Granada

We were lucky enough to head over to Granada for the day and visit the Alhambra. Now I had no idea what this place was before we went to Spain, but it is pretty famous since it's been around since the 9th century. That's not a typo for 19th, we're talking a palace and fort that is old. You can read about it here.

 The views from the top made it easy to see why they chose to build on that location.

These were the barracks at one point in time. One can only hope the walls were taller or the ground lower.

We had to wait in line to go see inside the palace because they stagger the crowds every half hour or so. In the meantime PopPop had fun teaching J different hops and jumps.

 We waited happily in the shade.

They don't allow strollers in the palace, but they offer a place to store them and check out a baby bjorn to you. How cool is that? The States aren't nearly as accommodating. PopPop sported it well.

Inside they had the most elaborate mosaics and plaster work. Husband said he felt like he was in Assassin's Creed. I had heard all about the Moors and Moorish architecture before but it never clicked. Moors as in Morocco. As in Arabs in Africa, a 3 hour ferry ride from the tip of Spain. It made sense that they invaded Spain periodically over the last few thousand years.

These are shots looking up. The wood work is on the ceiling.

Imagine the poor young apprentice assigned to cutting out all those lovely iridescent tiles.

The plaster designs have Sanskrit words and prayers worked into them. The window shapes are extra pretty to me.

The scale is overwhelming.

 We decided to take some family pictures while we were there but it was tricky with the crowds and, you know, two kids to get looking at the camera.

 There were such lovely fountains everywhere, you could see how it was an oasis.

This fountain in the main courtyard is one of the icons of the Alhambra with it's 12 lions holding it up. Everyone was sort of looking at the camera.

Here is another elaborate wall and ceiling. Some of the knobs have been broken off. I want to see what it looked like when all the colored paint was on it. You can see remnants of the blue.

There is an impressive view of the city from the palace as well.



A newly 3 year old started to get bored of all the things to see, probably how you feel with the pictures. Fortunately Cinderella was there to help her out. (I bought a set of princess figures and individually wrapped them. A couple came out on the flight, but most came out whenever a tantrum was about to hit. "Happy girls can open a new princess" was enough to quell tears on more than one occasion)

There are amazing gardens for miles around it but we have two kids and decided not to push our luck. The paths were all paved with beautiful patterns made from different stones.

They had a cutout at the end that we got a kick out of.

There is also a palace constructed in the 19th century right next to the fortress and Moorish palace. The catholic kings weren't to be outdone.

This was the inside courtyard.

 These pictures were all on the grounds on the back to the parking lot. Again, check out the cool stones

Someone was done with pictures at this point. I'm tempted to make this one our New Years card. Maybe for the back

They have a million cypress trees along the walks cut out in fun designs.

The views from there were great too.



I love my sweet parents and couldn't ask for better travel partners and photographers. Having 4 adults makes traveling internationally with small children doable.

Espana!

 We flew from Phoenix to London on a red eye and M managed to have a blow out before we even officially took off. No worries though, that's why I packed a change of clothes for him. The kids were great and slept more of the flight. J enjoyed watching all the movies she felt like until she passed out around midnight. Husband and I were even able to sleep some too. Near the end of the flight, M had yet another poop blow out so he rocked out in just a diaper. The plane was stuck at the gate for over an hour because there was a plane waiting for a tug or something. This was the only time M really fussed much and no real screaming. Unfortunately, the delay made us miss our connection in Barcelona. We made our way down to the booking desk and  suffered some stares from some Scandinavians most likely criticizing our mostly naked baby. I was going to put him in something of J's as soon as we had a minute. The British Airways folks offered him an adult tshirt, but we declined. At this point, J decides to mutiny and runs off, chased by Husband. I would much rather the kids be rough in the airport than on the plane so it too big a deal. It did make me wish I understood Norwegian though :)

They offered to put us in a hotel or try and get us on the next flight to Barcelona, boarding in 30 minutes. They said we could probably make it if we hurried and might even make our second connection to Malaga. We decided to go for it, and I was irritated we had to go through security a 2nd time. I had to throw out my $5 airport bottle of Fiji water. And drain all of J's camelbak. And test the bottle of formula we had made. In the US they put it in a scanner. In London I had to drink some. Bleck.  The experience wasn't as rough as it sounds though since everyone was very kind and super accommodating to families.

We made our gate just in time for boarding. J was happily entertained by birthday party presents I had hid away. I shouldn't have been surprised, but I was when she remembered and asked for each specific one. 3 cheers to my aunt Chris who gave her the most perfect collection of airplane entertainment. The Pez alone bought us a half hour. We had an uneventful flight into Barcelona, had to go through security AGAIN, and had some trouble with two of the boarding passes. Thankfully we were able to pull up the itinerary on my phone to appease the security folks, then ignored the instructions to go to the ticket counter and headed straight to the gate. We were so tight on time that if the gate people couldn't fix the problem, we'd have to go to the counter anyways since the flight would have left. We made it to the gate right as the end of the line was boarding. An easy one hour flight later and we made it to Malaga.

Unfortunately, only one of our four checked pieces of luggage made it. Since my bro-in-law had recently been peed on at the airport, we packed full changes of clothes in our carry-ons as a precaution so no luggage wasn't a big deal. The second bag was delivered to us the next day. The booster came the day after, and the car seat a day after that. My parents found car seat at the mission home and brought it with them to pick us up so it really wasn't too much trouble.

My parents live in a city called Fuengirola, about 20 minutes from Malaga. It is pretty much the San Diego of Spain, only better since it is on the Mediterranean. Their piso or apartment, is a 7 minute walk from the beach.

We grabbed some kabobs (they wrap them in a tortilla instead of a pita) and headed to the beach.

J had a pizza that wasn't that great. They had a sour cheese on it instead of our standard mozarella.

M fell asleep so he isn't in many pictures.

They had several fun playgrounds on the beach and J had earned some time to do just what she felt like doing. I think it's important to schedule time for that when you travel with kids.

They had the most interesting fitness equipment.

"Look! A shell for M!" (He managed to find it 3 days later and almost choked on it. I thought it was cute that she wanted a little shell for her brother after finding one for herself)

A little farther down they had this boat playground and a gorgeous sand sculpture.

Pop Pop is so much fun and played with her.

I had to laugh at this shop name.

They also have the most beautiful fruit stands on the corners. We bought a persimmon and a cherimoya since I hadn't had them before. My mum said they call the cherimoya a custard apple and it does have flan like texture. The persimmon was like an apple crossed with an orange. J and I enjoyed both of them.

Temple Christmas Lights

So we are going to play a bit more catch up. Forget July, let's have some Christmas in January! My tree is still up so it fits for us. Anywho, we went to see the lights at the temple the Sunday before we left to Spain.

I swear these guys don't look half as eerie in real life.

M thought the lights were quite interesting, if not a bit overwhelming. He fell asleep a short while later.

I don't know if this statue is new or not since it's been a few years since I made it to see the temple lights, but I loved it. I particularly loved the bright star in the sky behind it.

I think J was more impressed with the pool of water. She stayed dry though!

The fake star is still striking