Southern Spain Holiday - April 2013

For one of our last few adventures while here in Europe, we decided to go to Spain again, this time the Southern coast.  We were desperate for some sun, since Spring came a bit late this year in England, there are some neat things to see on the southern coast, and I just love getting to use my high school Spanish again!

We started our trip by spending a day at the resort and enjoying all the activities.  The beach at the resort wasn't that great, but thankfully there were many other activities and nice pools on the property.

We even got to play a little bit of volleyball! Alexa is an amazing blocker!

 

That evening we drove to the nearby city of Marbella to explore the narrow streets of the shopping district and have some nice Spanish food.

One of the things that Mia loves about Spain is that they serve sugar with milk (hot or cold)!

 

On Sunday, we decided to go on an adventure to the Rock of Gibraltar, which I never realized is a British territory.  So we had to use our passports to get onto the peninsula.  The neat thing is that the air strip in Gibraltar crosses the only road in, so as we drove onto the peninsula, a plane landed ahead of us and then we drove across the airstrip!  We headed straight for the Nature reserve on the rock, where wild apes live.  And yes, they are completely free and wild.  As we approached the entrance to St. Michael's Cave, we were quickly greeted by an ape who jumped onto our car and was hanging onto our side mirror.  A bit shocked, I carefully closed my window because I really do think he would have come in.  As we parked our car and walked to the cave entrance, we saw a few apes along the way (they tend to hang out where people are).  I moved along walking on the footpath and noticed something tickling the backs of my legs....a freaked out a bit when I looked behind me and saw that it was an ape running along behind me grabbing at my legs.  Thankfully, my reaction scared him away a bit. 

 

At the entrance to the cave, there were a few apes to watch, so we posed for a few pictures. While I was posing, the ape next to me saw that my purse was open, so he reached over to see what was inside.  Luckily I was able to pull away before he took anything!

 

St. Michaels Cave was pretty amazing.  It's probably the biggest cave I've been in, with the most rock formations that I've ever seen. The pictures don't do it justice, but you can probably understand how this blows other caves out of the water.

After St. Michael's cave we walked uphill to the top of one of the peaks of the rock. There we saw many more apes, some amazing views and had some interesting experiences as well.   On our way up, Alexa had fallen maybe 15 feet behind the rest of us, and suddenly we heard her cry..."Mommy!!!!!" We looked back and an ape was grabbing at her waist, before we could even react, he pulled something out of her pocket....a granola bar!  Needless, to say, Alexa spent quite a while in her mother's arms after that, but she soon got over the trauma of it all.  On our way back down the hill, she found the wrapper from her granola bar on the side of the footpath.

 We later found our way to some tunnels that were created in the rock for military purposes over the last couple hundred years.  Very interesting, and amazing to know that some famous American leaders spent some time in those tunnels during WWII.

 The view from outside one of the tunnel entrances...you can see the air strip in the background.

Couldn't resist this photo.  The owner of the bike was not too thrilled with this little guy that dreamed of cruising on the road.

We had a great time in Gibraltar...it was definitely a very unique experience that will be a highlight of our European adventure.

On Tuesday, we went to the beautiful town of Ronda, about an hour north of us.  This gorgeous bridge divides the old and new parts of the city.

 After a quick lunch in a café, we enjoyed some special dark and white hot chocolates, which were especially thick, and quite delicious.

We enjoyed walking around the city, stopping in lots of shops, and exploring the Peinado museum, which included some paintings by his friend Picasso.  I was pleasantly surprised by how much the kids enjoyed that museum.

 

The rest of our time was spent primarily at the resort, enjoying the

 SUNSHINE!

A fun filled week in Spain, some fabulous memories!

 

Ireland in February

 At the end of the kids' half term break, we took a 4-day trip to the west coast of Ireland. It proved to be a wonderful getaway, exploring the beautiful and unique countryside. We stayed in a cute cottage on a mountain near Clonbur.

 

We spent our first day settling into the cottage and finding food in the nearby village.  Mia told us that the 2 things she wanted to do in Ireland were to go on a boat and climb a mountain, because "hiking is her favorite thing to do in the countryside."  So we did our best to do those 2 things!

 

On our first second day, we took a ferry to the Aran Island of Inishmore, most commonly known for the invention of the Aran Sweater. Inishmore is such a unique place. The island landscape consists of lots of limestone, creating a really interesting and unique view. We had lunch in a cafe upon arrival and then set off on a hike to the "Black Fort." The hike to the fort was just gorgeous, especially when we reached the end of the island...sheer cliffs.

 

Inside the Black Fort

 

On our third day, we hiked to the top of the mountain behind our house and enjoyed some beautiful views.

On our way down the mountain, we came into some close contact with some sheep.  They were curious about us for a few minutes, and then they passed us by.  After our morning hike, we relaxed a bit in the afternoon and then went to the city of Galway for some window shopping and dinner in a nice Irish Pub. 

 

On our way to the airport on Sunday, we stopped at Ashford Castle.  It's a ritsy hotel now, so we couldn't go inside, but we had a lovely walk around the gardens.



 

It was a refreshing getaway for us.  We found the Irish people to be super friendly and very funny.  So many people had such a great sense of humor, joking around with us even though we were strangers. 

Matilda the Musical

For Christmas, Sean and I bought our family tickets to see Matilda the Musical in London. Last Saturday, we took the train down to the London West End to see the show. Upon arrival, we did some strolling through the Covent Garden Market.  We watched some street performers and had a lovely lunch in the market.

 Pizzas, calzone, and look at that gorgeous salad for me!

 Outside the Matilda theatre before the show.

After the show, the girls posed in front of a poster of the evil Miss Trunchbull.  We had a fabulous time at the show.  I'm always so amazed at the talent of the performers in these big productions.  So many of the performers in this show were young children, they blew me away.  Fabulous music and fun choreography.  Miss Trunchbull was quite the character!

Wonderful Christmas

We had a wonderful, extremely busy, visit back at home for Christmas. This year we were so blessed to be able to see my brother and his wife in South Carolina. After a few days in sunny weather, we made our way up to Vermont to enjoy a white Christmas. Then back to our home town for time with our friends. Here are a few of my favorite photos from our travels. Happy New year to all!

Voegler Family 2012

Volleyball on the beach in December!

Christmas in Vermont

 New jewelry for the girls

 White Christmas in Vermont

Back in Burnt Hills...the kids enjoy some "Just Dance" with their friends



Avery's Turns 10!

 Avery turned 10 years old on Sunday and we had a really fun weekend to celebrate.  He first had his 2 closest friends over for a sleepover on Friday night.  Avery got a new Wii game that he had been wanting, so he was excited to play it with his friends. 

Then on Saturday, afternoon we took the kids for a drive....and surprised them with a visit to the WB Harry Potter Studios in Leavesden, England.  This is where much of the filming took place for the movies, and where most of the existing sets and props are now stored.  Since I'm a big fan of the Harry Potter books and movies, this was a bit of a present for me too :-).  Here'as a few pictures from our tour...it was amazing!

While waiting to get in, we saw one of the places where it all began...in the cupboard under the stairs.

 One side of the Great Hall all set up for a Christmas feast

 Inside the Ministry of Magic

What does butter beer taste like? Extra creamy cream soda...with lots of froth on top!

Outside No. 4 Privet Drive

 Diagon Alley

At the end of the tour we got to see the enormous Hogwarts model...breathtaking. 
Overall we were so impressed by the tour, I already want to go back!  Definitely, one of the highlights of England. We finished off the night in the gift shop of course, and left with a "few" magic wands among other things.  Avery got a cute "Seeker" baseball cap.

 

Avery finished up his birthday weekend with a relaxing day at home to recover from the previous 2 days.