SPAIN!

One time as a joke we invited ourselves on my parents European vacation- which turned out to be less of a joke when they pretty quickly said they'd love us all to come! And thus this awesome trip was born- all the Smith family adults in Europe together! Heidi came up with the idea of us renting a villa in Mallorca, Spain and it was truly a magical experience!

Before we met up with everyone in Mallorca, Ben and I spent a day in Barcelona. My mom, dad and Heidi had been there for a few days so we spent a little time exploring with them and then some time on just our own. We mostly enjoyed seeing Gaudi's apartments and the very interesting Sagrada Familia. We loved the boceria (market) that was close to our hotel and really loved the whole Las Ramblas area where we stayed. 

When we grabbed a taxi from the airport in Barcelona our cab driver was super nice and offered to come back the next to pick us up to go back to the airport (heading to Mallorca). He showed up a little early to pick us up and drove us by his favorite view of the city. It was truly stunning! We love that guy.

One of my favorite memories in Barcelona was this little square we found for breakfast. We wandered from our hotel, turning on random streets until we stumbled upon.a quaint little square. We had a delicious traditional Spanish breakfast and enjoyed this quiet little spot. Then just as we were getting ready to leave my parents wandered into the same little spot! What are the chances!

Then we headed to Mallorca for the next five days! It was full of long, relaxing dinners and lounging by the pool. Our villa was gorgeous and so serene. We all spent a good amount of time in our "warm" tub. 

We were a five minute walk from a beautiful beach, lined with cute shops and fun restaurants. We came down several times- it was one of my favorite parts of the trip! We ended up picking a favorite little restaurant "our spot" that we ate at several times.

One morning we took a drive out to Formentor. It was a windy drive, Ben was a champ at navigating in our SUV which was a manual transmission. This was the ending view, the pictures don't do it justice.

I love this picture Heidi took of Ben and I at one of the beautiful lookout spots we saw. I don't think we knew she was taking it. This was right after I dropped my phone and the screen shattered, I was missing my kids, and had been up sick and puking the night before. Ben is reminding to me to enjoy the journey and appreciate the moment. I rallied- and still had a great time :)

We all went to Alcudia one day, which is an ancient walled city. It was so charming!

We did a ATV tour all over the island. It was so fun! We got to see the prettiest views in such a unique way!

One night we had a private chef come and make us a traditional Spanish meal. It was delicious! We all loved being able to have long dinners full of discussion and lots of laughing. Our ongoing jokes about straws and Mel Gibson still make me laugh.

It was seriously such an incredible trip!  Spain is incredible, but my favorite part was spending time with 8 of my very favorite people. We missed our kids so much, but we knew they were in the best hands. I always love going on vacation and then I love coming home!