To escape the grey English winter we spent a week on holiday in the Canary Islands, a small cluster of Spanish islands off the north western coast of Africa. The weather wasn't quite summer but it was 70 degrees or so warmer than England and nearly 3 extra hours of sunshine...
Ander looking for a drink atop an old Spanish well.
Still on the well with drink in hand, just admiring the backdrop.
The water wasn't the warmest but much better than the Oregon coast and the kids loved playing in the sand.
Here's Ander earning his keep as a tugboat captain for Stewart. The house we stayed at had a private pool and we spent more time in the water there than at the beach (it was easier for mom and dad to lounge in the sun chairs without worrying about someone wandering away)...
Ander and Stewart were very excited to see that Batman was there to keep the streets safe during our trip.
Here's Emma wondering if Ander is ever going to share his drink with her. She was the most excited to climb the tower and take a look around. Behind her is the edge of the beach resorts.
One of our favorite things about the stay was the sidewalk that ran up and down the beach and allowed us to walk without worrying about the stroller sinking in the sand. Emma just wanted to find some sea shells.
Stewart loves the water. His feet churned up the water kicking for joy for about the first five minutes of his swim. By the end of the week he could (with the aid of his green floaties) propel himself around with the freedom of a fish (well a fish that doesn't go very fast and panics if it splashes itself in the face)...
This is the base of the famous well.
OK we loved the well tower!!
The island we stayed at didn't have the best natural sand but we stayed near a decent sized resort where they had tailor made harbors for wave control and loads of imported beach sand that made castle building a fun event for the whole family.
Stewart loved the sand and was just getting ready to put several hand loads into his sister's hair...
John had to take her out into the Atlantic to wash it out. She is swimming well enough on her own but she was still a bit worried about venturing out into the water alone (thankfully) and wasn't so sure about the little fishes. She did, however think that daddy made a great diving platform.
Beautiful mommy was mostly grateful that she could just sit for a minute and not have to focus on laundry, dishes, cooking, hoovering, etc. All she had to do was enjoy the sun and watch.
Lunch on the rocks near one of the beaches.
No really, I mean it we loved the water tower...
After a long walk along the boardwalk we decided to take a sit and enjoy being near the waves, sand and sun.
Emma finally found a spot of natural beach and enlisted the whole family in hunting for the perfect shells. This was probably one of her funnest moments on the trip, well next to eating gellato, swimming, and buying an underwater camera (you'll have to wait on that, it was near the end of the trip and is not digital)...
Stewart enjoying a bit of privacy in his very own wading pool...
This photo was taken after watching Stewart spend 15 minutes trying to throw the entire beach back into the ocean (he was so pleased with himself).
On the whole the trip was one of our best adventures, mostly because we limited our adventure to the beach, the pool, eating and a bit of shopping. We did not trying to go sightseeing or fill our schedule with everything we could think of. We sat, played, swam and just soaked up the warmth of the sun. We came back happy and it took nearly two weeks of the cold, dark, grey English winter to sap the sun out of our blood.
