Spain - Day 4

Day 4 (Monday) Tamara and Domi are heading home ‘_’ We drove them to the bus stop in Marbella and had a breakfast of croissants with ham, with chocolate, with sugar…and coffees. We walked around and enjoyed the sites, including a great little park where the kids played. So fun!

(Lily - daddy promised to get you this car when you turn 16...)

We then had lunch, and dropped Corey and a sleeping Caden off at another park filled with a bunch of old Spanish men engaged in their morning debates. Despite Corey’s kindle, brimming with current news, he was excluded ‘_’ Lindsay, Lily and I ventured off for some shopping, and we did well! My purchase of the day were some red platform sandals with silk tie strings. Yes, I said red : )

After shopping we enjoyed the pool for a bit...

The path to the pool with Lily running ahead. Every day she would pick up flowers from the ground at this flowering tree and give them to me : )

For dinner we headed down the beach to what we thought was the recommended seafood restaurant. The food was just okay. We didn’t realize until a couple of days later that the actual restaurant we were supposed to visit was a bit further down. The highlight of the dinner was Caden chowing on mussels! He loved them! Too crazy!

The runner up was playing on the beach on our way back. The kids were running back and forth, just having a great time. And the third-runner up were the two men walking by, very much in love, one of which was wearing a g-string way better than I ever could!!!

Chess anyone? Another fun activity at the timeshare...

[July 6, 2009]

Spain - Day 3

Day three (Sunday) we had breakfast on our balcony, enjoying the Ziploc baggies of homemade granola I brought from home : ) We did the pool and beach and just relaxed. That night we all attended the Flamenco dance and BBQ at the Marriott. Afterwards Tamara, Domi, Lindsay and I walked to Nikki Beach to go out dancing, as the day before we ventured up and witnessed some crazy dance sites (mojito leaves on male nipples kind-of stuff). Sadly there was no dancing on the Sunday night ‘_’

Side note: The Marriott timeshare is very “camp-ish” with family activities. We didn’t make the dance lessons, Sangria lessons, or paella lessons, however we did do the spinning class, which was great! There are 5 different age group catagories with at least 8 activities per day, per age group. We ended up missing the kid activities too, which were plentiful including kite making, silk painting, movies, sand castle competitions, etc. you may chuckle, but this is perfect for family travel! And anyone interested, let me know so I can “refer” you and get bonus points : )

[July 5, 2009]

Spain - Day 2

Day two (Saturday) we started the day at the pool in our two rented cabanas. We stayed there all day – for both naps! We had the “weekend only” cold salad buffet, which was so yummy!

Right after lunch, our friends Tamara and Domi (soon to be married, and living in Switzerland) joined us. Corey and I had dinner with just the two of them on night one (Saturday) in Marbella. It was amazing to see the families out – with kids – dressed to the nines through 1am when we left! The mothers were wearing the most amazing shoes, with 3-inch heels, pushing the “pram”. The other fun thing to note about this night was the traffic. The typical narrow European roads, but with cars parallel parked, and then cars angle-parked centered on the parallel parked car!

Parking in the street!

[July 4, 2009]

Spain - Day One

We began our 2 week holiday with a stay in the Marriott timeshare in Marbella, Spain – Lily, Caden, Lindsay, Corey and me. The timeshare is perfect for traveling with small kids. The pools are plentiful with specific areas for small children. Lily and Caden had a blast! We were right on the Mediterranean and enjoyed playing on the beach too. And just a quick note on the “airplane ride” as Lily excitedly refers to it, not so fun! Caden is not as easy as a traveler as Lily, and I completely understand the no-travel rules many of our other friends with small children have imposed. However, Caden did eventually fall asleep, after causing tremendous back pain to all of us attempt to get him to sleep, and was promptly placed on the floor in a makeshift bed for the remainder of the flight : ) Day one, we arrived in Malaga around noon, rented our car, and drove to Marbella. Our room was not ready until 4, so we changed into our swimsuits and lounged by the pool with a pitcher of Sangria for us, and the signature Funky Monkey (banana and pineapple) for Lily and Caden.
After we could get in our room, we ventured out to the grocery store and stocked up.

The first week we did not do much other than enjoy the pool and ocean and eat while adjusting to the time difference. We have maintained our European tradition of ice cream every day…which used to be a gelato tradition, but we had to make due some nights : ) You will see a slew of ice cream shots of Lily and Caden, but mostly Caden. Reminiscent of Lily’s trip to Italy when she was one.

[Day 1 – July 3, 2009 - Friday]

Salon

Lily and I headed out to get a manicure and pedicure before going on vacation! It was so cute!!! Lily had her nails done in purple with butterflies : )

[July 1, 2009]