Home or Away?

Well it’s safe to say the last 7 months or so have been a bit of challenge, in fact I would say they bordered on some of the hardest in my life. So Mr TM and I decided that some time out would be well deserved. We therefore jetted off to the Canaries for a month. No this isn’t usual practice, but I am still on maternity so I don’t need permission for the time off (which I wouldn’t of got had I not been on leave) and Mr TM works for himself so his boss was pretty cool about the time off. We thought we would make the most of the opportunity whilst it was here YOLO and all that.

I must admit I was a tad apprehensive about flying two babies for 4 hours. Especially one who hasn’t had the best start in life. The added worry is that Grand Master T is on a prescription milk that only comes in pre made bottles. That meant flying out 10 boxes of ready made formula. That’s 480 bottles. Plus his other medication. Urge. I was dreading the logistics of this. But I must admit the guys at Thomas Cook, who we flew with, were fab. They made it so easy and simply added 50kg of medical baggage free of charge. Hallelujah. We did look like a right bunch at the airport however. It was Mr TM and I, two prams, two babies, Nanny, Grandad, Mr TMs older daughter, 5 suitcases, a bright pink trunki and 10 big bloody boxes of milk. To say you could see us coming was an understatement. But the airport was relatively smooth apart from when we checked in said milk. We went to the designated desk where the guy behind the counter really didn’t seem to want to serve us, we got a bit disgruntled about this, it was 5 in the morning after all. When he relented we soon found out the reason for his unwillingness. Turns out 1 in every 16 ‘special items’ needs to be opened and checked! As luck would have it we were number 16, we lost some sort of really shit airport bingo.  That meant opening all 10 of our boxes of milk that had been tightly bubble wrapped. FFS, you have got be kidding me. But we produced all our medical paperwork and managed to satisfy him that we really were just flying out milk and opening 1 box sufficed – don’t worry though the boxes were still scanned for explosives so security was not jeopardised to avoid a full scale Mr TM meltdown.

We all made it a bit tired, a couple of hours sleep is always rough but our research stood us well, we have a lovely villa complete with stair gates so health and safety officer mum here can stand down. There is no gate around the pool which does strike fear in me if I can’t see Little Miss Z but she learnt pretty quickly not to go in the water and someone is of course always on guard – by pain of death.

We have come to lanzarote – I do bloody love this place. I feel so at home here. I must admit, if the sun is shining, I can see the sea and I can don some flip flops I generally feel at home anywhere. We have been a few times and I don’t usually like returning to the same place but with the little ones I’m all about the familiarity and easy life. There are loads of places you can walk to or reach in a short drive and lots of family friendly places to eat and drink. There are also some absolutely lovely Marinas and Ports that are totally worth a visit. To anybody thinking of coming here I would highly recommend a trip to Puerto Calaro and Marina Rubicon. They have some lovely restaurants and bars and not to mention some rather fab shops. There is also a new marina that has opened up in the capital Arecife that is very stylish and incredibly reasonably priced – absolutely worth a look. I think it caters for locals but that is part what makes it! I would recommend a trip to the capital to anyone. There is something about it. Typically Canarian, busy but relaxed and home to the tallest building on the

The view from the tallest building. 

island, which is a hotel. We often go up to the top for a coffee and soak up the view. Normally buildings are subject to very strict planning laws and can not exceed three storeys, so this building is one of a kind. Don’t get me wrong it’s no Empire State, but still it’s an outing – and a free one at that.

We have been staying in the busy resort of Puerto Del Carmen. Very tourist-y it’s big and there’s a fair amount to do. Mr TM’s parents were with us for the first 2 weeks and we were lucky enough to get a couple of baby free afternoons. We went to some of the most fabulous restaurants which sit on the sea front and you can stare out to sea with the sun of your face. We may have taken our YOLO philosophy a tad too far on a couple of occasions and over indulged a tad…  endless Saturday nights actually watching Netflix and actually chilling in our pjs lead us to get a bit over excited at being actual out.
If Puerto Del Carmen is on your list of places to go you should definitely check out Cafe La Ola, one not to be missed. I would also recommend stopping by Lani’s for a bite to eat or drink with a view. We stopped here for a quick drink whilst baby  1 had fallen asleep and ended up staying all afternoon we liked it that much. It helped that (for once) the babies were on top form and allowed us to sit in a civilised manor, in public, like normal people. A rare occasion, trust me.  

As always to say it’s been all plain sailing would be a big.fat.lie. Baby 2 started the month with a lovely case of D&V, which in the past had usually resulted in a hospital stay but the little man managed to sort himself out this time which was a huge relief (go Tobes!) The two babies also don’t seem to have  got the memo that it is a holiday and you are supposed to chill. In fact there are way too many new cool things for baby 1 to look at and sitting down is basically an impossibility. My post about the difficulties faced when eating out with toddlers was pretty much inspired by our time here, eating a meal together, drinking a coffee whilst hot is just not happening. Further, the usually good sleeping baby 2 has now decided sleeping is for wimps and likes to wake up to babble rubbish to me every couple of hours and kick about in his cot like a bloody elephant.

I think it has also, at times, been a trying time for Mr TM, especially after his parents and daughter left us after two weeks. For me, it is another day in the maternity leave office, but sometimes actually a bit easier because there are people around to help. For him being at the beck and call of the little people 24/7 hasn’t always been Honkey Dorey. The challenges of eating out or not being able to enjoy a quiet beer or even a quiet 2 minutes have started to grate, which in turn has led to me feeling the need to pacify three – the two babies and Mr TM. There has been lots of sighing where no doubt our inner monoglues could have made for interesting reading. The Calvery is on its way though and my Nan is flying out to join us for the last week so we will outnumber the babies once again and enjoy the much coveted night out where we will eat a hot peaceful dinner – fear not Mr TM.

We still have just over a week to go and I must say even after this time I do not feel ready to go home. I know we have been incredibly lucky to have this time here and I have truely appreciated it, despite some of my gripes. I also know baby 1 has loved it here the first thing she wants to do when she gets up is go outside – and she can. She loved having her sister and Nan and grandad with her and she has been able to spend some quality time with her Dad. I love hearing their laughter as he chases her round outside. The little man even seems to have come into his own and started weaning owell and seems noticeably bigger. So to anyone contemplating a holiday with little ones, well it ain’t easy, but it ain’t easy at home either – embrace it and make the most of it I say. That being said we have our flight home to face yet so I may still change my mind…