Weeeee're off to see the wizard!!!

How much have my babies grown that they can navigate airports and metros all while lugging all of their own luggage and looking super cute doing it?? (We'll leave out the part where Isabelle dangerously scrambled up the down escalator on her hands and knees while trying to recover her suitcase that she'd dropped. Don't worry, mom...it turned out just fine except for yet another pair of ruined white leggings.) Oh, and there are very real reasons why "they" recommend traveling with backpacks instead of wheeled luggage in Europe. We won't go into that so much, as I'm trying to paint a pretty European fresco in my European narrative here...

So, here we are on the first leg of our month-long adventure. I got a good kick in the pants this year on the whole seize-the-day philosophy and decided to seize my children while we're all still bright-eyed, healthy, and tolerant of each other and make the trek across the big, blue pond.
No, we're not rich. No, we've not come into an inheritance. No, we've not forfeited college funds...okay, well, that one may be accurate. We've worked the better part of this year building up points and miles to "pay" for this extravagance. And...here we are! In the hotel in Madrid. Me blogging (what?? Blogging?!?!?!?!) while my children sleep in their beds and my Tom figures his technological needs for working remotely for the next two weeks.
Carpe diem!! Wait...I'm in Spain and should probably figure out how to say that locally...or I can just say that I'm preparing for the last bit of our trip in Rome. Italy!! Or I could just gather up the fam and head out for some paella. Yeah, baby!!!