Family Vacation 2001: Mallorca

After yet another seemingly long German winter, we took off about 2 1/2 weeks ago to Mallorca in the Spanish Baleric Islands for the 2011 version of the Gould Family Vacation.
The kids did a great job getting through the airport, definitely aided by their travel experience, excitement, and the airplane playground in the airport.

Eva and I also thought it was especially interesting to see how Quinn got excited about the upcoming vacation.

We landed to the weather we had expected: sun, warmth, and not a cloud in the sky. The first week we stayed in a condo between Alcudia and Ca'n Picafort on the northeast part of the island.

The first full day of vacation, we took to the Sunday market in Pollenca and climbed the 365 steps to an old church on the top of the hill in the city's center.

The market was full of smoked ham (a regional delicacy), cheeses, olives, and the sort. Every time I get to visit such markets, I wish I liked olives, because they look so good. Still can't get over the rancid odor of blue cheese in the 80°F heat.

Here are Eva and I in front of the church...basking on our wonderful wisdom of picking a great island in the Mediterranean that is known for its great weather, local flair, and natural beauty. (For the US readers, the main city of Palma is also known as a party town, a cross of Cancun during spring break and New Orleans during Mardi Gras).

Nina and Eva's parents were with us as well during the trip. Nina is pictured above prior to her scuba intro. Note the grey, cloudy sky in the background. The temps have also dropped.

Eva gave me the green light to rent a road bike for the first week. Since we were close to the Mallorcan mountains, there is tons of great riding to be had. I did mainly shorter rides - an hour or so. I did one ride to the Cap de Formentor, which is crowned by a lighthouse at the end of the road (which is also the end of the island. Shortly after the lighthouse, there is a steep walled drop off into the Med).

Thankfully, I picked the perfect day for the ride.

Below a super cool looking olive tree in Pollenca.

One of the many bays on the island.

After my amazing ride to Cap de Formentor, I 'convinced' Eva that it would be a great day trip for us. Since the views were great and there were lots of geocaches along the way, we had the makings for a nice morning sans kids.

As you can tell...the weather didn't exactly cooperate. But, the views were still breathtaking.

Slightly windy for Eva logging this cache.

The lighthouse at Cap de Formentor.

A bay view looking at Port de Pollenca in the background, before the mountains.

Emily on the beach, building sandcastles.

Emily, showing the makings of a great manager, always delegated the task of getting water to someone else.

Both kids love playing in the sand and building sandcastles...which is great, since it is also great fun for me, but the kids never let me build what I wish to build ;-)

Here is Quinn in a nearby bird sanctuary, with a freshly found cache in hand.

Rainer and I carrying in groceries in pouring rain. We have Eva to thank for this great picture: she made the right decision, in the blink of an eye, to decide to stay under the cover of the porch of our condo and take this picture rather than help us bring in the groceries.

...beach and mountains: the perfect combination for our family.

On another less than optimal (weather) day, we headed to Alcudia to visit an old castle / fortress which goes back to the Roman times. Quinn really digged walking on the fortress walls. The church was also amazing.

A view from outside of the fortress.

Nina swimming in the relatively cold Med sea, which will warm up considerably in the coming months.

...in the bird sanctuary....

Caching near our condo...at the Cova de Sant Marti, a church in an underground cave that goes back to the early days of Christianity.

Another pic with my cell phone on one of my rides.

We grilled a lot at our condo. Its location was perfect: just a few meters to the beach, yet not too remote. Grilling is perfect on vacation.

The view from our bedroom balcony.

The front of our condo...with Quinn and I playing catch with a tennis ball. It still never ceases to amaze me how much a simple ball can entertain a child. Plus...it is fun for me as well ;-) Notice the ball in the air.

As our second week of vacation drew near, we packed up our sandtoys and headed off to an 'all inclusive' resort near Porto Cristo, on the eastern part of the island. The running joke at this point of the vacation was that we hoped the cloud that has been more or less circling us in Ca'n Picafort was not going to be at Porto Cristo.

This was also the first time that we went to an 'all inclusive' resort. I really wanted to try it out, and I thought the 'no worrying about what / when to cook' would be a nice twist to our final week. Eva was a bit skeptical.

We picked a place that was 'kid friendly', and their 'kid friendliness' definitely exceeded our expectations. They had a mini kids buffet for each meal, so that even Quinn could get his own food. They had all sorts of daily activities as well as a 'Kiddie Disco' each night (pictured above). The first few nights, Eva and I didn't encourage the disco, since it was so late in the night (for Quinn), but the 'entertainers' at the kids club mentioned the disco, and Quinn said he wanted to go.

And he did. And he loved it. It turned out to be a part of our nightly routine.

The beach near the hotel was perfect...with tons of sand for Emily to play with.

Family pic with Oma and Opa.

The only thing that wasn't 'all inclusive' was the outdoor pool tables and peanuts at the bar. Of course, Quinn wanted to play pool...

Another view of the beach near the hotel.

...digging in the sand and playing in the pool is rather tiring...

With Emily being over a year and a half, it was perfect timing to get to spend so much intense time with her. She is really starting to talk now, and her personality is really taking shape. During the vacation, she also got out her first english words: 'Duck' and 'Let's go'.

The hotel had all sorts of ball sports that were included: basketball, soccer, tennis, badminton, volleyball. Quinn and I spent a lot of time playing or watching others play (Quinn is really fascinated with watching others play sports. Wonder where he got that from ;-)

When Quinn said that he wanted to play tennis, my first response was 'no'. But after a few seconds, I remembered that it was vacation, and it wouldn't hurt. So, I picked up a kiddie racquet and we got started.

Now, I would be exaggerating if I said that he was a natural talent, but after a few tips from my side (which included: hold the racquet like a baseball bat and pretend the tennis ball is a baseball...further proof that I'll never be a tennis coach ;-), he got the hang of it.

We had a few volleys over the days, but our playing consisted mainly of one serve volleys. But, when he hit the ball, he really wacked it (like he does with the baseball).

Quinn staring amazed at the entertainers at the kiddie disco.

On our last afternoon, Eva and I went on a hike just south of our hotel, in hopes to find a few caches. We never got the the caches (which would pretty much require climbing gear), but had an awesome hike.

More sandcastles.

...and more views from our beach...

Emily on one of the rides (also not 'included'), but she loved climbing on it.

While we had hoped for slightly better weather and even though we decided to not do as many day trips (Quinn gets carsick pretty easy now), we had a great vacation. While one can always look back at the things that one couldn't do or the weather that was less than optimal, the true proof of a great vacation is: 1) did we relax and forget about work and the day to day grind, 2) did we spend quantity time with our children (or family / friends), 3) did we have fun, and 4) did our kids have fun.

From my point of view, we had a great vacation. Since Quinn is still singing the songs from the kiddie disco, I'm sure, in his own 4 year old mind, he had a blast. Next year, Emily will get to voice her opinion...and I hope that our next vacation is as great as this one.

...but I will still hope for better weather...

Pool Time

...a few somewhat random pics on my cell phone...

Quinn feeding the pigs near our house after playing soccer (hence his 1. FCN jersey) and some treasure hunting (Geocaching) with one of his friends from kindergarten.
A snapshot of Quinn at his swimming lesson. In this picture, you can see the yellow floating pad. It is kind of like a neoprene lilly pad. The kids had to step on the pad and try to balance. The instructors would then try to shake the kids loose. Each child had varying methods of stepping onto the pad, all of which included a fair amount of caution (key word here is the word 'stepping').

What does Quinn do: He jumps with both feet on the pad. So much for caution. Let's just say that he loves his instructor and is really comfortable in the water considering he can only swim a few strokes.

Quinn on his bike. He saw a few singletracks in our forest and wanted to ride them. Unfortunately, I was pulling Emily with the Chariot ... and definitely not ride single track. But, a few days later, after picking him up from his swimming lesson, we did a few single tracks on the way home...which have a few bumps.

Quinn learned a new word that day: Mountain Biking (and the German version: mountainbiken ... see, German is easy).

Quinn, Emily, and I went treasure hunting (geocaching) one nice Sunday in early May.

Quinn even let Emily use his shovel. The caches were a bit hairy for the three of us ... mainly because I had to help Emily and couldn't really help Quinn climb over the tree roots, etc...normally not a big deal, but there was a small stream on the other side. Thankfully, we all found the cache and had a blast (we came home covered in dirt).

Emily seems to have the same gene as her brother: she loves stamping her feet in puddles.

Lots of cheap entertainment: who needs TV when you have a puddle?

Growing up, the traditional 'opening day' of the public pool was over Memorial Day Weekend, which tended to coincide with the end of the school year. Needless to say, this time of year was one of great happiness for a kid.

Our pool (the outdoor part) has been opened for a while, but it hasn't really been warm enough to keep the kids warm enough...until this weekend. It's been pretty hot here, and without air conditioning, 80°F / 25°C is pretty hot.

Emily was a bit under the weather (unfortunately), so I took Quinn for a 'quick' outing...that lasted over 5 hours.

I love these pictures of Quinn where I can see that he is in total reflection mode.

Our newly renovated neighborhood pool, with the super cool slide. Note to self: at 10am it is empty. Tons of people there at noon.

Chatting

Emily has been rambling for a while, but her vocabulary was pretty much limited to 'ja' and various grunts that basically told us that we were doing something wrong.

On Saturday, while at the table, Emily put out one of her grunts, and Quinn said 'Emily said Danke'. Thinking back...yes, she did.

We've noticed a few additional words lately...and we're expecting the flood to come soon.

...and the favorite word of most children: Nein / No.

Swimming

Quinn hit another milestone yesterday: he swam on his own. OK...it was only about 3 meters before his head fell below water, and the motions of his hands were more like chaos...but he kept himself a float.

Emily and I got to see it all from the baby pool. After he did it, he immediately looked back at us, and were lifted our arms in jubilation. I'm glad I could be there for it...even though it can be stressful to get two kids to the pool alone (something that Eva does more regularly as Super Mom).

While he has pretty much always been comfortable in water, his swim lessons are definitely helping him to be even more comfortable in water.

On the Emily side, I've determined that she really likes dresses and that she's getting more picky when we lay out her clothes. She keeps trying to put on the 'croc' sandals that we got her...but it is still mostly too cold for them.

Happy Easter 2011

Easter Time again. Quinn was old enough last year to remember the routine...and to really begin to look forward to the long weekend. In Kindergarten, they begin more discussion about spring and Easter, so this adds fuel to the fire.

Emily still has no clue...and why on God's green earth would you paint an egg? I love pictures like the one above where you can see Quinn deeply concentrating.

I was tasked to help Emily color eggs (also known as: don't get paint / markers on the furniture or clothes). How do you like my bald spot?

Brother and Sister.

In Germany (and much of the rest of the world except the US) there are these things called Surprise Eggs (Überraschungseier, ÜEi for short). They have different names throughout the world (as I've noticed in the many international airports I've been too). They are like a Cadbury's creme egg...but with a toy inside. Kinda like a Cracker Jack Egg. It is amazing what type of toy they can get into the darn thing.

Nonetheless...Quinn and Emily got an XXL ÜEi from our friends for Easter. While Emily has no idea what Easter is, she knows what chocolate looks like, and she got that thing unwrapped and started eating before Eva and I really knew what was going on.

Quinn was her accomplice.

...following pics not necessarily in order...

Eva and I thought that we were super smart in recommending two toy lawnmowers for the kids: one for each. The lawnmowers have always been a hit at the house, and now that Emily is old enough to 'have one' and since Quinn's had to get retired last year...it was time.

The whole thing backfired when Emily found Quinn's lawnmower (right) first. It was clearly on 'his side' of the Easter Egg Hunt. Quinn tries really hard to be diplomatic (he knows it was on 'his side' of the Hunt) and helps Emily find hers. In his 4 year old words, he tried to convince Emily that she found his lawnmower.

She didn't budge. Quinn gives up and just rips his lawnmower out of her hands. Crying ensues. She still thinks Quinn's lawnmower is hers.

Emily is very, very strong willed. Like her mother ;-) Quinn on the hunt.

It took Emily a while to figure out why we were looking behind the bushes so early on a Sunday morning. After all, she doesn't like eggs. Why would she want to find them.

Chocolate. That is the reason. Emily figured out quickly that some of the eggs were chocolate. Emily's *white* knit from my parents (Thank You!) is still clean...but we had to take it off before the lawnmowing got started.

The girl catches on quick. When she saw Quinn's Easter basket, Quinn was still basking in the glory of such a cool easter basket. Quinn, in all his pride, shows it to Emily and starts trying to convince Emily that she probably also has an Easter basket.

Emily sees the chocolate ladybug on Quinn's gift (you can see it in the pic below) and quick like lightning, she rips the piece of chocolate from Quinn's gift and starts running away, happy that she found the chocolate.

I didn't even have time to say 'no'.

Emily on the hunt. Thankfully, the weather was super warm and sunny, allowing us to enjoy the long weekend even more.

More chocolate for breakfast.

Attempted family pictures.

...it's down here somewhere...

...sunglasses from Tante Nina. Danke!

...next attempt at a family pic...

Quinn playing badminton with Tante Nina.

Unfortunately, I somehow nuked the pics of us playing soccer down the street.

As with many holidays, it is amazing how quickly they come and go...but this Easter was a truly relaxing long weekend with great weather and great family time. It is great to see Quinn's excitement as well as Emily's confusion (what's going on here ?)...both of which make me smile from ear to ear!