Rosbach Family

Rosbach Family
Christmas 2009

Monday, September 3, 2012

Summer of 2012

     September is here with her crisp mornings, dry air and brilliant blue skies.   Now that I have finished graduate school, I have more time to spend on writing updates for family and friends on the happenings, the comings and goings of the Rosbach Family.  Summer is just about over while Mary and Elizabeth anxiously prepare to start school on September 4, 2012.  Mary will be entering her junior year and from what we have heard is going to be academically intense.  Mary is returning to Falmouth Academy which is a small, private and very rigorous school.  She has already had a few captains soccer practices and is working on getting back into top shape.  She spent the summer working a part time job at the Holy Cow, where she spent her days scooping ice cream.  She went to the beach when she could and did a little running.  I encouraged her to continue to practice the classical guitar.  She manage to practice guitar while trying to fit in driving hours for driver's ed.  She will be going for her license in October.  I must confess this made me rather nervous.  Thinking about her behind the wheel terrifies me as a mother but I know that I must let her drive.  I have tried to give her as many experiences as possible behind the wheel.  She drove over the Bourne bridge which I survived. Mary has been a bit sad because her best friend Lydia moved to Italy for the school year and her other great friend went off to college.  I promised her that she would survive and make new friends.  She has been dating and doing well at choosing wisely.  Mary got to attend girl's camp with the teens from church in New Hampshire.  She had the great opportunity to go to Oregon on a white water rafting trip with her best friend Lydia who is now In Italy.  She enjoyed camping.  I must confess, I am not a great fan of camping.  I like day hikes, kayaking, canoeing and trail running but I hate sleeping on the ground.  My idea of a nice vacation is a resort on the beach anywhere, really.  I will camp because I know how much my husband and family like it.

Liz has been attached to both Mark and I all summer.  She and her dad took an awesome trip to the White Mts. where Liz make her first ascent and reached the summit of Mt. Washington.  She went to Whales Tale water park.  She did other lighter hikes and even received 2 pocket knives from her dad.  She played a little soccer with the travel team at the beginning of the summer, went to the library and has discovered comic books.  She does wear dresses and looks pretty on Sundays when we attend church.  This is the only day of the week that I can convince her to wear a dress.  She refuses any other day.  I will take what I can get at this point.  She enjoyed going to the beach and jumping off the dock at Megansett beach while spending time with some of her favorite classmates.  I tried to get her to practice the piano a little too.  Bot girls will resume their music lessons at the Cape Cod Conservatory in September.  One of the things LIz likes to do is bake.  She successfully and on her own made her first batch of chocolate chip cookies.  She wants to be a baker when she grows up.  She likes to watch the cake boss on TV.  However, when I think about Elizabeth with her big heart, I can see her in a human service field like nursing or medicine.

Mark and I went to Spain in July.  WE loved Spain, the people, their way of life especially siestas and meal time.  Mealtime in Spain is an event, an art not just something you do to get it over with.  They serve green olives with every meal which I loved.  We stayed in Madrid Hotel Ritz for 2 nights and took a tour of the palace of Madrid as well as the Cathedral.  The highlight for me was going to the Prado art museo.  It was spectacular.  We saw art by Rubin, Valasquez, Goya and many more.  The climate in Madrid was hot and dry.  Many people who lived there smoked a lot.  The people were very friendly and welcoming of us.  While we were there, we took a 30 minute train ride to Toledo which was the former Capital of Spain 500 years ago.  It was built in the 12 century.  When we arrived, I felt like we went back to that time period of history.  The city sits up on a hill with a huge cathedral on the top.  The city is surrounded by a wall and all of the narrow streets lead up to the cathedral.  It had a large central square, shops and small cafes.  The people of Toledo have a deep sense of tradition and many generations might live in the same home and own the same restaurant and businesses.  It was a must see.  
After we left Madrid, we took a 3 hour train ride to Valencia, yes Valencia oranges,  We met my friend from high school Cesar and his wife Ana who so graciously were our tour guides.. We went to their house in a town called El Saler which was a lovely gated orange tree farm with 2 properties situated on it.  One of the properties is owned by Ana and the other by her sister.  Ana and her siblings inherited the farm from their grandparents which is over 100 years old.  The oranges are ready for the picking in December and January.  They took us to a town about 2 hours south called Moraira.  This was a quaint seaside town with spanish villas perched in the hillsides.  Cesar's parents have a lovely home with views of the Mediterranean sea.  We stayed there for 2 nights, spent time on Cesar's dads' boat and swam in the sea.  It was simply beautiful.  The beaches there were lovely and the water was crystal clear and very salty.  We ate a lovely dinner with them which was served to us by their maid.  I loved that.  The Spanish hospitality was superb.  Everything was clean and neat.  Even the public bathrooms were clean.  While we were in Moraira we went to Altea, which was one of the most romantic places I have ever seen.  It was happily situated on a side of the cliff with a smaller cathedral on top of the hill overlooking the ocean.  It had whitewashed homes, narrow streets and you could hear the bells of the church ring every hour.  There was a man playing classical spanish guitar.  We ate at an outside cafe where we enjoyed seafood and tapas.  The unfortunate part about the trip was that I was stricken with an awful virus that  lingered all summer.  I still am not 100%.  
After leaving Moraira and saying goodbye to Cesar and his parents, we returned to Valencia and stayed in his house for 2 nights.  He took us to his yacht club which had a wonderful restaurant and pool.  He showed us his sail boat called the Amarillo.  Cesar loves to sail.  In the evening we wemt into the city of Valencia and he and Ana took us on a history tour.  What a clean and gorgeous city.  The next day we went to the central market of Valencia where we shopped for our lunch.  It was this huge market with individual stations where they sell fresh foods of all sorts.  They eat a lot fish and cured meats.  They serve bread and olives with every meal.  Ana and Cesar cooked us a delicious meal of tuna, salad, spanish omelets (one of our personal favorites).  I had a nice time in Ana's kitchen while I looked through some of her cookbooks.  Ana went to school to become a chef, so I enjoyed watching her in action with her various kitchen tools.  I love to cook too , so she showed me how to make her version of pesto.  It was a lot of fun.  Once we said goodbye to the Baronas, we boarded the train and headed for Barcelona.  
This was a huge and beautiful city.  We took a tour bus and we saw most of the city. We enjoyed the architecture by A. Gaudi.  We saw the Familia Sacrada, Geulle park and took a walk down the Ramblas. We saw the Cathedral of Barcelona and we ate at a seaside cafe.  I have never seen more beautiful people in my life.  It was the most diverse place I have ever been.  It is a cruise port which unloads people from all over the world everyday.  It was a more intimidating city than the other places we visited.  All in all, besides being sick the entire trip, we had a wonderful time.  I want to go back to Altea.  That was my favorite place.
I start my new job next week at the CVS minute clinic as a family NP.  It requires travel and some weekends but the pay and benefit package are excellent.  I  will work 3 10 hour days, which will give me days off during the week.  At this point in life this is ideal because I will be able to going to soccer and lacrosse games.  Most of the other jobs I applied for were 8-5 or 6pm 5 days a week.  I would have missed out on the games of my children and it didn't feel right.  CVS provided a more flexible schedule.  I am nervous but excited to get started.
Mark starts teaching tomorrow.  He is excited because he is teaching advanced science classes this year.  He has started trail running again and has been getting ready to play the bagpipes in the Highland games in NH.  He loves the bagpipes.  Sometimes I feel like they are the other woman.  
We feel blessed and love our family and friends.

Meeting my friend Cesar after 26 years at the train station
Moraira, Spain
Altea, Mi Amiga
With the Barona Family, Altea, Spain

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