Bordogna Traveling Circus

The Bordogna family's adventures in Europe

[jeffthink]

Happy 1st Birthday to Quinn and Maeve! And Happy "we survived the 1st year" to @lizbordogna and me (especially Liz)! (at Charlottesville, Virginia)

[jeffthink]

What do you do when your kids wake up at 3am because of jet lag? Turn it into a fantastic family outing! Beach / boardwalk sunrise => playground => pancake breakfast at diner => surrey boardwalk ride => great grandparent visit Kudos to @lizbordogna for the early morning stroke of insight, and to the kids for being really well behaved! (at Ocean City, New Jersey)

[jeffthink]

Last day of our trip! I hope to write a fuller recap once we're back, but for now, I'll just say that it's been a blast spending time with family in Ireland and Spain, and I'm thankful for the experience. I'm also thankful for the kick-ass job the kids did during a really hard travel day today (🚕 + 🚅 + 🚇 + 🚌). 🤞 for the ✈️ tomorrow... (at Madrid, Spain)

[jeffthink]

We bid Barcelona a bittersweet "adios" this morning as we began our journey back stateside . There's something really enchanting about Barcelona in particular, but also about Spain as a whole. Perhaps our future holds some time living abroad? 🥘 🌍 ❤️

[jeffthink]

A lovely morning walking around Parc Guell with the kiddos!

[jeffthink]

I have been fortunate enough to travel to many wonderful places around the world, but I don't think I've ever had a place take my breath away like the Sagrada Familia Basilica did upon walking inside. The shapes, colors, and spacing come together magically in a way that somehow seems to pause reality. It's unbelievable to think that this place was imagined, designed, and built by human beings. (at Basílica de la Sagrada Família)

[jeffthink]

Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. Bar none, the most beautiful cathedral I've had the pleasure of visiting. A stunning and sobering reminder of the great works humans are capable of in the name of a higher power. My sincerest hope is that we use our great gifts to treat all families in this country the way we would treat the Holy Family if they knocked on our door.

[jeffthink]

This lady ☝️ is the strongest, smartest woman I know and I'm so fortunate, both that she's put up with me these past 10+ years and that she can somehow still summon her adventurous spirit despite having 4 small children constantly pulling at her. This is us at Barcelona's "magic fountain" with Heidi and the 4 kids post-10pm!

[jeffthink]

Our dinner-out triumph was followed by the next day, which can be described as a war of attrition waged on us by our children, mainly featuring the battle of Las Ramblas whereby Maeve screamed most of the time, Eva peed her pants & bit Davin, Davin laid on the floor of the bus to protest god knows what, and Quinn became our favorite child. This picture was the only one I had time and mental energy to capture...

[jeffthink]

Proof we made it out for a real tapas dinner!!!

[jeffthink]

In a case of art imitating life, we walked past this fountain today in Barcelona on our 10th wedding anniversary. True story from this morning: Jeff: (Leaning down to kiss me as I'm holding Quinn) "Happy anniver- Me: "I need a wipe! Poop emergency!" I think that about sums up this stage of life for us😂 Because as he so wisely said 15 years ago on our first trip to Spain together, "Amor no es un chiste, pero amor sin chistes no es amor." Here's to 10 years of amor y tristes with you, JT. Thanks for being our lead adventurer, a partner like no other, my number one wipe-hander in poop emergencies, and the dragon under our pile of kids with me, @jeffthink ❤️

[jeffthink]

Dancing in the street in El Parque de Retiro this evening

[jeffthink]

That face when you get a surprise carousel ride during the Pride Parade!

[jeffthink]

Valencia also wins the award for coolest playground: a huge Gulliver shaped structure that kids can climb and slide down

[jeffthink]

Feels like we're walking through the future. I wish more city governments would be so visionary

[jeffthink]

❤️ @jeffthink

[jeffthink]

If only Davin could make us some paella and Eva could grow us some oranges! 🥘 🍊 Luckily, we enjoyed some of both, along with horchata and croquettes at the Central Market this morning.