might hate it and want to call it quits. I don't think we will, but if we're to spend, say, six months living in a different location next year, we wanted to get our feet wet with a "small" trip first.

For best prices and options, we drove to Chicago to fly out of O'Hare.

ProTip #1: For the long, over-sea leg of your international journey, make it an overnight flight.

We boarded at 6pm, right around bedtime, and with Babs' teeth brushed and jammies on, she stretched out across 2 1/2 seats and zonked for roughly 6 hours. It was only slightly more difficult for the larger versions of her to get some shut-eye, but we managed a few hours at least.

ProTip #2: BRING SNACKS

We loaded up at Meijer outside of Chicago with packaged foods. They make single-packs of olives without liquid, presumably just so you can take them through airport security! What will they think of next??

We focused on protein snacks, like those grass-fed EPIC brand beef, bison and venison jerky packs, and I made up trail mix of roasted almonds and dark chocolate chips to bring from home.

Especially on budget airline (we took Norwegian air this year, after months of ticket-price-tracking, 3 round-trip tickets totaling 1400 USD), where they charge you for e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g., being prepared with snacks is important if you want to travel on the cheap.

ProTip #3: Get a credit card with no international fees. Like an Amazon Prime credit card, which you can then use for extra cash back on all your Amazon purchases, like the boss you are.

After a 3-hour layover at London Gatwick, we went on to Madrid. Instead of staying in an Airbnb in the city, or taking a taxi to the Atocha train station, then a 100 euro train to Alicante, we rented a car for 90 euro and drove to the coast that night. The last hour of the drive was pure misery, jetlagged and having to get my Airbnb key from my host's friend then drive across town and find the place, but then we arrived, took our stinky shoes off and slept for 11 hours.

We returned our car to the Alicante airport the next morning, and took the 3.85€ C6 bus to Alicante city center. It departs from the 2nd floor (Departures level) of the Alicante airport.

Note: I watched Airbnb prices go down several dollars/night until I booked two days out from our arrival. If you know you have lots of options for lodging, sit on it and wait and you may get an even better deal.

More on living in Spain in another post. Hasta luego!

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DIY Kid's Avengers Black Widow Costume

She's been Hulk, she's been Thor, now Babs has chosen Black Widow for this year's costume. Maybe next year we'll branch out of the Avengers. Maybe not.

Widow Bites Bracelets

2 sheets Black construction paper

Elastic thread & hand sewing needle

Glue

Cut strips 2.5" x 4". (Sizes may vary depending on your child's wrist size.) 2.5" will be the length of the "bullets" and 4" ensures enough layers to be sturdy. Find a marker or glue stick that's the diameter you want the bullets to be. Wrap the strip around the marker and glue liberally.

Babs is 4.5 years old and I used 10 bullets for each bracelet. I should probably have done more, because when the elastic stretched, there were gaps.

Thread the elastic thread onto the needle and take a short stitch through the seam side of the bullet, about 1/2" from the short end. Stitch through each bullet. Cut the elastic with plenty extra. Repeat for the opposite short ends. Tie around your child's wrist, making sure it's tight enough to stay on, but not too tight! Keep in mind if they're going to be wearing multiple layers of clothing under the bracelet.

Black Widow Belt

Buckle

Elastic

Grey sheet of craft foam

Markers

Cut a length of 1"-wide elastic 2" longer than your child's waist. Thread one end through the female buckle end and stitch. Thread the opposite end through the male end.

I practiced my Black Widow hourglass on some paper, then used that as my template to trace onto the sheet of grey foam paper. I drew in the inner shapes and let Babs color them in red and black.

Glue the foam piece onto the front of the buckle.

A long-sleeved black shirt and black pants and she was doing parkour in the living room.

Happy Halloween!

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Summer Adventures: Phish, Colorado, Overnight Parking at Rest Areas, etc

Summer rushed by at an unrelentingly rapid pace. Since my last post, we camped for 4 nights at Swan Lake, the lake of my childhood, where all my family reunions have been held for my entire life. It's a beautiful lake and excellent for swimming. (Babs, once afraid of the water, now wants to do nothing else than swim.)

I was particularly proud to have beaten Mr. Go's smallmouth bass record with not only a 19" bass, but a 20" bass the very next day.

George, WA

We followed that up with a 9-day trip to George, WA. Babs and Flotsam were left with Grandparents while Mr. Go and I took the Subaru across the country.

I've told you about this before in this post, and while the core crew was smaller this year, we enfolded two of our camping neighbors into our group to round out the craziness and now our network has grown.

On the way out, Mr. Go and I spent some quality time in the car listening to Into the Wild by John Krakauer and camped in State Parks and campgrounds along the way. Since the Subaru was so packed full, sleeping in it was not an option, and we had to pitch a tent every night, which quickly became tiresome. But I did get this sweet shot of Mr. Go being zen by a waterfall in Minnesota:

RV Parks and campgrounds are seldom as nice as they sound, and State Parks (many of which require a vehicle day pass to enter) are more expensive than they're worth. The app RV Parky helped in finding campgrounds along the way.

More Camping

Three days after we got home, we were packing up the van for another week-long camping trip with one half of my family, during which we picked a prodigious amount of blueberries.

The next week we made an impromptu camping reservation at the most primitive site yet. Surprise, surprise: there wasn't even a toilet, a discovery which led to us digging cat-holes with Babs' plastic shovel. Good times were had by all.

Curveball? More like Blueball

The week after THAT, we dumped Babs and Flotsam again, for another trip in good ole Subey, this time bound for Watkins Glen, NY, for the famed Phish Festival weekend, a bi-yearly event, this time called Curveball. We met up with two sets of friends, and as soon as all our camping gear was set up, we got a nasty surprise.

The entire week before, the Finger Lakes area had received monsoon-level amounts of rain, which led to the rising of the water table, which led to concerns regarding water potability, which led to the CANCELLING of the festival, not 10 minutes after the last tent stake was pounded into the soggy ground.

After making it through all stages of grief, all 20,000 of us campers consoled each other by getting drunk and running around the campground until the wee hours.

Colorado

A week (and a friends-with-kid visit) later, we packed up and left for Colorado, this time with the whole fam damily in tow.

The first leg of the adventure was to take Babs to her first (and second) Phish show! More on this in a later post...

Wedding

We travelled from Thornton, CO down to Colorado Springs so Mr. Go and GuideBook (remember him from our adventures in Mexico?) could reclaim some branches from trees around his house and make an arbor for he and Ms. GuideBook to get married under.

After this we spent a night with friends in Golden, then headed on up to the mountains to stake out the claim at Boreas Pass, where the Guidebooks would be wed three nights hence.

Sleeping at 11,300 feet elevation is no joke. After one night, I was done and Babs seconded that emotion. Luckily, our other friends (also of the Mexico & Spain adventures) had a house in the town of Breckenridge, where we were gratified to shower, nap and wash our clothes.

Wedding festivities abounded, culminating in a morning ceremony atop a mountain with a breathtaking skyline background.

Yes, Babs acted as Co-Flower Girl, with her "sister" C

After the fake paella lunch that followed, the Go family split. Babs' school had been in session for a week without her and Breckenridge, though closer to sea level than Boreas Pass, still sits at a pretty 9,600 feet elevation, and none of us were acclimated.

Life in The Van

We made tracks on the way home, stopping off at rest areas for two nights of sleep. Note: The rest area at Adair, Iowa is stellar. Did you know Iowa's rest areas offer WiFi? And they allow overnight parking.

Also, in the town proper of Adair, Iowa, there is a great little park not far off the highway where we stopped off to let Babs let out some energy.

I typically consult this list to determine whether overnight parking will be allowed. Wisconsin says it's a No, but we've parked overnight at the rest area in Dubuque twice now with no issues. If there aren't signs posted that specifically say "No overnight parking," I'd do it.

Next Up...

Between pickling and canning our home-grown veg (more on that in a later post), house projects (including but not limited to replacing one nasty window and the asbestos tile in the attic), and keeping up with personal hygiene, Fall promises to click by at an unrelenting pace as well.

And you know what? I wouldn't have it any other way.


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