After staying in Logroño Mike did a little work in Zaragoza
(here we are splashing in a fountain in Zaragoza), then we headed up north toward Pais Vasco - Basque Country where Mike served 6 months of his mission. First we stopped in San Sebastian for a quick visit. 
We have been there together before so we didn't stay in the city long, but it was nice to see again. Most of the restaurants had a bar of tapas you could pick from. The food was pretty decent.
One tapa I chose was a piece of bread with blue cheese on top. Jay really wanted to try the cheese and even after we told him he wouldn't like, it he went ahead and ate a huge glob anyway. His face was priceless :) Jay's favorite part of the city was the playground. Of course our little guy doesn't get too excited by all the history and cathedrals Europe offers, so the parks are his favorite part.
He has been such a good little boy while we've traveled. He's getting to that point where he says hilarious things that make mom and dad laugh hysterically while he wonders what just happened. One night we were in the hotel and I helped Jay wash his hands in the bidet since it's just the right size and we don't use it for its intended purpose anyway. After he finished he proudly walked in to see his daddy and said, "I wash my hands in the potty daddy!" Mike and I couldn't stop laughing! I guess he's not totally European yet.
Check out Jay's two cars he's carrying. They came with us everywhere we went. One of the best investments we've ever made (or my dad's ever made I guess since he bought them for Jay). He can play with those two guys for hours!
He is so sick of hotels and casa rurals (I think he's been missing his toys). He tends to ask us every time we get in the car, "Where we going?" and when he hears we're going to the hotel he usually cries, "No! No go to the hotel!" Only hotel sounds more like HEWtel. We usually try to distract him by telling him all the fun things we'll do once we get there and he calms down. How can toddlers manage such mood swings? The other night Jay was tired from no nap that day and started crying hysterically because we wouldn't let him get right up close to watch a man making spray paint paintings. We told him to stop crying or he was going straight in his strolley and we were leaving. He didn't stop and so he went into strolley and he cried the whole way to the car. When we finally got to the car he calmed down and little (forgetting why he was crying in the first place). I think he was a little nervous I was mad at him because he put a hand on my face and said, "talk mommy." Was he trying to gage my mood? I don't know. Usually he tells me, "No talking mommy!" because I'm telling him to stop doing something he shouldn't. After we got into the car and were on our way he became his happy self again and declared to us, "Sometimes I cry." Very true. After thinking a bit he said, "Like at pre-school." (side note: he cries every time I drop him off - is learning Spanish really worth it?). I thought he made a very nice connection there. Mike and I both laughed at his growing understanding and vocabulary. What a cutie!
Again. Note the cars.
After seeing San Sebastian we headed out to the casa rural we were staying at for the night in a little town called Viveda. It's actually not in Pais Vacso it's in Cantabria, but it's very close. By the way, the farther north we went, the more beautiful the landscape became. Wow, Northern Spain is gorgeous! Sorry Andalucia, but you've got nothing on the North (I hope I'm not gouged for that statement). It was raining a little in Viveda but not bad and the little house was so quaint.
We really enjoyed staying there. The "bigger" town outside of Viveda is Santilla del Mar and that's where we went for dinner. Jay had a good time walking down the streets splashing in the puddles left by the rain.
It was a nice little town with a pretty cobblestone walking street and a center square. 
I wasn't too big a fan of the food, but Mike liked it. Yeah. I have to admit I don't usually love Spanish food. The tapas are awesome, but that's about it for me. Most of the time all they have is meat and potatoes. Meat and potatoes. Meat and potatoes. And you're really lucky if those potatoes aren't fried. After a while I get so sick of all the oil. Yuck! Occasionally you'll hit a restaurant that will have amazing food, but it's just hard to tell where those will be. We really enjoyed seeing Cantabria though and even welcomed the cool rain. It's been so long! 
We found this saying on the wall in a restaurant in Zaragoza. Long live Jay! (Jota is the letter "J" in Spanish)
