Ostende Sand Festival

There's a Disney-sponsored sand festival this summer at a beach about an hour and a half from our house. So this weekend, we thought, what the heck:

We like sand sculptures
We like the beach
We like overpriced Disney stuff

So off we went, kids and dogs in tow (yes, we really do push our luck) to Ostende Beach, on the Belgian coast. It was a lovely day, a perfect day to walk along the boardwalk and eat ice cream. And our dogs didn't poop in inappropriate places even once, which is close to miraculous. The water there is a bit too cold for swimming (although there were quite a few folks braving it anyway), but Jack and Ellie at least dipped a toe in the water. And the sand festival was fun - overpriced considering how quickly you were able to walk through it, but again, Disney and overpriced kinda go hand-in-hand. And you won't hear us complaining, because they put on a good sand festival.

Lesson Learned

Lesson Learned - It may SOUND like a good idea to pitch a tent in the backyard for a fun little sleepover with the kiddies and the dogs. EXCEPT, we forgot a few important things:

We live in Belgium.
It rains a lot in Belgium.
So you really must put up your rain flap when camping in Belgium.

Yeah, and guess who was lazy and didn't put up the rain flap.

Oh well, it was a lot of fun - you know, until it wasn't anymore.

Lesson learned!

Gracias, Espana!

To Do List for Our Trip to Spain:

(1) Have fun in the sun in Mallorca - CHECK
(2) Stroll around beautiful Madrid - CHECK
(3) Eat everything in sight - CHECK
(4) Horrify the locals with our high school Spanish - CHECK CHECK!!

This past week, we headed off to beautiful (and hot! did I mention hot?) Spain. We started off the trip in Mallorca, in a quiet part of the island called Porto Cristo. We played on the beach, tried out the yummy seafood, went boating and horseback riding, and toured around some of the different ports. After a few days, we hopped a flight to Madrid. We mostly wandered around the city and enjoyed the sites, which is our favorite thing to do. Aside from the heat (did I mention it was hot?), we had a lovely, lovely time - friendly people, awesome food, and lots of fun stuff to do.


Outside our hotel in Mallorca - Jared did a great job choosing hotels - we were within walking distance of the beach and a ton of restaurants, and each night would keep our balcony doors open to hear the live music as we went to sleep. We felt VERY fancy.

Not a bad view, huh!

Beware the Pasty Americans! Yes, we were downright blinding - but luckily got a bit of color as the week wore on

Jared, Jack, and Ellie swam and played on a cool platform slide - this is basically what I did

Jared and his Mini-Me; aren't my boys handsome!

We had a lot of yummy food in Spain - not surprisingly, very good seafood

Although we spent most of our time in Porto Cristo, we took an afternoon to tour around Palma

It was REALLY hot walking around, so we had to get ice cream - you know, for medicinal purposes of course

Try as I might - and I really do try - I can't break Jared of his selfie habit

Our second day in Mallorca, we went horseback riding. They also had other animals you could hang out with, including this ginormous cow; I know you can't really tell he's ginormous, but trust me, he's ginormous

Jack says he's the Goat Whisperer - and he kinda is - every time we see goats, they follow him around

Jack and Ellie loved horseback riding - Jared as well. Me? Well, I pretty much sucked, as my very sore booty/thighs/calves/earlobes/hair/everything-on-my-body attested to the next day

Hey, Cowgirl!

Did I mention Jared's Selfie Problem?

Jack the Pirate, getting ready for our glass bottom boat ride around the coast

On our third day in Mallorca, we spent some time in Porto Mayor - and who can turn down a bike ride along the boardwalk! Not us, I tell you!

Thank you. Thank you very much.

My paparazzi moment - and yes, I'm on the way back from getting ice cream. That's a frequent theme of mine.

Waiting for the boat ride back to Porto Cristo

Jack and Ellie - with help from Dad the Sand Castle Maestro - really worked on their sand castle skills - please note the progression

A little tutoring from Jared

Getting better

And better...

OK, there - not bad, huh. And all it took us was a euro to let us take a picture next to the ACTUAL sand castle builder - there's skill in that, right?

Then it was off to Madrid! And yeah, we were a bit tired

In Madrid, we basically wandered around the streets - which is the best way to run into cool shops and restaurants

Plaza Mayor

Our first night in Madrid, we ate at the San Miguel market. Food, food, everywhere - including these yummy empanadas.

And paella - don't forget the paella

This place is called the Museo de Jamon - in case you don't speak Spanish, that's Museum of Ham. And yes, it's a museum of ham. Who knew?

And Jack kept up his streak, visiting the Golden Arches in every country - a man's gotta have some goals

And speaking of American stuff, we took advantage of the English-language movies while we were there - and got out of the sun for a bit

While we were there, we happened upon a Coca-Cola employee protest, urging us to boycott Coke products ... and then we immediately went out and got some ice-cold Cokes. No, we weren't trying to make a statement - we were stinkin' hot!!

Yeah, I have no idea what this statue is called in the Puerta del Sol - but they tell me it's famous

And speaking of famous, Madrid is famous for churros con chocolate - and I gotta tell you, I just can't find fault with a cup o' melted chocolate, I just can't - thumbs up from Lydia

On our second day in Madrid, we took a hop-on/hop-off bus tour around Madrid. Selfie, everyone!!

Jared's passing along his Selfie Habit to Ellie

After the bus tour, of course we had to cool down with some ice cream

And my only question here is - why haven't we thought of this before? YUMMY!

On our last day in Madrid, we went to the Retiro Park - they had a lovely concert going on, and row boats you could take around the lake

Jack and Ellie were quite the rowers

Gracias, Madrid y Mallorca!