Poorly in Spain

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This year, like last year and the year before that, we sought winter sun in Benalmadena on the Costa del Sol. The kids love the repetition, getting to know the place a little bit better every time and knowing what to expect. We love that it's cheap and usually sunny!

Beach time on arrival day

That said, we weren't that lucky on sunshine last year; and while there weren't any rainstorms this year, it still wasn't the holiday we expected: both kids came down with high temperatures, coughs and blocked noses on Day 3. We ended up stuck in the hotel room for three days, sometimes with both kids and sometimes with just one of them, when one felt well enough to go out for a while. D(7) in particular is never ill, so it was a shock to everyone that he came down with a really high temperature and spent two almost entire days asleep in bed!

But, here's how it all unfolded. Our flight was at 6am (!) and this time I didn't forget to pack Mr's passport... and also packed entertainment for the kids on the flight. Another reason we like the Costa del Sol is that the flight is fairly short!


... and on the very same day, we were at the beach by lunchtime!


After arriving on Saturday, we spent Sunday at the beautiful Park...




At the butterfly house, we spent a happy afternoon but N(9) did begin to feel a bit dizzy.





This butterfly kept trying to land on N's dress - of course, it's so colourful!
She was a bit freaked out by that though.

And then the virus arrived. D ran a high fever for only the second time in his entire life and was pretty much knocked out for the next three days.



N did spend part of most of days in bed, but recovered enough to spend a bit of time outside with dad. Nice daddy daughter quality time, while I had an incredibly quiet time at the hotel room and reading books in peace, which I'm really not used to any more!




On the very last day, finally, both kids managed to get out of bed to enjoy our last day outside.



Hermit crabs!


So... yeah. We got them home with masks on during the flight, because of the incessant coughing, and they spent Sunday in bed again. It's Monday as I write this and they are still resting, particularly D. All in all, this certainly wasn't the holiday we expected, but I do have to admit it was restful!

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