Wednesday

12:30pm – Our flight is getting ready to land. I think we’ve been in the air for about 28 minutes. Emily and Cata couldn’t agree on who got to sit next to the window so we had to separate them. The island below looks huge! I didn’t realize Mallorca was so big. The Mediterranean Sea entering the many hidden coves around the island creates an amazing spotted turquoise effect along the coast.

1:20pm – On the bus to the hotel. I’m trying to eat a sandwich with one hand while my other arm is busy holding a sleeping Sebastian. Andrés is having trouble finding where we’re going on the map.

2:00pm – We’ve arrived at the Cal d’Or Gardens Hotel on the east coast of the island. Looks nice enough. There’s a fountain outside that sends water running down the windows in front of the hotel – pretty neat effect. It’s lunch time so the guy at reception says we can go have lunch before actually checking in. We get our “VIP everything included” wristbands and we’re off.

2:45pm – According to the calendar on the wall at reception, there are plenty of activities to keep us busy all week. For the kids: t-shirt painting, cooking classes, dance classes, mask making, kiddie disco, and sports and games. For the adults: dance classes, water aerobics, gym workouts, cocktail creation classes, shooting lessons(!), nighttime shows, and sports and games. I wonder if we’ll actually take advantage of any of them.

3:10pm – We’re all settled into our room – basic but comfortable. We’re right next to the playground – Emily was amazed at the white sand. “It’s so soft! Feel it!”. Our room’s terrace looks out over one of the swimming pools (very nice!). Emily has a fold-out bed and Sebastian has a crib. I hope sleeping everyone in the same room doesn’t cause any problems.

3:20pm – Everyone just jumped right into the pool. Emily is swimming with her new floaty vest and is more confident in the water than I’ve ever seen her. Sebastian is going ballistic in the kiddie pool and is as happy as a pig in shit. He’s actually squealing.

4:00pm – Just checked out the bar. They’ve got pretty much anything you can imagine but, since it’s all-you-can-drink, they’ve made sure to stock the bar with the cheapest alcohol possible. My first piña colada was pretty lame. The official drink of the day is a new creation of ours: an orange granizado with dark rum poured over it. Yummy!

5:15pm – A stranger just knocked on our door holding a hysterically crying Emily is her arms. Emily had been playing in the playground by herself and fell off the swings. Luckily she had the wherewithal to show this kind stranger where her room was. I’m very impressed she remembered the way after only going back to the room twice since arriving.

8:45pm – Emily and Cata are playing in the playground before getting ready for bed. I’m with Sebastian at the kiddie disco. The two event coordinators are dressed as Superman and Superwoman and are shouting in Italian as everyone dances to The Hokey Pokey and The Monster Mash. The music is so damn loud. I put Sebastian up on the stage and he immediately joins in by swinging his arms and spinning around. He also likes to stand right in front of the speakers and hold his hand out to feel the vibrations. Then he runs towards the front of the stage and jumps off the edge into my arms. The kid is insane. I put him back on the stage, he dances a little more, and does another stage dive. We repeat this about 20 times.

10:30pm – The kids are all in bed and Jan has stayed behind as the evening’s babysitter. I’m with Isabella and Andrés watching the evening entertainment. It’s a horror-themed variety show. It’s pretty horrific. Have these people no shame? It makes every children’s theater performance we’ve ever done look like Broadway. Still, kinda fun to watch 🙂

11:40pm – We grab a handful of Cuba Libres and set off to find the beach. It’s only supposed to be 100 meters from the hotel but we can’t find it. We blame the rum. We do find a karaoke bar where Alicia Keys’ New York brings a tear to my eye – as usual. And we eventually do find an amazing moonlit cliff overlooking the cove where the beach is supposed to be. We sit on the side of the cliff and talk while naming stars, exploring the landscape, and listening to the sea do its midnight dance.

Thursday

7:00am – Sebastian doesn’t realize we’re on holiday and wakes up entirely too early. Grrr.

10:30am – Andrea, the Slovakian event coordinator, just painted a big green A on my cheek. I’m apparently on her team for today’s Olympics. The rest of my team is made up of all Germans and one French guy.

11:00am – First up, water volley. Jan, Emily, and Sebastian are on the side of the pool cheering me on. The kids wave to me between every point. We do OK. Second place.

11:40am – Emily and Cata are back in the playground. They are both apparently “Grumpy old trolls who live under the bridge”. Too much Dora, methinks. They have all their troll friends and family sitting on the swings and on the see-saw. Each troll is represented by a small pile of sand. The girls inform me that Sebastian is a little baby grumpy old troll. He doesn’t seem to mind. He likes the slides.

12:00pm – Next sport, football (soccer). I tell my team to let me sit this one out. I don’t know how to play football, I’m just a silly American. Their nickname for me, by the way, is “New York”. They convince me to play and I wind up scoring the winning goal in overtime on penalties! We still end up in second place. And my feet hurt.

2:00pm – Everyone is exhausted at lunch. We decide to schedule some naps into the day’s activities.

4:00pm – Third Olympic event, volleyball! This was pretty much the only reason I wanted to play in these games. I do my part to keep us competitive but it’s not enough to beat the Italians. We take last place. I still had a good time and was very proud of myself for not getting worked up over the jungleball that was being played.

5:00pm – Finally, off to the beach. The nearest beach (the one we couldn’t find last night) is closer than any of us had imagined. It’s also a lot smaller than any of us had imagined. But it’s beautiful. The water in this tiny cove is crystal clear and there are tons of tiny fish zipping across the sea floor. One not-too-small fish tried to bite Jan’s foot. She didn’t like that. Sebastian found a toy car on the beach and was instantly in heaven.