Picture framing

Jason and I had bought a few prints since we have been in Prague that we needed to have framed. There is a framing shop near us but we just hadn't gotten around to going over there. After getting back from Spain and having tiles that we also wanted framed I finally brought everything in to the frame shop (4 prints and 16 tiles arranged into 1 frame). The lady was very nice. I asked if she spoke English but, of course, the answer was no so I forged ahead in my broken Czech. She helped me pick out frames since I really have no idea about how to choose the right frame. After choosing out the frames she wrote me up a slip and I left. I went back today and picked up the pictures. The frames look great and it was not that expensive which is great! It is good to know that I can get these framed easily and inexpensively so that when we travel places we can buy prints and not worry about the cost of framing.

It's Potty time!!

Ali had shown a little interest in the potty for a few months but nothing that was a clear sign that says, "I'm ready!". Since she had a little interest I wanted to encourage her but not push. We decided to take the same approach with Ali as we did with Sofia. I went to the store and bought a big posterboard (although I could not find actual posterboard so it is just paper the size of posterboard) and made a potty chart. We stopped at a store and Ali picked out her stickers. We told her that whenever she wanted to pee on the potty we would put one sticker on her potty chart. She really didn't care. She knew it was there but had no interest in getting stickers or sitting on the potty. Well, two days ago that changed. On Friday she just decided, "i'm done with diapers and I'm going to pee on the potty. The only time she had a diaper on on Friday was during naptime and she only had one accident. On Saturday we took our daytrip to Kutna Hora so we put a diaper on her for the drive but she did an amazing job. She did pee once in her diaper during the day but that is it. On the drive home she was crying really hard which is unlike her so I asked her waht was wrong and she said her belly hurt. Jason pulled the car over and I got Ali out to do her "nature tinkle" and sure enough she had held her pee so long that her belly was hurting her. I couldn't believe she would actually hold it like that! Today we took another road trip and again she had one accident in her diaper but other than that she peed on the potty or had a nature tinkle. It is really just so odd to us that all of a sudden she decided she is done with diapers. We even have to fight with her to get them on for nap and bedtime. She says, "no pull up! Underwear!". I just hope this trend continues so that there will be no more diapers to deal with!!

Hair Update

I'm starting to like my hair now. For those of you who are curious here is a picture of me from our day trip to Kutna Hora. There are many nice benefits from my new hairstyle.

1. I'm not sweltering hot

2. It doesn't really frizz out

3. If it rains it doesn't matter

4. It takes me all of 2 minutes to do my hair

5. I don't get headaches everyday.

The biggest thing for me is that I do not get headaches everyday with my new haircut. With all the hair that I had before it was either just too heavy and giving me a headache or I had it in a ponytail which would also give me a headache. It is a relief to have a break from all the headaches. I'm glad I have found a way to style it that I think works for me. It is still weird to see myself with short hair and it is still weird to not have hair resting on my back and shoulders but it is a nice feeling.

Kutna Hora

Yesterday we rented a car and set off to Kutna Hora , a small town south east of Prague. We had our trusty TomTom with us so we were ready to hit the road. We got on the highway and everything was going smoothly then there was traffic. We saw a sign for Kutna Hora that was going to send us in a direction that was different than the TomTom directions. The TomTom fought us for a little while. It kept wanting us to turn around but we just kept driving until teh TomTom finally accepting we were going to take a different route and gave in and provided appropriate directions. As we kept driving we came to a point where half the road was blocked off. The signage was all in Czech and two cars in front of us went around the blockade so we followed suit. Luckily it wasn't long until we found out wy the road was blocked off...the bridge that had been there had been dismantled and there was no way to get across the road. Oh well, we turned around and went back to the blockade and took a right. It worked out fine. The drive there was nice and we drove past beautiful fields of Sunflowers. We arrived in Kutna Hora at lunch time. We parked and ate lunch at the restaurant that was right near where we parked. It was a really good lunch. It still surprises me how cheaply you can eat meals out. Here is the picture of my food - French fries, grilled pork and some veggies. This meal only cost 75Kc ($3.60USD)!! We sat in the garden of the restaurant so we were able to enjoy being outside. The restaurant also had a sandpit with toys for the kids to play in which was great. The kids got to play while we waited for our meal and then when they were finished they went back to playing while we finished. It made for a nice relaxing lunch. After lunch we set off to explore the town. It is a cute town with winding cobblestone streets. The most impressive site there was the church - St Barbara's Cathedral. We reached it just as the rain started too so it was perfect timing. Sofia is getting good at looking for things in pictures/statues etc. We often have her look for babies which she enjoys. Both girls like seeing the pics of babies and statues and they both like seeing the stained glass so we can actually walk through places like St Barbara's without too much worry of the kids being bored. I can't say we go at a slow pace but I think we have found a happy compromise between how much the kids can take and how much we want to see.

Cleaning

I have never been a neat freak. I would keep things picked up but I didn't spend hours cleaning the house. Since we have moved to Prague I clean every Friday. I don't mean pick up. I mean clean. I vacuum and wash all the floors, wash tub, sink, toilet, do laundry, change sheets ...the works! It takes me about 4 hours or so (the laundry takes longer). It never seems like it should take that long since I can see the entire apartment if I stand in the center of it but it does. Every Friday I go through the process. My floors never seemed this dirty in the US. I don't know if I just didn't notice or if it is just dirtier here. Prague is definitely dustier which adds to the need to wash. In addition I think Watson is tracking in a lot more dust and grime. Anyway, I never thought I would be cleaning more in a smaller space.

Back to running

I have gotten my competitive nature under control in my running. I was so excited to be running and I really enjoyed it. I wanted to be even better at running and I pushed myself hard. I'm naturally competitive so this wasn't anything out of the ordinary for me. My 8.5 miles run did my body in though. My stomach was upset for a while on the day of my run but the biggest thing was that I irritated my achilles. I ended up not running for a about a month. Not all b/c of the achilles but it was also the timing of the achilles. I took a week and a half off and then ran one day but then we went on vacation to Spain and I didn't feel ike bringing my running stuff. I thought that would be ok since that would essentially give my achilles 3 weeks to be better which is was. I was itching to get back out and run when we got home. Unfortunately I got a stomach virus which eliminated running. My stomach virus was immediately followed by a cold. It was a string of bad luck but after a month of only running once I am back on the road. I am relaxing my competitivness. I don't get aggravated when Watson decides to "do his stuff" half way across the park and I have to interrupt my running to go get it. I also don't mind stopping so Watson can romp in some water. This is good since otherwise he wouldn't be able to run with us since it is too hot for him. I still run hard but I'm happy with running 4.5 miles and don't feel like I am not doing enough. At some point I'll start pushing my mileage again b/c I enjoy the freedom the distance gives me but I think my body needs me to do that at a slower pace.

Thunderstorms

We have had some big thunderstorms at night. For those that don't know me, I'm a very heavy sleeper but these thuderstorms are so loud they send me jumping up from bed. I'm not sure why they wake me up. It could be that before the storm starts the wind whips through the apartment slamming doors which wakes me up and sends me back into a light sleep. I think I will just start securing the doors every night just in case we get a thunderstorm. I'm hoping that will help me sleep through the storms. I'm not sure I that will work though since I don't think I have ever heard thunderstorms this loud before. Don't get me wrong, I love thunderstorms. I love the wind whipping around and the crack of thunder and the bolts of lightening but I would prefer they happened at 8pm and not at 2am.

Crib days

The other day Ali kept laying down in Sofia's toddler bed which Sofia was not too happy about. Instead of argueing about how Sofia should share I decided that it was her bed and if she didn't want Ali on it then so be it. I told Ali that I would put the side of her crib down so that she could get in it if she wanted. I figured that she couldn't climb out when the side was up but if I put the side down it would be fine. I created a terror! She didn't want to come out of her crib at all so I just put the side up and sure enough she climbed right out. I kept my fingers crossed that it would be a one time deal since she has climbed out before but then wouldn't do it again for a long time. I wasn't that lucky this time. This morning Jason nudged me and said, "you have a visitor.". I rolled over and helped Ali climb on the bed. That isn't unusual since whenever Jason gets Ali in the morning she wants to see me and climbs up on my chest. It took me a minute but then I asked, "Did you go get her?". The answer...."No". Ali had climbed out of her crib on her own. I put her down for nap today and she didn't fight it. I thought that was a good sign. She had a good long nap and then I heard her make a little fussy noise so I immediately went in to her so that she wouldn't have to climb out. What did I find when I opened the door?? That's right...Ali running across her room to the door. So, not only is she climbing out but it is taking her no time at all! Her crib days are limited. We will see how long we can hold off before we turn her bed into a toddler bed. I don't imagine it will be very long.

Magical Cheerios??

The girls and I went into town today to do a little shopping. With my new haircut I want to get a flat iron so that I can try out different styles so we went to a couple stores in town. After dragging the girls around town I decided to stop into Culinaria, a shop with imported British and American foods, to get some jelly bellies. I couldn't believe my eyes when we walked into the shop and they have plain cheerios. You can get honeynut cheerios in the supermarket here but you can't get just plain cheerios. I was very excited and quickly picked up the box of cheerios and checked the price. Again, I couldn't believe my eyes. They wanted 357Kc ( about $17.50USD) for a box of cheerios! I almost burst out laughing. Are they magical cheerios? Are they dusted with some precious gems?? Who pays that kind of money for cheerios?? Maybe if Jason's brother comes to visit I will splurge and pick up a box since he loves cheerios but other than that they can keep their cheerios! It is nice to go in that shop though just to know what they have in case I'm really desperate for some American food like french's mustard, oreos, or mac & cheese.

Diet Soda

In the Czech Republic you can get Coke-light (diet coke) but no other diet soda. Apparently everyone here drinks diet coke, full sugar soda, juice, water and beer. I am always on the lookout for diet Sprite since that is really the only soda that I drink. The stores all have regular Sprite but no diet. It isn't that I'm on a diet but I just prefer the taste of diet sprite to regular sprite and I prefer not to have all the calories wasted on a drink. In any event one of my friends made a trip to the commissary in Germany recently and came back with all these wonderful American items - crystal light, ice pops and Diet 7-up (among other items). She was gracious enough to share her diet 7-up with me and I was in heaven. It was so good!! It is amazing how good something can be when you haven't had it for so long. On our trip to Spain I had some oreos which where also very tastey. I hadn't even really thought of having oreos until I saw them in the store in Spain. There are some things that you can get here but they cost an arm and a leg. One of those items is Haagen Daaz. I have put off buying it until today. It must have been the 7-up that put me in the longing for an American item but I broke down at the store and paid the $7USD for a pint of Haagen Daaz!! I have already tried a scoop and it is good but it in no way reaches the euphoria of the diet 7-up!

Haircut

Today I made the leap and had my hair cut short. I haven't had my hair short since I was a little girl. Of course my mom says that she always loved my hair short, but I was never so certain. I have been thinking about going short for a little while now. The initial thought was because I have been having daily headaches which I was attributing to having so much hair and always having it tied back. One of my friends here has her hair short and told me I needed to go to Mark Philip to get my haircut if I was going to make a drastic change. I called before we went to Spain to see if he could fit me in but he was in the hospital! I was dissappointed but was able to hold off until after our trip. Today was the day that I went to Mark Philip. He was not what I expected. I expected young and hip but what I got was a guy who is in his 60's. Don't get me wrong he was still very hip but just not what I expected. He was nice and we talked about what I wanted. I showed him a picture of what I wanted my hair to look like and we went from there. My haircut it done now and I need to take a few days to get used to it. I don't hate it but I don't like it either. Hopefully over the next few days I can work with it and make it into something I love becuase it is nice not to have so much hair!

Summer is back in Prague!

Before we went to Spain the weather in Prague had really cooled off. There were no trips to the pool and I was wearing pants and long sleeves and sometimes a light jacket. While we were in Spain I was hoping the cold weather would be gone by the time we got back but it wasn't. I couldn't believe the temperature was hovering around 60 degrees (Fahrenheit) in the middle of the day! That just isn't right for the middle of July. Today summer finally returned. The sun is shining and there is hardly a cloud in the sky. Unfortunately Jason had to work today but the girls and I headed to the pool. It was so nice to sit in the pool. The girls jumped and splashed and had a blast. The weather is suppose to be this way all week so we will probably will be at the pool everyay this week!

Redeeming myself with the butcher/bread lady

In my sickness haze I had to stop and get bread so I went to our local bread shop and the woman in there was the lady from the butcher. The butcher and breadshop are connected although only in the backrooms so from the store fronts they are two different stores. I wasn't surprised to see the butcher lady in the bread store as I have seen her there before (a minute after I had seen her in the butcher). In any event I have built up my repoire with the butcher/bread ladies and have felt myself being slowly accepted into the community. I felt that they grew to respect me with my attempts at speaking Czech and my continued improvement. In any event, I stopped in to get bread in my sickness haze and she told me the amount in Czech since they don't treat me any different than anyone else anymore. In my haze I messed up the amount and she shook her head at me in dissappointment. I know it may seem wierd but I was bummed out that I had failed the butcher/bread lady. I went back in today to pick up bread even though I didn't really need it just so I could redeem myself. The same lady was there and she told me the amount and I pulled out my change to count it out and she just started counting it for me (in a nice way) but I said "i can" in czech and we laughed and I told her I'm studying Czech (of course I said that in Czech) and all was right with the world. She gave the kids free bread rolls and after I had the kids say thankyou in Czech she actually said a broken thankyou in English. She has never tried to speak any English to me before it was quite a break though.

What is that wonderful smell??

This morning I had to go run an errand before Jason left for work. As I was walking down the road I passed a delicatessan that I haven't been in yet but have always thought about stopping in to see what they have. Today as I walked past the shop it smelled so good I wondered what they were cooking but I was on a mission and again didn't have time to stop. On the way back from my errand I walked past the shop again and this time I had to know what could possibly be smelling that good. I walked in and asked if they spoke English which, not surprisingly, the answer was no. With my broken Czech and charades I asked them what smelled so good. Turns out it was chicken. I had to buy some since it just smelled awesome. With more charades I said I wanted a whole chicken which she wrapped up and I paid 100Kc ($5USD). I got home and had to try the chicken even though it was still early and I hadn't even had breakfast yet. It was sooooo good. I can't believe I can get a whole cooked chicken that tastes so good. I may never cook my own whole chicken now!!

My mom rocks!!

I got a package in the mail from my mom the other day. She sent me packages of 4C drink mixes which is awesome since I can't get them here. I am grateful for her sending these to me. The reason she rocks though is she also included a tub of Dell's lemonade mix!!! For those of you not from RI you won't understand since you can't possibly understand what you have been missing all of your life. For those of you from RI you will understand how excited I am to have a little bit of RI in Prague. For me Dell's is summer! You can't get Dell's outside of RI (although I think they did do something at the Atlanta Olympics). Whenever I would take a trip to RI in the summer I always made a stop to get Dell's. It just makes me happy. There are things like bakery pizza and saugy's (other RI treats) that I will never have here in Prague since they can't be shipped but my mom new she could brighten my summer with a simple package of Dell's! Thanks Mom!!!

Why?

The simple question "why?" is, in itself, so harmless but when you hear it 500 times a day it is no longer harmless. I am about ready to wipe the word "why" out of the English language and every other language that my daughter could learn!!! It doesn't matter what I have said to her, the response is always, "why?". I can say, "do you understand?" and she says, "why?"!!! I have now resorted to the universal parental phrase "because I said so!". When she is being particularly cute my daughter says, "why do I say why all the time?". I know this is a stage that all kids go through but not having been through it before I am shocked at how often one word can be used in a day.

Doctor please...

I woke up on Sunday and I was pretty tired. That isn't too unusual especially when the kids were up a lot during the night. As the day progressed I never really gained any energy. I decided to take Watson out for his walk in hopes of reviving myself with fresh air. By the time I got back home I was a train wreck. I got home, took Watson collar off and climbed into bed. My body had started to ache and I was exhausted. As the afternoon wore on I went through the chills and sweats. Jason tried to keep the kids entertained even though he was tired too so that I could get some rest. Yesterday when I woke up I knew there was no way I could take care of the kids so I asked Jason to work from home. It is so nice that his company is so flexible. By the afternoon I was at least functioning so Jason could be on conference calls from 3-6. Today, even though I am feeling a lot better than yesterday, I decided I should see a doctor. After texting a couple friends to find out who they use for doctors I ended up going to a private clinic. By private clinic I mean one I have to pay for instead of one that would be covered by my VZP insurance. Feeling so poorly I didn't care as long as someone would see me today and tell me what is wrong. My biggest fear is that it would be tick-borne encephalitus. I know that it was a stretch that t could be that but after having lyme disease I'm a little sensitive with tick borne illnesses. I was happy to hear the doctor tell me that my illness wasn't from a tick. I just have a stomach virus. He gave me some pills to take called Endiaron which is an intestinal disinfectant. At this point I am opting not to take them. If it is a virus nothing is going to help it except time so I don't see a need to put some unknown medicine in my system. I have learned my lesson though. I am going to find a doctor in Dejvice that I can go to and I'm going to get vaccinated for the tick-borne encephalitus. I have just put it off for myself even though I have had the kids vaccinated. No more putting it off. Once I feel better and can spend more than 30 minutes away from bathroom I am going to search down a doctor!!

Spain: The Return

The end of a vacation is always a mix of feelings. It's always sad to have a vacation end but at the same time there is something comforting knowing you are going back home and all things familiar. And yes, after seven months here in Prague it does really feel like coming home. Our first flight, from Malaga to Madrid was an easy flight but our connection was hell. We saw that our next flight was leaving from a different terminal; well we assumed it was our flight because it was the only flight to Prague near the same time as our originally scheduled flight. We went down some stairs and long hallways towards the bus to that terminally only to be stopped at checkpoint and told we needed our boarding passes. On the flight over we switched terminals without them but apparently not this time. We wandered back up more steps in search of a Smart Wings counter to get our boarding passes and had to ask several times since there were no signs for anything and the terminal was a crowded mess. Perhaps it was just because of the construction but Madrid was perhaps one of the most unpleasant air ports we had ever been in. After a great deal of walking sweating and complaining we got boarding passes and got on our plane. Since losing one bag on the way to Spain wasn't enough the airlines decided to lose both our bags on the way back - in fact I just got the call that they have found our bags are brining them by later tonight. At least this time it was only a 48 instead of a 72 hour delay in receiving them.

We arrived hoping that everything with Watson had gone well. It felt strange leaving him in our apartment with hopes that he would get enough exercise during his walk time with Petra. Upon our return we were surprised to find Watson wasn't here. We assumed perhaps he was just out for a walk so we got settled back in and began getting girls ready for bed. After a bit Mary sent a text to Petra to let her know we were back and got a reply that she had Watson out at the cottage and would be back later in the night. Turns out Petra spent a great deal of time with Watson, including sleeping on the floor of our apartment curled up next to Watson and her own small poodle. Watson experience three things in the Czech Republic Mary and I haven't done yet: take a train, visit Karljsten Castle outside Prague and spend time at a Czech country cottage. Even today he seems like he's still recovering from his exciting vacation.
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Spain: Tapas

What would a trip to Spain be without Tapas? For those not aware tapas are really just small appetizer-style portions of different foods. We went to three different tapas restaurants during our stay. Our first visit was to a place highly recommended by one of the resort staff who lives nearby Tipi Tapas in Fuengirola. We found it (with some help from the TomTom) and got lucky to park right in front. We made dinner of wide variety of very tasty tapas. On our final night in Spain we got recommendations for a few other great tapas restaurants in Marbella. The first place we went to had a great atmosphere and their speciality seemed to be smoked items. We didn't really know what anything on the menu was but ended up with a salami, a smoked pork loin and a smoked tuna. While I thought they were tasty we weren't really prepared to completely fill up on smoked items alone so we went up the road to another place. They don't have a tapas menu to choose from, you just say you want tapas and they make a selection. We ordered two plates and go two distinct sets of (again) really good food that left us quite full and satisfied with our tapas experiences. Not only is making dinner out of a variety of small servings a lot of fun it's great for the girls because the food came quickly, there was a variety to choose from and usually could be easy finger food.

One thing we noticed repeatedly but really found going to Marbella is that Spaniards don't seem to care much for visible road signs. Exit signs along the coastal highway were always vague and often there would be multiple exits near one sign, with at least one being some dead-ended parking lot to a shopping center. When in towns we also found we would rarely see road signs or other indications of where anything actually led. I have no problem with roundabouts so the Spaniards obsession with putting them at 100 meter intervals was amusing but I personally find signs of some type quite helpful.

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Spain: Mijas Pueblo

Other than Gibraltar the other site we wanted to see was a classic Andalusian White Village the region is known for. The small town of Mijas, sitting on the side of a mountian over 400 meters above sea level is a quaint little town that was not far from our location so it made a perfect afternoon destination. On our drive up to Mijas Pueblo we stopped at an open air market in Mijas Costa (the coastal town of Mijas). It is a weekly market containing a variety of items ranging from fruit to pottery as well as discount clothing and souvenirs. We spent some time walking around and ended up buying a wallet for me, a watch for Mary, and purses and towels for the girls.

From there it was just fifteen minutes up the hill to Mijas Pueblo. It's a small village with little parking so we drove around a bit before we were able to park. It was mid-day and without the ocean breeze it was very warm so we stopped right away for a quick lunch. Afterwards we walked around some of the narrow streets, visited some shops and enjoyed the amazing views down the mountain towards the ocean. Walking around the narrow roads seeing the houses built almost literally on top of each other really allowed us to picture what the town might have been like a hundred years ago - perhaps with few changes except for the removal of the large number of tourists.
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Spain: Resort Pool

After our typical morning at Cabopino beach we'd return for lunch and Ali's nap and then usually head over to our resort's toddler pool. There are two other pools but one is inside which seems like a waste in the perfect weather and the other is 2.5 meters all the way around so not good for the kids.
The toddler pool area had a number of chaise lounges and umbrellas and was separated a bit from the other pools so it was a quiet area. The kids loved the pool. Both could easily stand in the water and they would either play with a few floating toys in the pool or play any game that involved dumping water on Mary or I. The pool was small but even though there was usually at least one other family at the pool it rarely seemed crowded. The kids were always excited for the pool and ease of location to our room and simple surroundings made it a relaxing stop for Mary and I as well so our visits there were really a highlight of the trip.
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Spain: Gibraltar

One of the things we wanted to see during our week on the Costa del Sol was Gibraltar. We were staying only 90 kilometers up the coast so it was a very easy drive. We hadn't made any real effort to figure out where on Gibraltar we were going once we got there but we assumed that wouldn't be a big deal.

The whole idea of Gibraltar is fascinating to us both that across a thin piece of land (and an airport runway) from Spain sits this English territory made up mostly of a large rock. Once we arrived and easily crossed the border we made our way to Europa Point, the southernmost point on Gibraltar. It is fascinating to be able to stand there and look across the Med and see the mountains of Morocco so close. We knew Gibraltar is a major shipping port but were amazed at the number of large ships we saw entering or leaving the port area. The wind was unbelievable at Europa Point and was about enough to knock the kids over although it was warm and sunny so it's wasnt uncomfortable. After a short time around the lighthouse there and taking some pictures we made our way back across Gibraltar and decided we wanted to see if a ride up the cable car made sense.

The cable car ride to the top of the rock turned out to be a great way to see Gibraltar. It was a quick 6 minute ride up and were told we would see the famous Gibraltar Barbary Apes at the top. We made the mistake of telling Sofia that they were called Barbary Apes and not monkeys and from that point forward if we referred to them as monkeys she would immediately remind us that they were not monkeys, and not even apes for that matter, but only Barbary Apes. Quick informational note: the Barbary Macaque is indeed a true monkey and not an ape so it's unclear why they are referred to as apes. Once we left the cable car we immediately saw a number of Barbary Apes all around the viewing platforms at the top of the rock. The girls really enjoyed seeing them and since they were willing to come very close to people they got many great sightings. The views from the top were amazing. You can see the shipping port and marina clearly looking right below the rock; looking south you have a great view of the mountains of Morocco across the Mediterranean and looking east up the cost of Spain you see more mountains there. We had many closeups with the apes but the most interesting was watching a young ape who was jumping around and being quite playful. A teenage boy with his family was standing close by the young ape who then began pulling on the boys shirt. The ape lost its balance from the top of the railing and fell the ground. An older ape immediately rushed over towards the boy making some very unpleasant chattering sounds and got in front of the young ape. At that time we decided to all walk away from them for a bit to let things settle down.

Our departure must have been timed wrong with normal traffic flows because there was little traffic coming onto Gibraltar but when we went to leave around 6pm we got stuck in traffic and it took us about an hour to get back across into Spain.

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Spain: Cabopino Beach

As you come out from under the trees in the parking area, if you were lucky enough to park in the shade that is, you first notice the magnificent clear blue ocean spread out in front of you. Next you see the mountains up and down the coastline. Then as you walk down the hill the beautiful white sand beach appears before you. To the west is the marina followed by several beach-side restaurants and the enclosed area where the comfort seeking beach-goers pay money to rent beach chairs with cushions under large straw umbrellas. Straight ahead, between two break-waters, is soft sand and mild waves and a gradual grade from beach into ocean making it ideal for children. Further to the east, extending for quite some distance, the beach continues. A longer walk is required so there was no crowding at all. This area of the Cabopino is the nude beach. Here, that is not a big leap since topless women are a common site anywhere on the beach and even at the resort pool.

Our typical morning during our week in Spain was spent here at beautiful Cabopino beach. Cabopino was a very short drive from our resort and came recommended as one of the better beaches along the Costa del Sol. Upon our first arrival we realized why. The setting is beautiful, the sand is soft and pure white (immediately reminding Mary of Sand Hill Cove beach in Rhode Island) and the water is just the right temperature - warm enough to spend time in but cool enough to be nicely refreshing after sitting in the Mediterranean sun.

On our first couple of days at the beach we opted for a more secluded location to avoid the crowds and walked half-way down the long nude portion of the beach. You get used to the nude beach setting quickly and stop noticing all the nude people around but perhaps that is in part that we had little desire to have an extended look at many of the people there. Apparently something happens in men over 60 with large guts that makes them think that walking up and down a beach completely naked is a good idea.

The kids loved playing in the sand but were not so sure about the waves washing ashore and did little more than wade in ankle deep for some time. We would typically stay at the beach for a few hours before returning to the resort so Ali could get her nap in. Later in the week we decided to try out the main area of the beach since the waves were a bit smaller there and mid-week the crowds were still small enough to leave us and the kids with plenty of room to play (although it didn't play into our decision the fact that this area was topless only and didn't have elderly nude men was a bonus). As the week went on the girls became more comfortable with the waves and Ali loved going out with Mary or I and "jumping" over waves coming in or having us dip her down into breaking waves as they came ashore. Both found endless entertainment playing in the sand or just splashing in the water and had a great time every minute of our time at the beach. Mary and I were kept busy but took turns at times wading out with the kids and spending a few minutes just sitting on the towels. Before we came we thought we would end up trying more than one beach but quickly saw no reason to risk finding a less ideal setting.

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Spain: Hotel Apartment

We found the resort parking lot easily and we felt good as we entered a very nice clean reception area to a warm greeting. We were quickly checked-in, assured they would continue to follow up on our missing luggage for us and took our bag to our apartment. Mary and I referred to it as our apartment but Sofia apparently wanted a distinction between the resort apartment and our apartment in Prague so it was quickly dubbed our "hotel apartment" to avoid Sofia's corrections that our apartment was in Prague. The apartment had an open dining room/living room area with big sliders to a very private patio, two bedrooms, each with their own full bath and a nicely renovated kitchen with granite counters and a washing machine. Overall we were very pleased.

The resort itself is just a couple of kilometers inland from the ocean and had an indoor pool and hot tub, a heated outdoor pool and a smaller outdoor toddler pool. It also had a gym, squash courts, massage and some other amenities we never had a chance to explore. It wasn't a fancy resort but everything was very well maintained and the staff were very friendly and helpful. The resort is in the town of Calahonda, which sits roughly between Fuengirola, a crowded very busy holiday town, and Marbella, a built-up resort town that has a number of higher end resorts and marinas. Calahonda was built in the '60's as tourism began to boom in the Costa del Sol region of Spain. The town while simple and not that interesting was quiet and a good base for visting the Costa del Sol area.

By the time we arrived it was late and our goal was just to get some sleep. On Saturday we checked on the luggage and the airline still had no idea where it was so we decided we'd have to do some shopping so Ali and I (the bag with our stuff was the missing one) had bathing suits and at least something for clothes other than what we had on the plane. We were told there was a mall in Marbella so we headed over first thing. We found bathing suit, shorts and a few shirts for myself and some things for Ali as well. Unfortunately I couldn't reach my goal of getting everything I needed in one store and we had to make a few stops. The mall also had a hypermarket so we did some shopping for drinks, snacks and basic food items for breakfast and lunch. Although we didn't partake we were quite impressed by the supermarket's selection of hams (see picture). Since all of Ali's diapers were in the lost luggage we also bought diapers. The resort gave Mary 3 diapers to get Ali though but it was a relief to finally have all the diapers we would need. The shopping trip ended up taking quite a bit of time but got us all prepared for the week.

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Spain: The Departure

Our taxi arrived last Friday promptly at 8:30am and Mary got the car seats situated in a few minutes. When I arranged the car I asked the woman about renting a van but she said she felt 2 adults and 2 kids would fit ok in the wagons; Mary did manage to squeeze into the back between car seats but with little room to spare. It felt odd just leaving Watson in our apartment. We had arranged for Watson to be visited regulary and felt that being at home was much better than having to kennel him. Turns out it was a great decision.


Upon boarding our flight from Prague to Madrid we were told the planes didn't have enough room for the kids car seats so they would have to sit without them. Apparently the budget carriers cram the seats in a lot tighter. For Sofia it didn't really matter but it made handling Ali more challenging since she is too small to sleep in the big seat so she ended up falling asleep only with Mary holding her.

In Madrid we had only an hour to switch from our Smart Wings to our Spainair flight to Malaga. We had to rush across a terminal being renovated which was a complete mess and were rushed in a bus to a different terminal for our flight. We went directly to the gate to check-in since we didn't have pre-assigned seats but at the gate they told us we had to go a Spainair counter to get our boarding passes. The line at the counter was long and I slowly trudged through the line as Mary tried to keep the kids corraled and we both kept glancing at the clock as it ticked closer to departure time. By the time I got to the counter I started by saying we had 5 minutes before departure so the woman told me just to go directly to the gate. This time they assigned seats right at the gate. It would have been nice if they done that the first time but at least we made the flight.


Our takeoff was slightly delayed as we were told that they had put a bag on the plane for a passenger who didn't make the flight so now they were going to have to unload the plane and re-check all the bags to make sure that one was removed. From a safety perspective it seemed appropriate but didn't give us any confidence our bags would be there when we arrived. It's only 50 minutes from Madrid to Malaga and we were thankful for that. Because we were the last ones on we were also in the last row and in that rear-engine plane the noise and vibration were almost unbearable. The often-stated mantra "it's all part of the adventure" always managed to get each other to smile during this less than perfect start to our vacation. The flight was fine although the wait for our luggage took a while. One bag finally came out and as a fairly sizeable group of us was still standing and waiting the luggage carousel stopped moving and we realized then that one bag hadn't made it. Tired and hungry at this point we filed our claim, got our rental car and got on the road for our 30 minute drive to our resort. Once on the highway the views of the mountains to the north and the ocean to the south quickly made the day's misadventures insignificant and we arrived ready for a good week.

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