Last week of holiday! 😭😭😭

We left the house just before 10 am to head down the mountain to the beach. We wore our swimmers because Grandma wasn't sure there would be a place to change once we got to the beach. 

We had breakfast at a little shopping area where we also shopped for a bit. The coffee was delicious, and Jack enjoyed the hot chocolate, free donuts and pastries, while Millie drank her fresa (strawberry) slushie. 

After I bought a couple of t-shirts we drove down to the beach area and it was packed. We decided to continue on to Vera to see what our prospects looked like there. The red flags were flying all along the beach, which meant it was unsafe to get into the water. Jack was very disappointed, but grew to understand it was out of our control. 

We decided to have lunch down by the marina. Jack had mussels, but because they were a bit bigger than he was used to, he wasn't as keen on them as he had hoped. In fact, after the second one I could tell he was about to gag. He's not one to let any food defeat him, so I stepped in and insisted he didn't have to eat them. Grandma and Daddy happily ate them for him. I'm not sure he was very hungry anyway. The donuts, pastries and a fourth of Daddy's bacon baguette had only been a few hours prior. 

The marina was just behind Stuart. It was a lovely setting. 

I was helping to pull the seaweed out of the mussels, which made me know they were just out of the sea. I'm not sure that set well with Jack either. Bless him! He so adventurous with his food, so I think he was disappointed with himself when he couldn't eat these. Silly boy!

Grandma and Daddy at paella. 

Realizing the beach was out, the kids played on the play for about 30 minutes on the structure up from the water. We were going to get them ice cream but they decided they wanted to play an extra ten minutes. 

Once we were back in the car we went to a local town to see if we could go to the grocery store specializing in UK products. It was closed but they let us go in and do some quick shopping. It was very kind and unusual. They were waiting for a delivery so the manager, I assumed, wasn't bothered by us coming in to shop. 

When we got home, the kids swam and I laid out by the pool. It was still too cold for my taste so I didn't get in. The kids could care less how cold it is. They are getting in no matter what. 

The kids had sausages for dinner. We 'grubbed' it, meaning every man for himself. Our two earlier meals in the day should have been enough to sustain us until Monday morning, but it wasn't so we had more food. 

The kids were in bed by 8 pm and we stayed up to watch the Olympics tennis match between Murray and Del Potro. I couldn't stay awake longer than the first set, so headed off to bed. 

Monday was a national bank holiday in Spain. We did some yard work, picked almonds and shucked them, and Millie was stung by a wasp. Poor little thing. She handled it fairly well, but did have a bit of a welt on her arm. Fortunately she didn't have an allergic reaction. It didn't deter her. She went right back outside after she settled down a bit.   

The kids really got into helping pick the almonds. 

They also helped Grandma shuck them. Well, at least for a bit. 

We all got in the pool in the afternoon. I only got in to my ribs, but I did get in. After an hour or so we headed back into the house. The kids went through their normal routine of baths, dinner, movie and then bed. Millie, once again, had an issue. This time she told me she didn't want a story. After several time giving her a chance to change her mind, she said 'I don't want a story'. So, I took Jack in my room to read a story and she didn't get a story. She's learning the hard way. 

Paella was the dish of the evening for the adults, even though Grandma and Daddy had this same dish on Sunday, they still were existed about the meal. 

Our master chef was at the paella dish. 

We kept picking at it until all the seafood was gone, but there were still a lot of rice, chorizo, and veggies left. We put it in the refrigerator for a snack on Tuesday. 

We ended the evening with a game of Pitch. Grandma and Stuart won, again. Barry and I will have our day, we just aren't sure when that will be. 

We awoke to rain pittering and pattering on the back patio. Our plans for the lake on Tuesday were changed immediately and postponed to Wednesday. 

It was a nice rain and reminded me of a spring day in the Midwest. I wanted to cuddle up, pop some popcorn, and watch movies all day. However, a busy 5 and 7 year old are not really up for that kind of day. So, in the end, we ended up sitting around until just before noon, when the sun came out and the need for a lazy day in front of the television become a vision of the past. 

The kids played indoors most of the day. And just after our lunch around 2 pm, Millie and I went into my room and laid on the bed. She was watching Peppa Pig on her electronic devise and I fell asleep. I wasn't especially tired, but I was still on holiday, so there you have it. 

Once I was awake, it was time to head to Sheila and Chris's house for Teddy Edward's birthday party. This is their little dog and we just needed an excuse to see the animals one last time before leaving Spain. The kids, Grandpa and I walked down to their house, while Stuart and Grandma took the car. 

We arrived and then the dogs were let out. The cat, Nala, was also around but a little more coy than the dogs. Again, the kids wore them out and had a blast. We had some pickies and tea (well, that's the beverage I had at least), and I commented on Sheila's trousers, which were gauzey-like balloon pants. She went into her bedroom and came out with a pair for me. She said she knew I would probably not have time to go to the market, which is where she got them, so I could have her other pair and she would get some the next time she went. How thrilled was I?

Their back garden provided a great deal of fun for the kids. Not only did they play with the dogs and cat, but also helped feed the fish and Jack stuck his finger is Jaws's mouth. When we left, Jack had cat hair all over his black shirt, but he wasn't fussed at all. Kids love animals. I'm glad mine are sweet to animals and know how to treat them. 

Jack ran ahead of Grandpa and myself, and Millie decided to hitch a ride home with Daddy and Grandma. When Grandpa and I finally stopped gabbing with Sheila and Chris, we followed Jack home. By the time we got there Jack had already showered and was ready for bed. It was a little after 7 pm and his and Millie's dinner was in the oven. Millie, on the other hand, was in time out. Time to google search 'how to handle a sassy child'. Seems she has increased her belligerence the longer our holiday has gone on. Maybe she will settle down once we are back in a routine at home. 

She finally took a bath, and ate quite a bit for dinner. When it was time for bed, both kids were very compliant. However, Millie is the staller. This too shall pass, I keep telling myself. Please, dear Lord, let it pass sooner than later. 

Our ribs were not ready in time to eat with the kids so we ate after the kids finally settled down to sleep. We ate outside on the terrace, which was lovely. There was a bit of a breeze, but just enough to keep it pleasant. 

After clean up of the meal, we all decided it was time for bed. We would be up and out to the lake on Wednesday. 

I got up earlier on Wednesday because I had decided my laziness would have to come to an end on Sunday when I had to go back to work. I was up at 7:30 am, tea in hand. Everyone else was up around 8:30 am. After a load of towels in the washer and hung on the line and our next to last load of wash in the washer, we headed to the lake for the day. 

Once we were at the lake, we had a drink at the restaurant while the kids played on the playground.

We then set up camp on the beach. We were at this lake two years ago but the water was much closer to the restaurant than it was this year. There was less rock to walk through once we were in the water and the water was much warmer than Grandma and Grandpa's pool. 

There was fun to be had on the dingy and along the shore with the bucket and spade. The kids also skipped rocks, or attempted to do so. 

After a little over an hour in the lake, we headed to the restaurant for a bite to eat. Lunch for me was salmon, which Jack ate half of, some delicious green beans, and potatoes, which Jack also ate. He had spaghetti with meat sauce and Millie had spaghetti with butter. She so boring in her food selection. The food was divine and we sat where we looked out at the lake, and could conveniently look after our dingy, sun chair, and tent that we had left out on the beach. 

We went back out to the lake after lunch for another hour, but by this time the wind had really picked up so there was no more dingy boat fun to be had. I got in only for the photo below, but the kids continued to enjoy the water. 

We got back to the house around 5:30 pm. The kids had been maniacs on the way home, so lost the privilege of pool time, but instead they played a ball game on the terrace. They also watched a movie, took baths, and then we all ate, one last time for this holiday, as a family. 

After dinner, we let the kids stay up a bit later because we would be in a car, traveling to Madrid, on Thursday for almost 5 hours. We knew they could take a nap if they needed to do so. 

Once the kids were in bed, we decided to play one last round of Pitch. Barry (Grandpa) and I lost, yet again. Clearly, Karen (Grandma) and Stuart are superior card players. I hate losing!  We final went to bed just before 11 pm. 

We were up and finishing the packing by about 8:30 am. Stuart was a stress ball about the baggage, but in the end there was nothing to worry about. Glad only one of us stresses. No need for both of us to develop an ulcer. 

There was one last load of laundry hanging on the line. One of the perks of going to see family on holiday is that once you get home, if you have family as generous as ours, you really don't have any laundry to do. 

We left the villa around 11:30 am to head to Vélez Rubio to eat at Asador Espadín, a lovely restaurant. In fact, it was probably the best restaurant we ate in all summer. We ordered several starters that really would have been enough, but we didn't know that until we saw the plates and we had already ordered the main meals. 

We had a delightful plate of grilled vegetables, including eggplant, corguette, asparagus, onions, tomatoes and a round of goat cheese. Delicious!  Millie ate croquettes, while Jack had patatas fritas and a tortilla (which was really an omelet). 

I had sea bass, which was lush! I'm normally put off by bones and tails and heads, but this time I made an exception. Jack ate half of it, but kind of slowed down when he got a bone in his mouth. 

We spent almost two hours there for lunch, and then headed on to Madrid to catch our flight back to London. It didn't seem as difficult to say goodbye this time, primarily because it would only 14 weeks until we saw Grandma and Grandpa again, in Dubai on their way to Australia. Then only three weeks from that time when we see them in Sydney. And finally, they come back through the UAE to see us in March on their way home from their 'world' tour. It has been really nice for us to be able to afford the travel we do now. It's made our visits with the Telfords and Atkinsons a lot more often. I know it makes Stuart so happy and the kids and I love seeing them as well. 

Our drive was relatively uneventful, but long, almost 5 hours. We returned our rental car and headed to the bag drop. Once we had checked in and dropped our bags we were off to passport control.  We found the gates we would be leaving from and decided to get a bite to eat at Burger King, a real let down from Asador Espadín, but it filled he hump. 

We got a coffee and a Starbucks mug that said Spain on it. We have about a billion now and are going to have to start taking them home at some stage. Although I think we've resigned ourselves to the fact that we are going to have to send a container of goods back to Arizona once we leave the UAE. 

We got to the gate just after 8:30 pm. Jack and Millie began playing Kung Fu Panda, which ironically was the movie they had watched at Grandma's before we left Thursday morning. It was quite a site. Since there were few people at the gate I didn't really care if they got out a little bit of energy. After all, they had been sitting in a car for 5 hours. 

The flight to London was short and sweet, and of course Millie fell asleep as we were landing. After rousing her, we rushed through the airport to customs and were able to use the 'other passports' line, which is always beneficial when coming from Spain back to London. There was no one in the line. We headed to baggage and were out of the airport and to our hotel room, which mind you was only a mile from the airport, by midnight, just a little over an hour after we landed. Record breaking!

The kids were showered and in bed shortly after our arrival, while we reshuffled some items into a different bag. We then showered, had a cup of tea, and hit the sack for a mere 4 hours. 

We had decided to buy the breakfast at the Premier Inn. It was a full English breakfast, the perfect way to end our holiday. We then got the shuttle to the airport and the fun really began. The queues were unreal, but again Gatwock airport surprised me. We were through security in 15 minutes. Looking at the crowd when we first arrived, I had predicted we would not get through for at least an hour. 

We did a bit of shopping at Duty Free and I bought a dress at Fat Face, one of my favorite stores in the UK, and of course we had to have a Starbucks! 

Naturally going through Duty Free requires new stuffed animals. When does that obsession stop with kids?

The plane we traveled on was an A380, which meant nothing to me, but to the nerd in my life it meant a great deal. He was so excited. We flew Emirates, and there was a bit more room in Economy, and the seats were actually more comfortable. Stuart and the kids liked their food, but I had a gluten free meal which was dry and crappy. Oh well, no need to fuss. 

Here we are on the last of 9 flights this summer. It was definitely time to get back home. 

Millie slept nearly half of the 6.5 hour flight. She missed her first meal, but we saved it for her. She ended up eating half of one of my protein bars. Her diet at the end of our holidays has not been the balanced. 

The flight was relatively uneventful. We got to customs and decided we would sign up for Smart Gates, which is intended for residents. It's meant to help people get through customs faster. That's all well and good, but if there is only one person unloading the 2000+ bags (or at least it seemed that way) on a flight, then that speedy customs lines has no purpose. We waited 45 minutes for all 6 of our bags to come out on the belt. Scott came to get us and was waiting at the exit when we finally made it out. 

We traveled back to Al Ain, stopping for milk so we could have coffee Saturday morning. We arrived home at 11 pm. We got the bags in and sent the kids to the showers. Our house cleaner, Asela, had come in earlier in the day to turn on our air conditioners. Each room has a separate unit. Now wouldn't you know that of the 9 units, 2 were blowing hot air, and 2 were not very cold. Millie's bedroom and our bedroom were the ones blowing hot air. Lovely!

We decided we would sleep in the guest room, which was no big deal. The kids were in bed, well, at least Jack was, and I was unpacking. Millie sat on the sofa in the loft while I unpacked. Her sleep on the plan clearly screwed up her time clock. 

Stuart helped unpack until just after 1 am, and then I finished the job around 2:30 am. I can't go to bed knowing I have a huge job ahead of me the following morning. Plus, we had invited all of our friends over for sandwiches on Saturday at 3 pm. I'm crazy, I realize, but I hate the let down of a vacation ending. Therefore, a friend gathering helps ease the pain. 

I was up and out of the house at 8 am to do the Spinneys and Abelas grocery shopping, as well as the pork shop. I got home around 9:30 am and Jack was awake. Millie woke up shortly after that and we headed to finish our grocery shopping. 

On the way, we decided we would let the kids in on our secret birthday gift we had planned for them. They are at an age where we feel they need a little more responsibility in their lives, or maybe it's just time for them to have something to care for other than themselves. We have them hints, but they couldn't guess. Once we were at the grocery store and started looking at the supplies needed for our surprise, I thought Jack was going to cry. 

Meet Pumpkin (pronounced 'punkin', of course) and Oreo. 

Oreo

Punkin

I'm not in love with cats, but having a dog right now would not be fair to the dog. We don't have an outside area for a dog to run around and cats just kind of take care of themselves and don't need to be walked. Plus, Stuart and I had pets growing up and we want that for our kids. We will get over the cat hair. Well, no, I won't get over it, but I will deal with it. 

We bought every supply we could think of, preparing for the arrival on Sunday of Punkin and Oreo. We then headed back home, stopping at the liquor store and the gas station. Once we were home Stuart headed to the club for a committee meeting. I unpacked all of the shopping and finished up the load of laundry in the dryer. 

Jack and Millie played, watched television, and fussed most of the morning. Ah, sibling love. I fixed them lunch and then insisted they go upstairs and play for a bit while I had my lunch and a little relaxation. I chose to watch one of the last episodes of the Bachelorette. I hadn't seen it or even seen anything about it since I left the UAE. I didn't even get through one episode because our internet was so slow. It will probably take me a week to watch that one episode. I think I have 5 left. And then I will move on to that trash, Bachelor in Paradise, but I digress. 

Around 3 pm the company began to arrive. Scott and Clare brought my car up with them. It had been staying at their house all summer. It was filthy, but actually ran, so that was a good sign. We were convinced that all of our car batteries would be dead when we got back because of the intense heat, but that wasn't the case. 

The Rouvis showed up next, followed by the O'Reillys and then the Turners. The kids played outside, although it was super hot, while the adults housed themselves in the kitchen, snacking on hor devours. I brought out the sandwich stuff around 4:30 or so and the feast began. We sat, ate, drank, and conversed until just before 8 pm when the crowd left. The Turners had left about an hour before that because they were still struggling with jet lag. 

I was convinced that we had bypassed jet lag because Spain was only 2 hours behind the UAE, but about 2 hours into Jack and Millie's night slumber, they both woke up. It was just before 10 pm, Stuart  and I were watching a Dr. Who episode, and Jack came downstairs to sit on the sofa with me. I quickly walked him back upstairs, hoping he was sleep walking, but he wasn't. Then, we had put Millie to bed in the guest room (she might have been messing around in Jack's room as I was trying to get them to go to sleep), and out she came as soon as I got Jack back in bed. I took her upstairs and laid her down with Jack, who was still awake and asked how many more minutes he had to sleep. When I told him he had to sleep 8 more hours, he wasn't impressed. So maybe jet lag didn't escape us like I had hoped. Time will tell. 

I finally left Jack's room at 10:30 pm. Jack was nearly snoring and Millie was wiggly, but almost sleeping. I returned to my comotose position on the sofa and watched tv for a few hours. 

School was upon me whether I wanted to admit it or not. We are embarking on our 4th year. It's hard to believe. We are very excited about the adventures this new school year is bound to bring.