ARCH GLOBAL TRIP 2016 Day TWO: MAY 2

Cooper:

"Life's, like, really good right now."

First and foremost, I want all the parents to know that your children's checked baggage safely arrived at the hotel at the end of our second day (aka the first full day in Spain since we got in later than expected Day 1). Shout out to Beth for coordinating that! The staff got their luggage as well, except for me since American Airlines so graciously failed to give me a baggage claim ticket. C'est la vie. Also, all medications were still with us, as Cheryl had collected all of them in her carry-on.

We started the day with a breakfast that quite honestly put an EF tour hotel breakfast to shame. We'd been traveling for so long that we actually all adjusted to the time difference pretty quickly, seeing as we traveled for even longer than we expected. After breakfast we made our way onto a double decker tour bus to see the wondrous sights of the beauty that is Barcelona. The kids enjoyed snapping photos along the way, taking in the beautiful architecture and landscape. Speaking of, our first stop of the day was the incredible Gaudí church. The kids were all very respectful, and both the students and staff marveled at the historical architecture before our eyes. Although the church offers free admission for the staff and students of schools educating any percentage of learning-challenged students (Autism, ADD, executive functioning difficulties, etc.), the staff at this particular tourist attraction demanded paperwork proving who we were. In fact, they expected some kind of card proving these children were disabled. We personally found this offensive, as if these kids had to carry around cards saying what their "problem" was. Well guess what? These kids aren't limited to some label of disabled or some diagnosis. We all have problems, but these kids shouldn't have to carry around government-issued proof of a "problem" society already expects them to carry around on their shoulders for their whole life. No. These are our kids, they are your kids, and each and every one of them is a strong individual capable of affecting people and the world as a whole in a positive and lasting way. So no, we don't have a card. We don't need one. Anyway, Beth did what she does best as Master of Logistics. Free tickets all around.

We spent the early afternoon enjoying the world-famous Barcelona football (or as I would falsely call it, soccer) stadium. Drew served as our de facto tour guide here, being the soccer aficionado he is. After successfully navigating the double decker bus schedule with much help from Matt, we made our way through the various roundabouts and streets of Barcelona. Spanish architecture truly is a marvel.

We made our way to the beach, and about half of us bought cheap swim suits and towels at the beach, as our checked bags wouldn't arrive for a few more hours. Drew and I couldn't help but jump in the water, and we were immediately followed by CJ, Chip, and Diana. At one moment Chip, floating and looking at the beach, turned to me in the water and simply said, "Life's, like... really good right now." I think that captured how we all felt. After some light body surfing and adjusting to the cold water, we rested on the beach with everyone else. While I was skeptical about swimming out to a buoy just shy of a quarter mile out in cold water, I had to remember that these were the Arch Academy Zombies I was dealing with! With some egging on from Diana and CJ, Chip and I joined them and swam out to the buoy. I definitely missed my winter wetsuit, but it was worth it. That day we decided the four of us should henceforth be referred to as the Barcelona Swim Club. BSC!!

After bussing back to our hotel area, we all enjoyed an amazing meal in the downstairs of a classic Spanish restaurant. Wesley and Noah helped kick off a hilarious game of telephone that had the whole table bursting out in laughter. Matt helped us decide on plenty of choice Spanish delicacies to split as a table. Stuffed with tapas, fish, and steak, we made our way back to our hotel and crashed for the night. The amazing part was that even though we crammed so much into one day, it never felt rushed. I guess life just feels easier when you're having fun. We're finally all heading to bed. After all, tomorrow we have an early morning flight to the lovely town of Bilbao. We'll miss you Barcelona. So long, and thanks for all the tapas!!