Beach Time in Maspalomas and Evening Time in San Agustin

Armed with concierge information on how to actually get to the dunes in Maspalomas, we took off for a beach day when the temps were looking warm and the wind forecast was decent. It was still quite breezy, but kids don't seem to care about such things. Lots of fun building sand castles, running in and out of the Atlantic, "sledding" down the hills, and if you're Maeve, purposefully sprawling yourself face first in the sand and rolling all around!

The lighthouse

And by far the best part of the morning trip: watching these two snuggle and be so sweet with each other! Melts my heart!

While we could see the dunes from where we were seated, we didn't have it in us to lug the kids all the way there and up the hills in the wind. Pete went for a run down the beach and got the picture below! He also saw a lot of nudists, but spared us pics of that! You can take camel rides through the dunes and it definitely has a Sahara feel! 

Beach time is exhausting!

That night, we ventured to neighboring San Agustin for dinner at a recommended Spanish/Swedish Tapas restaurant. Very charming service from the Swedish owner and a good dose of Spanish tapas! She attempted to entertain the kids by bringing out Christmas decorations and hats. All they wanted to do was run around though!

We were also interested in San Agustin for the local wine bar that Pete found online. Oma and Opa took the kids home so we could have a night out. The wine bar was in a tacky multileveled shopping center bustling with visitors. We wandered all over the building trying to find the place! When I'd stop in other restaurants to ask if people knew where the shop was located, no one seemed to know, but boasted that they had wine and we should just go there!

So we were relieved to finally find the little gem, a literal diamond in the rough! Pete had read a bit about Canarian wines, but couldn't find any local bottles in the resort grocery store. With the cool weather, we had our hearts set on trying local reds, but the Sardinian owners informed us that they do not stock any Canarian reds as they do not think they are good! They did have a few whites that we tried before settling on a glass each of good, mainland Spanish wine. The gratis pork charcuterie, sheep's milk cheese and local bread plate was a nice touch, as was the streaming fireplace :)

A Child's Dream Vacation Day: Palomitas Park, Holiday World and a Buffet Dinner!

We all enjoyed our day of childhood delights. The zoo came recommended so we set off up into the mountains to Palomitas Park, a lush oasis in the otherwise arid surroundings. Part zoo, part botanic gardens, we were impressed with the scenery and the quality of the shows. 

The parrot show was a hoot, or maybe I should say a "caw." The parrots rode bikes, roller bladed, flew in a plane, slid down a slide and painted. I hate to think of their life in captivity, but it was highly entertaining (see below). 

Just a parrot painting

Next up was the birds of prey show. Amazing birds, which we got to see up close and then flying free amongst the mountains before making dazzling landings.

And finally the dolphin show with a spectacular backdrop. I loved watching the dolphins perform to Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You!" 

The aviaries were particularly impressive with the number and variety of birds.

I loved these cockatoos

Butterfly House 

A gibbon family complete with adorable baby

Being so up close and personal to the big birds was a bit intimidating for Jude

If this guy was my height, I'd be intimidated, too!

Beautiful Roseate Spoonbill

Loved the pattern on the cobra's skin!

Post zoo and nap, Oma and Opa stayed back at the resort to give Maeve dinner and put her to bed, while Pete and I got some special alone time with our awesome little guy. We headed to Holiday Park and Jude had a blast riding the rides, soaring high on the trampoline and watching the beautiful sunset with Mommy and Daddy from the ferris wheel. We knew Maeve would be too small to go on the rides, but would want to do everything Jude was doing so it was best that we kept her away. We really never get this kind of time alone with Jude and it had us remarking on how easy it would be to just have one child (of a mature 3 years)! But, of course, we wouldn't trade our Maevey girl for anything!!

We passed the Ferris Wheel on all of our drives and Jude kept saying, "we keep forgetting to go ride the Ferris Wheel!"
So we knew it was time to bring him!

Jude remarks on how beautiful the sunset is and my heart almost bursts 

That night, we took Jude to the resort buffet dinner after Maeve was asleep and it blew his mind. The smile on his face when he came back from the dessert section with not one, but two strawberry desserts was priceless. And what resort night would be complete without a kiddie disco party!

Resort Living

Day two was a laid back resort day. Four adults and 2 kids meant moments of solitude by the pool. Brief, brief moments as Maeve loves to seek me out and that point and "mama" gets me every time! 

Obligatory canary birds

 

"Mama!"

The heated pools were still too cold to swim in, but the slightly warmer jacuzzi area was fun with the kids!

Gotta love nap time on vacation!

We decided to be a little more adventurous in the afternoon and went in search of the famous dunes of Maspalomas.  Well, we found the cooped up camels who were making ungodly noises. And we found the gay cruising scene at the entrance to the dunes. Abort, abort! 

In search of dunes

Abort!