Spain - Costa Dorada Day 2

Day 2 of our holiday started at a very respectable time of day as the boys both slept in until gone 8am (probably something to do with the busy Day 1 and a 10 o'clock bed time). On route to the restaurant for breakfast the boys once again had a play on the large brass animals.

Here is your classic Spanish bull fighter in action.

And here is a matador arriving in style.

Breakfast was eventful trying to find something the boys would eat. They did not have their regular cereals, the bread was different, the sausages and bacon were more continental and the boys tend to only eat what they recognise. Brandon slipped into a routine of boiled egg whites, peaches and raisins! Joshua seemed to like mash potato wrapped with a slice of ham (yes for breakfast) followed by a plain yogurt.

Anyway after breakfast we headed over to the water park called Aquapolis which was right next door to our hotel. As part of our holiday package we had unlimited access which was worth every penny. On day 2 we had lots of fun in the park, but I didn't take too many pictures. So there will be more on this in later blog updates.

This was one of the main children's play areas in the water park. Absolutely huge and water projecting from everywhere. You might not appreciate it from this picture but when that big yellow bucket on the top tips, everyone gets absolutely soaked.

Here are the boys playing in another of the water features in the park.

We had not had time to arrange a packed lunch from the hotel, so we bought lunch in the Aqua park. Brandon chose his favourite - chicken and chips! He is a funny picture of him looking at a chip like it is pure gold dust.

One of the best features of the water park was the dolphinarium. They ran two shows daily in a spectacular tank which allowed you to see under the tank as well as on top. I think in total there was 6 dolphins and about 5 sea lions. The boys absolutely loved watching the dolphin shows and must have gone at least 6 or 7 times. Joshua would even try and replicate some of the dolphin moves/dances in the swimming pool.

Here is a close up of some of the dolphins which was taken from the side of the tank.

Joshua getting up close and personal with the dolphins.

Both boys fixated on the dolphins who were more than happy to entertain them both at the side of the glass before the main show started.

Then the show started and the dolphins started going airborne.

After a shower, clean up and dinner the boys had a play in one of the hotel soft play areas before going to the kids mini disco and watching their new hero, Estivee, in action. More on Estivee will be revealed in later blog updates.

Check back tomorrow for a first full beach day and some rather impressive sand castle building (if I do say so myself).

Spain - Costa Dorada Day 1

There has been a good reason for the lack of blog updates lately. Namely our recent holiday to the beautiful Costa Dorada region of Spain for 2 weeks all inclusive. Lots of "firsts" ticked off during this vacation. Brandon's first flight on an aeroplane, the first time we have flown anywhere with both boys, Brandon's first foot steps on foreign soil etc.etc. The good news is I have over 600 pictures and loads of new material to share on the boys blog page. So enjoy day 1.

Its all started with a very early 1:30am alarm clock and a drive to Gatwick Airport with two very excited boys (still in their PJ's). At the airport they both very proudly pulled along there new trunki suit cases. Brandon with his orange and black tiger case and Joshie with his brown Gruffallo trunki.

Brandon is a bit of a car enthusiast as everyone already knows. Needless to say he enjoyed seeing a few super cars on display in the airport.

Here is Brandon having his first ever flight on an aeroplane (window seat of course).

Peeking out of the window to watch the night lights of London Gatwick disappearing into the clouds.

2 hours later and we are on Spanish soil. Adios Amigo.

Once we had checked into our room and grabbed a bite to eat, the first job was to test out one of the many pools in the hotel complex. This turned out to be a bit of a nightmare first day as Joshua was a little over excited and insisted on charging around everywhere at break neck speed. Within about an hour of being at the pool he had managed to crack his chin on the pool side and slip over the stage area and put 4 teeth through his tongue!!!!!!! Boys will be boys. Neither injury prevented him from leaping in and out of the pool though.

This was the bar area in the middle of the pool.

Brandon was a bit more apprehensive about the deeper pool and initially stuck to the shallow children's pool.

Joshua demonstrating his backwards fall into the pool.

The early start, flight, coach ride and pool session soon took its toll on the boys and it was time to let them have a power nap in order to last the rest of the day. Within seconds of getting back to our room, both boys were crashed out on the sofa bed.

This gave me an opportunity to take some pictures of the views from our balcony. Nice eh!

We had a small park right outside our room and here is little Brandon sporting his hat and shades on a donkey.

Once the boys woke up their next task was to help me to take the luggage trolley back to reception (very loose sense of the word help!).

Making the most of the warm weather we then headed down to explore the beach which was about a 5 min walk. Just along La Pineda was this very impressive modern art type statue which we initially thought was giant mushrooms. It turns out it actually represents a specific type of tree which once lined the coast line along La Pineda .

The beach did not disappoint and had golden sands, blue water and was not in the slightest bit overcrowded (the luxury of currently being able to vacation outside of school terms!).

We had not really planned on the boys getting wet, but they soon knuckled down to some serious wave jumping and playing in the sand. Needless to say they were soon stripped down to their undies.

Brandon is a bit of a tart and does not like sand on his hands, He is definitely a pool person like his mummy, Joshua is 100% beach person like his daddy though.

Those legs you see sticking out of the water are Brandon - caught unexpected by a small wave.

A castle fit for Kings.

Another view of the mushrooms taken during our walk back to the room.

Unfortunately on route to our room we had to pass another one of the hotel pools and the boys could not resist another "cool down" dip and to test out their new inflatable boat.

After a nice shower and change into some fresh clothes we all dressed up for dinner. Just outside the restaurant were some big brass animals which the boys enjoyed playing on,

After dinner we settled down by the night pool for a drink and to watch the children's entertainment (more on this on a later blog). Whilst sitting their a local came past selling roses. How apt was this given that Day was mine and Tina's anniversary anyway. So I did the good deed and purchased a couple of rather expensive roses.

Here is the pool and hotel complex all lit up at night.

Day 2 to follow soon.

Thorpe Bay

Taking shelter with the boys on a recent trip to Thorpe Bay. Such a shame as the boys were so excited about going to the beach. Poor Brandon is not an outdoors person at the best of time and once he was cold and wet, it was game over.

Brandon under shelter having Daddy cuddles to warm up.

A rare picture of all four of us.

Art Session

To start this blog update here is a picture of the two boys during one of our messy art sessions at home. These are actually getting quite fun and creative now. As you can see we have cut out shapes representing cars, rabbits, boats, masks etc and then paint them. Joshua has now started to gain much better control when drawing and actually drew a Lion at the weekend. Very basic with a circle head, two eyes, a mouth and two legs. But it this was the first time I have known him to actually try and draw something from his imagination rather than just scribbling on the paper/chalk board.

The boys are both still maintaining there interest in sport which is good. At the swimming pool this weekend Joshua managed a whole length on his own without arm bands. I was walking in front of him so he benefited from a slight drag from me. But even so this is still a whole length unassisted and without armbands. Also thanks to Peppa Pig he is now keen to learn to ride his bike without stabilisers. We have tried a few times so far but not made too much progress. I guess I have let go of the saddle for maybe one second maximum without him realising. As for Brandon – forget the bike, go-kart and scooter, he just wants to run everywhere. Do we have the makings of a future track star? How long will it be before he is coming out for runs with his dad?
Brandon has now settled into the new nursery like a dream. Gone are the days of dropping him off in the morning and leaving with a massive guilt trip because he is balling his eyes out. Nowadays he walks in with a grin from ear to ear, sits down with the other children and starts to tuck into his breakfast. Tomorrow is quite a big day for the little guy though as he moves up a class into the green room. In the green room he will be much closer to his brother and will probably be able to join him for meal times and when they play in the garden.
Finally for today’s update I would like to comment on how helpful the boys are becoming. The nursery have also commented on this as our two boys are always first to help during tidy time and are often volunteering their help. This is equally reflected in our home life where you can ask both boys to help out with many mundane tasks and jobs and they are happy to oblige. For example if you are washing up you can ask one of them to bring the mug from the living room and they will do it happily, when you bring a basket of washing down they love stuffing it into the machine and then putting the powder/condition in etc.etc. They also both like helping with washing up – however this usually becomes more of a hindrance at the moment and results in a very wet kitchen!