Winter Break in the Canary Islands

We successfully defrosted and rejuvenated after soaking up the sun in the Canary Islands last week. For those that may not know, these are Spanish islands just off the coast of Morocco on the African continent. Our selection for this trip was simple - how far south can we get with a reasonably priced direct flight from Copenhagen? Canary Islands it was!

We went to the island of Gran Canaria in the Playa Del Ingles area - it was really beautiful - the extremely clean beaches had such soft sand they really surpassed my expectations - and we could not have asked for better February weather. The island is not only beaches though - there are massive sand dunes as well that make you feel like you are in the Sahara Desert. The islands are volcanic and are also marked by steep mountains that contain many gorges, rock formations, and caves.

Reading up on the Canary Islands prior to the trip, I found it's known for excellent weather they call a perpetual spring - i.e. highs around upper 60s-70s - so, Ron and I did not really think we would be spending much time at the beach - for us Texans this is just not beach weather. However, once more we discovered how we have acclimated decently and definitely turned this into a beach vacation! When the sun was out (90% of the time, thankfully) it was perfect weather to sit in the warm sand and enjoy the beach - or be out on a catamaran on the water. We are not crazy (yet) though - the water is still just plain cold, even for the kids. I think Raegan went in a couple times. I have not yet figured out how Europeans find enjoyment from swimming in frigid water!

Some beach photos...

These were their sand beds, with sand pillows and all (with a new friend)

There were lots of sand sculptures done around the island - here's Homer Simpson (Ron's fav)

This was Puerto de Mogan - a village they call the Venice of the Canary Islands for its touristy canals

 Destroying their sand castle village

We love being out on the water so we took 2 different boat trips - one was on a glass bottom boat and the other a catamaran. We all had a great time! Wyatt loved looking at the fish and Raegan got up the courage to go on the banana boat ride.

Yes, they are putting on some sort of show together that entertained the deck. playing on the speakers is really loud party music.

 

 

Unfortunately both kids got sick on this trip - each one was very quick to get over it thankfully. But below, the one of Wyatt and I - this was his day to be sick (so sad looking...) - and I should have known that Raegan would be sick the next day - she is actually napping on the front of the catamaran in that photo the day prior to being ill. I cannot remember the last time she has had a nap before this.

We rented a car one day and drove around the island. We went up into the mountains and attempted a hike which we quit pretty quickly - no hand rails and very steep cliffs - with Ron holding Wyatt and me trying to make sure Raegan is safe - did not seem too smart! The drive was nice though (with the exception of Raegan getting ill!!) and we also stopped to go on a camel ride. As you can see below Wyatt is not a fan...although he did perk up a bit as the ride went on. If you ask if he liked our camel he will say 'Oh yes'. If you ask him if he wants to ride a camel again he will say 'No, I don't want to ride the camel, Raegan can ride the camel.' :-) Raegan of course loved the camel ride, but actually I think she was a bit bored by the end of it and wishing she was riding a horse instead.

 

 

Finally, we had some fun in the Maspalomas Sand Dunes...this was something Ron remembered loving from his childhood so it was on the must-do list. The kids absolutely loved it. Raegan wanted to compete for who could jump the furthest. And Wyatt with his little legs was a madman as he kept going back up so he could jump/slide back down. Believe me, it was a lot of work to get to the top...as an adult! Shockingly, guess who got to carry him out of the dunes because he was too tired to walk??

 

 

Living in the dark

Since we returned from sunny Texas, we were first very excited by what was, at that point, the mildest winter on record. We enjoyed temps in the mid-40's - a ton warmer than when we arrived last year that is for sure! So, while it was dark and cloudy and rainy it was not cold so we were pretty relieved.

But then the cold did finally arrive and the darkness does wear on you. Did I mention that we only got 17 hours of sunlight the entire month of January? We still can't complain too much given what most of the US has been facing this year - but we had about 10 days below freezing with winds blowing non-stop 25-40mph - so the wind chills were in the single digits. I'm sure you can imagine biking the fully loaded big bike against those winds was not fun! I did have to give in some days and take the bus or at least accept rides from sympathetic friends with cars.

The cold has brought us a bit of snow and the kids of course enjoy playing in it and it does make things look prettier, even when it's dreary outside - here are some photos.

it snowed quite a bit while we were inside Raegan's 30 minute swimming class - this is our bike buried in the snow

 

I must point out, in this photo that it is in fact 4:30pm...and pitch black. We are on the back terrace at our house. Baxter just loves the snow.

Snow angels are a favorite at our house.

This photo is taken from our back door into our backyard.

At the roundabout right by our house

At our house

Sledding in the backyard

 

At the dog park

They built a snow man with the remaining snow

 The one bonus of the cold weather is we have extra refrigerator space! A perfect place to store the beer is right outside the back door. 

This weekend Raegan and I and our friends the Worobels went to check out a popular outdoor ice skating rink in another part of the city called Fredriksberg - it's a really vibrant part of town that I definitely want to go back to. The ice skating rink was interesting - much smaller than I expected and a bit of a free- for-all. They didn't really groom the ice so there was a lot of snow on it making it difficult to skate. Then there were no rules - you didn't have to skate a particular direction or anything - very talented small children would whip in front of you :-). The skates you rent were hockey skates too (but the one rule there is NO hockey) instead of the normal skates you would rent at a rink. So...skating was a bit difficult and we were glad the rental was only for an hour!!

Raegan with her trainer penguin

 

 

Wyatt had a big month - lots of changes for him. He started a new International Preschool that is just great. It's a 5 min walk from our house - he's a big boy now in a class of 3-5 year olds. In addition to the academic things, he gets to do baking class, art class, gym class, music class (on different days) and even go on field trips. He still goes 3 days a week.

 As a reward for doing so well transitioning to his new school and starting potty training, we moved Wyatt into his big boy bed. He absolutely loves his new bed and Ron and I got lucky so far as he still respects the boundaries of the bed and doesn't get out of it unless we tell him he can. We'll see how long that lasts!

The kids winter break is next week and we head off to the Canary Islands for some sunshine - looking very forward to it!!