Franglaise Family goes Spanish

After our family ski holiday to the Alps in February we decided we would have a very cheap summer holiday and staycation in London. Then winter went on. And on. And on. And the idea of not going somewhere to get sun became unthinkable. So Hubs and I decided to get a cheap last minute deal to somewhere hot.

The joke is, of course, on us now, as cheap last minute deals no longer seem to exist because you are travelling with low cost airlines, which at the last minute are no longer low cost. On top of that the UK’s never-ending winter seems to have been replaced by a never-ending summer (something I will never complain about!).

Despite all of this, 10 days ago we booked a 2 week holiday to Lanzarote, and I sit writing this blog post in our lovely hotel bedroom while C naps in the adjoining sitting room.

There have been ups and downs in the first 24 hours of the holiday (aren’t there always?) but we are still having the best, most relaxing family time together, and L is in heaven.

Here’s the story so far in photos:

The taxi ride to the airport was a lovely smooth one even though C decided that napping was for losers:

C in taxi on way to airport

I managed to nip to the babychange area at Gatwick just before it was cordoned off for security reasons, and we managed to board our flight without rushing like lunatics (something of a first). However to our dismay we discovered that Easyjet now allocates seating for some flights and we were all sitting separately 🙁 Cue minor melt-down from an over-tired L (and a silent one from me).

In the end L was consoled with “Hairspray” on Hubs’ iPad:

L on the plane

While C flipped between entertaining herself in the aisle of the plane:

C in aisle of plane

and playing with Hubs’ Kindle:

C on Hubs' Kindle

As we approached 7pm, bearing in mind C hadn’t had her usual 2 hour sleep at lunchtime, I strapped her into the Ergobaby and marched/danced up and down the aisle for 40 minutes until I finally got her off to sleep. I’m so glad I brought the baby carrier though as it meant I could nod off too, safe in the knowledge she wasn’t going anywhere.

For those who don’t know, my degree was in Spanish as well as French, so when we arrived I started teaching some Spanish to L, which she is loving – kids are such sponges when it comes to learning languages. Since our arrival she has been entertaining everyone with her “hola”, “qué tal” and “gracias”, and I am loving being able to dust off my very rusty Spanish.

On arrival at the hotel (only a 15 minute taxi ride fortunately), we discovered our room is lovely and big, with a separate bedroom. C is loving L’s big bed:

C on bed

We did have the pleasure of finding a cockroach in our room within 5 minutes of our arrival, but I’m used to this after living in Nice and Spain, and fortunately it didn’t phase L. Hubs was fab and just picked it up in some tissue and threw it outside – our hero!

After a pretty good night’s sleep (thumbs up for blackout curtains, thumbs down for majorly lumpy beds), we got all excited about going to the pool…until we looked out of the window and saw the grey skies and wind. It is actually cooler than it has been in London for the past 2-3 weeks. But hey-ho, we’re on holiday, so off to the pool we go.

While L is ensconced in the mini club, C dons beach attire to play:

C on mat by the pool

Hubs takes up position by the pool:

Hubs by pool

C and I have a bit of a cuddle and a play (it was too cold to brave the bikini):

C and me by the pool

After kids club L becomes all teenager-esque, grabs a cocktail and sits by the poolside, chatting to her new friend:

L and cocktail by pool

Yet again C decided that naptimes were highly over-rated, until she had her milk feed, after which she promptly passed out on me. I think our usual routine/timings are going to go right out of the window here:

C asleep on me

You’ve gotta love a BLW baby when you go on an all inclusive holiday, there was tons of choice for C, and nothing I needed to do (except a bit of a tidy up around the high chair after her feeding frenzy):

C and BLW

So that’s day 1-2 of our holiday. I won’t bore you with holiday blog posts every day, but maybe here I will have the time to write the blog posts that have been floating round my head recently. I hope the weather back in Blighty is still holding up, but I hope even more that our weather here picks up soon! Hasta luego amigos!

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6 Responses

  1. Jo Patterson says:

    All well with dog and cats. Even watered your droopy Hydrangea (that’s the one with blue flowers ;-)) ENJOY! Jo

    • Franglaise Mummy says:

      You are an absolute star. And you also know what a disaster I am in the garden! That definitely warrants a tacky Spanish tourist souvenir 😉

  2. Bod for tea says:

    Wow you look so glamorous by the pool! The Ergo RULES on a plane doesn’t it? Shame about the seating though *frown* – you’re very reserved not to have had a major meltdown yourself, I know I would have! Have a wonderful holiday 🙂

    • Franglaise Mummy says:

      I don’t normally look that glam, but I had my hair done just before coming away and I managed to keep it semi-decent for the first two days of the holiday – back to curly frizz now. The Ergo totally rules on a plane, hoping it’ll help on the way back as it’s a middle of the night flight – eek!

  3. Gcroft says:

    Hope you have a lovely holiday. Did you bring a car seat along with the buggy for your baby?

    • Franglaise Mummy says:

      Thanks. Yes, we have a Britax car seat that slots into our Britax buggy, it makes life much easier when travelling.

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