I am taking part in Donna from What the Redhead Said‘s Living Arrows – which is a celebration of childhood!
We could all do with a little more celebration in our lives!
To quote Donna, “The project originally took it’s name from a poem by Kahlil Gibran, “You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth” and every Monday we share a moment from our week and invite others to do the same as part of this linky.”
Week 31/52 Living Arrows
Walking
We have a little walker on our hands now! He’s been doing 5/6 steps for a while now but this week, when he was finally feeling a little bit better, he is turning, bobbing from room to room and chasing the cat ( much to Orla Kitty’s horror). He is so delighted with himself as he has been getting frustrated for a while. He giggles massively whilst he is showing people.
A week after he turned 13 months means he has started at the exact same age as me. I find things like that crazy!
We were looking for a good quality all inclusive hotel for our baby’s first holiday abroad. Our criteria was that it had to be less than a three and a half hour flight and it had to be around a four-star rating. We selected the Iberostar Malaga Playa on this basis and were so happy we made the choice we did.
We did very little research, so didn’t really know what we’d be getting except a room and a pool, but it was so much more than that. The spread of activities, the cleanliness of the hotel and the range of food and drink available through the all inclusive option topped with the best customer service I have ever received throughout a hotel, made this the ideal holiday to break us in to travelling with a one-year-old child.
We opted for a basic double room, which was tastefully decorated and had enough room for the beds, cot, pushchair without feeling cramped. Space under the beds for the suitcases, three wardrobes, a tv and a bathroom suite. There was also a balcony which looked over to the side of the hotel out onto neighbouring complexes, but as I had a small child, I didn’t feel the need to use it other than to dry the swimming costumes!
The kids club operates from age 4, so I can’t really give a review of that other than the entertainment team were always wonderful and friendly. There were lots of activities within the pools and in the kids’ clubhouse area next to the kids’ water slide and swings. There was a ‘mini disco’ every evening at 8.30 where the entertainment team played games in the lounge area with the children. This was great fun for all ages and our one year old loved joining in and meeting Starky and Stella, the Iberostar mascots.
There was also a show every evening with waiter service in the lounge and water activities daily for the adults including Aqua Gym and Zumba ran by a very funny guy named Willy.
The swimming pool is a great size and has a shallow end for the little ones as well as having a smaller pool within the kids club area and a walkable shallow area around the kids’ waterslide.
There was a large amount of fresh seafood, the catering staff worked so hard ensuring that the food was always fully stocked and available. At some all inclusive resorts, you get a little sick of the same things every day, not here as there was a good amount of differentiation with changes of themes. The alcohol and pops on offer were all branded too, something you would probably have to pay a premium for at other all inclusive resorts.
Every evening you were welcomed to the restaurant with a drink and a smile from Ivan, the Guest Services Manager, who is possibly one of the genuinely nicest people I have ever met. He made an effort to speak to every guest, including the kids to ensuring they were having a great time. All of the staff would say hello as you passed by, they were truly wonderful.
Torrox itself is unspoilt by English tourists and appeared to be where Spanish people visited for their holidays, so that was a nice touch, it didn’t feel spoilt by English pubs and bars, which was nice. Apparently, Torrox is the healthiest town in Europe and with the nightly exercise classes next to the beach, you can see why!
There was a gate at the bottom of the complex where you could walk out to the beach and the promenade, was wonderful for after dinner walks. Although there is very little reason why you’d need to leave the complex if you didn’t want to.
Here is some wonderful drone footage (credit: iberostar) for you to see what I am talking about. Wonderful. We will definitely be staying Iberostar again!
I am taking part in Donna from What the Redhead Said‘s Living Arrows – which is a celebration of childhood!
We could all do with a little more celebration in our lives!
To quote Donna, “The project originally took it’s name from a poem by Kahlil Gibran, “You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth” and every Monday we share a moment from our week and invite others to do the same as part of this linky.”
Week 30/52 Living Arrows
Holidays and sickness!
Funny old week! A bit ying and yang! We were on our lovely first family holiday for the first part of it, then about five hours after we touched down, all hell broke loose with illness!
First the little man got it, then I did! Oh lordy, it’s been bad! Seven members of my family in total got, what we think was the vomiting bug that has been going around, at once. It was my 34th birthday on Saturday, which I share with my three year old nephew, neither of us were in the mood to celebrate as we were ill, so mostly stayed in bed!
All on the road to recover now except for RLT, who is still struggling to eat and has the most horrific nappies. So I’m sharing happy memories of our holiday up until Wednesday!
I am taking part in Donna from What the Redhead Said‘s Living Arrows – which is a celebration of childhood!
We could all do with a little more celebration in our lives!
To quote Donna, “The project originally took it’s name from a poem by Kahlil Gibran, “You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth” and every Monday we share a moment from our week and invite others to do the same as part of this linky.”
Week 29/52 Living Arrows
We’re on holiday!
This week we are in Spain! Currently staying in an Iberostar resort, which I can’t praise enough for being family friendly.
I haven’t got many images to chose from this week as I haven’t had my phone out much! It’s my birthday next Saturday, so I got my present early, which was an waterproof camera, so all pics are on that! I’ll be sure to use one next week 😀
Here is a pic of me and little man on the balcony. He’s wearing his football shirt in honour of little Bradley Lowery, as many people did in our local area on the day of his funeral. My partner had interviewed Bradley and his family many times in the past, so they have been in our thoughts a lot recently.
I am taking part in Donna from What the Redhead Said‘s Living Arrows – which is a celebration of childhood!
We could all do with a little more celebration in our lives!
To quote Donna, “The project originally took it’s name from a poem by Kahlil Gibran, “You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth” and every Monday we share a moment from our week and invite others to do the same as part of this linky.”
Week 28/52 Living Arrows
The wheels on the bus
This week I got the call at work every parent dreads; little one has been in an accident.
A kid had been playing with a musical Wheels On the Bus book and when they went to put it down it caught my little one on the corner of the eye.
No lasting damage done thankfully but in that moment at work 30 miles away you feel pretty rubbish that you can’t comfort them when they’re upset.
