Ronda, Spain

Rick Steves recommended seeing the white hill towns of Andalusia in Southern Spain. The route he suggested involved too much driving so we chose to visit just one of the towns closest to us, Ronda. We drove about an hour up and up windy roads into the hills with the Mediterranean falling away behind us. The scenery from town was gorgeous, similar to what I might expect of Tuscany. The two major attractions were the bull fighting museum and the 18th century bridge spanning an enormous gorge. 

Ole!

There was a lovely park promenade high above the valley with a bird aviary and tremendous views. 

Jude, check out this view. "Nah, I'm into this stone block." 

Serious bridge!

One of the prettiest vistas I've ever seen!

"Hola, are any Romans home?"

I love these planters on the walls. And Pete, too :)

The drive back home 

Resort Life: I could get used to this!

Staying one week in the same location is not the way Pete and I are used to traveling. In the past, I would read the guidebook for our intended destination and get so excited about all of the places to visit that I couldn't narrow them down. Our epic Europe trip in the summer of 2013 had us staying at 10 different places in 16 days (yikes!). Of course, this type of travel doesn't work well with babies who crave consistency. After our week in Spain at the Marriott, I think I have become a convert. 

Resort life has a lot of pros, especially for families with babies/children. There was a designated baby play room complete with toys he was familiar with, a ball pit and slide. There was a family indoor pool and even a baby "hot tub" with bath warm water and a very shallow depth. The proximity to the beach was perfect so we didn't have to get in the car and drive anywhere. And having restaurants on site made it possible for Pete and I to go downstairs and have dinners together with the baby monitor a few of the nights. 

The resort also hosted many on-site events. We attended a lecture and tasting on Andalusia wines one evening. It was run by the owner of an upscale olive oil and wine store in Marbella. We thoroughly enjoyed the wines. The only other participants were two mom friends on holiday and self-proclaimed light weights. So there was a LOT of wine for Pete and I to drink. Then we got to take all 4 bottles of leftover wine home with us! The lecturer shared that he was an olive oil sommelier. We didn't even know that that existed! Two nights later, he returned to the resort to give another lecture and tasting of local olive oil, so we had to go to learn from a master! It was super interesting and we both learned a lot. 

Anyone who has had children knows that vacations are not the same once kids are in tow. I really expected that any idea of a "relaxing" vacation was out the window for at least the next 10 years. This trip proved me wrong! Pete and I took turns playing with Jude so the other could have time to their selves. I relished laying in the sun, reading a book, attending a daiquiri making class and sitting in the hot tubs. During the week, by myself! A stay at home mom's dream come true! 

Love you, boys, but it's time for some "me" time!

Being on the coast in February allowed for viewings of both the sun rises and sun sets over the ocean (and Africa!). Did I mention how cool it was to see Africa from the beach!? So cool! I would have preferred to not have been up in time to see the sun rise, but loved walking down to the beach one morning to snap some photos.

Sunrise over Africa!

The remainder of photos in this post are of sunsets, which I adore! If that's not your thing, feel free to stop looking :) 

Sunset viewing from the beach

Sunset over Africa!

Another night's sunset over Gibraltar and Africa

Sunset on our final night 

As seen from dinner...

With Sangria 

Glorious!

Marbella

Our resort was located a 10 minute drive from Marbella, a seaside city with a charming old town. We went in search of lunch one day, but made the mistake of arriving before noon. The traditional Spanish lunch does not begin until 2pm. So we returned a second afternoon and got to sample some delicious tapas. It brought back very fond memories of our time in San Sebastian, where we went "pintxos" hopping back in the summer of 2012. Jude loved the cod and eggplant dishes! 

Jude at 11 Months

Baby boy is 11 months old and I know my days of calling him baby are numbered! Turns out February doesn't have a 30th, so these were just taken this evening. Jude's finally on the mend from a fever that developed after we returned from Spain so he was in good spirits for a little photo shoot.

When did he get so much bigger than Mr. Bear?! 

Oh, hey. I like to play coy sometimes.

Likes:

Open mouth kissing. If we are both standing by him and ask him for kisses, he'll go back and forth to Pete and I giving us big, wet, open mouth kisses. It's kinda the best. He'll also give them to photos of family, relatives on facetime and to himself on any reflective surface. 

Books. He loves to read and look at books and his attention for it is amazing. He lights up when we pull out some of his favorites like The Gruffalo.

Favorite toys:
His Ikea wood ring toy, which he'll sit and work on for a solid 10 minutes uninterrupted. He'll get all of the rings on, flip it over and start again! I like his perseverance!

Personality:

He is very chatty and knows Pete is "dada." He has also mastered the baby sign for "all done." At first he would also do that sign when he wanted "more," so it wasn't the most effective communication! "All done" applies to all things, not just eating. Not interested in us singing to him, "all done." Done with facetiming friends and family, "all done." Bored of us talking to one another, "all done." It is both exciting and scary that he can let his opinions be known!

He is still not a cuddly baby and prefers being constantly active, but he is really a sweet, smiley boy.
He continues to be super friendly. This came back to bite him, though. Literally. He was extending his hand to say hi to a toddler we met at the FoodHallen and the toddler grabbed his hand and bit it, leaving a mark and leaving Jude devastated!!

Physically:

His preferred method of movement is to walk with us holding his hands, though he has finally mastered crawling. He can stand on his own for a second or two before plopping back down. He is cruising and starting to climb stairs.

He's had 7 teeth for close to 4 months now. I'm not sure what has happened to the 4th bottom tooth that has not yet appeared. Must be in there somewhere, right? He's majorly due for a haircut. The mullet's got to go! I can't bring myself to cut it though as I know he'll look so much more grown up and I'm not ready for the baby phase to end!