We have returned from our holidays in one piece: tired but having enjoyed the majority of the experience.
I have to confess that the resort that we booked was awful, it is not a place I would recommend for families travelling with younger children (I can share the review I left on trip advisor if anyone is interested) but travelling with the children was an experience that I will not look to repeat until they are older. I accepted that it would be hard as the flights were not the kindest times and we were lucky that one both flights they both slept for the majority of the time and they also slept on the coach transfer between airport and resort. But the bits where they were awake they were over giddy, they hated the necessary waiting in all the booking in and security checks and nothing we brought to entertain them was sufficient, The travel home was even worse as oldest had broken his trunki meaning that he could no longer sit on it and ride about (a source of much fun on the way out).
Over the first week we learnt the hard way that the flexibility we have around meal times was not as great as we hoped. By week 2 we were feeding the children in the hotel room before we went out for evening and then giving them the choice to eat or not when we ate. Sometimes the did and sometimes they didn't but it did save a lot of stress. We also realised that all the changes were very unsettling regardless of the fun. During the fun bits everything was great but during the bits between - the showering after swimming and getting ready for the evening, the waiting for food in restaurants and the walking between things. These bits were hard work, much harder than at home. The whinging and whining got on everyone's nerves towards the end as did their inability to stop and listen to reason for even a moment before launching into a full scale paddy.
What we did find was that the children enjoyed the experiences of a new language, the were amazing at trying new foods and fascinated by the differences they could see around them in the homes, the roads and even people driving on the wrong side of the car! The did struggle with the heat at points, especially when we asked them to walk anywhere (more because they wanted to be in the pool than anything else) but the swimming was a huge highlight. I think we swam on all but 2 days of our holiday either in the pool at the resort or in the sea. Both children have gained so much confidence in the water and even youngest decided she no longer needed her noodle because she can swim without it. She did really well, I was really proud of her and I am hoping that once we get back into our weekly swimming habit she will grow further in confidence. They even had my going down the big slide, a most undignified experience but I enjoyed every second.
We did spend 2 days on boat trips that allowed us to swim in the sea (from the boat) and both children were exceptionally adventurous especially oldest jumping from the back of the boat from a height that would have concerned me! the looked for fish using snorkel masks and oldest climbed on the rocks in the cove to see what else he could find.
Next task is to prepare for the return to school as a Y1 and the start of school in reception.
