vacation

ian and i have decided to make it a general rule that we go on a trip to somewhere sunny and warm at the beginning of february each year. we both love the weather in london - it is spectacular ten months of the year ... but january and february are realllly dreary and dark. having some sunshine to look forward to half way through those doldrums is just right.

this year, we used hotel points to book a stay at a gorgeous resort in tenerife (one of the canary islands). when we arrived, we were very pleasantly surprised to be upgraded to a crazy awesome suite (with a huge terrace that had a jacuzzi and stunning ocean views)! i've always scoffed a little at vacations that involve never leaving the resort, but besides one quick trip to see some spectacular cliffs ... we never left the resort ;) we enjoyed a stellar breakfast buffet every morning and split the rest of our time between the pools and the beach (and our epic terrace). this trip was different than many we take, but i gotta say, it was preeeetty dreamy.

there's travel, and then there's vacation. our time in tenerife was pure vacation, and it was just what we needed in february 2019 with our two small boys. each member of our family had a blast and we returned to london so happy and rejuvenated.

some photos from our vacation...

^^ i'm pretty sure that the square footage of this terrace is bigger than the square footage for our flat, haha ^^

our one outing was to see the los gigantes cliffs, which are pretty impressive! we found a black sand beach to play around on for an hour or so in the sunshine.

and then we came back to the resort, had a relaxing lunch by the pool and decided we didn't need to leave again until it was time to go home to london ;)

the resort's beach is perfect. there's even a little funicular to ride to get to the sand from the top of the cliffs, and mo loved that thing!

we spent two perfect sunsetty evenings at that beach, bathed in the last light of day and pure, simple family happiness.

the breakfast buffet was a big hit for all four of us.

every morning, moses had three heaping bowl-fulls of rice krispies with a side of watermelon and honeydew melon. and after, he ate one "chocolate roller" (what he improptu named the mini donuts!). he was in heaven. (i loved the freshly prepared omelets, belgian waffles and yogurt parfaits. ian loved the pastries and sausages. gabriel loved the fruit and bagels!)

the playground at the resort was super fun to visit between beach and pool visits.

^^ can you spot mount teide, tenerife's huge volcano? ^^ we were going to go up the volcano in a cable car together, but children under three are not allowed. so we had to stay at the resort, gosh darn it ;)

^^ mo's first dip in a hot tub! ^^ soaking in that jacuzzi after the kids were asleep, talking with ian under the stars, was probably the highlight of the trip for me.