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Vetoed

 Last night Ammon and I got together to figure out what time we would need to get up and what we needed for our planned adventure for today. We had planned to go to Caminito Del Rey. It looks like a truly amazing hike and when we were planning, it was the thing I was looking forward to most here in Costa Del Sol. As we looked at our tickets and the drive and the extra time needed to get from the parking lot and everything we realized we would need to get out of bed by 5:30 am in order to make it. Considering we wouldn't be getting to bed until 2:30 am and that we were already sleep deprived we had to make a tough call...we vetoed vacation-planning-us and chose sleep.

Making this decision was so hard. They are completely sold out of tickets so rescheduling was not an option. I was a little heart broken about that, but as we discussed what to do at 1:00 am I knew that getting up after only 3 hours of sleep was not an option. 

The kids had all gone to bed on the information that we would have an early morning, so they were all concerned and a bit worried when we slept in. I knew we had made the right choice as the morning went on though. We all desperately needed the sleep and we were all much less snippy with each other today.

We had breakfast and decided that we would rent paddle boards for a few hours and play in the water. I suggested some hikes or other activities, but the kids just wanted to be in the water. We loaded up in M-Bot and drove over to the beach that had a place to rent paddle boards. It was a mistake. The place was packed and there was not a single parking place available anywhere. We have a more private beach where we are staying and it is glorious for it to be much less crowded. We couldn't find parking, so we aborted and came back home.

The Air BnB we are in has a pool, so we started off by swimming in the pool for a little while. Yesterday we discovered a closet full of beach things: a boogie board, snorkels, and flippers. After a short swim in the pool we grabbed a bunch of gear and went down to the beach to play. 


Azure and I spent a long time out in the water with me teaching her what I know about boogie boarding (which isn't a ton if we are being honest). She really enjoyed catching waves. The beach near us really doesn't have very large waves. The smaller waves and calmer water are nice to swim in, but not as great for boogie boarding.

Cormac and Lucette made a fortress to protect their royal rock family in the middle. The spent a ton of time reinforcing the walls and diving for large rocks to help with the fortifications. Ammon had gone back to our apartment to make us all lunch (he really is the best). When he got back we eventually made the kids stop their desperate scramble to keep the castle strong against the higher tide to eat lunch. That proved to be the end of the fortress.




Cormac tried out some boogie boarding as well and Lu caught a few waves too. The kids started another castle and Azure did some snorkeling. Ammon had to go back inside to get some work done and I took another nap on the beach. 





Eventually we decided to move from the ocean back to the pool. It was so warm compared to the ocean. It was a blast playing with the kids in the warm pool and it turned out to be an excellent way to haul less sand up to our apartment. After a couple hours in the pool I finally made the kids come upstairs so I could make us all dinner and get ready for seeing clients. 


I am still sad we won't get to see Caminito Del Rey, but in the end I still believe we made the best choice. There are so many things I would do differently if I were to plan this vacation all over again. We have seen and done amazing things and have had a blast, so for the most part it has been wonderful. Still, there is room for improvement and I have learned a lot. Today was great. We all got a little sunburnt, wore ourselves out, and had a blast. We will all sleep soundly tonight.

Comments

  1. Marianne JohnsonJuly 24, 2024 at 9:23 AM

    I think you did a great job planning. That was a lot to plan! And of course, if you did it again you've learned a lot. I love reading about your adventures!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mark DahlJuly 26, 2024 at 9:46 AM

    I think your trip has been great. There are always going to be a few things you wish you'd done differently. You'll have to go back.

    ReplyDelete

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